Kavanaugh

SCOTUS: The Same Emphasis

“The one function that TV news performs very well is that when there is no news we give it to you with the same emphasis as if it were.”

David Brinkley, broadcast journalist

The American press is dying of suspense, and it serves ’em right.

After reporting on the May leak of a draft SCOTUS opinion on abortion as though it were a done deal when in actual point of fact it’s not, American broadcast journalism has placed a massive critical spotlight on the Court and its opinions. Every week they don’t release the final judgment, the tension continues to build and speculation to circulate, until now, when there’s nothing new left to say and no fresh pundits to say it, they’re forced into invention to satisfy an audience ravenous for blood (or whatever it is that jurists use these days).

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On The Art Of Political Suicide

A year ago, Maine’s Senator Susan Collins committed political suicide live in front of the nation.

It’s safe to say that wasn’t her intention.  But hers was the last, and deciding, swing vote in the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, and that’s what everyone remembers.  Most of the Senate made their decisions early, whether along party lines or for other causes — not the least of which being to avoid the limelight; there’s no way to win votes on something like this.  (Heck, even I recused myself.)  But Collins didn’t rush. (more…)

Who Do You Stand With?

I’ve been seeing posts and memes:  “I stand with Kavanaugh!”  “I stand with Ford!”

Let me tell you where I stand.

There was a hearing; I watched.  I wish for the sake of those involved that this hadn’t been broadcast live, but it was, and to stay informed I watched, and I listened, and afterward I read summaries and reviews and transcripts. (more…)

Ford’s Accusation And What It Reveals

While on a trip to Maine last week, I was bombarded by soft-money ads against Senator Susan Collins.  Tens of millions of dollars are being spent by the Democratic Party to erode the approval rating of a moderate Republican during a year that she’s not facing re-election.  The premise of these ads is that she’s a horrible person for supporting Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, because he’s (according to them) planning to overturn Roe v. Wade.  As I understand it, however, these ads are but the latest in a long series, an organized campaign to assassinate the character of one of the last surviving moderates in the Senate. (more…)

Kavanaugh Is Not The Great Satan

It’s been 24 hours since Brett Kavanaugh was nominated to replace Justice Kennedy on the Supreme Court.  Since then I’ve seen him described as a religious ideologue, an ultra-conservative, and (my favorite) a sign that “The American Experiment Is Over”.

This isn’t a slight misstatement, a matter of nuance or a bending of the truth.  It’s laughably, ludicrously wrong.

Look, I get it:  Donald Trump nominated this guy, so he must be evil.  Given some of this president’s other nominees (though hardly all), that’s understandable, the more so if we also consider Mr. Trump’s high scores on the Supervillain Index.  (No cape, and his monologues (more…)