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The Screaming Moderate

A horrible process coming to an end

9/27/2018

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Today’s Senate Judiciary hearing on allegations of sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was a milestone in the continuing disintegration of our institutions.

You probably watched the testimony so you have your own view of who is telling the truth. This is a classic “he said, she said.”

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford said she is “100 percent” certain the assault on her was by Kavanaugh. Kavanaagh testified that he’s “100 percent” certain he has never committed such an offense in his life.

She was clearly terrified giving her testimony. He was just as clearly angry and emotional, tearing up or choking up through his testimony.

Which was real?

My guess is both were real. Neither could act that well. The question is, what motivated those emotions. Dr. Ford was stepping onto a stage she did not seek, testifying literally in front of the nation. Judge Kavanaugh has held that stage before, but never as an accused sexual offender whose personal life and career were on the line and had already suffered major hits.

You choose who you believe.  Unfortunately, if you’re a senator you must choose who to believe because the Senate is going to vote on this nomination.

When Dr. Ford's testimony ended, I thought there was no way Sen. LIsa Murkowski or Sen. Susan Collins could vote in Kavanaugh's favor, so convincing was she. But then Kavanaugh came on, his angry up front and personal. And his partisan attacks began.

Personally, I believe her. From the first mention of her name, I could not understand what she had to gain from going public. She isn’t going to get a book deal, her own radio show or whatever out of this. In fact, she and her family have become targets of insults and threats and she was escorted around by a large security guard.

Kavanaugh has a life-time appointment at stake. His emotions clearly were real. He was choked up and tearing up in a manner you can’t fake. His anger and partisan attacks though were just as real. He was on the attack from minute one. Was it true outrage over the process? Was it the anger of an entitled man expecting his entitlement to sit on the Supreme Court?

This was not a criminal trial. It was, as was said, more of a job interview. I think he failed that interview. Even if he is innocent of the charge being leveled against him, the temperament he demonstrated was not the demeanor I expect of a Supreme Court justice. I get the anger. But the partisan nature of his attacks were not appropriate for a Court nominee.

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t expect him to take it lying down but he brought a “left wing conspiracy” into play, something that no doubt appeals to President Trump who had thought Kavanaugh was being too wimpy in his response to the charge. He was clearly on the attack. Is that his true nature? Was a performance for the President who thought he was too wimpy up to today?

Well, he wasn’t wimpy during the hearing. He also was not Supreme Court material.
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He will say, she will say and they will vote

9/25/2018

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The process being followed for Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination is a new one, including that he gave a TV interview last night to Fox News. This, to my knowledge, has never been done before and is a reflection of the times we live in, unfortunately.

That a Supreme Court nominee has to go on TV -- and on a cable news station we all accept plays to President Trump's base and not much more -- to try to “control the narrative” is a political move, not a typical  Supreme Court move, a court that until recently we all held in the highest esteem as a fair arbiter of the law.

Kavanaugh and his wife Ashley sat down with Martha McCallum who is not a Fox talking head but comes from the news’ side. McCallum did a mostly a more than capable job in the interview asking many of the questions you or I wanted to know the answers too. Kavanaugh, though, stuck his talking points that he will defend his integrity, that the accusations aren’t true and that he has always treated females with respect.

Getting into his virginity was probably a step too far and irrelevant to the discussion since Kavanauagh isn’t accused of rape and one could still sexually attack someone without making penetration. Plus, if you want to go down that road, opponents of his nomination might say that still being a virgin might be a reason for a drunken teenager, assuming he was even in the house, to sexually attack a teenage girl.

President Trump surely had something to do with the change in strategy for Kavanaugh to be more aggressive, something Trump has preached for decades, and something he learned at the feet of the late attorney Roy Cohen, known for his aggressive and dishonest tactics in his day.

Some GOP senators have made clear that whatever happens in Thursday’s hearing, featuring Kavanaugh and Christine Ford who is accusing him of a sexual assault when they were teenagers, they have already decided their votes. Many senators, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have made clear Kavanaugh will be confirmed, no matter what is learned in Thursday’s hearing. To be fair many Democrats also have already made up their minds to oppose him. The hearing is unlikely to change their votes either.

While some level of politics has always played a role in Supreme Court nominees and the confirmation process, it has never been as blatant as it is this year. And that is unfortunate.

The Court becomes just one more American institution that is suffering a reputation hit because of this nomination process and a few decisions over the last 30 years (settling the 2000 election allegedly being among them). Nominations have become a partisan exercise, no more, no less.

I’ve never met Judge Kavanaugh, though I have friends who worked with him in the Bush White House who, to a person, have stood behind him in this nomination process. I trust those people and I’m sure Kavanaugh has displayed none of the behaviors he’s been accused of when in high school and college. Kavanaugh as much as admitted heavy drinking was part of the culture at his private high school. If we accept the word of other of his schoolmates that he was a heavy drinker in those days, it is possible he doesn’t remember the attack being alleged by Dr. Ford.

Some of have said, in effect, “what happens in your teenage years stays in your teenage years.” I disagree. You can be an effective, sober (no pun intended) judge today and still have done dumb things when young, and under the effects of alcohol.

While many are basing their decision of support or non-support of Kavanaugh on the alleged sexual attack, to me that is a factor as is whether Kavanaugh is telling the truth. If, for example, he overdid the drinking in his teen years, he should just say that and further he could say he doesn’t remember any such alleged attack, if that is the case.

That may be closer to the truth than we’ve gotten so far but I’m completely making that up.

My guess is after Thursday’s hearing there still will be no clear insight into what actually happened decades ago. I’m guessing Dr. Ford will look credible, as will Judge Kavanaugh.

This is a difficult decision. It should not – but will – be a political decision. If Kavanaugh is confirmed it will likely be on a straight party-line vote.

And we will be no closer to the truth than we are now.

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Who's telling the truth?

9/19/2018

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Dr. Christine Blasey Ford who is accusing Supreme Court nominee Bret Kavanaugh of a sexual attack is being attacked herself for many things. A short list:

  1. How can she remember 35 years later whose drunk body was grinding against hers as he tried to remove her clothes and she was trying to fight him off?
  2. If she can sign a letter opposing President Trump’s southern border policies, of course she’d accuse someone of sexually attacking her as a way to get back at him.
  3. What took her so long to all of a sudden remember this episode?
Those are just a few. Never having been the victim of such an attack, let me try logically to answer those questions:
  1. Who could forget?
  2. Because I can oppose a politician’s position without coming up with a sexual abuse lie as a way to get back at him and ruin my life in the process
  3. Traumatic events have traumatic effects and she remembered this alleged attack long before the last few months
But this is what it’s come to in our society. Over the last few days at least one Facebook friend has been posting whining about the information coming out on Kavanaugh, even the more ridiculous left-wing media stuff, and snarkily responding about what teenage boys do or probably did as if that makes it okay. (I once was a teenage boy. I never tried to rape someone.)

I believe the left-wing media as much as I believe the right-wing media – they angle stories to appeal to their readerships, be they on the left or right. They want clicks. They want eyeballs. They care less about the truth and fairness. than they care about clicks.

And for those who say in response “oh yeah, what about CNN or The New York Times?” I say…Lord, really? If you really think men and women sit around the Times and CNN all day and make up stories to further a political agenda…then there’s no use trying to get you to open your mind to Dr. Ford possibly telling the truth. You’re too far gone already. And, I don't believe they do that at Fox either. I think Fox's problem is the talking heads they have pretty much support Trump, and that's where the misinformation comes from. The same may be said at the other cable news networks -- but for all of them, that's talking about folks paid to give their opinions. The people paid to get the news try to do it as fairly and accurately as they can. And, yes, they do make mistakes.

And readers such as this Facebook friend pick it up and repeat it. All the while not thinking, apparently, for one minute that maybe Dr. Ford is telling the truth, just knee-jerk being against her. If she is telling the truth, do you want a man who attempted to rape a 15-year-old, whatever his age was, on the Supreme Court? Do you want a man who lied about it to the U.S. Senate while testifying to be approved to the Supreme Court?

I don’t know who is telling the truth here. I tend to lean toward Dr. Ford because it’s hard for me to believe anyone would put herself out in public with this information for a bunch of reasons ranging from what she knew would happen – death threats, threats against her family,  attacks on her integrity. Why ruin your life to try to ruin another’s?

Maybe it was someone else who attacked her but it’s hard to believe she’s making up the attack. Because … well, why? And not liking Donald Trump, I’m sorry, is not a good enough reason. Who would do that and for what purpose? To stop a Supreme Court nominee knowing that even if Kavanaugh withdraws, the next nominee likely will be more to the right of center than he is? It just doesn’t make sense to make up this type of story.

Therefore, it needs to be investigated.  The accusation cannot be ignored. And if that stalls a vote on a lifetime appointment, so be it. I'd rather we not confirm someone who doesn't deserve to be confirmed. And if I were Judge Kavanaugh, that's what I'd want to. No cloud over my lifetime appointment. 

And if it isn't appropriate for the FBI do conduct that investigation (though I don't know why not) then hire outsiders to do it. One named by the Democrats and one by the Republicans, if necessary.

I have to/want to believe there are enough people in this country – from the left, right and center -- who want to get to the bottom of this. 

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Did Woodward and the anonymous author do enough?

9/6/2018

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The one-two punch of Bob Woodward’s new book and an anonymous senior administration official’s op-ed in the New York Times, has President Trump on his heels as he searches forWoodward’s sources and the name of the rogue op-ed writer.

Time wasted but that’s up to the President.

Woodward is regarded as a responsible, experienced, reliable, capable and competent journalist, which he is. He says he conducted interviews with many-people-who-would-know things on tape, not that he’s giving up who his sources are. (But clearly Kellyanne Conway is one because we know she spent at least a lunch with Woodward and it can’t all have been discussing a presidential interview.) His book, according to news reports, ranges from talking about Trump’s instinct to assassinate Bashar al-Assad and his minions to people stealing decision memos from Trump’s desk to ward off what they consider bad decisions.

The likelihood is Woodward got most of it right but some wrong in his book.  His book also reinforces a lot of what we’ve been told by members of Congress, government officials and Trump’s friends about the president’s administration – that he runs it on instinct and without reading much about issues; that he makes decisions that are walked back sometimes the same day; that he watches lots of Fox news; and that he displays paranoia, among other things. After all, during the 2016 campaign when asked how he develops his foreign policy, Trump responded that he “watches the shows.” Whoever thought he was kidding now has nearly two years of him as president to know that was and is true. He is relying on talking heads rather than the best intelligence gathering machine in the world.

The anonymous “senior administration official” who penned the blockbuster Times op-ed is a huge development. First, the newspaper of record would never allow an anonymous op-ed without being certain the author truly speaks from first-hand experience. That bodes for it being a very senior White House aide (assistant to the President level) or a cabinet or deputy cabinet official, in my mind. The Times isn’t running a piece like that from someone they never heard of before.

That person’s name eventually will be discovered, I have no doubt; most likely by either a Times reporter or another media outlet’s reporting. That, though, matters less than what he or she said and what it means.

If I were in the position of that person, I would not have written an anonymous op-ed to get out the message that the union is safe because of people like me and others protecting it from a president who often is off the rails, trampling on the Constitution and making immature fun of foreign and domestic leaders.

Some friends, Trump supporters, say this person is being disloyal to the President if he or she is not carrying out Trump’s wishes and the person should resign.  To those friends I’ve said, the oath of office appointees take is to the U.S. Constitution, not the President. Trump tweeted “Treason?” last night about the op-ed’s author. No, Mr. President, treason is not taking issue with you. We live in the USA which means we have rights to speak our minds, protest and even oppose whoever the President is. In fact, that person may have committed anti-treason, if there was such a thing.

If I were the person who wrote the op-ed, though, I would have handed in my resignation and taken a cab to the Hill to report what I knew to the appropriate Congressional leaders of BOTH sides of the aisle, to tell them what a danger to our nation Trump is. And, I would have tried to organize this alleged network of protectors of the union to join me so the Hill could not ignore it. To force the Hill to do one of its responsibilities – oversight of the Executive Branch.

And if the Hill did nothing, then I’d go public.

Yes, Trumpsters, he was duly elected by the American people. No argument. But if you elect someone who you then learn is a fraud and ignores the Constitution or at least comes right to the edge of ignoring it, do you just accept that? Do you sit back and wait for the Big Mistake he can make or his tempestuous instincts? Or do you act and report first-hand knowledge to the appropriate authorities who are, in this case, the Congress.

There is no doubt there are women and men, appointed by the President, as nervous about his leadership as many of us are. We’ve seen Woodward do his always deep reporting to find out the truth and this anonymous op-ed author ring the clarion bell and then, apparently, return to his or her job and try to protect the county.  

For Woodward, that is what he does and he does it well.

For the anonymous op-ed writer, it’s not good enough. You sounded the alarm but that shouldn’t be enough to let you sleep at night for joining this corrupt administration.

Follow up and do something about it.


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    B. Jay Cooper

    B. Jay is a former deputy White House press secretary to Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He also headed the communications offices at the Republican National Committee, U.S. Department of Commerce, and Yale University. He is a former reporter and is the retired deputy managing director of APCO Worldwide's Washington, D.C., office.
    He is the father of three daughters and grandfather of five boys and one girl. He lives in Marion, Mass.

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