Icon Let's honestly and as fairly as we can look at this Kavanaugh debacle...
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So, this promises to be yet another insane news week under President Trump. This is exactly how he wants it and "ripping the country apart" is exactly his goal. We elected a "reality TV star" and he is delivering the most insane reality TV show we have ever seen since he set foot in the White House.

So, let's try to rationally look at this Kavanaugh mess and sort out what is really going on.

First, what do the two sides want?

Republicans: They desperately want to confirm another Supreme Court judge prior to the midterm elections in November. This is why they are rushing things. They fear losing enough seats that they could lose the House and/or Senate. So, it is vitally important to them to quickly confirm somebody...it really does not matter to them who...just a warm body that has at least the general appearance of someone that would overturn Roe v. Wade to excite the base and they can claim as a "conservative" judge.

Democrats: They, of course, would like to delay confirming a Supreme Court judge until after the midterm elections in the hope they do actually pick-up enough seats to take control of the House and/or Senate. Their problem is they have no power to prevent the Republicans from ramming Kavanaugh (or someone else) through. They do not have enough votes to stop anything so they are at the mercy of the Republicans.

Now let's look at the nominee:

Brett Kavanaugh- First, how did this guy end up a nominee for the Supreme Court? Trump had no idea who this guy was and he did not even appear on Trump's original list of people he would select from to pick a Supreme Court judge. The claim is that Kavanaugh ended up being the choice because it was explained to Trump that Kavanaugh was extremely supportive of the idea that you can't bring charges against a sitting president. It was then that Trump surprised people by adding Kavanaugh to his list. Did everybody on the Republican side like this pick? Actually no, they did not. Of all people Mitch McConnell asked Trump not to nominate Kavanaugh and the rumor is McConnell really begged not to have the guy be the nominee. Why? Well, because McConnell knew about Kavanaugh and his checkered past and the long paper trail he had amassed working for people like Bush and Ken Starr and saw issues that could come up during the confirmation process. McConnell was looking for a guy they could speed through the process and have on the court before the midterms. He saw Kavanaugh could delay things. And now he has. It's pretty likely that McConnell was not the only Republican that knew about and did not want to see Kavanaugh nominated. Secrets not ever being secrets in Washington. Kavanaugh was also the guy that wrote out a series of sexually explicit questions for Ken Starr during Bill Clinton's Monica Lewinsky scandal that Starr refused to ask. Brett insisted that these "tough questions" had to be asked to show just how much Slick Willy had disgraced the office of the president. At the time Republicans and Starr thought Kavanaugh's questions were nuts and so they were never used. I mean Starr was not going to pose a question to a sitting president in a public hearing about how many times he "ejaculated" into Monica's mouth. It also put on full display his highly partisan leanings which he showed again in his crazed outburst in that insane hearing last Thursday. The two guys the Republicans preferred Trump choose between were Raymond M. Kethledge and Thomas M. Hardiman. Trump being Trump he, of course, chose the guy that would create the biggest issues. Hence, we've got Weepy Brett.

So, what about the allegations of sexual assault:

First, keep something in mind here, this is not a trial and is not about finding somebody guilty. If this were being argued in a court of law it would likely get thrown out because these events took place so long ago no physical evidence is available. So, what this is about is determining if these allegations are credible and if they are should Kavanaugh continue to be considered for the Supreme Court.

So, we are dealing with a much lower bar than would be required to "prove Kavanaugh guilty" in a court of law.

The Republicans know this and so their spin on this will continue to be "in a court of law he could not be found guilty" therefore these allegations should be ignored.

The Democrats will continue to say "The question is not could he be found guilty but should we consider this man for a spot on the Supreme Court when these allegations exist?"

So, here lies the big problem. The Democrats are correct that this is not about finding Kavanaugh guilty but do the allegations raise enough questions about him that he should be withdrawn as a candidate.

The answer is they do but that answer does not matter unless at least a few Republicans agree...because the Democrats do not have the votes to block ANY Supreme Court appointment.

What about the FBI investigation?:

It is both limited in scope and short. Also, I am searching for confirmation of this but supposedly Kavanaugh will not be interviewed in it because when Republicans sent in a list of who should be questioned Kavanaugh and Doctor Ford were not on it. There is a very good reason for Kavanaugh not to be on the list of people to be interviewed by the FBI...if he lies to the FBI and gets caught that's a problem.

Here's the other issue, whatever the FBI turns in is not likely to add much to what we already know and what we already know seems not to be enough to change the minds of several Republican senators.

So, unless somebody like Mark Judge states he did witness this attack then there is not really going to be a dramatic "smoking gun" coming out of this and the bar Republican senators have set is they won't budge without that dramatic "smoking gun."

What about Trump?:

For Trump no matter what happens this is all a massive win. He is the one person that is benefits here. If Kavanaugh goes down he will use that as motivation for his base and as it is he is already using it as motivation for his base. If Kavanaugh gets confirmed also a win for Trump.

So, this is exactly the kind of situation Trump loves...one in which no matter what happens he wins. Even if he were to withdraw Kavanaugh he wins because then he looks like he is being generous to the Democrats. It's win, win, win for Donny and he loves that he is tearing the country apart with this.

–--
'The only way to avoid getting crushed by absurdity, is to humbly include the absurd in our calculations.'
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