Committee votes to take Kavanaugh confirmation to the full Senate…
…and yet the foot-dragging moderates are now insisting on a short delay for a brief FBI investigation.
More:
Flake earlier had announced his support for Kavanaugh, but then disappeared from the committee room as lawmakers offered hours of statements on the proceeding.
When he returned to speak, he said he would vote to advance Kavanaugh in exchange for a one-week delay in a Senate floor vote on his nomination.
“I think it would be proper to delay the floor vote for up to but not more than one week in order to let the FBI to do an investigation limited in time and scope,” he said.
Flake was reportedly in discussions with Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and other members of the panel.
Flake said he was voting to advance Kavanaugh “with that understanding” and said he has spoken “to a few other members on my side of the aisle who support it as well.”
He said senators should do “what we can to make sure that we do all do diligence with a nomination this important.”
It’s highly uncertain that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will agree to delay the vote, which is on pace for Tuesday of next week.
As I’ve written many times before, the fact that the GOP has such a razor-thin margin in the Senate gives people like Flake (who is essentially a lame duck) the ability to wield disproportionate power. He—and Collins or whoever else on the right is part of this—is playing with fire, and he must know it, because if the GOP “moderates” betray the right on this one and prevent Kavanaugh from taking a seat on the Court, the fury on the right will be indescribable.
The idea of some sort of FBI investigation is absurd, and he also knows that. The FBI cannot possibly investigate something over which it has no jurisdiction, that occurred approximately thirty-six years ago with no time or place, in which the named witnesses all have already sworn under penalty of perjury that it never happened, and for which there is no evidence at all except either exculpatory evidence (the calendar, for example) or the testimony of an accuser who has given vague and contradictory statements.
My hope is that Flake et al are just looking for cover for a “yes” vote, so that they can say they bent over backwards to investigate and there was no there there. But I don’t trust any of them as far as I can throw them.
Oh no, not another week of this.
It could be cover and maybe a crowd calming move? All the Democrats I know (and virtually everyone I know is a Democrat) are acting scary insane about this.
Though no doubt there will be a media circus to whip people up even more. Who doesn’t enjoy the justice of a frenzied mob?
Jeff Flake has the look, if he wasn’t such a spineless wuss he could be a superstar in politics.
This just gives the Dems some more time to haul out more accusations and more delay. Flake and Murkowski just should own up and flip their party to D.
Here’s hoping your assessment is correct Neo. Try as I might I cannot figure out why Flake is doing all this. He’s trying to ingratiate himself to someone or something, I just don’t see what it is yet.
Flake & Coons! The same Coons that turned his young daughter over to the gentle ministrations of “slow” Joe Biden.
Is Flake hoping for a CNN contract after leaving the Senate?
If necessary, McConnell can have the FBI talk to Judge, Smyth, and Keyser over the weekend or Monday and report back that all three stand by their previous statements. What’s more to investigate? Ford contradicted herself on some small points, and the other accusations are preposterous.
Kate, you beat me to it.
FWIW, Today a female friend I’ve known since childhood, who is a hardcore progressive and been going batsh*t crazy since the election, just posted a picture on Facebook of a woman with a rifle dressed in combat gear. She described it as her new fall fashion look.
She is faculty at a prestigious college and once boasted that she refused to sit next to a female NRA instructor at a nail salon.
This is plain insanity. Jeff Flake is somehow both a gutless, spineless shell of a man and an opportunistic knave. He encounters a couple shrieking protestors and caves? How desperate is he for fortune and fawning as a “House conservative” post his Senate career?
That all being said, he’s not the core problem. The core problem is with Grassley and especially McConnell, constantly yielding to such petulance. I cannot believe they are so clueless, so ensconced in their bubble that they think an “investigation” will be of any benefit. It won’t provide any “cover”; it won’t sway any swing voters in swing congressional races and it sure as he’ll won’t temper even one screaming leftist. All it will do is provide the Democrat-media-entertainment complex even more time to inflame, agitate, attack, defame and lie.
Have the vote; make Flake go on record voting “no”. Challenge Collins and Murkowski as well. And…Manchin (locked in a tight Senate race In a very pro Trump state). Call their damn bluffs. There’s a chance Kavanaugh might go down, but I think all of the above Senators would save, except maybe Flake.
Neo keeps pointing out if the GOP majority were bigger, this nonsense wouldn’t be as common. That’s true to an extent. But beyond mere numbers, we need tougher politicians; we need more men and women who will stand fearlessly against the mob and say “no”.
FWIW, Today a female friend I’ve known since childhood, who is a hardcore progressive and has been going batsh*t crazy since the election, just posted at least a dozen hysterical posts about Kavanaugh on Facebook in an hour, including a picture of a woman with a rifle dressed in combat gear. She described it as her new fall fashion look.
She is faculty at a prestigious college and once boasted that she refused to sit next to a female NRA instructor at a nail salon.
Sorry about the duplicate posts, something is weird.
Words fail to describe the depth of the betrayal of our citizenry and our Republic by supposed Republicans Flake and Merkowski, who have to know that each and everyone of the allegations against Kavanaugh are fraudulent.
I wonder what the Democrats have offered Flake in return for the interference he is running–a well paid, high visibility position with a major think tank or university, an Ambassadorship or Cabinet appointment if they come back into power?
These two are giving aid to the Democrat’s machinations, designed to run out the clock and to–one way or the other–destroy Kavanaugh’s chances of being appointed to the Supreme Court, and you can be sure that this one week delay–if implemented–will be used by the Democrats to deploy even more accusers, or to set in motion some other new gambit to further delay an actual up or down vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination.
And really, after all we’ve seen in the last year or so–are we supposed to believe that the FBI is going to conduct a fair investigation?
We absolutely need to get rid of the 17th amendment.
Without it, we’d have a larger majority in the Senate.
We win state government elections and lose nationally funded senate seats that do not respond to our concerns.
Flake is retiring, he is looking for a lucrative future come 2019. Plus he enjoys the attention. It is that simple. He has no principles beyond money and attention. He be the tame Republican msm darling.
The next question is whom do we trust at the FBI these days?
I want to see Dr. Ford’s medical records. She’s waived physician/patient privilege already. For all we know ahe’sa diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, on thorazine maintenance at the time of her testimony- nobody asked her if she was on medication.
Also, I’d like to know if she’s made allegations of molestation in the past. It’s odd that her parents and siblings didn’t sign the letters of support that were produced. I’ve seen this professionally and it’s a red flag.
On top of that, I’d like to know if her recollection was enhanced by a therapist. California is a hotbed of enhanced recollection.
I believe Christine Ford is a very damaged woman, and she has been used by the Democratic Party mercilessly. I can only imagine what this imbroglio will do to her already-fragile psyche.
Damn them for it.
That is an easy questio Kate, absolutely no one. I am thinking the entire upper tier needs to be purged. The messiah corrupted the entire bureaucracy of the alphabet soup agencies and departments.
The named witnesses said said they have no recollection of the party, not that it never happened.
The calendar is a problem for Kavanaugh. One of the entries is a small party “for skis”, or brewskis, aka beer:
Ford recalled a small gathering that included Mark Judge and PJ Smyth. That’s two checks. She also recalled a fellow named Squi. Three checks. Who is Squi?
Someone Ford was going out with at the time. It’s also someone Kavenaugh knows well (“On 13 occasions, Kavanaugh refers to someone named “Squi” on his calendar. It’s the name that crops up the most.”)
It’s also the person Ed Whelan defamed.
Kavenaugh testified that he and Ford did not travel in the same circles. This appears to be false.
An FBI investigation could get to the bottom of these facts…get Squi on record, ask Whelan how he identified Squi. Did Kavenaugh tell him? How did Whelan know of Ford’s name before it was made public?
Manju, so the calendar shows an evening out with the guys for beer, and you think that’s the smoking gun?
All three of the party witnesses Ford named said they do not remember any such gathering. If it happened, presumably it included other people, not these, and Ford’s memory is faulty. Plus, her “lifelong friend” Keyser says she’s never met Kavanaugh and has never been at a gathering that included him, with or without Ford.
The vagueness of the timeline in Ford’s charges has apparently left some people convinced that no “precising” activity is possible. But as she offered some parameters, this is not really the case. Kavanaugh could, should he chose to do so, laboriously construct one of his own, as he has somewhat done with his diaries.
And by the way, I agree that it is simply incomprehensible that Rachel Mitchell never asked Ford just when she first became aware as a teen of who Kavanaugh was, and when she first met him prior, and how many times …
But the fact is that there are only 365 days in a year. This includes the year Ford was 15. Not every day is a potential contact day. And, as Ford has stated that this event occurred when she was 15, it should not be beyond the realm of possibility for Kavanaugh to eventually reconstruct an almost day to day itinerary for himself during the year she was 15, and thus to offer a virtually ironclad rebuttal to Ford’s charges. Recall that these are alleged actions which the left is calling felonious,and with regard to which, there is apparently no statute of limitations.
What the left have been celebrating therefore, as an escalation from an alleged drunken teen aged groping instance, to that of a sexual assault felony, may be just the thing that allows real legal recourse to the accused.
Further follow-up with the volunteers who have stated that they think they might have been the parties in question may provide a date or approximate date which could be used to investigate Ford’s whereabouts on that date and compare it to what Kavanaugh can reconstruct regarding his own whereabouts. If they appear to be full of baloney it will soon become apparent.
This admittedly laborious and uncertain to be successful process, might nonetheless leave Kavanaugh with sufficient grounds for legal action should he wish to pursue it. One would think that he would be able to file for discovery in a civil suit (once he has covered his ass by established his own firm timeline); and although he may have bigger fish to fry up than a dish of righteous legal retaliation, I cannot see where once having demonstrated that her allegations are impossible, he would not then be morally and legally justified in making it his lifes’ work – or hobby – to nail her malevolent and lying head to the legal wall.
If she is lying about him, of course.
But here is the thing about progressives which I have noticed over a period of many years … whether it is some problem they have with linear thinking or comprehension, whether it is that they think it insignificant as compared to feelings, or whether thy merely think that they “can get away with it” because its “wayback”, the timeline, and the absolute and irrefutable deductions which can be derived from the one-way operation of time, almost invariably, prove to be their enemies.
I have found this to be the case in repeated conflicts with leftists. Both when it came to their positing historically dressed up claims, as well as when they had leveled charges of my making unfair or unfounded criticism.They just seem for some reason to exist in an ahistorical cloud.
There are very few non analytical “ontological” facts which can per se be used to transform a valid argument into a sound one too, merely on the basis of the fact that time operates akin to one of the laws of thought, such as the law of the excluded middle: but placement in time just happens to be one of them.
You can in fact prove a negative using a timeline. But somehow the left simply cannot seem to grasp this fact.
The Democrat mob is braying.
What is to stop a Republican mob from starting to do the same thing?
And….Near the top of my “You CANNOT possibly make this Sh*t up” list for today is that slimy, sleazepot Feinstein expressing shock and frustration over Judge Kavanagh’s ANGER yesterday!!!
(*And MSM chorus toads all over TV and print, etc, GASPING, as well*)
Really….Seriously…?????
Kate is right about Flake. He wants to go for the ‘big bucks’ on CNN. From what I have been reading, since this Kavanaugh debate, Republicans have been looked at more favourable. For as much as I hate another week, I see three silver linings;
1) It will give the Republicans a better image with the public by ‘doing everything possible’ and calm the doubters about Kavanaugh,
2) It will provide another week of how truely ‘crazy’ and horrible the Democrats are behaving and scare off votes from the Independents (Independents make up as many people as the GOP and Dems combined);
3) It will remove any remaining cloud over Judge Kavanaugh.
Personally, I think he will get confirmed. The Dems would not like the alternative (a pro life judge). This will be settled soon enough and I think the result will be good for Judge Kavanaugh and conservatives.
I’m trying not to follow this too intensely (while still keeping informed), out of concern for my mental and emotional well-being, but even so, I haven’t been this disgusted since Obamacare was signed into law.
For a moment during this demented charade, I was almost grateful that I live in China – you know, with avowed communists, who at least are open about the rules they play by and don’t pretend to be saints and liberty-lovers while exercising tyranny. If they want to kill all Japanese people, they just say so. The honesty, if not the sentiment, is refreshing.
C.S. Lewis once said something about this that is more relevant now than ever.
I’ve had trouble seeing for some time now how America continues as a unified country; I see it even less today. How exactly can matters proceed as they are, with the country split so fundamentally that we’re not just two opposing political camps but more like two alien cultures struggling just to understand each other’s language? The differences go to the metaphysical level, to the depths where conversation can only elicit, as a famous philosopher once said, an incredulous stare.
It’s infecting me too (this should be the real #MeToo). I feel zero kinship with these demonic fanatics and want nothing – *nothing,* I repeat – to do with them. I’m done talking to them. I’m done pretending that because we both have American passports we’re somehow bound to respect one another. Essentially, I’m done treating them with any presumption of innocence, meaning, in this case, the presumption that they are rational animals interested in things higher than power, hatred, and destruction.
And that’s very close to saying that they’ve become sub-human in my intuitive, gut response to them. I’m just being honest here – I don’t think I would have been terribly upset if Kavanaugh had got up and punched Feinstein in the face. Sounding like a perfect Democrat, I would have thought: “Imprudent, but understandable.” That’s about where I am right now. It’s horrific, and I hate it. So much poison, so much bile, so much venom – suddenly unleashed, when I struggled my whole life to keep the festering side of me at bay.
Something is very wrong when Kyle Reese’s words about The Terminator seem to me an apt description of the average Democrat:
“Listen, and understand. The Terminator is out there. It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.”
I can at least say that in my own case I didn’t start this. The Democrat side of my family has treated me like a sub-human since I made it clear I was conservative fifteen years ago. My friends – “friends” – have felt comfortable describing my beliefs as evil to my face. Academia and the media have echoed them. Now it seems they’ve almost got what they wanted: a monster.
I hope at least I’m still capable of thinking clearly, of reasoning myself out of much of my animus, but the fact that it’s there at all, that it requires effort for me simply to accord fellow citizens the presumption of not being possessed by devils, is itself a telling sign.
Understand that I’m not trying to justify this or recommend any of this as a sound comportment – I’m saying, in the spirit of self-analysis (and confession), that this is what happens when a people fractures as decisively as we have. I see the incessant stream of vomitus from the left on Facebook and everywhere else and it affects me physically; I want to throw up. It’s like facing something so comprehensively detestable that your jaw just drops while you choke on your repulsion and can’t find ten words to describe it, since only a million will do.
And again, when the break is that clean, why bother trying?
One of two things will happen: a naive party will still behave as though trying has a point, and the less principled party will take power and refuse to relinquish it (perhaps after some civil conflict); or both parties abandon what’s futile anyway and the country recognizes formally what is already a fait accompli. I do not see a third way.
Are we going to suddenly convert fundamentalist Muslims to a moderate, liberal worldview? I’d say the chances are even smaller with the Alinskyite cult.
Jeff Flake can go to hell – literally. Thus speaks my gut.
why didn’t stupid Trump just order the FBI to open investigation 2 weeks ago? the investigation would have been completed by now. why did GOP wasted two weeks lying about FBI not having jurisdictions over state matters or making other preposterous and circuitous excuses to needlessly delay assigning FBI to investigate into the accusations. Trump should have ordered the probe right after FBI threw it back to WH. Ford is a sociopath, look at how she intentionally hide her eyes with glasses, look at how she hide her face with her hair, all her dirty secrets would have been dug up by now if FBI started the probe two weeks ago.
Why care so much about getting a confirmation before the midterm like we are definitely going to lose? It changes nothing when we win back the senate this midterm. If Conservatives don’t show up to win the midterm they don’t deserve this seat. Sorry for being an opinionated cup half full kind of guy.
Call for information please! Two questions:
I have read that the new Supreme Court term begins Monday (10/1), and that Kavanaugh has to be seated before then or he cannot be confirmed at all.
I also read that there is a “window” of three months which opens at the date of the nomination and closes three months later, after which the nomination fails by default, and that the window actually would close last week (or possibly today, but that’s the way I remember the statement).
Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?
Call for information please! Questioning veracity of two claims:
I have read that the new Supreme Court term begins Monday (10/1), and that Kavanaugh has to be seated before then or he cannot be confirmed at all.
(This makes no sense to me.)
I also read that there is a “window” of three months which opens at the date of the nomination and closes three months later, after which the nomination fails by default, and that the window actually would close last week (or possibly today, but that’s the way I remember the statement).
Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?
Julie near Chicago, I am no expert, but I really don’t think either of those things is true. I think they may have been political calculations rather than statements of actual rules.
Merrick Garland’s nomination, for instance, just hung out there for months. It didn’t move because McConnell declined to move it. I wonder, if Clinton had won, if they’d have confirmed Garland before January to avoid a worse nomination from Clinton.
Dave on September 28, 2018 at 9:15 pm at 9:15 pm said:
why didn’t stupid Trump just order the FBI to open investigation 2 weeks ago?
* * *
Because it would have been completed by an organization that has (1) been investigating him for 2 years with nothing to show; (2) is staffed top to bottom with people who hate Republicans; (3) is known to be led by people who have lied under oath.
That FBI?
Besides which, the prerogative to ask for an FBI investigation was the Senate committee’s, not Mr. Trump’s, and they (1) didn’t know they needed one until 2 weeks ago; and (2) also have been burned by the FBI.
The responsibility to INSIST on an investigation was Feinstein’s, and she deliberately did not do so.
I suspect because she knew that it would exonerate Kavanaugh.
Do you think any Dem senator reallybelieves Ford’s allegations are true?
It is all theater at their level. The FBI won’t look too hard unless they know what answers they are supposed to find, and if they do somehow exonerate Kavanaugh, the Dems will not accept the results.
I hate to say I don’t trust the FBI to be impartial in this, but we have seen how easy it is for law enforcement at all levels to skew an investigation to one side or the other, even without displaying blatant corruption.
Now, if Ted Cruz was allowed to tell them exactly what to look for, could select the agents he wanted, and had access to all the working papers….
Thanks, Kate. I know that Supremes have been confirmed after the term began, which is why I was suspicious of that one. Thanks for reminding me about Garland.
I really appreciate your reply. :>)
Kate on September 28, 2018 at 9:56 pm at 9:56 pm said:
… I wonder, if Clinton had won, if they’d have confirmed Garland before January to avoid a worse nomination from Clinton.
* * *
Maybe, maybe not.
A Clinton win would have also shifted the Senate and maybe the House majority (logical consequences), and she would have gotten Garland confirmed in January because it would have been tacky to pull him and substitute someone else. So, the Reps might have sought some good will (hah) by “doing the right thing” — but it wouldn’t buy them any favors from the Dems, as they have always demonstrated.
And she would now be filling Kennedy’s seat (assuming he retired anyway), and any others that come open.
Which is why I voted Trump.
I am furious that Flake threw away all the gains made by Kavanaugh, Graham, and Grassley — who continuously refuted the calls for FBI investigation for good reason — and am tempted to send Flake a copy of one of my favorite books about World War I — Colossal Blunders of the War.
https://www.amazon.com/Colossal-Blunders-William-Seaver-Woods/dp/1258520974
https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/09/28/cave-in-senate-judiciary-committee-asks-to-have-supplemental-investigation-by-fbi-on-kavanaugh/
“I saw one commentator ask if there was information in Christine Blasey Ford’s brain that could only come out if the FBI questioned her. (I would post a link to that if I could find it again.) The demand for FBI involvement has been so insistent as to seem deranged.
The accepted wisdom is that this is about slow-rolling an FBI investigation to delay the Kavanaugh confirmation, and probably make use of the extra time to lob new allegations into the mix through the media or politicians.
But it’s quite possible the emphasis in that analysis is misdirected. Instead of “delay,” we should be focusing on “FBI.”
Because if you want to introduce evidence-free allegations and have them taken seriously, you want to get them into an FBI case file. Tell people an “FBI investigation” turned something up – even if it’s a wholly uncorroborated and uncorroborable statement in a Form 302 – and it sounds more like something is there. More, at least, than uncorroborated statements filtered through media outlets, ambulance-chasing lawyers, and politicized delays by a senator’s office.
That was the whole premise of the Russiagate method, which used Christopher Steele and his dossier to inject “information” into an “FBI investigation.”
…
The Steele-to-Ohr-to-FBI triple play has been busted up now, so I’m not suggesting the organized activist left is eyeing that particular method (much less that route).
But consider that the maneuvers of the Russiagate infrastructure have kept the public square politically immobilized for nearly two years now – even though they have led to few concrete political outcomes. That, for the folks orchestrating it, has been the payoff: the paralysis.
In that regard, it’s very true that if the FBI finds no basis, even with new “information,” for building or referring any kind of case against Kavanaugh, the Bureau probably won’t do anything that would launch a proceeding against him.
But the Senate Democrats don’t need a formal proceeding. They just need the contents of any new 302s leaked to the media, and attributed to an FBI investigation. The Democrats, the media, and organized activist groups will do the rest.
That has been the hallmark of Russiagate: keeping the narrative going through leaks, because “FBI-washing” it convinces enough people that what’s going on is due process of law.
…
The target audience for this isn’t really even the American people, at this point. It’s the swing votes in the Senate: the weak links of Flake, Murkowski, and Collins. Red-state Democrats like Manchin and Donnelly, who are reportedly ready to vote for Kavanaugh right now, are also likely to be peeled off by adverse “information” purporting to come from the FBI.
Remember, the Russiagate method didn’t achieve what it has by convincing you of anything. It targeted actors in Washington, from gun-decking the FISA court to orchestrating the moment for Rod Rosenstein to appoint a special counsel in May 2017.
An FBI-involved “investigation” of allegations against Brett Kavanaugh doesn’t have to convince you either. It just has to alarm a handful of wavering senators.
…
In closing, I’m reminded of a story recounted by late historian Barbara Tuchman in her book about the beginning of World War I, The Guns of August. At a military conference before the war started, a British general asked his French counterpart what size of British force the French needed, if war came, to make their initial defense viable. The French general responded: “One British soldier – and we will make sure he is killed.”
As the Kavanaugh confirmation remains just out of reach, due to Republicans’ dithering, the Democrats may well have found their French-general’s formula for the size of delaying action they need. One accuser against Kavanaugh – if they can make sure he or she is interviewed by the FBI.”
due to Republicans’ dithering,
No one is dithering. Flake is jerking everyone’s chain, because that’s how he rolls. Murkowski is enabling him.
Although it may just be vanity, some savvy person might start generating hypotheses about what angle Flake is working here. The won sure thing is that it has something to do with improving the future of Jeff Flake.
The failure of the Republicans to follow-up while the enemy is on the run will totally vitiate all of the momentum gained by Judge Kavanaugh’s testimony and Senator Graham’s last-minute cavalry charge.
If he were to now tell the Committee that he was willing to fight, but not to be their sacrificial scapegoat, I would lament his decision but support it.
Stodgy old Christian conservative that he is, he probably would not flip them off as he said it, but if he did — stodgy old Christian conservative that I am — I would stand up, applaud, and yell
“damn straight.”
The failure to follow-up while the enemy is on the run will totally vitiate all of the momentum gained by Judge Kavanaugh’s testimony and Graham’s last-minute cavalry charge.
If he were to now tell the Committee that he was willing to fight, but not to be their sacrificial scapegoat, I would lament his decision but support it.
Stodgy old Christian conservative that he is, he probably would not flip them off as he said it, but if he did — stodgy old Christian conservative that I am — I would stand up, applaud, and yell
“damn straight.”
The question was asked, “What “tipping point” would need to be reached to start “civil war 2?”
If Kavanaugh is not confirmed.
Because if that’s not enough…if this level of bastardry & buggery doesn’t get someone tarred & feathered…Then we might as well just ask Maduro to come run the US because that’s what’s next.
“Sorry about the duplicate posts, something is weird.”
I know– it’s the wee hours of the 29th, and this is the first time all day I’ve been able to connect to Neo’s blog. I was beginning to wonder whether Jeff Flake’s brain disorder had spread to the Internet.
jeff flake a mormon was confronted by two women rape survivors pleading with him not to vote for kavenaugh as they desperately tried to keep the elevator door from closing on their lives.
a FBI probe is useful in corroborating things Kavanaugh testified yesterday.
As compelling his opening speech was many of the things he said regarding the yearbook was uncorroborated, having FBI interviewing those the editors of the yearbook and his fellow students would be helpful in supporting Kavanaugh’s claims. We can’t just take his words.
Well, they want an FBI investigation and the President has ordered an abbreviated one, so let’s give ’em one.
First person to be questioned under oath is Dr. Ford, with a little reminder of what happens if you lie under oath to a Federal agent. If this is a legit investigation, Ford should be worried.
See, I’m hoping that this whole revolting show trial has opened a lot of eyes, has turned even more people off of the Democrats, has prompted even more former Democrats to #Walkaway.
(BTW, I’ve looked at a lot of #Walkaway videos, and these walkaways seem like a good lot, many of then above average, intelligent people who have just had enough of the Democrat’s lies, viciousness, and violence, their lack of any platform but hate, and have just walked away.)
If this is so, the Democrats are going to lose, and lose big in November and, if that happens, President Trump is going to have a lot more room to maneuver, and current day obstacles could be removed rather rapidly.
P.S.—I see various violence prone Leftist groups are announcing that they are gearing up for violence as the next stage of this Kavanaugh drama.
I’m sure hoping that the authorities come down on them like a ton of bricks—maybe declare some of these groups to be domestic terrorists— but past history says they won’t.
Finally, if this is what happens when Kavanaugh is nominated, what can we expect when it comes time to replace Justice Ginsburg, our own Baba Yaga?
That Ford woman is a sociopath, she is going to get exposed, she was very secretive about a lot things, holes are everywhere in her stories. Also I could be wrong but it seems like ironically the Garrett guy Whelan mentioned had a younger brother that Ford dated, I could have interpreted it wrong because mitchell was such a lousy questioner but the FBI can look into that now.
‘Fraid alot of the crap we’re seeing is right out of Alinsky 101.
Ladies of the Left: So, after 50+years of Women’s Lib..You’re now whining, victimized Snowflakes?? Ahhh….Right.
The males of the Left are literal masses of: VTC*
*VAST Testicular Concavities*
As a starting point, I would be interested in knowing:
1) If the named country club has records from that time, of membership and especially of daily signed in and out activity (which was fairly common practice at the that time).
2) Where is the Safeway where Judge worked, especially in relation to Ford’s house. Can her mother verify that she ever shopped at that store’s location.
3) If a forensic analysis of Ford’s handwritten note reveals any inconsistencies.
4) If a forensic analysis of the July letter shows internal consistency (font type, size, grammar, etc.) or not.
5) If a forensic analysis of his calendar shows the age of ink imprint and consistency or inconsistency thereof.
6) Can an FBI interview of the individual who “introduced” Ford to Kavanaugh’s social circle, whom Ford would not name, clarify a potential timeline.
7) Are there any student videos of Ford teaching by which a comparison of public persona could be done.
8) Ford’s therapy notes, and any inconsistencies with her sworn statements.
9) Why Mitchell, as an experienced sex prosecutor, reportedly would not even seek a search warrant. What is Mitchell’s professional evaluation of her (deliberately truncated) interview with Ford.
I pray that the FBI will pursue these avenues and more, not just “re-interview” five people. I posted Thursday that I was reluctantly sympathetic with Ford, which was because I felt like I was being emotionally manipulated by her presentation. I have a few years counseling experience and I can usually pick up when someone is trying to do that. Kavanaugh’s presentation was raw and realistic, her’s seemed polished, with flashes of contrived.
I saw a great description of Feinstein this morning, from Wesley Pruden at the Washington Times: Cruella de Vil.
Ultimately, Ford will be more damaged by her TV appearance at the Judiciary Committee that she was by what happened 36 years ago.She should sue her lawyers for not telling her of Grasssley’s offer to send staff to CA to interview her privately.
She is a not too smart woman who has been primed for use as a tool to use against Kavanaugh. She has existed in a bubble for most of her life and has wanted to play a role in politics without getting her feet dirty. DiFI and her lawyers exposed her for the non-flying fool she is.
We have got to take on this #MeToo movement.It has become a way for non-victims to feel important. And we have to come up with a better definition of sexual assault. Looking at a woman’s boobs that she has exposed is not an assault. Telling a woman she looks good in a certain dress is not a sexual assault.Why don’t all these “victims” start giving girls lessons in modesty? Why don’t they start talking about relationships? They are the ones who make free sex the most important thing in life. They are destroying young women.
She got all evasive and excessively defensive whenever Mitchell raised her intensity in her questioning just by a little. Her voice was manipulative, it is like she intentionally spoken like a little girl to win sympathy. What a manipulative individual, anyone who believed she was credible needed to have their heads check (including Trump if he wasn’t just being diplomatic).
You know who else talked like Ford? Jodi Arias
kolnai
Your post and feelings are so spot on it takes my breath away. The post validates my feelings and thoughts.
The comment “Now it seems they’ve almost got what they wanted: a monster” is quite poignant.
There appears to be a kindred spirit out there. At least I feel better.
“confronted by two women rape survivors pleading with him not to vote for kavenaugh as they desperately tried to keep the elevator door from closing on their lives.”
They are paid operatives by Soros and were boasting about it on facebook. Where were the Capital cops ? Were they paid off too?
Michael –
Much appreciated, and I’m happy if my confessions provided any catharsis – or just commiseration. They’ll certainly bar me from public service forevermore.
Which is fine, because given how I was in high school and how many women I knew from then and after who turned out to be hysterical SJW maenads, I’d be painted as Literally HitlerCosbyKavanaugh in the public eye before I could so much as remind them that it’s DOCTOR HitlerCosbyKavanaugh, thank you very much.
(Let’s say they traced me down to my monicker here and read my comments – “AHA! See, he confessed – he even called it a ‘confession’ – and alluded to past racism and sexual misconduct!” This is the depth of current thinking about the unbelievable complexity of human life and behavior.)
Although not about the Kavanaugh hearings directly, I found this article to be an interesting read with those hearings in mind (Communism as sloppy theology).
A teaser quote:
. . . [Communism is] a kind of fanaticism that is ‘always certain that the enacting of a certain program will bring an end to societal dysfunction and injustice.'”
The link (H/T Instapundit)”
https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=11365
While I was mildly surprised when Flake voted for Kavanaugh out of committee, but should have not been surprised when the Flake and the Democrats continued their mantra of the FBI investigation. It was their best argument and, on the face of it, the most compelling.
The fact those directly involved had offered statements, it is true that sitting before a FBI agent for an interview does not have the same dynamic as a letter to the committee– under ‘threat’ of perjury or not.
What is the likelihood the Democrats will respect the one week timeline? I’m pretty certain I know the answer to that. It seems likely that a few of the ‘witnesses’ will be ‘unavailable’, a la Wisconsin Democrat state congressmen.
We’ll probably never know if Collins ever really intended to vote for Kavanaugh, since the likelihood of the one week deadline has about the same chance of being honored as squeaky Christine being honest about no knowing the Republicans offered to come to her for the hearing.
Two of those pesky minimal-but-nagging details:
1) it’s my understanding that the “witnesses” did not say that “it didn’t happen.” Rather, that they stated that they had no memory/recollection of such a party, or such an event as was described by Ford. As best I can recall from all my reading & watching the *entire* hearing, no one has ever suggested that Ford was making up her story out of “whole cloth,” but that something may have happened to/with her at some place and at some time, and that was awful and regrettable, but rather that Kavanaugh was NOT her attacker.
2) Over at Patterico’s Pontifications, Beldar has presented an explanation of why the committee members very deliberately used the phrase “under penalty of felony,” rather than “under penalty of perjury.” He also linked to a pdf copy of the Mark Judge counsel letter to the committee.
Beldar’s comment is at No. 247, here: http://patterico.com/2018/09/28/jeff-flake-ill-vote-for-kavanaugh/#comment-2155314
Having read Kolnai’s soliloquy (@8:29 pm, above), Michael’s response (@9:39 am), and the essay I linked to above (@ 10:59 am) I’d like to offer the following observation:
We grieve over the lack of rational thought on the left but we forget that as human beings we are fundamentally emotional rather than intellectual beings. IMO this is one of the reasons that the leftist attitude appeals to many people; it appeals to the fundamental emotions rather than to the intellect. Just think of the countless essays, comments and discussions today which delve into how we “feel,” and that includes all of us here and our conservative brethren.
Our side of the coin tempers those “feels” with intellectualism and rational thought, a heritage of the Enlightenment and that same Western Civilization which the left despises and decries. Even Kolnai’s comment above (with which I agree) and Michael’s response note how they feel as a conservative; so we are not immune either.
The left, however, has taken this attitude to an exponential degree. They are all “feel” like the villagers with torches and firebrands in the old Gothic horror movies or, like the hordes of southern Democrats at a lynching and yet we still wonder why we can’t rationally deal with this movement. IMO the time for rational thought is at an end. To fight in order to defend the fundamental tenets of our civilization is not abrogating our rational or moral responsibilities; to fight like them is not to be like them.
As for the Kavanaugh hearings, I must give Grassley and McConnell credit. IMO they have performed as well as they possibly could with their Flake, Murkowski, and Collins tied behind their back.
I, of course do not know what the final resolution will be, but keep in mind it ain’t over yet.
It just occurred to me that this fiasco bears some resemblance to a short story that I read long ago: The Ox Bow Incident, which I see was written by Walter Van Tilburg Clark. Anyone else recall that story?
http://a.co/d/bB94sO0
Replying to T above: I agree, this use of emotion as a type of authority is a striking and somewhat frightening thing. I don’t think I’m a terribly rationalistic sort of person–perhaps a little further toward that end of an emotion-vs-reason scale than the average person, but not that far. I’ve been a little shocked to find myself condemned for insisting on facts and reason in the face of passionate emotions. It’s basically mob psychology, which I have always loathed.
They might use mark judge against kavanaugh. Like using manafort’s convictions to make him making up incriminating stories about trump in exchange for lighter sentencing.
Stodgy old Christian conservative that he is, he probably would not flip them off as he said it, but if he did — stodgy old Christian conservative that I am — I would stand up, applaud, and yell
Again, he’s a Mormon. There’s a reason the Holy See has declared Mormon baptism invalid and classifies any links with the LDS not under the rubric ‘ecumenism’ but under the rubric of ‘inter-religious dialogue’.
Flake’s Mormon affliation may be a vector in his resistance to enforcing the immigration laws (I’ve seen the argument made) and may conceivably regulate his reaction to such situations. My own impression of him is that he’s the worst sort of sanctimonious White Knight. That isn’t a religious type, but a character type. White Knights are destructive because they cannot bring themselves to hold women accountable for anything, most notably their own daughters. (An extreme example of White Knight behavior would be the judge, defense attorneys, and prosecutors in the Mary WInkler case). If I had a youngster that age, I wouldn’t want him within 39 1/2 feet of Flake’s daughter.
Flake is retiring, he is looking for a lucrative future come 2019. Plus he enjoys the attention. It is that simple. He has no principles beyond money and attention. He be the tame Republican msm darling.
He’s got a problem. He’s not got a law or business degree or any adult work time in a field other than politics. Before he ran for Congress, he was a functionary of the Goldwater Institute, a 3d rate advocacy-and-policy shop. He’s what the disreputable Samuel Francis called a ‘career conservative’. He might be able to get a lobbying gig (Blanche Lincoln, no one’s idea of sharp, has had positions in lobbying firms), but he’s also managed to alienate people in recent years. A fellow I correspond with in Arizona has told me he was a satisfactory Representative, but once he graduated to the Senate he was in the business of providing a 2d vote for McCain, which is to say throwing a spanner into the works at inopportune times. He declined to run for re-election because his fundraising campaign to fight a Republican primary had imploded. My Arizona correspondent tells me that the Facebook page set up by his campaign committee was receiving brutal comments from Republican voters. Keep in mind Kavanaugh is deeeep in the Republican establishment. Any of the Bushes might have nominated him. Mitt Romney might have nominated him. Flake’s shivving Kavanaugh to stick it to Trump makes no sense, as the people most injured by this will be standard-issue Republicans, tricorn hats, and social conservatives. His behavior makes more sense if it be those people with whom he is angry, because those people are the Republican grass roots who told his re-election campaign to get stuffed.
Last night someone knock on my door at 6:00pm, through the door viewer I saw a young lady in her 20s. through the door I ask her what was her business there at my front door, she said she wanted to conduct a political survey with me. I presumed she was democrat, and I told her:
“Sorry, may i politely ask you to step away from my house now, I don’t feel comfortable being alone with a woman under this circumstance in fear of being falsely accused of rape by you, goodbye”
If women can refuse to be alone with a man citing fear of rape as an excuse, men should be able to do the same to women by citing fear of being wrongly accused of wrongdoings.
Pence is looking smarter and smarter.
There is an interesting story about Chrissy Ford’s absent relationship with her parents and siblings.
I suspect they think she is a nut.
Reached by phone on Tuesday, Ford’s father, Ralph Blasey Jr., offered a brief endorsement of his daughter. “I think all of the Blasey family would support her. I think her record stands for itself. Her schooling, her jobs and so on,” he said before hanging up. Moments later, after picking up the phone a second time, he added: “I think any father would have love for his daughter.”
There is a story there.
Art Deco on September 29, 2018 at 12:15 pm at 12:15 pm said:
Stodgy old Christian conservative that he is, he probably would not flip them off as he said it, but if he did — stodgy old Christian conservative that I am — I would stand up, applaud, and yell
Again, he’s a Mormon. There’s a reason the Holy See has declared Mormon baptism invalid and classifies any links with the LDS not under the rubric ‘ecumenism’ but under the rubric of ‘inter-religious dialogue’.
* *
Just to clarify, I am applauding Kavanaugh against Flake.
Flake’s actions do not stem from any LDS theology or teachings that I know of, having been a member for forty years now, but we have a lot of church-wide flexibility regarding political affiliation and behavior.
Harry Reid and Mitt Romney were both Mormons, and it would be hard to find two more different examples.
I don’t know anything about the senator personally, but most of the comments above echo what I know of him publicly.
Arizona will be well rid of him.
I just looked at Flake’s bio on Wikipedia and it is impressively conservative, but he should have honored his term-limit commitment back in the House.
Once you start excusing yourself as being too important to leave Congress, it’s only a matter of time before you become too important to cross.
I am sorry he has thrown away his reputation on the right, because he ought to realize that the Democrats are not acting in good faith.
FWIW, Brett Kavanaugh is not accused of molesting the two women in the elevator, and I detest this use of the individual to stand for the general.
Subjecting an innocent man to this kind of ordeal (and I mean that in the original medieval sense) will do their cause more harm in the long run, as has been pointed out by too many commentators to link here.
Mike K – couldn’t get your link to work, but it appears to be this story.
Lots of interesting information to ponder, with all the cautions about leaping to conclusions.
Interestingly, it says that Kavanaugh’s mother ruled in favor of the Blasey’s on the house case, although all the early reports on the right insinuated the reverse.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/christine-blasey-fords-own-family-has-been-nearly-silent-amid-outpouring-of-support/2018/09/26/49a3f4a6-c0d6-11e8-be77-516336a26305_story.html?utm_term=.2781f07f3cc3
ColoComment on September 29, 2018 at 11:55 am at 11:55 am said:
It just occurred to me that this fiasco bears some resemblance to a short story that I read long ago: The Ox Bow Incident, which I see was written by Walter Van Tilburg Clark. Anyone else recall that story?
http://a.co/d/bB94sO0
* * *
We watched is for High School English class, back in the late sixties.
Too bad it hasn’t been kept in the curriculum (wonder if there is a reason?)
See also this movie, from about the same era.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fury_(1936_film)
Fury is a 1936 American drama film directed by Fritz Lang which tells the story of an innocent man (Spencer Tracy) who narrowly escapes being lynched and the revenge he seeks.
Flake is an obscenity disguised as a semi-moral human.
Both movies were made before the reign of McCarthy (Ox-Bow in 1943, from a 1940 book — which I have a copy of), so they aren’t really push-back against McCarthy himself, but since the Democrats have cast themselves in the role of the House Un-American Activities Committee, that’s still karma at work.
https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/huac.cfm
The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having Communist ties. …More importantly, however, the questioning style and examination techniques employed by HUAC served as the model upon which Senator Joseph McCarthy would conduct his investigative hearings in the early 1950s.
* * *
FWIW, I watched two old congressional hearings last night, and the HUAC techniques are still alive and well among the Democrats, as we saw on Thursday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1QcjLSXMIw
(Carson doesn’t actually silence Warren, but he could have if that had been his rhetorical style. I would have voted for him if he had still been in the primary by the time our state voted.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxroXrjnzs0
(Diamond & Silk don’t shut down Sheila Jackson Lee either, but they made a better try at it. And nobody can claim any points for sex or race in that set-to.)
Cicero on September 29, 2018 at 2:15 pm at 2:15 pm said:
Flake is an obscenity disguised as a semi-moral human.
* * *
I wouldn’t go that far; Flake is probably sincere that he is “doing the right thing” but he is deluded about the Dem agenda, and this has gone past the place where any investigation can be unbiased — the time for that was the day after Feinstein received the letter.
I wouldn’t go that far; Flake is probably sincere that he is “doing the right thing” but he is deluded about the Dem agenda, and this has gone past the place where any investigation can be unbiased — the time for that was the day after Feinstein received the letter.
Only if he’s stupid. The FBI cannot resolve this matter if they’re unbiased or not, the allegation is inconsequential even if true, and if the Democratic Party wins this one with a blizzard of lies, there will be another blizzard of lies the next time a Republican president nominates a judge for a consequential seat.
The Oxbow Incident, which I watched a couple weeks ago, is an apt metaphor.
Advise and Consent is good background for this also.
Surprise witness before the Senate Subcommittee and all the machinations.
Dershowitz doesn’t think much of Ms. Mitchell’s performance as questioner: She clearly has no experience as a trial attorney. Video, about 1’47” in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaOz1z_jxg8
But he thinks a further FBI investigation is the best thing, even for Judge Kavanaugh.
.
Personally, I find AesopFan’s speculation above at 10:32 p.m. as to the oncoming onslaught to be credible and terrifying.
.
A few points about some of the statements here and there about the Web:
Statements of various people that they “have no recollection of” such a party or event seem to me quite reasonable on their part. It makes it much more difficult for the Disloyal Opposition to accuse them of lying than if they a claim that they specifically weren’t there.
It also seems to me quite wise to give no opening to Dims to claim that Ms. Ford was slandered by being called a liar, a manipulator, a “sociopath,” so forth. All that matters is whether the account she gives is true. Allowing the possibility, even the presumption of innocence that we insist Mr. K. be given, shows that the point is not to “get” her but rather to assess the truth of her claim. The conflicts in her own accounts as well as others’ contrary statements are actual evidence. So stressing that it is the truth of her charges, not claiming she has lied, is vitally important both to attest to our own lack of interest in hate-mongering and our practical exercise of the presumption of innocence.
Some do not find it credible that she would accurately remember the particulars of the incident — the alleged groping, the perps, the fear of being murdered — but not the surrounding details of time and place. But many others, including rape victims and psychologists, say that that is not at all unusual in memories of traumatic events.
People also do not find it credible that after such a horrible experience the girl would not tell her parents because she was afraid she’d get in trouble for drinking. Horsefeathers! She was fifteen at the time. Children have avoided mentioning that they’ve actually been assaulted, or even merely frightened somehow, out of such concerns. Personally, I think that would have been quite likely, if it had actually happened — regardless of the truth of her current charges.
Personally, I have no reason at all to doubt BK and no reason at all to believe CF’s charges against him. I am 100% in favor of confirmation, given all the positive statements I’ve seen (and heard — e.g. Prof. Richard Epstein’s strong endorsement in his podcast at “The Libertarian,” at hoover.org).
I’m going to respectfully disagree with some of the other posters.
Granted, further investigation is probably a waste of time.
Granted also, no investigation will satisfy the Dems – they CAN’T change their minds.
However, if there’s an investigation and they’re still not satisfied, they’ll appear even more hysterical than they already do – which plays to their base but not to swing voters. That will make a difference in the midterms.
Julie near Chicago:
I have long found Dershowitz to be a somewhat puzzling combination of extremely sharp and fair, and naive. He is naive about the level to which Democrats will go, naive about the FBI and what it has already done, he was naive about Obama and Israel for a long, long time—Dershowitz is just plain naive in many ways, and that’s how he manages to remain a Democrat.
As for the statements of the supposed witnesses, that’s a very standard way to deny so that at no point can you be accused of perjury. Lawyers virtually always advise people to use that form for their denials.
Surely, if the FBI knows on which side its toast is buttered (where its budget comes from), it will say that it cannot elucidate such a complex matter in only one week and needs more time to conduct a thorough inquiry.
And then “everyone” will agree enthusiastically, because if you cannot trust the FBI whom can you trust. FBI is above partisan political games. Deadlines are arbitrary and hint at a coverup attempt. In the interest of transparency, etc., etc..
Next will come the calls for an independent investigation. The FBI is part of the executive branch and does not have the necessary independence to investigate a member of the judicial branch, in service to the legislative branch.
So, a week or two from now: independent prosecutor, here we come!
Neo, that’s an interesting observation about Dersh. I must say that never occurred to me.
Thanks also for your observation about “Not that I recall” and similar statements. Makes perfect sense to me. I did think that Mr. Kavanaugh was being very lawerly when he kept reiterating that point.
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In a posting today you pointed out places where Dr. Ford herself said she hadn’t known for instance about the offer that the Judiciary would come to her if she desired. Yes, good points.
I surely wish Ms. Mitchell or the Republicans had drilled down on those claims.
Julie near Chicago on September 29, 2018 at 3:33 pm at 3:33 pm said:
….
Personally, I find AesopFan’s speculation above at 10:32 p.m. as to the oncoming onslaught to be credible and terrifying. .
* * *
It is indeed terrifying; I was quoting J. E. Dyer’s post, and she is a very credible analyst.
Ed Bonderenka on September 29, 2018 at 3:22 pm at 3:22 pm said:
The Oxbow Incident, which I watched a couple weeks ago, is an apt metaphor.
Advise and Consent is good background for this also.
Surprise witness before the Senate Subcommittee and all the machinations.
********************
Indeed. Allen Drury wrote some wicked good novels about D.C. (Or should that be: Allen Drury wrote some good novels about wicked D.C.?) 😉
ColoComment on September 29, 2018 at 11:29 am at 11:29 am said:
…
Beldar’s comment is at No. 247, here: http://patterico.com/2018/09/28/jeff-flake-ill-vote-for-kavanaugh/#comment-2155314
* * *
It’s actually #251; the comment system there is kind of “off” when you open a link in a new that.
I only go to Patterico these days if I know Beldar is on hand. Sure wish he still had his own blog active.
“that” should be “tab” and edit is not working along with the other problems today.
PS – Patterico’s fans found some good posts at Babylon Bee; this one was sadly much too believable.
https://babylonbee.com/news/confirmed-unpleasant-facial-expressions-now-admissible-as-evidence-of-guilt
“The moment the face-finder discovers an unkind looking facial expression, the FBI sends armored vehicles and SWAT to the perpetrator’s house and the person is convicted and locked up without a hearing. “When a person makes a bad guy face, you don’t need to do any more digging than that,” said FBI special agent Carl Germain. “They’re bad. Their face says it all.”
“We can’t believe we never thought of this before,” said chief adviser on the project, Annabelle Hanson. “If you think about it, it’s exactly the way the world works in cartoons. Bad guys make mean faces, and therefore they are bad. It turns out that really is all there is to it.”
FBI agents and law enforcement across the country say this new method has already surpassed the polygraph as an infallible way of detecting a person’s hidden guilt. Other new CSI techniques that are still in development include deciphering yearbook messages, retranslating twitter fumbles, and taking jokes completely seriously.”
With all due respect to our esteemed blogress: The problem is not the 17th amendment, it’s the 19th.
“It’s actually #251; the comment system there is kind of “off” when you open a link in a new that.”
How odd. I went in and out of PP’s post and the related commentary multiple times. And it was always at #247. I wonder if some comments were held in moderation and later released and inserted themselves before Beldar’s comment? Does that happen?
Yes, I was a loyal reader of Beldar’s blog in “olden times.” He briefly resumed during Harvey. I still have his blog in my bookmarks in the hope that he will be moved to again offer his legal insights on current events.
Fyi, Eugene Volokh has some interesting info re: the history of Maryland misdemeanor law. Here: http://reason.com/volokh/2018/09/29/maryland-misdemeanor-law
ColoComment on September 30, 2018 at 2:19 pm at 2:19 pm said:
“It’s actually #251; the comment system there is kind of “off” when you open a link in a new that.”
How odd. I went in and out of PP’s post and the related commentary multiple times. And it was always at #247. I wonder if some comments were held in moderation and later released and inserted themselves before Beldar’s comment? Does that happen?
* * *
Everything is possible on the internet.
Thanks for the link – I used to read Volokh regularly as well, but now Neo’s blog takes up all my energy!