Sex, Lies and the Supreme Court, Part 2

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-10 Friday (that's 11 Republicans to ten Democrats) to send the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh as the next Supreme Court justice to the full Senate.  As suggested by the committee, President Donald Trump has ordered a one week investigation by the FBI to check out charges of sexual assault against Kavanaugh.  This is what Democrats, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and others have wanted all along.

Most of America watched Thursday as Dr. Ford was calm and collect (even though she said she was terrified) in describing as best she could about the ordeal she said she had one night in the 1980s with Kavanaugh, as viewed by stone faced male GOP senators who let a female prosecutor from Arizona ask questions for them.  When it was Kavanaugh's turn, he behaved less like a potential justice than an aging, overgrown frat boy who was caught with his pants down to the Democratic senators who questioned him.  Republicans like Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina were either outspoken or deferential in their defense of Kavanaugh.

This was like watching an episode of "Law & Order:  Special Victims Unit"  (now in its 20th NBC season).  Both make you feel like taking a shower afterwards.

Now that the TV show is over, the GOP-controlled Senate will take at least a few minutes to do their due diligence on Kavenaugh once the FBI gets done with him before officially confirming him.  With the November elections looming and Democrats poised for a comeback (if you believe the polls), the GOP wants to leave a lasting conservative legacy on the Supreme Court before heading out the door.

For Christine Blasey Ford, this reluctant role model who chose to speak out will be remembered no matter how this turns out.  For Brett Kavanaugh, he will be the Supreme Court justice whose every decision will be influenced by what has happened to him in the past few weeks, should he be confirmed.  For the rest of us, we have a lot of soul searching to do.

UPDATE (10/8/18):  Kavanaugh has been sworn in as justice following a 50-48 confirmation vote in the Senate, which followed an FBI background check whose scope was limited by the GOP and the White House.  An angry country now looks to the elections in November for payback.  It might take more than votes to salve the wounds.

Sex, Lies and the Supreme Court

We live in a world where it it now possible for a woman who was sexually assaulted at a younger age to wait until many years later to take down her male tormentor, who in the meantime has become rich and powerful and is on his way to bigger things if his past didn't catch up to him.

President Donald Trump's nominee for Supreme Court justice, Brett Kavanaugh, is on the fast track to be confirmed by a Republican Senate in spite of efforts by pesky Democrats to derail the nomination on the grounds of (A) being the President's toady, and (B) the lack of real information about his qualifications.  Other than that, why the rush?

Enter Christine Blesey Ford, a psychologist and university professor from California.  She alleges that while in high school in the 1980s, Kavanaugh held her down and raped her at a party.

Enter Deborah Ramirez, a social worker from Colorado who was once Kavanaugh's classmate at Yale, claiming she unwittingly touched his exposed penis during a drinking game.

Suddenly, Kavanaugh's fast track nomination is coming off the rails.  Both women (and maybe others) want the Senate Judiciary Committee to hear them out, and that could happen before the end of this week.  Kavanaugh has been busily defending himself by denying everything, pointing fingers at the "vast left-wing conspiracy" that seem to be pulling the strings.

You might wonder why Ford, Ramirez and others chose to risk their lives and careers at this late hour over something that may or may not have happened decades ago.  It's for the same reason women who have been in a similar situation found it difficult to make their case to authorities:  No one believes them.  Their tormentors threatened them.  It's her word against his.  Volumes of so-called "rape kits" are either unexamined or unopened.  And so on and on.

Anyone here remember Anita Hill?  Back in 1991, she testified in front of an all-male Senate Judiciary Committee about how she was sexually harassed by then-nominee Clarence Thomas in graphic detail.  Riveting and salacious stuff for the era prior to Bill Clinton's affair with an intern and Trump's dalliances with porn stars, but it didn't matter.  Thomas was confirmed shortly after he declared the whole process a "high tech lynching".  He still serves as a Supreme Court justice.  Two of the Republican members of that committee--Senators Orrin Hatch and Chuck Grassley--are also deciding Kavanaugh's fate.

This is what Ford, Ramirez and other women who have yet to come forward have to face.  No matter how emotionally compelling their testimony to the Senate committee might be, Trump and the GOP are going to make damn sure Kavanaugh takes his seat inside the Supreme Court chambers.  There he can exact his revenge by helping rule against the progress women and others have made in the past few decades.

Whatever happens, let's all see how this plays out in November and beyond. 

The Not-So-Marvelous Emmys

The Television Academy saluted its best at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards Monday in Los Angeles against a backdrop of the rise of streaming channels, an intense dislike of President Donald Trump, questions of whether Hollywood is really all that dedicated to diversity, and the continuing sacrifice of prominent but allegedly lecherous males to the #MeToo movement--the latest victim being Les Moonves of CBS.

HBO and Netflix both had 23 Emmy winners. HBO's best included "Game of Thrones" for best drama, Peter Dinklage of "GOT' for best supporting actor in a drama, Henry Winkler and Bill Hader of "Barry" as best supporting actor and actor (in that order).   Thandie Newton won a Best Supporting Actress in a drama nod for "Westworld". Netflix's limited series western "Godless" won Emmys for Merritt Wever and Jeff Daniels in supporting roles, while "The Crown" notched up a Best Actress in a drama tally for Claire Foy.  Also in the limited series category, Regina King won Best Actress for the drama "Seven Seconds".

But it was "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" on Amazon's Prime service that took home five Emmys, including Best Comedy, Best Actress in a comedy for Rachel Brosnahan, Best Supporting Actress for Alex Borstien, and writing and directing nods for the show's creator Amy Sherman-Palladino.

Some of the other Emmys went to: "The Assassination of Gianni Versace" for Best Limited Series, including Darren Criss for best actor in that category.  Matthew Rhys of "The Americans" won for best dramatic actor.

The three-hour Emmy telecast on NBC, co-hosted by Colin Just and Michael Che of "Saturday Night Live", felt like an extended episode of the show.  Or should we say the second half of the show, which usually features the weakest material?  What, Jimmy Fallon or Seth Meyers weren't available?  Also, it would have helped if they had used graphics for the winners while they made their acceptance speeches.  Not many of us know who these people are, or what show they represent.

What will be remembered--if at all--from these Emmys were a video of the late Aretha Franklin singing "Amazing Grace" during the In Memoriam segment (which inevitably will lead to quibbles over who was left out), and a marriage proposal from the guy who won for directing the Oscars to his girlfriend.   Yes, she accepted.

To sum it up, "Mrs. Maisel" had a marvelous evening.  The Emmys did not.

Random Thoughts: Playing Catch Up

OK, we've been away for awhile.  What did we miss?

John McCain (1936-2018)  

The Arizona senator died just a day after refusing any more treatments for his brain cancer.  While being hailed as a "war hero" who spent much of the Vietnam conflict as a guest of the Hanoi government, and as one of the few Republican critics of President Donald Trump, McCain was also responsible for being part of the Keating Five during the savings and loan scandal of the 1980s, and for choosing Sarah Palin as his 2008 presidential running mate.  Neither Trump nor Palin were invited to McCain's memorial services, where former President Barack Obama (his '08 opponent) and daughter Meghan McCain delivered powerful eulogies that also served as rebukes to That Man in the White House.  John McCain was 82.

Palace Revolt?

It seems that those remaining staffers who still work for the White House have been scrambling to keep Trump from doing more harm than he already has, even to the point of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would remove a President for being mentally unfit to serve.  That's the vibe we've been getting from the information that's been coming from Bob Woodward's just-released book "Fear--Trump In The White House", and from a New York Times opinion column by a senior official who wishes to remain anonymous.

The President's response has been nothing short of predictable.  He accused Woodward, who has won awards for his coverage of every President since Richard Nixon, of being a bad reporter and has called the book "fiction".  He has also demanded a Justice Department investigation into who actually wrote the Times article.

However many headlines that were created by Woodward's book and "Anonymous'" column, they still don't tell us a blessed thing that we didn't already know about this President.  The one thing we need to know is why he's still in office, and what are we going to do about it.

The Kavanaugh Express

Neither protesters, Democratic opposition nor cover-your-rear answers will stop Senate Republicans from putting Brett Kavanaugh on the fast track to become a U.S. Supreme Court justice.  There are the arguments that President Trump shouldn't be nominating justices while he himself is in legal hot water, and that all the information on Kavanaugh was released too late for Senators on the Judiciary Committee to get a handle on.  But that doesn't seem to matter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his gang.  They want a conservative-dominated court that could last to the end of this century, and by George, it looks like they're going to get one.


Trump's "Heckuva Job" on Puerto Rico

As another major hurricane is set to strike the East Coast, Puerto Ricans are slowly getting their lives back together after the fury of Maria.  President Trump recently praised federal officials for being "incredibly successful" in their handling of the U.S. commonwealth's situation.  Uh, slow responses on food and supplies?  Taking nearly a year to get back on the electrical grid?  Nearly three thousand dead, according to updated estimates?  Heckuva job, indeed.

UPDATE (9/13/18):  Trump now says that three thousand people did not die during the hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico, claiming it was all a Democratic party plot to make him look bad.  All right, if three thousand did not die, how many of them did?  If it's around 20, like you first claimed, that would have been remarkable.  Who knew statistics were subject to political interpretation?