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In line with the general forum rules, 'gravedancing' is prohibited here. If you're celebrating someone's death or hoping that they die, your post will get thumped. This rule applies regardless of what the person you're discussing has said or done.

Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

CookingCat Since: Jul, 2018
#255876: Sep 27th 2018 at 10:12:35 PM

Wheeler is already worse than Pruitt.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#255877: Sep 27th 2018 at 10:17:16 PM

This administration doesn't just scrape the bottom of the barrel, it scrapes through the bottom and into the dirt.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Shaoken (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Dating Catwoman
#255878: Sep 27th 2018 at 10:18:59 PM

I made the mistake of reading twitter comments regarding today's testimony and my faith in humanity is gone for the day. There are far too many people who think Ford is lying and that Kavanaugh has been the paragon of truth and virtue for the entire process. So for any American tropers you really do need to go out and vote in November this year and the next few years.

I don't suppose there is any good news coming out of US Politics today?

kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#255879: Sep 27th 2018 at 10:23:41 PM

[up]It's probably mostly diehard Republicans. And I already lost my faith in them in 2016.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#255880: Sep 27th 2018 at 10:27:19 PM

Welcome to rape culture. It's been a thing since...forever, really. It's only relatively recently that we've taken baby steps to address it.

Disgusted, but not surprised
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#255881: Sep 27th 2018 at 11:12:45 PM

It's the Sunk Cost Fallacy for a lot of Republican voters. They've put a lot of time, money, and energy into the idea they are the good guys and the Democrats are not only incompetent but outright malicious.

If Kavanaugh is bad then so is Trump for appointing him and the Republicans for supporting them both.

Then if that's true...what does that make those who are die-hard champions of both?

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Sep 27th 2018 at 11:49:35 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#255882: Sep 27th 2018 at 11:36:40 PM

At this point, can we even separate Republican voters from the politicians?

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#255883: Sep 27th 2018 at 11:47:00 PM

Frankly, I don't give a F... if this ruins Kavanaugh's life or not. Let's put aside the accusations and talk about integrity first. After all, that is the main feature a livelong appointment for the court which judges the constitution of any country should have.

In this case we have candidate which started his nomination with a blatant lie (there is no way that Trump vetted anyone as careful as he claims), already got caught lying under oath, and is now continuing and lie.

Even if this were a case of mistaken identity or shifted memory, his actions have effectively disqualified him for the job. Or they would have in any other democratic country which still has standards.

Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#255884: Sep 27th 2018 at 11:52:23 PM

@Hylarn: Have you actually read the platforms of Libertarian candidates?

The sanest one among them is Gary Johnson, and he thinks that the government can be "civilized" by arming the people with automatic weapons.

There'll be room for sane conservatives if-when the Republicans collapse (I have my doubts, though - the deplorables aren't going anywhere) but the Libertarians are not the proper flag for that.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#255885: Sep 27th 2018 at 11:53:33 PM

At the end of the day, I have No Sympathy because of different reasons. The Republican Party has no right to appoint him given their illegal delay of appointing a successor. The party of no respect for the law is now finding themselves in a optics nightmare because they have continually pushed awful misogynists with no respect for the law into positions designed to determine the law. Kavanaugh deserves a fair hearing but if no one believes him then he has no one but himself to blame for allying with such a detestable army of scumbags.

It's like if you're at a Neo-Nazi rally and a poor migrant worker ends up dead. Is it strange people view you as a suspect?

That's also BEFORE that we should treat any such accusation with the deepest respect.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Sep 27th 2018 at 11:53:35 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#255886: Sep 28th 2018 at 12:04:54 AM

On The Rachel Maddow Show today, she pointed out that Kavanaugh's behavior was a slip, and this kind of shouty, belligerent behavior has gotten him in trouble in previous vetting processes like this. Which is... interesting.

@PMC: He can't be prosecuted because of the statute of limitations. So literally, no one is trying to get him in jail because that would be a misuse of the law at this particular point in time.

It was a bit darkly hilarious to see Graham very angrily accuse Democrats of wanting to do what the Republicans themselves had already done. So hilarious I wanted to hit something. It's like, they already know that stalling works and they're desperately afraid the Dems will attempt the same thing and succeed just as handily.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#255887: Sep 28th 2018 at 12:21:48 AM

Which they should.

Is there any reason not to?

Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat is in full effect here.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
TheRoguePenguin Since: Jul, 2009
#255888: Sep 28th 2018 at 12:48:55 AM

[up][up]There's a bit during the hearing where Kavanaugh is reminded that there isn't a statute of limitations in the state where it happened. There's a whole host of other legalities that would make actually prosecuting the case a mess, though.

Edited by TheRoguePenguin on Sep 28th 2018 at 12:50:11 PM

Robrecht Your friendly neighbourhood Regent from The Netherlands Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: They can't hide forever. We've got satellites.
Your friendly neighbourhood Regent
#255889: Sep 28th 2018 at 1:09:39 AM

At this point, can we even separate Republican voters from the politicians?

Nope, but I'm sure that in fifty years, we'll have a 'Clean Republicans' myth where people will claim that most Republican politicians and voters were just regular people who were lied to by a small core of really bad people in the leadership.

Angry gets shit done.
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#255890: Sep 28th 2018 at 1:12:29 AM

The Republicans do lie and do lie constantly.

You just have to be an idiot to believe it.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#255891: Sep 28th 2018 at 4:35:19 AM

Just to make this whole thing even more disgusting, Linsey Graham actually has prosecuted Rape cases before. [1]

From his book

I tried rape cases that still bother me, including the Prosecution of several G Is that had gang raped a young German girl. She was just destroyed by it. I learned how much unexpected courage from a deep and hidden place it takes for a rape victim or sexually abused child to testify against their assailants.

And

Trying to get a scared, confused little kid, or young woman who thinks that the best part of their life is over recall a memory that thier every Psychological impulse is trying to suppress is something you never forget. It has stayed with me ever since.

wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#255892: Sep 28th 2018 at 6:05:13 AM

I think this thread on patriarchy adds a lot of context to the Kavanaugh hearings. I’d be interested to hear everyone’s thoughts.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#255893: Sep 28th 2018 at 6:15:40 AM

[up]Pretty enlightening read. And a sobering one.

One post in particular points out the problems with "boys will be boys":

My whole childhood of normalized boys being boys was training me for an adulthood where men would still effectively be boys. But where I would have to grow into a woman if I was going to survive the boys who were in charge.

Even in a context that isn't outright sexist, you can still see it in the way we treat rich white men like Zuckerberg and Musk. A lot of people treat their antics as "harmless" juvenile stuff when they are fucking grown-ass men.

Edited by M84 on Sep 28th 2018 at 9:17:29 PM

Disgusted, but not surprised
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#255894: Sep 28th 2018 at 6:18:04 AM

I can't access Twitter at work. What does it say?

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#255895: Sep 28th 2018 at 6:19:19 AM

Patriarchy in general seems to enable men to avoid growing up while forcing women to grow up too quickly.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#255896: Sep 28th 2018 at 6:19:32 AM

It's not like grown women are immune to juvenile antics. The Double Standard is in how we treat them.

Edited by Fighteer on Sep 28th 2018 at 9:18:52 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#255897: Sep 28th 2018 at 6:20:52 AM

That's the point. Women are punished more severely for being juvenile while with men it's given a pass more often or excused as "boys will be boys".

Disgusted, but not surprised
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#255898: Sep 28th 2018 at 6:31:31 AM

Frankly, I don't give a F... if this ruins Kavanaugh's life or not. Let's put aside the accusations and talk about integrity first. After all, that is the main feature a livelong appointment for the court which judges the constitution of any country should have.

It's amazing how familiar that "I don't want to ruin his life" rhetoric out of Lindsay Graham is. Because we hear that a lot in rape cases. It's pretty much one of the Stock Defenses for rapists.

What's interesting about it, though, is that it isn't used to stop investigations. It's used to stop punishments. "I don't want to ruin his life" is the line that judges break out to justify tame convictions. "He's on the Swim Team! He's got a scholarship! He could have a great future ahead of him! I don't want to ruin his life over some minor youthful shenanigans! So I'm sentencing him to four months' probation and a $50 fine. That should make everyone happy, right?"

Graham jumped the gun in playing the Don't Ruin His Life card. Saying that is a tacit admission that there is merit to these accusations, and that Graham just doesn't want them to be held against Kavanaugh.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#255899: Sep 28th 2018 at 6:32:26 AM

I also appreciate how the thread focuses on internalized patriarchy: girls are taught to minimize ourselves, to not make a fuss. If anyone read my spoiler wall of text on the previous page, that is exactly the sort of internalized misogyny that has put me into bad situations.

Edited by wisewillow on Sep 28th 2018 at 9:32:43 AM

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#255900: Sep 28th 2018 at 6:32:57 AM

[up][up]I don't think that Graham cares. He is pissed that their Good Old Boys club is under attack by the grubby hands of the masses.

Edited by Fighteer on Sep 28th 2018 at 9:35:55 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

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