Vee

If literally, all you've got is Did George Soros, in fact, pay for your polygraph? you've got nothing. #KavanaughHearings

— Melissa Ryan (@MelissaRyan) September 27, 2018

And her lawyers shut it down fast.

 

The GOP is so blinkered that they can't conceive of this as anything but a game, so they rely on conspiracy theory questioning to play to the base. But it is playing horribly on TV. This is a complete wreck for them.

These Holton Arms seniors have been rotating in and out of the hearing, sharing one ticket, “in support of our alumna” #BlaseyFord #kavanaugh pic.twitter.com/uFGDt6Yrjg

— Tara Palmeri (@tarapalmeri) September 27, 2018

Booker is talking about heroic it is for Ford to have come forward.

Ford appears to be weeping again.

— emptywheel (@emptywheel) September 27, 2018

"You are opening up to open-air hurt and pain that goes on across this country," Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) tells Christine Blasey Ford. "And for that, the word I would use is nothing short of heroic." https://t.co/j0e7TIiavz pic.twitter.com/dPm76LYT5w

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) September 27, 2018

....He's really not, though. At all. Not with the public and by the looks of things not with the Congress. It's 50-50 at best right now.

They'll blame Rachel Mitchell for 'not being tough enough.'

 

I was fairly sure Kavanaugh was going down before today - I still mostly am - but this is having a public impact today that is bigger than I expected. It's going to be huge in November.

 

The reason Republicans got today so wrong, which they keep on doing is because the party is an echo chamber of white, straight men. They have no clue what the life experiences are beyond their tiny circle of privilege.

— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) September 27, 2018

 

Lindsey Graham is really, really pissed.

 

 

Sen. Graham warns Democrats: “If this is the new norm, you better watch out for your nominees” pic.twitter.com/p9NIryUl7Y

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 27, 2018

WATCH: During a break in testimony, Republican Sen. Sasse, who defered his questions to a prosecutor in the hearing, walked up to Dr. Ford and shook her hand. pic.twitter.com/3StQt1Acst

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 27, 2018

every single stereotype about how white and black women are perceived, in one very simple sentence. https://t.co/VOflglD8gy

— Shyne Coldchain Jr. (@Smooth_Orator) September 27, 2018

FoxNews' talking point, at "halftime": Kavanaugh will have to be basically greatest self-promoter in senate-hearing history but also he's "boring academic and not a TV judge" so maybe he can't

It sounds A LOT like they're getting ready for the vote to fail and him to shoulder it

— Bob Chipman #RehireJamesGunn (@the_moviebob) September 27, 2018

This really has to be seen to be believed. It's history, and heartbreaking.

 

 

Silence on Wall Street. Tears in a retirement home. The country watches, transfixed, as Ford tells her story. @Fahrenthold weaves this national moment together. https://t.co/GZewgNzIl0

— Ashley Parker (@AshleyRParker) September 27, 2018

JFK-SLC. 16A: Crying. 14B: Crying. 17C: Weeping.

— (((Ron Lieber))) (@ronlieber) September 27, 2018

Anyone who is viewing this solely through the lens of base politics should take note of this. In an era of noise, this is a clarion call that the whole nation can hear. https://t.co/tqbzyDcOd3

— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) September 27, 2018

Sound waves from NYSE trading post TVs resound in unison at higher than usual decibel levels as traders watched Christine Blasey Ford testify. Could decipher nearly every word of the hearing anywhere I walked, competing only with ringing phones at times. #KavanaughHearings pic.twitter.com/6UREse8hjW

— Brad Smith (@thebradsmith) September 27, 2018

Megyn Kelly is continuing to burnish her future by warning that Democratic nominees will get the same treatment when the wheel turns around.

Three Republican governors are now calling for a delay in the Kavanugh vote: Charlie Baker, Larry Hogan, and John Kasich. https://t.co/gHH7uiw0b3

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 27, 2018

A woman just told @LindseyGrahamSC she was raped. He said, as he headed into an elevator, "I'm sorry. Tell the cops."

— Emma Dumain (@Emma_Dumain) September 27, 2018

For the first time in my career at @KCStar, Kansas @SenPatRoberts wasn’t willing to talk to me on his way to a vote.

I asked if he was watching the hearing and if he though Dr. Ford was credible. He wouldn’t say anything. Staffer hustled him up a back stairway to Senate floor

— Lindsay Wise (@lindsaywise) September 27, 2018

Lindsey Graham just falsely told a bunch of reporters that Democrats are never subjected to accusations of sexual misconduct, and warned them that if Kavanaugh fails, Republicans will gin up false accusations against future Democratic nominees to even the score. Wow.

— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) September 27, 2018

Lindsey is realizing he surrendered all pretense of dignity and integrity to bootlick Trump for SCOTUS, and now that it's falling apart he is blaming Ford and the Democrats.

Blumenthal preps to read Lindsey statement from being a trial lawyer prosecuting rape cases.

Graham, looking REALLY uncomfortable, "I'm not under oath."

Blumenthal reads Graham talking abt courage from deep and hidden place it takes to testify.

Ford looks like she's weeping

— emptywheel (@emptywheel) September 27, 2018

Mitchell: Were you advised to take a lie detector test?

Bromwich: You are asking questions that may go to advice from counsel.

[After some delay]

Ford: Based on advice from counsel I thought it would be helpful. I endured it.

— emptywheel (@emptywheel) September 27, 2018

Trump telling people he’s furious that WH aides didn’t have advance knowledge of how credible Ford would seem, per 2nd source

— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) September 27, 2018

This is Trump’s worst nightmare: a TV moment going badly for him that’s completely out of his control

— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) September 27, 2018

Trump also furious with Don McGahn for putting him in this situation, source said.

— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) September 27, 2018

Person close to Trump says Trump is raging at how bad this has been for Republicans so far. Trump told people Ford “seems credible,” per source

— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) September 27, 2018

This is going so badly that they're reduced to hoping to discredit her based on the fact that she has a fear of flying but flew to the hearing.

Trump is watching Fox. Fox is saying that Kavanaugh is losing. https://t.co/ZgRuP67HCk

— John Aravosis 🇺🇸 (@aravosis) September 27, 2018

On Fox News, Bret Baier says hearing from Blasey Ford "is a totally different thing" than reading her allegations.

Chris Wallace: "This was extremely emotional, extremely raw, and extremely credible... This is a disaster for the Republicans." pic.twitter.com/aSbznSJdHC

— David Mack (@davidmackau) September 27, 2018

Almost every person close to Trump who had told me having a sex crimes prosecutor question Ford was good strategy is saying they think it was a mistake after the first portion of the hearing.

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 27, 2018

Charlie Baker, a Republican who has the highest approval rating of any governor in the country and who almost never jumps into national politics, weighs in: https://t.co/vVp5YwhYOj

— Matt Viser (@mviser) September 27, 2018

This is absolutely heart-rending to watch. It also could not be going worse for the GOP.

Grassley gets very angry at Democrats for unclear reasons before calling for a break pic.twitter.com/VhWrsRx9lS

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 27, 2018

Fox commentators are fuming on air over how the Senate GOP is handling the Kavanaugh format. All but saying Grassley is blowing it.

— Will Sommer (@willsommer) September 27, 2018

Surprising no one even passingly familiar with the show, Riverdale's Lili Reinhart (Betty) modeled her performance as the younger Alice Cooper - Mädchen Amick - on Mädchen as Shelly in TP.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Jessica Bennett, PSSNS) is too good for this but was just cast as the Huntress in DC's Birds of Prey film.

Capaldi was very popular as the Doctor, along with most before him. I don't see why they'd run him down.

 

That other quote from Piers Wenger of all people - dismissing apparently all Whittaker's predecessors (not just Capaldi) as having "daffiness and idiosyncrasy" and her being "relatable" by comparison - is really horribly tin-eared. Why on Earth?

Here's my basic view. I think it's complicated, but that Republican elected officials and conservative thought-leaders care more about Kavanaugh than "the base" does and are doing a fair bit of rationalization right now. pic.twitter.com/yEvZDp6Aa3

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) September 26, 2018

You haven’t been paying attention. Your dad is the man who had unprotected sex with my “porn star” client when your brother was 4 mos. old and your step mom was at home. How many other “porn stars” has he slept with? You should leave this to the adults and go back to playing.

— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) September 27, 2018

And now, a counterpoint:

 

 

This is clearly what they’re doing. The person who made the Rhode Island allegation has also called for the military to overthrow Trump on Twitter, which the Senate Republicans chose to describe in great detail during their call with Kavanaugh, knowing it would become public. https://t.co/PVtAqGoDiO

— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) September 27, 2018

Grifter or not, Avenatti knows Trump's language and is playing this correct:

 

 

And I am thoroughly enjoying living rent free in his head.

— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) September 26, 2018

Meanwhile, even more:

 

Another accusation against Kavanaugh that he was asked about by Senate staffers this week: an alleged rape on a boat in Rhode Island in 1985. Kavanaugh denies. pic.twitter.com/MrA5Ff50RI

— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) September 26, 2018

He's actually narrowing the definition of a threesome there. I'm gonna call @BryanAGarner to parse this.

— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) September 26, 2018

Jesus Christ. Where is the Showtime at the Apollo hook?

 

 

Good lord https://t.co/ETuqjFygvE pic.twitter.com/xBBErxwaTC

— Adam Weinstein (@AdamWeinstein) September 26, 2018

Trump likes to do these to ventilate, among other things. His staff - some of them - are fine with that because it takes pressure off them. And after being laughed at at UNGA and Kavanaugh giving him a possible loss, he went to go project Charlie Sheen/Tiger Blood again w presser

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 26, 2018

If your newsroom is like our newsroom, you currently have more Kavanaugh tips than you can possibly follow up on.

— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) September 26, 2018

BREAKING: Senate Judiciary Commitee probing new allegation of physical assault against Kavanaugh. He denies. More from the whole @NBCNews Hill team, incl @LACaldwellDC @frankthorp @mikememoli + @HeidiPrzybyla —> https://t.co/ckcoPMczXf

— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) September 26, 2018

He's still going. It's insane.

 

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Trump says he's open to 'changing my mind' about Supreme Court pick if Kavanaugh hearing evidence is compelling.

— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) September 26, 2018

I'm not going to attempt to cover it all - just keep checking Dale's feed and others.

Trump denies that the UN was actually laughing at him yesterday, instead claims "they were laughing with me." 😂 pic.twitter.com/WL9GaxFkTz

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2018

Asked about a possible peace deal in the Middle East, Trump brags about saving money on the US embassy in Israel and takes shots at the media pic.twitter.com/VaCwu3Mivh

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2018

Trump on if it's possible for him to believe Dr Ford: "I can be convinced of anything."

The president again falsely claims that all of the women who accused him of misconduct were paid to do so. pic.twitter.com/xmx7wDKlW6

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2018

Trump is again unable to talk about his Iraq policy, then punts on a question about Syria and instead rants about China and Obama pic.twitter.com/66igIfcPcs

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2018

REPORTER: How long do you think it should take North Korea to denuclearize?

TRUMP: I don't know, I don't want to get into the time game.

[hijacks question and proceeds to brag about himself and bash Obama for 2 minutes] pic.twitter.com/K6QrPLbG28

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2018

Trump doesn't seem to understand that the 25th amendment is something *his cabinet* could use to remove him from office (he seems to think it's something Democrats might try to use) pic.twitter.com/ikMNKjpbzt

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2018

Trump gets upset with @Acosta after he points out that he hasn't called on any female reporters yet pic.twitter.com/iGvOyFdvbM

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2018

Meanwhile, on Kavanaugh:

 

 

key line from Corker: "like I would guess at least half of our caucus is doing"

I've been hearing from top GOP senators all day that anywhere between 10-20 Senate Rs may be "soft yes" or undecided at this pt, with the hearing the deciding factor. Not just the usual names.

— Robert Costa (@costareports) September 26, 2018

He finally calls on the NYT, the reporter says they're "thriving, not failing"—and Trump replies, "Say thank you, Mr. Trump." Reporter says, "I think I'll stop short of that."

— Emily Nussbaum (@emilynussbaum) September 26, 2018

He's rambling, basically, saying how it's a good question and that now, anyone you appoint, someone can bring something up from years ago. "And it's being perpetrated by some very evil people." Back to "it's a con game."

— Emily Nussbaum (@emilynussbaum) September 26, 2018

I thought they handled the David/Darlene issue very well in Season 10 given his other commitments, and it was clear they were setting JG up to recur. I'm happy that's continuing. (Now if I could only find a place to watch the rest of the season in HQ...)

The latest Trump presser is beyond description, but suffice to say he is a mess. Daniel Dale's Twitter has it all.

Trump says a top expert on China, Michael Pillsbury, went on a "good show" he won't name - it was Tucker Carlson's - and said China has total respect for "Donald Trump's very, very large brain."

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 26, 2018

Trump interrupts a question about the accusations against him to rant about a New York Times story during the election about his alleged mistreatment of women. Told by the female reporter that she hasn't asked: "You've been asking a question for 10 minutes. Please sit down."

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 26, 2018

Asked again about why he gives the benefit of the doubt to accused men, he says, "It's not a benefit of the doubt. I've known them for a long time, a lot of these people."

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 26, 2018

Asked why he always sides with the accused man over the accuser, and whether it's because he's been accused, Trump says, "I wasn't happy with Roy Moore, let's get that straight. But Roy Moore was a Republican candidate, and I would have rather had a Republican candidate win."

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 26, 2018

Trump just called a Kurdish reporter "Mr. Kurd."

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 26, 2018