The Politics Thread

[JaneAusten]

-I'm old enough to remember what happened after Anita Hill. There was a wave of females elected to the senate.  My mom and I were glued to the testimony on TV. Feinstein keeping this quiet is ironic since she was part of the wave of female senators elected in 1992 as a result of those hearings.

[Khan]

 

On the one hand, I'm proud she has come forward.  She's right: if anyone should tell her story, it should be her.  

 

But, OTOH, I feel bad for her, because I can only imagine how she has felt, struggling between doing her duty as a citizen and notifying the authorities about Kavanaugh, and protecting her loved ones and herself from the harshness of media and public scrutiny.  

 

Even now, after re-reading the piece, I come away with the impression that part of her still wishes she had remained anonymous -- there's even a statement from her, saying, essentially, what's the point of doing this, if it won't make a difference on his SCOTUS confirmation?, which breaks my heart -- and that she's only coming forward now, with tremendous reluctance, because the letter has been leaked to the media.

 

Damn, I wish we hadn't put her in this tough position -- it's almost like being assaulted again, if you think about it -- but I'm still proud of her (and of all who have come forward with their own stories of sexual assault and harassment).

 

Who knows?  Maybe other women out there -- not necessarily anyone else who's been victimized by Kavanaugh specifically, but who've been victimized by men -- will recognize in CBF's story their own misgivings about coming forward; and maybe they will see, too, that if she (and others) can summon the courage to come forward and tell their stories anyway, so, too, can they.

 

At the very least, I wish there were some way to let these women know that they have tremendous support from all sections of the public (well, except those from "Trump Country"), and that we have their backs, no matter what.

Edited September 16, 2018 by Khan

[Khan]

 

All of a sudden, this is turning into an episode of "Law & Order"...and I'm loving it.

[Khan]

 

The Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings should have been a teaching moment for all Americans, young and old.  It's one thing to tell a woman, "Sorry, we just don't believe you."  But when a woman -- and a black woman at that -- is both crucified and vilified, even by other African-Americans, simply for coming forward -- which, people tend to forget, she didn't want to do in the first damn place! -- what does that say about us as supposed Judeo-Christians in an ostensibly democratic society?

 

I'm with the anonymous woman with whom Mr. Ali has been in contact for over a year regarding her own sexual assault allegation.  When you see how your average person responds to these women, it's no wonder why most never come forward.  Instead of giving the victim(s) the benefit of the doubt, we'd rather believe the male perpetrators are being needlessly persecuted as we cower behind the "innocent until proven guilty" axiom.

Edited September 16, 2018 by Khan

[Vee]

BTW it was - of course - the far left kids at the Intercept that forced Ford out into public after they took the anonymous story as an excuse to bash Feinstein.

[Khan]

 

Personally, I don't think Sarah Silverman went far enough when she told the Berniebots and the other far-left nuts at the DNC that they were being ridic.  If you ask me, someone should just tell them to have a Coke and a smile and STFU.  (Especially those who are all "Up with Socialism!" these days.  GMAB, we don't need no damn socialists to fix this country.  We just need people who know what the hell they are doing.)

Edited September 16, 2018 by Khan

[DramatistDreamer]

There is usually more than one woman.  Whether she comes forward or not, I have no earthly idea.

[ReddFoxx]

Flake is probably just posturing, but we will see. With just seven weeks to go before election day and even fewer until early voting starts this news is going to be a real problem for Republicans. If the confirmation goes through the Senate will flip.

[juppiter]

There is an allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

 

Meanwhile, there is also an allegation against Deputy Chair of the Democratic Party Keith Ellison.

 

Guess which one the Democrats are outraged over and which one they're sweeping under the rug... the "pro-woman" party...

 

If I were Donald Trump, I would withdraw Brett Kavanaugh's nomination immediately and nominate Amy Coney Barrett ASAP.

 

Let the Democrats re-enact their shameful theatrics again before election day and see if people buy it again. Try arguing that she raped somebody. He should have just nominated her in the first place.

Edited September 17, 2018 by juppiter

[marceline]

 

That's some epic whataboutism. Ellison's accuser claims she has a video of him assaulting her but she refuses to produce it. Do you know how many women out there wish they had incontrovertible proof of what happened to them? 

 

 

That doesn't make any sense but it brings up a good point. There are plenty of conservative judges out there without all the baggage of Kavanaugh but they want this one because of Trump. 

[Juliajms]

Referring to an accusation of attempted rape as "theatrics" is certainly shameful.  You don't even know what the allegation is, but by all means continue to try to school the rest of us. 

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Trying to push this guy through without a fair hearing is certainly cowardly. What's the rush? Afraid more women will come forward or more details about his finances? 

 

But then the Republicans wouldn't even give President Obama's nominee a hearing, so your own hypocrisy speaks loud and clear. Maybe look in the mirror before making a fool of yourself and coming across as a misogynist.

 

As for Ellison, show the video and I'll happily see him ousted, but let's not pretend head of a political party is the same as being a SCOTUS. It's a ridiculous comparison, but then all you have to grasp at is straws.  Good luck with that.

[ReddFoxx]

It's too late to nominate someone else and get them through this Congress except maybe in the lame duck session and that would be a stretch.

[DRW50]

 

I think one of the main reasons he chose Kavanaugh was in case he is impeached.

 

Beyond that, I think somebody knew Barrett would not get through the Senate. 

[JaneAusten]

So attempted rape is theatrics. You stand in front of every woman who’s been through something similar and you’d be suprised at how many of us are out here. Anita Hill killed off a lot of incumbents  in the 1992 election in a shameful display, by a Dias of ALL MEN? Democrats like Joe Biden who controlled the process then have spent years on apology tours and people like me who watched that shameful display will never vote for him. Go right ahead and defend the cowards who are shoving this dirty nominee through and he’s dirty.  And I dare you to defend the actions around the nomination of Merrick Garland, who was a compromise pick the GOP praised just a few years before they refused to dare speak with him. 

 

As as soon as Ellison’s accuser brings forward that video evidence she claims she has which she did from day 1 we can talk. You want to know how many of us wish we had something on FILM to verify our claims. Even then we still get called sluts and liars and worse..  Also notice how not one other person has come forward with charges against Ellison, very different from someone like Al Franken who had multiple accusers. 

 

 

Misogynist is being generous. This is a rape apologist. And these asshats wonder why women are hesitant to come forward. 

Edited September 17, 2018 by JaneAusten

[DramatistDreamer]

In the case of Keith Ellison, Karen Monahan, his ex-girlfriend who lodged the accusation, has been trying to campaign for an Anti-Narcissistic Day on social media. She has claimed that she suffered years of narcissist abuse at the hands of Ellison. Monahan has accused Ellison of "soul-rape".

 

Others in this thread have mentioned that Monahan has made claims of documented proof yet so far, has produced none.  She presented texts to a Minnesota radio station as proof but all who examined the texts said that the texts were mostly cordial. There were a few in which Ellison had asked for a timeline of when she was going to move out (the two had lived together) and some more combative ones in which she texted about the emotional pain the breakup was causing her.

Monahan has said that she plans to write a book about their relationship.

Also, both an ex-wife of Ellison and a previous girlfriend have denied any instances of abuse.  And Ellison's current girlfriend has produced an e-mail from Monahan where Monahan accused the current girlfriend of stealing Ellison's affections from her.

 

The Ellison case is a messy messy one and in no way resembles what has transpired with Kavanaugh and this case.

I thought we who post in this Politics Thread were all fairly knowledgeable and could tell the difference.  I guess there is always one exception to every rule.