Saturday, September 22, 2018

The Fix Is In


Michael Stern is a former prosecutor from Michigan. He admits that he found prosecuting sexual assault cases difficult:

In my early career, as a state prosecutor outside of Detroit, I dreaded handling sexual assault cases. After my first 10 cases, the ache in my stomach would come like clockwork as I sat down to open a sexual assault file for the first time. Evidence in sexual assault cases is often thin and trying to bring justice to a victim in a case with thin evidence is a prosecutor’s worst nightmare.

It all came down to he said/she said. But there was a witness to what happened between Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford -- Mark Judge:

To a prosecutor, learning of a third-party eyewitness to an alleged sexual assault is a boon. Apparently, this additional evidence has had the opposite effect on the Senate judiciary committee.
Rather than embracing testimony from Judge as a means of finding the truth about Ford’s allegation, the Republican Senate judiciary committee chairman, Charles Grassley, has scheduled a hearing for Monday and has refused to call Judge as a witness.
There is a sleight of hand that has allowed Grassley to turn a blind eye to this pivotal piece of evidence. Mark Judge sent a letter to Grassley’s committee saying he had “no memory” of the incident Ford disclosed. Judge also said he never saw Kavanaugh “act in the manner Dr Ford describes”. Other Republican senators, including Lindsey Graham, have fallen in line behind Grassley, saying that there is “no reason” to call Judge to testify because they already know what he will say – exactly what he said in his letter.
But wait. If Mark Judge’s letter to the judiciary committee is sufficient to make its Republican members accept the contents of the letter at face value, why don’t they do the same for the letter Ford sent to ranking committee member Diane Feinstein? The answer simple: Republican members of the judiciary committee want to believe Judge, not Ford.

And that's precisely the point. The fix is in. As Mitch McConnell told an audience yesterday, Kavanaugh will be confirmed to the Supreme Court.

Image: BBC

13 comments:

The Mound of Sound said...

I'm sorry, Owen, but I don't get it. Ford says Mark Judge jumped on top of Kavanaugh, allowing her to escape. Judge says he doesn't recall the event. He's either lying or he's telling the truth. His evidence, such as it is from his letter, seems to offer nothing probative. If anything it supports Kavanaugh.

What does Ford want except to have Judge called, declared a "hostile witness," and then cross-examined by her counsel? Does she have any evidence that Judge is not telling the truth, that he's covering up for the USSC nominee? Is there anything to impeach his credibility?

The Guardian article did send me in search of more about this Mark Judge. I found an interesting piece in The Atlantic. He's certainly a weird dude. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/09/mark-judge-brett-kavanaugh-writing/570631/

Owen Gray said...

Thanks for the link, Mound. I agree that, at this point, it's difficult to dig out the facts. But what bothers me about Judge is his refusal to testify -- just as the Republicans refuse to have an FBI investigation. Both actions short curcuit due process. Any judge who is confirmed by short circuiting due process would be -- I believe -- illegitimate.

the salamander said...

.. the obvious failures of logic
or a coherent search for truth are obvious
re Kavanaugh - Ms Ford - Mr Judge

If her memory after all those years.. is to be seen as suspect and flawed
then why are some 65 or so women whipped up in 24 hours
who claim to have known Kavanaugh being treated as gospel
with their faultless judgement & wondrous distant recall

Thus Judge's lawyer states his client knows nothing of the matter
and the Judicial Committee therefore meekly defers on questioning him..
Now there's a hysterical and historic fail, but they just don't care
Not a single Mueller among them.. instead the have Trump disease

This is the era of 'zero shame' as Republican politicians
scramble to blur, blend, twist, insinuate, screetch
at public perception via pronouncement & Mainstream Media

Its laughable of course.. very Trumplike
baffle & deflect with denials, doubts.. duplicity, confusions
but then as with Stormy Mathews, truth arrives like a freight train..
One hopes Ms Ford is vindicated also
and the childish manipulaters & losers of the GOP
are discredited for being the historic Un-American scumbags they are

Owen Gray said...

It's clear that the Republican Party is as rotten as their president, sal. But getting rid of him and them won't be easy.

The Mound of Sound said...


And, for the evangelical point of view, here's Franklin Graham, son of the late Billy.

https://youtu.be/T8ljWlevaU0

Owen Gray said...

Thanks for the clip, Mound. It's easy to be convinced of the rightness of your opinions when you're certain that God is on your side.

Jay Farquharson said...

I've been following the drama on US Blogs. Balloon Juice mostly.

Turns out, it's serial gang rapists all the way down, with a side bar of QAnon nutcases in "official capacity".

Kavenaugh might be DOA, ( Collins, Mertouski), but might not.

The GrOPer's, in their adherence to Cleek's Law, have pushed themselves into a lose-lose situation. No way they come out of it with out injury.

Lulymay said...

Even without Ms. Ford's accusation, I found it difficult to watch "his hifhness" Kavanaugh being interviewed with soft lobs by his Rethuglican compatriots and nose turned up rather than face forward to the camera.

After a very short time, the only word that came into my head was: SMARMY.

Owen Gray said...

I see that Ford has now agreed to testify, Lulymay. I have no idea what will happen. And I suspect that the Republicans will still ram this through. But we'll see. Like so many conservative initiatives, this is an attempt to turn back the clock.

Jay Farquharson said...

BTW, there's no Statute of Limitations on Rape and Sexual Assault in Maryland.

Owen Gray said...

The testimony could wind up being expolsive, Jay -- perhaps explosive enough to blow a hole in the Republican Party. I've read that Ford could bring a case in Maryland. If Kavanaugh is confirmed, it will be iteresting to see what she does.

Jay Farquharson said...

Yurtle The Turtle always says "the fix is in", wasn't on the ACA repeal or about 10 dozen other chunks of legislation they tried to ram through.

Merkouski, who was elected due to a write in Campaign by Alaskan First Nations, has gotten major no's from the First Nations and even Alaska's Govenor, because of Special K's horrible track record as a judge.

Collins has been told, quite clearly by her Maine constituents, that her career is over if she votes for the drunken frat boy serial gang rapist.

If Special K walks, or Yurtle pulls the nom, the God Botherers have threatened to walk away.

Ditto if the nom fails.

Meanwhile, the Anita Hill Effect has already started and Midterms are coming.

Special K is the Insane Clown POSus's pick, over The Turtles objections. Treason Twitler's destroying the GrOPer's party from the inside.

Owen Gray said...

It's entirely appropriate, Jay, that the destruction of the Republican Party should come from the inside.