Politics is one thing. Invoking Clinton revenge conspiracies as an underlying cause of one’s confirmation woes is another.
“Revenge on behalf of the Clintons” sounds like a crazy conspiracy on the surface, but is it really that far-fetched that some in DC wouldn’t mind seeing Kavanaugh squirm after what he helped do to Bill Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal?
Sounds like a bit of poetic justice to me, and not entirely undeserved. I’m not a fan of Bill Clinton and his womanizing is well-known, but I never thought it was the public’s business what he was doing in his private life, even if doing it in the White House exhibited extremely poor judgment. That was between him and his wife.
Ignoring the he-said-she-said aspect of this currently, I’m simply stunned at how ridiculously partisan Kavanaugh sounded during the hearing.
I would expect anyone being considered for the Supreme Court to be a little less partisan.
I agree. As others have noted, most justices have political leanings in terms of liberal/conservative, as most people do, but what is surprising (though I guess shouldn’t be these days) is how openly opinionated he is in terms of party politics, which the position is supposed to be divorced from.
Beyond that, what struck me most was his demeanor. Maybe I have a high bar, but I don’t think someone who can’t conduct themselves in a hearing without being overly emotional and confrontational in this way should be on the Supreme Court. I don’t buy that “if he’s innocent he’s emotional because his life is at stake” excuse either. Perhaps if this was the first time he had heard the accusations it’d be excusable. But at this point, none of the questions in the hearing should have been a surprise. If he’s not guilty as he says he is, but he can’t give a straight answer to a very simple question about whether he’d support an FBI investigation without becoming histrionic, then that’s a problem. Whether he’s just overacting or easily flustered, it’s not a good look for him or the Republicans supporting him.
Pretending we know how people should behave under stress is a bit silly. I see cops do this same thing when they question suspects; they insist someone is acting atypically when there really is no “typical”, then they hammer them until they’re exasperated and suggest maybe they’re exasperated because they’re hiding something. I’d like to see the average American throwing shade at this guy deal with this kind of scrutiny and pressure and stay cool.
I didn’t say anything about him being exasperated because he’s “hiding something,” that’s irrelevant to my point (I was specifically looking at it from the perspective that he potentially isn’t lying). It’s not about how “people” behave under stress, it’s how a potential Supreme Court justice should behave. For what is ostensibly a job interview, I’d say he acted extremely unprofessional - to say the least - whether he’s hiding something or not. He’s not an average Joe suddenly under a cop’s microscope. He’s a judge, he shouldn’t have a problem in this setting, and let’s not forget this wasn’t even a trial.
Who’s to say how I’d fare in the same situation, but then again I’m not the one up for one of the most important positions in the nation.
I’m going to assume that none of your previous job interviews ever included defending yourself against rape allegations with your accuser testifying directly to your potential employer.
This wasn’t a typical Supreme Court nominee Senate hearing and calling it a job interview belies the immense pressure of the situation, even under normal circumstances without the rape allegation (most job interviews don’t happen in front of a committee and large audience with TV cameras broadcasting everything you say). Criticizing Kavanaugh’s demeanor doesn’t strike me as fair under the circumstances. I would’ve been suspicious if he’d been calm. I doubt he’d be this combative if they were simply asking him about his judicial record and thoughts on previous court cases, though he does strike me as someone who’d give whatever he got, in which case aggressive questioning would be met with aggressive responses.