figmentPez
Staff member
Today I'm wondering: How long until the Kavanaugh confirmation links back to Russia? The GOP really seems determined to die on this hill. WHY? I'm suspecting that there's a reason beyond just wanting the slot on the Supreme Court for general conservative issues.
It's about rallying the base. If the Republicans, whom effectively control the entire government right now, can't even pass a SC judge when they have nothing stopping them, then why the fuck are they voting for Republicans? This is all making them look weak as hell and it's effectively their own fault for picking such a shitty nominee.
figmentPez
Staff member
But why did they pick such a shitty nominee, and why didn't they dump him as soon as they knew Ford was credible back in July?
GasBandit
Staff member
Because, like most bosses I've had, they can't EVER admit a mistake, or take any action to correct that mistake because that would be admitting there was a mistake and it's better to burn everything to the ground out of stubbornness than even THINK about acknowledging a mistake was made.
Trump said it best while talking with an unnamed friend who was having troubles due to said friend's womanizing.
"You've got to deny, deny, deny and push back on these women," Trump said, according to Woodward. "If you admit to anything and any culpability, then you're dead. That was a big mistake you made."
"You didn't come out guns blazing and just challenge them. You showed weakness," Trump told the friend, according to Woodward. "You've got to be strong. You've got to be aggressive. You've got to push back hard. You've got to deny anything that's said about you. Never admit."
"You've got to deny, deny, deny and push back on these women," Trump said, according to Woodward. "If you admit to anything and any culpability, then you're dead. That was a big mistake you made."
"You didn't come out guns blazing and just challenge them. You showed weakness," Trump told the friend, according to Woodward. "You've got to be strong. You've got to be aggressive. You've got to push back hard. You've got to deny anything that's said about you. Never admit."
FIXTTTT
I've been vocal on this forum before about the fact that false accusations exist and abuse of men by women exists and all that jazz - but I most certainly wouldn't claim it's scarier or more dangerous to be a young man than it is to be a woman. It's a completely moronic thing to say.
figmentPez
Staff member
"His wife is in tatters. His daughters are in tatters."
Why would they be "in tatters" if they didn't believe that their husband/father is guilty? If they believe he's innocent, why would this tear their life apart? If he's innocent, the FBI will find no evidence against him, and he'll be placed on the Supreme Court. The only reason that the women in Kavanaugh's life would be upset by this is if they believe the accusations.
Dave
Staff member
I disagree with this. Even if they do believe him there's enough people in their lives who know who their father/husband is and my guess is they've lost friends or been threatened, etc. Just because they believe or don't believe won't stop the press from hounding them or any other the other bad shit.
So I believe you are wrong about this.
So I believe you are wrong about this.
figmentPez
Staff member
But is that "in tatters"? If Kavanaugh is appointed to the Supreme Court, he's going to make decisions that make people unhappy. The press are going to say negative things about him. They might even lose friends or be threatened by people because of the decisions that he makes on the bench. Will that leave them "in tatters", too? I have no doubt that their lives are being made more difficult by this, but I do not think that mere allegations have made their life any more difficult than they would be by a landmark decision that Kavanaugh was a deciding vote for.
If these accusations have really left their lives "in tatters", then that's solely because of the horrible way that ALL sexual assault cases are handled, and is NOT at all helped by Trump's mocking of the issue, nor was it helped by delaying the investigation, or by limiting the investigation. Even if we assume their life has been ruined, and we assume that the allegations are false, it is not the false allegations that ruined their lives, it is a broken system that the Republicans are invested in keeping broken. Kavanaugh would be as much to blame as anyone because he has repeatedly refused to call for an investigation himself.
While I agree with you, at this point anyone who willingly joins the Trump administration knows what they're getting into, and knows the incredibly poor public opinion that comes with it.
We're supposed to get a test run of the Presidential Alert system soon, where every cell phone in the U.S. can be alerted directly from the president.
How long until Trump abuses this power to stir panic?
How long until Trump abuses this power to stir panic?
"Widespread voter fraud by democrats! Go vote now to balance it out, they're stealing my election!"
figmentPez
Staff member
You left out the part where he blames the democrats for the missiles.
"covfefe"
Dave
Staff member
You mean a selfie from Trump. Same thing.
I got 3 fucking tornado warning sirens in my pocket today. I got the first alert then each time my phone dropped the signal it would go off again.
figmentPez
Staff member
Had lunch today with my dad. He chewed me out for not properly fact checking a post I made on Facebook about the Kavanaugh nomination process.
Number of things I got wrong: 0
Lies he parroted from conservative talk radio:
- Christine Ford has refused to release the results of her polygraph (not true, they were released more than a week ago)
- Avenatti has refused to cooperate with the FBI (I can't find any evidence of this, in fact he says the FBI hasn't contacted him yet.)
- The American Bar Association did not call for the investigation of Kavanagh. (The President wrote the letter, but he spoke on behalf of the ABA, and this is not directly connected to the ABA's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary and it's rating of "well qualified".)
- There is no evidence of misconduct on Kavanaugh's part. (Not true, witness testimony is evidence. It is not physical evidence, and it is not conclusive evidence, but it sure as hell is evidence. Enough evidence to warrant an investigation.)
- Kavanaugh lying on the stand about his drinking habits, or his behavior disrespecting senators doesn't matter. (Wow, no. He was under oath. Lying about anything under oath is valid reason to keep him off the Supreme Court. Even if this isn't a legal trial, it was a job interview, and Kavanaugh failed to act as we should expect a SCOTUS judge to act.)
- Trump gave free reign to the FBI to investigate. (Wow, no, you can't just take Trump's word on anything. He's lied about this issue before. No one knows what Trump ordered the FBI to investigate, or what limitations he gave them, beyond the fact that they only have until Friday. Which is not enough time.)
So, yeah. I got chewed out for not checking my facts by a man who doesn't check his facts. Apparently if you repeat something on conservative talk radio enough, it becomes "truth", regardless of reality.
Number of things I got wrong: 0
Lies he parroted from conservative talk radio:
- Christine Ford has refused to release the results of her polygraph (not true, they were released more than a week ago)
- Avenatti has refused to cooperate with the FBI (I can't find any evidence of this, in fact he says the FBI hasn't contacted him yet.)
- The American Bar Association did not call for the investigation of Kavanagh. (The President wrote the letter, but he spoke on behalf of the ABA, and this is not directly connected to the ABA's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary and it's rating of "well qualified".)
- There is no evidence of misconduct on Kavanaugh's part. (Not true, witness testimony is evidence. It is not physical evidence, and it is not conclusive evidence, but it sure as hell is evidence. Enough evidence to warrant an investigation.)
- Kavanaugh lying on the stand about his drinking habits, or his behavior disrespecting senators doesn't matter. (Wow, no. He was under oath. Lying about anything under oath is valid reason to keep him off the Supreme Court. Even if this isn't a legal trial, it was a job interview, and Kavanaugh failed to act as we should expect a SCOTUS judge to act.)
- Trump gave free reign to the FBI to investigate. (Wow, no, you can't just take Trump's word on anything. He's lied about this issue before. No one knows what Trump ordered the FBI to investigate, or what limitations he gave them, beyond the fact that they only have until Friday. Which is not enough time.)
So, yeah. I got chewed out for not checking my facts by a man who doesn't check his facts. Apparently if you repeat something on conservative talk radio enough, it becomes "truth", regardless of reality.
This reminds me of a conversation I had on Facebook where a liberal apologist was screaming that both sides are equal and you catch more flies with honey than vinager. I told them I wasn’t interested in flies and presenting facts wasn’t for them, but for those who don’t know they have an ally. Saying nothing gains nothing. You will never change his mind with facts, he isn’t interested in that. It’s about scoring points for the team.
figmentPez
Staff member
Credit where credit is due: Congrats to Dolt45 on successfully distracting everyone from the Times article about his financial history* by talking out of both sides of his ass about Dr. Ford. And kudos to the Republicans for playing their parts as well, acting outraged that Dolt45 would say such a thing, how shocking.
A highly successful distraction all around!
*And presumably distracting from numerous other issues as well.
A highly successful distraction all around!
*And presumably distracting from numerous other issues as well.
I dunno, it got a lot of coverage on the NY/NJ area news, including a soundbite from Mayor DeBlasio saying they were going to persue to make sure he pays every cent he owes the city. I was amused.
figmentPez
Staff member
I've been thinking about this.
Number of men I know, personally, who have had any troubles because they were falsely accused of sexual assault: 0
Number of women I know, personally, who have been the victim of rape: 7+
Number who have been the victim of any sort of sexual assault: 12+
I assume the actual number is higher, because not every woman I know has told me about her trauma, and I may have forgotten some. Plus, that's not counting any of the women I met during my time in psychiatric hospitals, which would skew the numbers significantly (both because people in that setting share more personal things, and because the mentally ill are more likely to be victims.)
If there are any great number of men out there who had their lives ruined by false allegations, either I don't know them, or they don't talk about it. I think I know some teachers and church leaders who have had heard threats of "I could tell people that you molested me!" but I've never heard of any case where that's been followed through on. I know false allegations happen, but they're far more rare than rape cases that go completely unreported.
As someone who has been falsely accused of rape, I'd just like to piggyback on this comment to say: Please, for the love of all things good, believe the accuser enough to at least launch the investigation. Never don't investigate.