| | | | An utterly wrenching day in Washington | | The only thing anyone agreed on about the twin testimonies of Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh on Thursday in Washington was that it was all utterly wrenching, heart-breaking and awful.
Ford, who alleged that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers in the early 1980s, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee first -- and told of how she struggled with claustrophobia and anxiety since the incident more than three decades ago. How, since she came forward in The Washington Post 11 days ago, she has been forced into hiding, at times separated from her family and with security guards attending her at all times.
"I am terrified," Ford said in her opening statement to the committee. And everything from her shortness of breath to her shaky voice attested to how incredibly difficult and painful recounting these memories of her alleged trauma were.
Then came Kavanaugh. His pain manifested itself as anger. In his 45-minute opening statement, Kavanaugh savaged Democrats on the Judiciary Committee. He invoked the Clintons (and not in a positive way). He said that the accusations over the course of the past 11 days had made it likely he could never coach his daughters' basketball team again. That he might never be able to teach at Harvard Law School again.
"This has destroyed my family and my good name," Kavanaugh said. "This has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit."
Ford teared up in telling her story. Kavanaugh broke down repeatedly during his opening statement.
And despite all of this emotion, all of this hurt, the reality looming over the proceedings was this basic fact: One of these two people was either not telling the truth or badly misrepresenting a moment that for both individuals has been or will be a fundamental moment in their lives.
The reality at the end of the hearing was the same as when it started: There is simply no reasonable expectation that any of the senators on the Judiciary Committee will be able, after today, to ascertain the capital "T" truth in this situation. And yet, those same 21 Senators -- 11 Republicans, 10 Democrats -- will almost assuredly be asked to vote in the not-too-distant future on whether Kavanaugh should be given a lifetime appointment to the most powerful court in the country. Then, if Kavanaugh makes it through that vote, 100 senators will decide who they believe -- and Kavanaugh's fate.
The Point: This is an impossible choice to make and to know you did the "right" thing. And no matter what is decided, the lives of two human beings -- Ford and Kavanaugh -- have already been changed forever. And not for the better.
-- Chris | | "Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter, the laugh -- the uproarious laughter between the two, and their having fun at my expense."
-- Dr. Christine Blasey Ford responding to questioning from Sen. Leahy during today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. | | | ROD ROSENSTEIN: STILL NOT FIRED | | | Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has been bumped by the Kavanaugh news cycle, it seems. Rosenstein had been scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump today in what just a few days ago had been hyped as the fateful meeting to determine whether or not Rosenstein would remain with the administration. Today, Rosenstein spoke with President Trump, but only briefly. Instead, the White House ceded the day to the hours of proceedings in the Capitol Hill hearing room related to Kavanaugh's confirmation. "They do not want to do anything to interfere with the hearing," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement to CNN's Jeremy Diamond. This weekend saw a firestorm engulf Rosenstein in the wake of an explosive New York Times report that Rosenstein had suggested surreptitiously recording President Trump and using the 25th Amendment to attempt to remove him from office. Rosenstein offered his resignation last week, and believed he would be fired by Trump on Monday. Trump appeared to douse cold water on Rosenstein's possible exit during last night's free-wheeling press conference (more on that below). "My preference would be to keep him," Trump said when asked if he planned to fire Rosenstein. "I would certainly prefer not doing it." | | | Today's song is Prince's "Raspberry Beret," in honor of the newly named Dr. Prince, who was just posthumously awarded an honorary doctor of letters degree by the University of Minnesota. They definitely didn't find that diploma in a second-hand store... | | IN CASE YOU'VE ALREADY FORGOTTEN | | | President Donald Trump delivered a free-wheeling, stand-alone news conference last night (though at the rate of this news cycle, it feels like it happened a week ago). Trump was in New York for United Nations meetings while allegations against his Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, swirled back home in Washington. This was the fourth time Trump has held a standalone presser like this as president, and given the fire hose of quotable moments that came out of it, it's not hard to guess why advisers may not want their boss to let 'er rip with reporters on a routine basis. Chris recaps the 63(!) most outrageous lines from Trump's 81-minute press conference. Some highlights: 4. "Steel is like the hottest industry there is."
23. "If we brought George Washington here and we said, we have George Washington, the Democrats would vote against him." 30. "And I was accused by -- I believe it was four women. You can check with Sean Hannity, you can check with Fox because they covered it very strongly." 48. "You know, North Korea's very mountainous. Beautiful land, beautiful." 60. "Elton John said when you hit that last tune and it's good, don't go back." | | 🎬 THE POINT ON YOUTUBE 📹 | | | From Sen. Bernie Sanders to House candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, democratic socialists are on the rise. What does that mean? Chris takes a look in the latest edition of The Point's YouTube show. Make sure to subscribe! | |  | What exactly is Democratic Socialism? | | | On top of everyone else converging on Capitol Hill today (seriously, this news cycle is no joke), a group representing hackers warned lawmakers that there are "staggering" vulnerabilities in the nation's voting systems. More from CNN's Donie O'Sullivan:
"The findings are based on a project at the Voting Village at the Def Con hacking conference held in Las Vegas last month, where hackers were invited to attempt to break into voting machines and other equipment used in elections across the country. The hacking group claims they were able to break into some voting machines in two minutes and that they had the ability to wirelessly reprogram an electronic card used by millions of Americans to activate a voting terminal to cast their ballot. 'This vulnerability could be exploited to take over the voting machine on which they vote and cast as many votes as the voter wanted,' the group claims in the report." | | | From Brenna: "Here's the President getting ready to return to DC after his trip to New York. He's way more jazzed about getting on a plane than I have ever been. Then again, I'd venture to guess that his WiFi actually works. If yours does too, tell your friends to subscribe to The Point!" | | | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment