Man Up

On Thursday, the crude and misogynistic Donald Trump made what Digby recognizes as "cynical comments" about  Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, including "she was a very credible witness. She was good in many respects."Therefore, following the deal brokered by Senators Flake and Coons for a delay in a vote on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Digby argued

Either the fix is in for Kavanaugh to get confirmed or he's cutting Kavanaugh loose so he can nominate another right wing lunatic... just one who can hold his liquor better. If there's a third possibility, I can't think of one.

I can.  Donald Trump, often thought of as unhinged, is nothing of the sort, understands grand strategy very well, and has explicitly or implicitly synchronized his strategy on the nomination with the rest of his Party.

After the nominee's fiery, belligerent performance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, pundits speculated (probably accurately) that the President was disappointed in Kavanaugh's low-key approach in his interview earlier in the week on Fox News and wanted him to fire on all cylinders.  There is no other way to explain the farcical

This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election. Fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record. Revenge on behalf of the Clintons. and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups.

The disingenuous and ultimately patronizing remarks  by the President and cited by Digby are mirrored in those made by other Republicans. CNN's Chris Cillizza believes "if Kavanaugh winds up on the Supreme Court, he's got Lindsey Graham to thank for it- maybe more than anyone else."

Cillizza was impressed with Graham's rant, which included 

Boy, you all want power. God, I hope you never get it. I hope the American people can see through this sham. That you knew about it and you held it. You had no intention of protecting Dr. Ford; none.

In his statement opening the hearing Thursday, chairperson Grassley stated "Both Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh have been through a terrible couple weeks."

Senator Flake said "I am sorry for what's happened to you and your family, and I'm sorry for what has happened to her." Senator Cornyn told Kavanaugh "I appreciate what you said about Dr. Ford, that perhaps she has had an incident at some point in her life, and you are sympathetic to that." Graham contended "she's as much a victim as you are" and Senator Kennedy maintained "I'm sorry for what Dr. Ford and her family have been through." 

Echoing Graham, Ted Cruz laid bare the GOP strategy when he remarked "and let me also say that Dr. Ford and her family have been treated incredibly poorly by Senate Democrats and the media. You have both seen your good names dragged through the mud."

One tweeter summed it up well:

Sen. Kennedy of Louisiana says he believes something very very bad happened to Dr. Ford and he’s sorry, but he says he does not believe Brett Kavanaugh was involved and will vote yes. Another Whelanite.

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) September 28, 2018

This is not a case of misidentification. According toone expert,  “We’re usually talking about a stranger situation, cross-racial situations, situations where the person couldn’t have full visibility.”

There is a villain in this play, and it's not the boogeymen of Republican imagination, be it Democrats generally, Dianne Feinstein, Hillary Clinton, or the product of the fevered paranoiac mind, "the Clintons." Although very likely Judge Kavanaugh, it could be Dr. Ford, a possibility roughly on the level of the Denver Broncos winning the next Super Bowl.

It's an effective con being sold by a Party which idolizes the master con man in the White House. Someone is lying, but the Republicans want us to think that they believe that no one is lying. In the current atmosphere, it's difficult to argue that a woman alleging that someone tried to rape her is making it up.

Yet, were a man to make such an extremely serious accusation Republicans believe ridiculous, they would accuse him of lying. A woman is confused, forgetful, someone to be pitied.... for falsely accusing someone of attempted rape. A woman simply is not capable, they would have us believe. Perhaps the more things change, the less they really do.

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