I'm truly confused by the strategy being followed by the Democrats in the Senate, particularly those on the Judiciary Committee.
1. First, they complained for months that they were not getting enough information on Judge Kavanaugh. Then it turns out that they had the letter from Dr. Ford with its severe allegations and just sat on it for two months. Surely, if the allegations needed to be investigated, then the Dems should have given the letter to the FBI and gotten the investigation started.
2. The explanation from Senator Feinstein as to why she did not do anything with Dr. Ford's letter other than sit on it, is that Dr. Ford wanted to stay anonymous. Nevertheless, after the confirmation hearings had concluded, senator Feinstein turned the letter over to the FBI (minus the name of the woman making the allegations) and also announced publically that she had done this. Ford's desires hadn't changed. Feinstein just decided to ignore Ford's wishes at that point. We still have gotten no explantion why Ford's wishes were honored for two months but then ignored by the Democrats. Needless to say, this conduct makes Feinstein and the Democrats look bad.
3. A few days ago, someone leaked Dr. Ford's name to the media. We don't know who that was, but we can be certain that the leaker was a Democrat affiliated with Feinstein or the Democrats. It couldn't come from the FBI or law enforcement; they hadn't been given the name of Dr. Ford. It couldn't be from a Republican senator; they too had not been given the name. Supposedly there were only two people who knew Dr. Ford's name: senator Feinstein, and the Democrat congressman to whom Ford originally sent her letter. One of them had to be the leaker. Again, it makes the Dems look bad that they kept Ford's name out of the press for two months only to leak it at a time when it would create the maximum political uproar.
4. As soon as Ford's name was leaked, the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee demanded that more hearings be held at which Ford could testify and Kavanaugh could be further questioned. It was not a request; it was a strident demand. The Republicans on the committee responded by agreeing that there should be a hearing and scheduling it for Monday. The Democrats should have been happy that their demands were met, but instead they began trying to prevent the hearings. Dr. Ford, who at first said she wanted to testify, changed her position to refusing to testify unless there were first a full FBI investigation. The Democrats on the committee chimed in to support such an investigation. So the Dems got what they said they wanted and then changed their position to no longer want it.
5. Of course, there really is nothing to investigate. Ford can't say where or when the supposed misconduct by Kavanaugh took place. She can't identify anyone else who was there except for one guy who says he has no memory of any such thing happening. Ford says she told no one about the attack, so there's no corroborating statements to collect. And this happened so long ago that there's no need for a forensic examination (if the FBI actually were told what location to investigate.) The Dems keep demanding an investigation, though.
The games being played by the Dems have now managed to destroy their own position. There were three Republican senators who had come out in favor of hearings and full disclosure as a condition to holding a vote. Each of senators Flake, Collins and Corker have now said that if Ford doesn't come to testify on Monday, the committee should just go ahead and vote on the nomination without anything further happening.
What in the world are the Democrats doing? Do they actually care about finding out the truth of Ford's accusations? Or, are the Democrats just trying to delay confirmation of Kavanaugh in the hopes of somehow stopping it at a later date? It sure looks like delay is their hope rather than finding the truth.
The show put on the by Democrats looks much more like a temper tantrum than the behavior of senators. Maybe they will all decide to hold their breath until they get their way. I hope so. If they do that, at least they will stop talking.
1. First, they complained for months that they were not getting enough information on Judge Kavanaugh. Then it turns out that they had the letter from Dr. Ford with its severe allegations and just sat on it for two months. Surely, if the allegations needed to be investigated, then the Dems should have given the letter to the FBI and gotten the investigation started.
2. The explanation from Senator Feinstein as to why she did not do anything with Dr. Ford's letter other than sit on it, is that Dr. Ford wanted to stay anonymous. Nevertheless, after the confirmation hearings had concluded, senator Feinstein turned the letter over to the FBI (minus the name of the woman making the allegations) and also announced publically that she had done this. Ford's desires hadn't changed. Feinstein just decided to ignore Ford's wishes at that point. We still have gotten no explantion why Ford's wishes were honored for two months but then ignored by the Democrats. Needless to say, this conduct makes Feinstein and the Democrats look bad.
3. A few days ago, someone leaked Dr. Ford's name to the media. We don't know who that was, but we can be certain that the leaker was a Democrat affiliated with Feinstein or the Democrats. It couldn't come from the FBI or law enforcement; they hadn't been given the name of Dr. Ford. It couldn't be from a Republican senator; they too had not been given the name. Supposedly there were only two people who knew Dr. Ford's name: senator Feinstein, and the Democrat congressman to whom Ford originally sent her letter. One of them had to be the leaker. Again, it makes the Dems look bad that they kept Ford's name out of the press for two months only to leak it at a time when it would create the maximum political uproar.
4. As soon as Ford's name was leaked, the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee demanded that more hearings be held at which Ford could testify and Kavanaugh could be further questioned. It was not a request; it was a strident demand. The Republicans on the committee responded by agreeing that there should be a hearing and scheduling it for Monday. The Democrats should have been happy that their demands were met, but instead they began trying to prevent the hearings. Dr. Ford, who at first said she wanted to testify, changed her position to refusing to testify unless there were first a full FBI investigation. The Democrats on the committee chimed in to support such an investigation. So the Dems got what they said they wanted and then changed their position to no longer want it.
5. Of course, there really is nothing to investigate. Ford can't say where or when the supposed misconduct by Kavanaugh took place. She can't identify anyone else who was there except for one guy who says he has no memory of any such thing happening. Ford says she told no one about the attack, so there's no corroborating statements to collect. And this happened so long ago that there's no need for a forensic examination (if the FBI actually were told what location to investigate.) The Dems keep demanding an investigation, though.
The games being played by the Dems have now managed to destroy their own position. There were three Republican senators who had come out in favor of hearings and full disclosure as a condition to holding a vote. Each of senators Flake, Collins and Corker have now said that if Ford doesn't come to testify on Monday, the committee should just go ahead and vote on the nomination without anything further happening.
What in the world are the Democrats doing? Do they actually care about finding out the truth of Ford's accusations? Or, are the Democrats just trying to delay confirmation of Kavanaugh in the hopes of somehow stopping it at a later date? It sure looks like delay is their hope rather than finding the truth.
The show put on the by Democrats looks much more like a temper tantrum than the behavior of senators. Maybe they will all decide to hold their breath until they get their way. I hope so. If they do that, at least they will stop talking.
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