Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Law is objective, and yes, blind, and should be independent of politics.

“While winning may be the highest value for Trump, it isn’t actually the highest value — particularly for a justice.  If Kavanaugh wants to emerge from this episode as a credible justice ‘winning’ the confirmation isn’t good enough.”

The allegation against Brett Kavanaugh deserves to be taken seriously.  The Supreme Court deserves better than having Kavanaugh’s nomination rammed through a confirmation vote by Senators who have no standard of evidence because their support is ideological.

I watched the #IStandWithBrett Conference and heard six women speak out in defense of Brett Kavanaugh...

the women exemplify the need for an FBI investigation to produce a fuller picture of Brett Kavanaugh...

for them-- married women with sons and male colleagues, their friend Brett is the finest human being they’ve ever known.  

I have also watched and listened to Brett Kavanaugh in his own voice-- the self-portrait he paints extends from the printed word in his high school yearbook to speeches as recently as 2015 to his 2018 Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing and he’s out of character in contrast to the impeccable man the #IStandWithBrett women describe.

News that Kavanaugh has been hunkered down at the White House prepping with advisors for questions raised by his alleged victim Christine Blasey Ford makes one wonder what’s wrong about the truth?

I am concerned about Brett Kavanaugh’s ambiguous relationship with the truth and with his sense of superiority and entitlement.  A hearing is not a trial, but were it, a witness in a courtroom might well be held in contempt for answering / not answering questions as Kavanaugh did the Senators’.

Will the real Brett Kavanaugh please stand up?  

“Can Kavanaugh defend himself in a fashion that is both persuasive and honorable in the context of seeking elevation to a job that requires a certain moral viability?”

“Kavanaugh bears the burden of proof.  He has categorically and unequivocally denied the incident took place.  His only defense is self-exculpation on the facts ... The question is not whether to punish Kavanaugh, but whether to bestow on him an immense honor that comes with great power.”

It might well behoove Brett Kavanaugh to “accept that it is better to continue serving as a D.C. Circuit judge than to play the sort of undignified games that Republicans are playing on his behalf” and dishonoring a seat on the Supreme Court.  

with attribution to Ben Wittes, editor in chief of Lawfare.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

President Trump says Brett Kavanaugh has an impeccable reputation... this is a totally political smear campaign. 

Kavanaugh faces a second allegation of sexual misconduct, providing multiple new witnesses identifying him as being part of a culture of drunken and sexual behavior both at Georgetown Prep and at Yale.

Senator Dianne Feinstein is calling on Judiciary Committee Chair Senator Chuck Grassley to postpone further Kavanaugh proceedings until allegations against him can be properly investigated.

In The New Yorker story of a second allegation of sexual misconduct, Ronan Farrow and Jane Mayer identified a credible woman-- Deborah Ramirez, a Yale classmate of Brett Kavanaugh.

"Judge Kavanaugh may genuinely believe that as a Brahmin such behavior should not blemish his carefully cultivated public personna of well bred beneficence."   -- David Bantz

A corrupt President reveals a corrupt Congress.  Republican Senators have been “ploughing through” a pro forma confirmation process to confirm Kavanaugh before SCOTUS opens their October term.  When McConnell talks “Shameful” he should look in the mirror.

Brett Kavanaugh denies Prof Ford's allegation-- says he has calendars that mention no such activity.  Now there's a second allegation - when he's no longer a minor.

“We are not in a court of law, we are in a court of credibility”... This is no "hiccup" -  it is time for a proper investigation to get to the truth-- Kavanaugh should be insisting on it.

Instead he’s campaigning for confirmation on FOX News.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Asked if there should be an investigation into Judge Kavanaugh’s past, Alaska GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski said: “It would certainly clear up some questions, wouldn’t it?  There is no doubt Judge Kavanaugh is qualified.  We need a credible and respected process.” 

Brett Kavanaugh prefers to "plough through" the confirmation process with Mitch McConnell

amidst President Trump’s condemnation of Kavanaugh's accusers and the Democratic Senators.

Senator Grassley said he's "following order"-- he vote noticed the Senate Judiciary Committee for Friday AM Vote on Kavanaugh (the very next morning after Prof Ford's testimony on Thursday at the judiciary hearing).

The Republican Senators have hired a prosecutor for 2 rounds of 55 minutes each for Prof Ford and Judge Kavanaugh (5 minutes for question(s) & answer(s) for each of 11 Republican Senators) (no follow-up), and the same for the 10 Democrats-- 5 minutes each for both Prof Ford and Judge Kavanaugh.

Who's the audience for Thursday's Senate judiciary hearing?  Is this the way forward to advise and consent?  (Hard to understand how a prosecutor would procede with a hearing without an investigation and witnesses.)

Let's be clear: Even if Senators believe Christine Blasey Ford’s allegation and testimony, they can never-the-less vote "Yea" to confirm Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.  (The judiciary hearing is not a trial, it’s a politically glorified job interview made worse without the filibuster for judicial appointments.)

Martha MacCallum, FOX host, directly asked Ashley Kavanaugh if she believed there should be an FBI investigation into the allegations-- that there be a pause to sort it all out--

Immediate Brettsplain: "I want to be heard. I want a hearing" (without an investigation and the sooner, the better).

So much for hearing Ashley's answer about an FBI investigation--

and making it clear - with a fair process - there's nothing to hide.

In fairness to the Kavanaughs, it might well have been President Trump's orchestration for them to appear in a joint interview in a FOX News Exclusive with an opinion host to double down and deny (rather than open an FBI investigation to clear his name).

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Imagine Donald Trump and Barack Obama on the same world stage...

the world did not laugh at Barack Obama.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

America is forgiving to people who are honest.  

I don’t know what’s what about Brett Kavanaugh as a third woman comes forward to accuse him of sexual assault.  I am not calling him a sexual predator - he might well have been a stupid kid who as an adult continues to have trouble telling the truth.

Again I express alarm about Judge Kavanaugh’s lack of credibility and dissembling in statements and responses.

Kavanaugh has been accused of (and by no means cleared of) the sort of crime that should horrify Values Voters.  Yet Senate Majority Leader McConnell assured them last weekend at their Summit in D.C. that Judge Kavanaugh “will be on the United States Supreme Court.”  

Conservative White Evangelical Leaders Want the Senate to Dismiss Accusations of Sexual Assault and Confirm Kavanaugh Now... We’re talking about the integrity of the Supreme Court and beyond the Supreme Court we’re sending a message not only to young women, but also to young men.  Sadly the hearing tomorrow has nothing to do with a search for truth and the integrity of the Supreme Court.

Our politicians who should be strengthening our political structures are weakening them.  We should rue the loss of filibustering of judicial nominations.

Never could I have imagined one person - Donald Trump - could wreak such havoc on the United States of America.  As Americans we must be guardians of our democracy.  Donald Trump's presidency has exposed deep division in the Christian Church (in America) and a great need for healing.

***by last evening Senator Lisa Murkowski said her response was "perhaps somewhat flip - (she) was not calling for the FBI to investigate."

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

WITHOUT AN FBI INVESTIGATION,

THERE'S NO FIXED POINT OF CREDIBILITY.

THE HEARING IS MERELY AN EXERCISE

TO CONFIRM BRETT KAVANAUGH.

George M. Goldberg

George M. Goldberg

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Rachel Mitchell, prosecutor specializing in sex crimes, questioned Christine Blasey Ford for the Republicans and then Brett M. Kavanaugh until they dismissed her on the spot.

Senator Lindsey Graham triggered a lack of civility in the hearing - and Republicans went full bore after the Democrats.

Why does Judge Kavanaugh stand as an obstacle to asking the FBI to do a background check to investigate the allegations against him to clear his name?

Imagine how a woman as emotional and out of control as Brett Kavanaugh during the hearing would be treated.

As a mother and grandmother, and teacher, I hope we don't take a step backward sending a message of entitlement to (young) men and to silence assault survivors in a rush to confirm a nominee who in the process has shown himself to lack the veracity and temperament to be a Supreme Court justice.  

“Because of its respect for the rule of law and due process under law” the American Bar Association has called for a delay on the Vote on Kavanaugh until an FBI investigation is completed.

The Judiciary Committee is scheduled to meet 9:30 AM in the morning (TOMORROW) to proceed to Vote on Kavanaugh to move him out of committee.  So much for a fair process in the United States of America.

Dennis G. Walter

The Office of Government Ethics and the Office of Congressional Ethics must be the most unregulated and/or corrupt entities in the 'Swamp'. Fraud and waste doesn't even begin to tell the story...wonder why our 'Free Press' hasn't noticed?

Alan A. Alop

"As for 'conservatism' these days, the term seems to have lost all meaning. It repudiates not only free markets and immigration, international leadership, science and the rule of law, but also the habits of mind and the norms of civil behavior that a democratic republic requires. It’s not so much that the GOP has collapsed but that anything resembling an intellectually solid conservative movement has disintegrated. These people are all about power. Kavanaugh is not an umpire but an operative able to select facts, shade truth and evade troubling data to reach a conclusion that his side wants. That’s the image of the left that conservatives used to hold. They’ve become what they loathed." 

Jennifer Rubin

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Rushing Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation is about power, not justice.

Due process requires doing everything we can to discover the truth.

a done deal that became undone...

In an effort to legitimize the Kavanaugh nomination, and for an opportunity to quell political rancor in the country, Senator Flake voted to move Kavanaugh's nomination out of committee with a call for delay on the full Senate floor vote until the FBI has no more than one week to investigate--

Senator Flake has slowed the pace (exercising the Senate's role as a deliberative body)... he’s moved us forward with a stumbling baby step of bi-partisan commitment toward what is right...

Senator Murkowski added her support to Senator Flake’s call to delay the floor vote on Kavanaugh.  

The ball is in President Trump’s court to re open the FBI background investigation.  What will the scope of the investigation be?

Let's see what happens...

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Yesterday Brett Kavanaugh revealed himself with an angry, partisan rant.

No one is entitled to a seat on the Supreme Court.

He shows no perspective or humility.

Yesterday Lindsey Graham showed us the power of one US Senator...

Today Jeff Flake showed us the power of one US Senator-- especially one not running for re election

he started the day with the announcement he was a "YES" on Kavanaugh,

then passed on his turn to speak to the Judiciary Committee to reach out to his friend Delaware Democratic Senator Chris Coons--

after huddling together, Senator Flake stepped back to vote to move Kavanaugh's nomination out of committee with a call for delay on the full Senate floor vote to give the FBI no more than one week to investigate.

Without the votes to confirm Kavanaugh, President Trump ordered a request to re open the FBI investigation for less than a week.  

Tonight after 6 PM ET, after admonishing undecided Republican Senators about the risk of delay, Mitch McConnell is on the Senate floor praising Brett Kavanaugh and calling for a procedural vote to move forward.  The vote for cloture is scheduled for next Friday at the latest.

"We the people" - witnesses willing to cooperate with the FBI.  Truth is of the essence.  

Hopefully we all take a deep breath - let Democracy work - and hope facts guide a sound decision.

***Unfortunately an incomplete FBI investigation gave Jeff Flake cover to vote “Yes” to confirm Kavanaugh.  The man who was hailed as a hero, who on multiple occasions addressed the Senate standing up to President Trump and calling for compromise and comity, buckled to vote to confirm Kavanaugh and was called a coward.

Fancy Miss Nancy (Novak)

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

       Final day of the MLB season goes into

                    2 more games 

              Division Tiebreakers

             Game 163  tomorrow 

                         to determine:

            NL west division champion

              Rockies @ Dodgers 

                               and    

           NL central division champion

               Brewers @ Cubs 

            G⚾️  CUBS  G⚾️! ! ! 

Fancy Miss Nancy (Novak)

Another short Snippet from the life of Nancy...

enjoy!🎶

PS David (Dr. Noel), your keys are on the way. 

I handed them to Santa Claus who promised to get in his sleigh and deliver them to you as soon as he was finished ringing his bell on the recliner. How could you trust anyone better than Santa? 

 

I Search for Your Face



In the dark I search for your face, well, to be specific your mouth.  I long for, yearn for your mouth.  Why is that?  I think of you as my only family.  You are both mom and dad to me.  
Unable to sleep, I remain awake night after night, pacing the floors, padding up and down all three monotonous levels as quietly as possible so as not to wake you.  I crave your gentle caress.  I just want to be held by you.  Is that too much to ask? Certainly, I don’t want to look pathetic or needy.  I still have my pride, even though I realize you have locked me in and I have become your prisoner.  I have willingly surrendered to you.  I love you and understand that you did this for my own safety.
My fondest memories are of the quiet moments when I saw you stir in the darkness and you noticed me staring blankly into nothingness.  I sat so still, hardly daring to breathe, hoping that you would reach out and embrace me.
And then, oh ecstasy!  I felt myself being scooped up in your arms.  You lovingly pressed me against your breast.  I closed my eyes as the rhythmic pounding of your heart soothed me.  Pressing my pink ear against your chest I matched my breathing to your pulse.  This exquisite time temporarily washed away my burning desire to seek out your beautiful face and, of course, your mouth, unlike any other I have ever encountered; bursting with juicy tropical sweetness.
How many dark and dreary months have passed?  Seemingly endless sleepless nights have caused my sense of time to melt into a vat of tar.  I could easily have been your prisoner now for years.  How would I know?  But my deep longing to see your face and seek out your delicious lips is stronger than ever.  I am truly trapped in so many ways, but I live with the hope of escape.  I have worked so hard to battle my insomnia and I am confident that some day I will conquer my dislike of daylight.
The first tenuous pink strands of dawn are tickling the walls of my room.  Strangely, I am fully awake and alert, praying that today might be the day that I will finally be rewarded with your kind face and wonderful mouth.  Suddenly I notice something that can not be.  My door has been left open!  Is it possible?  I shiver momentarily and shake myself in an attempt to grasp the fact that my door is, indeed, wide open!  I’m free to leave!  I’m no longer a prisoner, and yet I can’t possibly imagine going off to some unknown destination without ever seeing your face again.  I must take whatever action is necessary to find your lovely face!
Bounding recklessly out the door, I charged forward with no concern for my safety, forcing myself up the steep ramp outside.  I had no idea I could run so fast uphill.  In the early morning haze, I stumbled over unfamiliar terrain and then unexpectedly arrived at my goal.  Not only did I manage to get into your bedroom, but I am now in your bed with you!  For a few luscious minutes I bask in your beauty as you rest peacefully on your back.  My keen eyes, always adjusted to darkness are drawn to the symmetry of your placid oval face.  I am driven by powerful inner urges and restrain myself no longer.
Carefully, I climb on top of you and lay my body gently on yours.  I inhale the scent of your breathe and press my mouth onto yours as my moist soft tongue explores your lips, like a velvet feather dusting cherries.
With a piercing scream that cuts through my delicate ears like a razor blade, you awake shaking and suddenly sit upright.  Unable to keep my balance I slide off your face and nearly off the bed, but you catch me just in time.  Realizing it is me, you hold me close, sobbing.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Pinocchios for President Trump and Majority Leader McConnell.

Pinocchios for "BART" (as garbled by a Georgetown teacher and taken as a nickname).

The FBI is "handcuffed" by the White House

limited in scope / counter to what investigators do

Don McGahn says-- “Don’t go there”...

McConnell limits scope and insists on an arbitrary deadline--

Friday (at the latest) (before more comes out)

for Kavanaugh confirmation Vote on Cloture.  

Kavanaugh said he wanted a “fair process.”

Sadly,  POLITICS,  NOT EVIDENCE 

      is what Kavanaugh and the Republicans are about.

Is there a lie big enough to disqualify “FFFFF BART”?

"Judge Kavanaugh is doing very well" shielded by Executive Power.  “It’s a very scary time in America.”  Guys could be “perfect their whole life” and like Trump and “BART” have their lives ruined by “false accusations”.   -- DJT

Have we lost our moral compass?  “BART” lacks honesty.  "We can't have this on the Court."

Difficult decisions require as many facts as are knowable and discoverable.

Perhaps can we agree?  

"A hotter world is a hungrier world."

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

"Indelible laughter" is the memory that haunts Christine Blasey Ford...

and in the now there's raucous laughter at her expense

roused by Trump's mocking assault at a Mississippi rally...

a bridge too far, defended by the White House.

Sexual assault is not a partisan issue. 

Trump leads no search for justice--

it's a whitewash investigation... a cover-up...

The gender gap’s not wide enough for Trump-- he wants a canyon.

Trump is not a model for men and boys;

he shows no respect for women.

McConnell is rushing to elevate “FFFFF BART”... Brett... to SCOTUS

Whoever he is, Kavanaugh lied in front of the Judiciary Committee.

US Senators are on the line to show their conscience.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

The FBI 302s are available to the Senators by pecking order.

The Senators are looking to each other to know how to vote.

What a sad window into our leaders.

The work product of the FBI is confidential, limited as the scope was, eliminating a vast number of witnesses.

There's reason to believe the first 6 FBI checks caught a whiff of evidence against Kavanaugh.

The most notable part of the new FBI report is what is NOT in the report.

An FBI investigation (when the FBI is not in a box) would include interviews with Prof Ford and Judge Kavanaugh-- Judge Kavanaugh would not get away with prevarication and filibustering as he did in front of the Judiciary Committee because of 5 minute time constraints.

How do we balance "TMI"  and  truth ?

not to mention temperament and political partisanship.

The President and GOP Senators are pleased with an incomplete and limited FBI probe.

What is the truth?

We did not learn truth from Judge Kavanaugh.

Leader McConnell calls Prof Ford's allegations a smear ...    haunting indelible laughter .....   and he ploughs through to Vote on Kavanaugh Confirmation: Cloture Vote scheduled for tomorrow morning at 10:30 AM

Note to President Trump: Doubts about confirming Brett Kavanaugh have increased...

and you have shamed/embarrassed the FBI as an independent agency of the federal government.

We're talking about the integrity of the Supreme Court.

Republican Utah Senator Orrin Hatch thinks Brett Kavanaugh is one of the best SCOTUS nominees he's seen in 42 years in the Senate, and has said before that President Trump may be the best U.S. President ever.  SAD!!!   Senator Hatch is seriously past his prime.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

from Supreme Court Justice John Roberts' Unconventional Speech to His Son's 9th grade Graduating Class, June 2017

“Now the commencement speakers will typically wish you good luck and extend good wishes to you.  I will not do that, and I’ll tell you why.  From time to time in the years to come, I hope you will be treated unfairly, so that you will come to know the value of justice.  I hope that you will suffer betrayal because that will teach you the importance of loyalty.  Sorry to say, but I hope you will be lonely from time to time so that you don’t take friends for granted.  I wish you bad luck, again, from time to time so that you will be conscious of the role of chance in life and understand that your success is not completely deserved and that the failure of others is not completely deserved either.  And when you lose, as you will from time to time, I hope every now and then, your opponent will gloat over your failure.  It is a way for you to understand the importance of sportsmanship.  I hope you’ll be ignored so you know the importance of listening to others, and I hope you will have just enough pain to learn compassion.  Whether I wish these things or not, they’re going to happen.  And whether you benefit from them or not will depend upon your ability to see the message in your misfortunes.”  

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

If you believe Christine Blasey Ford, it's "No" on Kavanaugh confirmation.

Hearing the Republicans say they would want their daughter, wife, mother ... treated as Prof Ford was treated,           I call "BS".

It is Leader McConnell who has tarnished the image of the U.S. Senate.

***The American Bar Assn is reopening their evaluation of Judge Kavanaugh’s fitness to serve on the Supreme Court because of “new information of a material nature regarding temperament.”

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

After all Trump’s bombast against NAFTA, USMCA Trade Agreement is essentially NAFTA redux.  We’ll see if the Republicans approve it.

The Republicans and Democratic Senator Manchin did not take Prof Ford's allegations seriously. 

Senator Susan Collins kept Leader McConnell’s commitment to plough right through.  She gave Kavanaugh her endorsement: not only did he have the presumption of innocence, Senator Collins gave him the presumption of honesty and threw Prof Ford under the bus. 

Question: Who would hire someone with the demeanor exhibited by Brett Kavanaugh? 

Answer: The Republican Senators who gave Kavanaugh the presumption he would be confirmed no matter what.  In fact, they're all exhibiting Brett Kavanaugh's "white male rage."

There were no profiles in courage today.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

M O U R N I N G   I N   A M E R I C A --

for voting rights, civil rights, health protective rights, women's rights, workers' rights, consumer rights, clean air and water...         we are not all equal in the United States.  

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will be remembered for his hypocrisy and for undermining the Constitutional institutions of our government, namely the Senate and the Supreme Court.

“President Trump and his supporters find community rejoicing in the suffering of others.”  -- Adam Serwer

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

“Today our Justice system fulfilled its obligation to justice for all,” said Cook County, IL, prosecutor Joseph McMahon.  Friday Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke was found guilty of second degree murder in the 2014 shooting of 17 year old Laquan McDonald.  Van Dyke’s bond was revoked; he left the courtroom with an officer.  

The jurors said the veteran police officer did nothing to deescalate the situation that led to the fatal shooting.  

Video of the shooting led to protests, a Justice Dept civil rights investigation, criticism of the mayor, and eventually, the ouster of the police superintendent.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Chief Justice John Roberts has received more than a dozen judicial misconduct complaints in recent weeks against Brett M Kavanaugh, who was confirmed this afternoon as a Supreme Court justice, but has chosen for the time being not to refer them to a judicial panel for investigation.  

Under the law, “any person may file a misconduct complaint in the circuit in which the federal judge sits.”  The complaints seek investigations of the public statements Kavanaugh has made as a nominee to the Supreme Court.  The D.C. Circuit forwarded the complaints about Kavanaugh’s testimony to Chief Justice Roberts.

The situation is highly unusual.  Never before has a Supreme Court nominee been poised to join the court while a fellow judge recommends that misconduct claims against that nominee warrant review.

Chief Justice Roberts’ decision not to immediately refer the cases to another appeals court has caused concern in the legal community.  Now that Kavanaugh has been confirmed, the details of the complaints may not become public and instead may be dismissed, legal experts say.  Supreme Court justices are not subject to the misconduct rules governing these claims.

Says Stephen Gillers, a professor at NYU Law School and an expert on Supreme Court ethics: “ If Justice Roberts sits on the complaints, then they will reside in a kind of purgatory and never be adjudicated.  This is not how the rules anticipated the process would work.”  

D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Merrick Garland recused himself from the matter because Senate Republicans had blocked his nomination to SCOTUS.  

Washington Post  October 6 at 4:56 PM

***Read "Kavanaugh has exposed the Savage Amorality of America’s Ruling Class" by Harry Cheadle