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No guests this week, just our hosts reflecting on a week that will not soon, if ever, be forgotten. We look at the testimony from both Kavanaugh and Ford, the reaction and remarks from the Judiciary Committee, from the media, and from friends. We wind up with some predictions from the hosts as to whether or not Brett Kavanaugh will get confirmed. Give us your predictions in the comments.
Music from this week’s show: Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty
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Even though I always vote for him the general I haven’t voted for him in the primary for years. I know it’s a futile gesture, but no one is so indespensible that they need to be in Congress for 40+ years. Come home and enjoy your retirement Don. Time to pass on the baton.
I get that he might pick someone in a primary, but once past that he should support the Republican nominee. In Alabama last year he said that if Moore were elected he would try to expel him from the senate. I mostly like McConnell, but that was not helpful. There was no more evidence against Moore than there is against Kavanaugh. And if Moore had won (it was relatively close) then we would be in an easier spot now. Democrats tested out this “credible accusation from 30+ years ago with no evidence and witness who refute the allegation” technique on Moore and it worked and now they’re using it on Kavanaugh.
I’m not sure about Alaska so I’ll defer to your judgment. I do know McConnell directed millions of dollars to Crist against Rubio. I’m not an enemy of McConnell, he’s been a good conventional leader, I just wish he’d be willing to amend the filibuster and some of the other rules that don’t work anymore.
There’s another issue that doesn’t seem relevant here in particular, but it might be relevant in other situations and perhaps in the not-too-distant future even here, who knows? Things can change. It’s uncomfortable, but I think it’s important to face it.
Would Peter – or Rob or James for that matter – start saying that they believe “Dr” Ford and no longer believe Judge Kavanaugh, if their wife threatened to leave them otherwise? Or if their child(ren) threatened to cut them off, you’ll never see the grandchildren, etc?
Sure, they’re just “talking heads” without any real power such as a vote in the Senate. But that makes the point stronger, not weaker.
It may seem off-the-wall, but who knows? Could Mrs. Sen. Jeff Flake be threatening him like that, if he doesn’t vote the “right” way? Women in elevators and elsewhere, are certainly threatening him. It may not be a long-term problem for him, at least from those people other than his wife, because even if Kavanaugh is confirmed the screamers will eventually lose interest/energy and move on to the next “outrage.” But at least for a while, maybe even after he leaves office, he can count on not getting moment’s peace in any public setting or even at home, if he votes “wrong.”
Jonah Goldberg has that problem too. He likes to say “it’s ridiculous to say that at least Trump isn’t as bad as Hillary, the election is over!” Well Jonah, guess what? At the time of the general election, the PRIMARIES were over, too. Wishing you had gotten President Cruz or whoever, instead of Trump, is also ridiculous. And if enough people had taken their vote and gone home, like you did, we’d have President Hillary.
Agreed. I voted for Parnell (his last real challenger) and Don got ugly about it. He’s a jerk, but he votes the way I’d have him, so I guess that’s why I still vote for him unless I’m sold on his opponent. I really hope Parnell will challenge Lisa next time.
Right.
To put a finer point on it, I can’t get one person on this forum to tell me why they like John McCain’s political philosophy. How has he helped YOU politically? Supposedly, he has a lot of virtue or something. Bill Kristol, Tom Nichols, Steve Schmidt, Mona Charon, Rick Wilson. etc. what is going on in their heads really troubles me.
I see it on Minnesota GOP Twitter. These people just don’t get economics and they can’t see big government if someone is even shoving it down their throats. They affectively think that it’s just swell that the government and the Democrat party is shoving multiculturalism down everyone’s throats. They think the Alinsky tactics are just a phase, or I’m overstating it. They think people should just behave better and “vote better”, which is a complete joke.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if you want to hear something intelligent about making big government work listen to Jonah Goldberg’s interview of Jay Cost. Otherwise, Trump is a symptom of a sick system (so is socialism’s popularity) and he’s actually perfect for the times in some ways.
Here’s another one: why do you like Jeff Flake? I guess his voting record is pretty conservative, but I really wish he would just go away quietly.
Maybe one way of putting it is, not all “conservative” votes are equal? If groups who rate “conservative” voting records are only counting events, without any kind of weighting, I think it ends up not being very useful. If Flake ends up not voting to confirm Kavanaugh, it seems to me that could easily outweigh several other “conservative” votes he’s made. Regarding McCain, I would point you to this excellent piece by Marianne Jennings, who I’ve followed for years:
https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2018/09/07/john-mccain-statesman-maverick-rino-ignored-republicans/1217676002/
For those who can’t/won’t go look it up, here is the article:
Part 1:
John McCain thought he was a statesman. But he regularly ignored us
Marianne Jennings, opinion contributor Published 6:23 a.m. MT Sept. 7, 2018 | Updated 6:26 a.m. MT Sept. 7, 2018
Opinion: John McCain delighted in embracing the other side in defiance of those he represented. Maverick was his label, but duplicity was his specialty.
The flag-draped casket bearing John McCain is prepared to leave the National Cathedral in Washington on Sept. 1, 2018. (Photo: Jasper Colt, USAT)
“Never speak ill of the dead” echoed in the mind of a minister, charged with conducting an infamously wretched man’s funeral. Unable to offer any kind words, he asked the few in attendance to offer some thoughts.
A man in the back rose and said, “His brother was much worse.”
Sullen and mute are the apt adjectives for many Arizonans during the week of U.S. Sen. John McCain’s funerals. When the media are your constituency, you get the Princess Diana treatment. Manners and respect for the military and the dead found us biting our tongues.
Part 2:
They used the funeral to slam Trump
However, by service No. 3 or 4, two former presidents and a petulant McCain daughter crossed a line. The three used a funeral service to slam our current president.
Senator McCain, through the conduct of those chosen to speak at his funerals and the insulting language and parting shots in his final book of pettiness, gave up the shield of “speak no ill.”
Many of us have the same difficulty with Wrong-Way McCain (a moniker for his votes and his record as a pilot) that the late John Lennon presents. Lennon lectured us “to give peace a chance” but could not get along with the three lads who took him to fame, fortune and Yoko Ono
Senator McCain lectured us on the importance of reaching across the aisle. Yet, McCain rarely put a hand out on our side of the aisle.
Part 3:
McCain routinely betrayed the GOP
Senator McCain voted against the Bush tax cuts and was among the fiercest of President Bush’s critics. He had his kindest words for his opponent in his failed presidential bid — President Obama.
McCain-Feingold campaign limitations were an affront to the First Amendment, something the U.S. Supreme Court found in striking down portions of it. He was on the other side of the aisle on immigration reform and ignored letters, calls and pleas for help.
With the Gang of Eight, he thumbed his nose at voters in this border state.
His list of other legislation co-sponsored with Democrats is long, but not distinguished. A senator from Arizona sponsoring gun control legislation?
In his last re-election campaign, he duped us on repealing Obamacare. Without prior disclosure, he gleefully gave a thumbs down on the Senate floor, tanking repeal in a blatant betrayal.
Heroism is not a lifetime pass
Senator McCain was only a Republican in election years. In between, he did as he pleased and never deigned to listen to those in his own party who disagreed with him, labeled by him as “crazies,” “hobbits” and “bizarros.”
Part 4:
During Charles Keating’s Lincoln Savings and Loan debacle, McCain’s flights and close association with the arrogant Keating were surprising and disappointing. While he deserves all due credit for his military service and his courage as a POW, such heroism is not a lifetime free pass for conduct so unbecoming of an officer.
Senator McCain fancied himself a statesman. But is the mark of a statesman that of ignoring the people who gave him that status? He seemed to delight in embracing the other side in defiance of those he represented. Maverick was his label, but duplicity was his specialty.
Out of respect, however, one parting thought: Sen. Flake was much worse.
Marianne Jennings is professor emeritus at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. Reach her at mmjdiary@aol.com.
Thanks for posting that kedavis.
I do not get why some Republicans fawn all over John McCain. All he had to do was wipe out the ACA and I never, ever would have gotten so worked up about him. The ACA is a tool of the socialist liars. This is just crapy leadership from start to finish. We would have come up with a better way to get comprehensive coverage.
Just to be clear, I’m not really sure what the truth is about the Keating Five scandal.
I know she takes a shot at Flake at the end, but isn’t that more about his acting out lately as opposed to his actual voting record? Also, wasn’t he known as a libertarian when he was in the House? My point is why can’t he talk like Jonah Goldberg or Kevin Williamson? No he’s got to talk about Trump’s demeanor in the lack of comity, that the Republicans have nothing to do with. I saw a republican the other day say that Rush Limbaugh made it so we can’t have comity with the Alinsky socialists i.e. Democrats.
My wife works where Charles and Ray met.
Victor Davis Hanson just cited a half a dozen neocons that were against Kavanaugh on Laura Ingrahm. Ruben, Kristol etc. There are a bunch of Republicans. I think it’s sick.
Ah but not to me.
Sorry Max, but that is completely untrue. The allegations against Moore were much more credible. Times, dates, places, corroborating witnesses from the time when it happened. Plus Moore is a lunatic.
If enough people had voted for Rubio or Cruz, we’d have Rubio or Cruz. If enough people had voted for McCain, we’d have had McCain… or Romney. All we can do now is support anything good that comes out of the Trump administration (like Kavanaugh) and continue to point out that Trump is still the same nasty little bully he has always been.
17 candidates requires a national two-step primary. 17 then two. It would have been Cruz vs. Trump.
It is not completely untrue. It is based on Moore being defined as weird.
Exactly. I also find it difficult to believe that the memory of what she claims happened would be enough to cause most normal people in their 50’s to regress like that.
It was a long time ago, but maybe she has led an unusually uneventful life.
He IS weird. Plenty of evidence for that too.
Weird is not the same as lunatic.
A full national defense of Moore may have pushed him over the edge.
That was an Alabama decision. I don’t think a full national defense would have helped the Republican Party, but it’s completely respectable to debate the point.
The reason that Moore lost was that there were many Alabama voters who looked at that case and decided they just could not go the same way as the primary voters. They stayed home. Then you had an invigoration of Democrats in that state, which would have also been stirred by a more national defense.
I think it helps Brett Kavenaugh now that some Republicans can say, “You know, the evidence in that case was more persuasive to me. This isn’t about my politics. This is about you trying to crucify a man on someone’s word alone, which is crazy town dangerous.”
But that’s just my reading.
Dear Mr. Long,
Republicans did win the election, and the Democrats have been trying to nullify that election since before Trump was inaugurated. I understand that you don’t like Trump, but could you, once in a great while, address the vile behavior of the Democrats, instead of hammering on about the stupidity of Republican voters? We know what you think of us deplorables, you don’t need to keep repeating it. We’re not that dumb.
All of the bad electoral examples you cited occurred because “moderate” Republicans refused to address the very real issues of their electorate. That is how and why we got Trump, and it may also have been how we got Obama. It turned out that Obama was a liar, and had no intention of doing any thing except implementing his progressive agenda, but he talked a good game and people were desperate enough to believe him. I will say one thing for Trump, he has kept his word on a number of issues that are important to me, which I did not expect, because it is so rare.
Re Mrs. Ford-I don’t happen to believe her, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is evidence, and there isn’t any.
Did you know Brett Kavanaugh at Yale? Why do you want to sink the nomination of a judge whose record as a judge is long, extensive, and exemplary? We will be lucky if he is not assassinated, and you are not helping.
Furthermore, if Kavanaugh goes down, all American humans with an XY chromosome set are going to be in danger of losing their livelihoods if this idea that evidence doesn’t matter takes hold. I have a husband, sons, and five grandsons, I do not want them to be destroyed on the word of a single unstable person.
For that matter, if Kavanaugh goes down, we will all be living in Lavrenty Beria’s world, because the rule of law is all that stands between us and statism.
Moderate Republicans will never, ever, ever accept any blame. It is all the wacko bird voters.
Personally I had a an extraordinary week so I missed quite a bit though I did catch the trade agreement with South Korea and the UN speech. The UN speech seemed excellent to me. I heard the press conference this week was very good and also the rally in WVa. So from what I could gather President Trump had a good week but no mention of these things on this, the Ricochet podcast. Disappointing, fellas. A little credit for the President when he deserves it would be quite welcome.
A quick note about cheerleaders- Texas A&M still has male-only cheerleaders, called “yell leaders.” As I understand it they are actually somewhat effective in getting the A&M crowd to engage in synchronized cheering, as opposed to the usual cheerleader role of entertaining the crowd. George W Bush*** was one during his time there.
***EDIT: as @rktsci points out on the next page, W. Bush was a cheerleader at Yale, not Texas A&M. It was Rick Perry who was an Aggie yell leader.
This,this a 1000 times this