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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  1. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    JuliaBlaschke (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):
    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

    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.

    Jonah likes to say that “talking down” Western Civilization is a bad idea/dangerous thing, because (basically) “we talked ourselves into Western Civilization, and we can talk ourselves out of it.”  (Also “suicide is a choice,” etc.)  What he doesn’t seem to see is that it’s possible to “talk ourselves out of” smaller things too.  Such as, if you continually “point out that Trump is still the same nasty little bully he has always been,” that’s bound to have an impact on things like…. oh, let’s see… SUPREME COURT NOMINATIONS???

    And like I said, the primaries were over.

    • #91
  2. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    kedavis (View Comment):
    nasty little bully

    What is the problem with this? Seriously. 

    • #92
  3. Podkayne of Israel Inactive
    Podkayne of Israel
    @PodkayneofIsrael

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):
    nasty little bully

    What is the problem with this? Seriously.

    Indeed. 

    • #93
  4. Max Ledoux Coolidge
    Max Ledoux
    @Max

    JuliaBlaschke (View Comment):
    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.

    You may have chosen to believe Moore’s accusers because you think he’s a lunatic. People on the Left are choosing to believe Kavanaugh’s accusers because they think he’s a lunatic. NeverTrumpers are choosing to believe Kavanaugh’s accusers because they think Trump is a lunatic.

    There was no more evidence against Moore than there is against Kavanaugh. Many people on the Right abetted the Left’s attack on Moore and now the same attack is being used on Kavanaugh.

    • #94
  5. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Why do people want Trump and  Roy Moore?

    • #95
  6. Archie Campbell Member
    Archie Campbell
    @ArchieCampbell

    kedavis (View Comment):

    I’m not familiar with Kevin Williamson’s criticisms of Trump. Jonah’s are basically reasonable, but his “reasons” for not voting for Trump against Hillary, don’t withstand scrutiny. To me they sound like “Hang the country, voting for Trump would have made ME feel soiled somehow. And me feeling better about me is more important than the country.”

    Jonah has said many times that if the election came down to him that he would’ve voted for Trump.

     

    • #96
  7. Max Ledoux Coolidge
    Max Ledoux
    @Max

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Why do people want Trump and Roy Moore?

    Hillary Clinton and Doug Jones.

    • #97
  8. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Max Ledoux (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Why do people want Trump and Roy Moore?

    Hillary Clinton and Doug Jones.

    People are sick of cultural Marxism and they want their cut of the Keynesian graft, too. 

    • #98
  9. Max Ledoux Coolidge
    Max Ledoux
    @Max

    Archie Campbell (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    I’m not familiar with Kevin Williamson’s criticisms of Trump. Jonah’s are basically reasonable, but his “reasons” for not voting for Trump against Hillary, don’t withstand scrutiny. To me they sound like “Hang the country, voting for Trump would have made ME feel soiled somehow. And me feeling better about me is more important than the country.”

    Jonah has said many times that if the election came down to him that he would’ve voted for Trump.

     

    That’s a cop out. I think one should always vote as if the election hinges on your decision. I waited in line for over two hours in Brooklyn, NY, to vote for Mitt Romney in 2012. I knew New York was going to go to Obama, but I did my part anyway. Jonah didn’t vote for Trump. Fine. He didn’t have to. He doesn’t get any points from me for saying he would have if it had mattered. It did matter and he didn’t.

    • #99
  10. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    • #100
  11. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    I once heard that any economist will tell you that voting is a waste of time. Having said that, helping Trump  get within 1.5% in a state where the GOP POTUS loses by an average of 6% was quite satisfying. 40,000 votes. LOL

    Why would something like that happen? Because people are sick of multiculturalism and…

    Government Is How We Steal From Each Other™

    • #101
  12. Goldwaterwoman Thatcher
    Goldwaterwoman
    @goldwaterwoman

    RufusRJones (View Comment):
    I once heard that any economist will tell you that voting is a waste of time.

    Whoever said that is wrong. Also, I don’t think we’re sick of multiculturalism as much as horrified by the efforts on the left to divide us into groups who must vote certain ways because of color, religion, etc., rather than acknowledging the positive values that make us all Americans.

    • #102
  13. Archie Campbell Member
    Archie Campbell
    @ArchieCampbell

    Max Ledoux (View Comment):

    Archie Campbell (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    I’m not familiar with Kevin Williamson’s criticisms of Trump. Jonah’s are basically reasonable, but his “reasons” for not voting for Trump against Hillary, don’t withstand scrutiny. To me they sound like “Hang the country, voting for Trump would have made ME feel soiled somehow. And me feeling better about me is more important than the country.”

    Jonah has said many times that if the election came down to him that he would’ve voted for Trump.

     

    That’s a cop out. I think one should always vote as if the election hinges on your decision. I waited in line for over two hours in Brooklyn, NY, to vote for Mitt Romney in 2012. I knew New York was going to go to Obama, but I did my part anyway. Jonah didn’t vote for Trump. Fine. He didn’t have to. He doesn’t get any points from me for saying he would have if it had mattered. It did matter and he didn’t.

    I’m sure he’ll be crushed when he finds out. Yeah, yeah, yeah: no one gets any “points” unless they were for Trump before he even decided to run.  I live in California and didn’t vote for Trump, but had the state been in play, it would’ve been a closer call for me.  I don’t consider that a cop out.  But of course, the same people who had days before told me that My Vote Wasn’t Needed and that There’s No Stopping The Juggernaut Of Trump’s Victory, and implied that I might be herded into some sort of camp for my disloyalty, told me in the wake of his narrow victory that I was still to blame because I didn’t help to Pump Up The Glorious Popular Vote Total (Even Though The Popular Vote Is Totally Beside The Point), so I figured there was no reason to worry about it further.

    The strange advocacy of Trump as some sort of Maximum Leader is profoundly strange to me, and I find it pretty dumb.  You’ll just have to believe me when I say I don’t get it but that I respect the opinions of those who are pro-Trumpers.  When he’s right and does a good job, I say so. When he isn’t and doesn’t, I say so. Actually, I haven’t done much of the latter on Ricochet lately–not that that counts for anything.  If that isn’t enough, that’s just the way it goes.

    • #103
  14. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Goldwaterwoman (View Comment):
    Also, I don’t think we’re sick of multiculturalism as much as horrified by the efforts on the left to divide us into groups who must vote certain ways because of color, religion, etc., rather than acknowledging the positive values that make us all Americans.

    Right. I mean forcing it or diversity down people’s throats artificially. Liberal sociologist Robert Putnam proved it. 

    I used to work in the Seattle U district and had friends on Capital Hill. Multiculturalism is obviously a good thing there. I loved it. 

    • #104
  15. Eustace C. Scrubb Member
    Eustace C. Scrubb
    @EustaceCScrubb

    Walker 

    Well, this was certainly a dispiriting podcast. I was having a Roshoman “hour” where it seems that everyone was projecting their past personal experiences and college episodes as to “who dunnit.” Guzzling beer and attempted rape do not come in pairs! If that were so, we’d have millions of victimized women (and men) in this country.

    Thanks for the heads up, Walker. I rarely miss the flagship, but this is one topic of which I’ve had my fill of speculation.

    • #105
  16. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Archie Campbell (View Comment):
    The strange advocacy of Trump as some sort of Maximum Leader is profoundly strange to me, and I find it pretty dumb.

    Strange to me, especially as only anti Trump types see it.

    • #106
  17. Archie Campbell Member
    Archie Campbell
    @ArchieCampbell

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    Archie Campbell (View Comment):
    The strange advocacy of Trump as some sort of Maximum Leader is profoundly strange to me, and I find it pretty dumb.

    Strange to me, especially as only anti Trump types see it.

    Well, there are two reasons that could be, which is at the core of our disagreement, I suppose.

    • #107
  18. bill.deweese Inactive
    bill.deweese
    @bill.deweese

    Goldwaterwoman (View Comment):

    bill.deweese (View Comment):
    Great discussion as usual. Up until you started sharing the thought of Bill Kristol uncritically.

    Bill Kristol is a well-known critic of all things Trump. Could well be he would oppose Jesus Christ if Trump appointed him to the court. His days of significant influence in the Republican Party dwindle daily.

    Maybe. But, why impune Kristol’s motives when it’s easier and more consistent in this case to impune his logic.

    • #108
  19. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Archie Campbell (View Comment):

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    Archie Campbell (View Comment):
    The strange advocacy of Trump as some sort of Maximum Leader is profoundly strange to me, and I find it pretty dumb.

    Strange to me, especially as only anti Trump types see it.

    Well, there are two reasons that could be, which is at the core of our disagreement, I suppose.

    Sure. Trump supporters are deplorable. 

    • #109
  20. Goldwaterwoman Thatcher
    Goldwaterwoman
    @goldwaterwoman

    bill.deweese (View Comment):
    Maybe. But, why impune Kristol’s motives when it’s easier and more consistent in this case to impune his logic.

    I posted this earlier and can’t possibly  say it any better than the writers here: Julie Kelly, a former Kristol fan, writes succinctly about her reasons for disillusionment with the him in The Federalist. Here’s another excellent article in the New Yorker about Kristol’s lack of influence in Washington and how it all came about.

    • #110
  21. Petty Boozswha Inactive
    Petty Boozswha
    @PettyBoozswha

    Max Ledoux (View Comment):

    JuliaBlaschke (View Comment):
    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.

    You may have chosen to believe Moore’s accusers because you think he’s a lunatic. People on the Left are choosing to believe Kavanaugh’s accusers because they think he’s a lunatic. NeverTrumpers are choosing to believe Kavanaugh’s accusers because they think Trump is a lunatic.

    There was no more evidence against Moore than there is against Kavanaugh. Many people on the Right abetted the Left’s attack on Moore and now the same attack is being used on Kavanaugh.

    Max, are you taking over for Hypatia?  Moore was banned from the local mall for hitting on young girls. There was plenty of evidence, enough to convince Richard Shelby, who advised Repubs to shun him.

    • #111
  22. RktSci Member
    RktSci
    @RktSci

    Lazy_Millennial (View Comment):

    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.

    George W Bush was a cheerleader at Yale, not a yell leader at A&M. Rick Perry was a yell leader, though.

    • #112
  23. Petty Boozswha Inactive
    Petty Boozswha
    @PettyBoozswha

    I would like to say I have more understanding for the frustration felt by the intelligent Trump supporters [or Trump sceptics, if they prefer] towards NeverTrumpers like myself after this week. For some masochistic reason I’ve been watching CNN and MSNBC and hating it. I get wound up as bad as Sean Hannity when I hear “Republicans” like Joe Scarborough, some supposed consultant named Del Perchio[?], Nicole Wallace, Anna Navaro, etc. slam Kavanaugh for being a liar, a drunk, a danger to society, all for a pat on the head from their fanbase. I’m still never going to vote for  Trump, but I hope I haven’t gone off the deep end the way they have. 

    • #113
  24. Samuel Block Support
    Samuel Block
    @SamuelBlock

    @roblong, I totally disagree with you all over the place. Thank you!

    I’m young enough that you would probably consider me a kid, but old enough that I’ll beg your pardon for having had been kind of angry during the whole “hearing” (and “post-hearing” circus).

    But I thought you were great!

    You deserve a nomination for Adult of the Year (if that’s a thing – if not it should be). Diddo for Robinson and Lileks.

    • #114
  25. Goldwaterwoman Thatcher
    Goldwaterwoman
    @goldwaterwoman

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):
    For some masochistic reason I’ve been watching CNN and MSNBC and hating it.

    Therein lies your problem. I switch between Fox, CNN and MSNBC. The only one I super can’t take is MSNBC as they are just so out there with the vitriol. And Rachel Maddow has really jumped the shark with her Russian obsession. 

    • #115
  26. Petty Boozswha Inactive
    Petty Boozswha
    @PettyBoozswha

    I’m taking care of a friend’s animals and he uses Sling TV, which does not offer Fox. Strange, because it’s 30% owned by Fox. Update, I think it’s Hulu that’s 30% owned by Fox.

    • #116
  27. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Archie Campbell (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    I’m not familiar with Kevin Williamson’s criticisms of Trump. Jonah’s are basically reasonable, but his “reasons” for not voting for Trump against Hillary, don’t withstand scrutiny. To me they sound like “Hang the country, voting for Trump would have made ME feel soiled somehow. And me feeling better about me is more important than the country.”

    Jonah has said many times that if the election came down to him that he would’ve voted for Trump.

    That’s a convenient excuse, but a few thousand fewer Jonahs would have removed the “he lost the popular vote!” mantra.  And a few thousand MORE Jonahs would have brought us President Hillary.

    And really, couldn’t ANYONE make that claim?  Was there any state where ONE VOTE would have turned it – that state – the other way?  I don’t think so.  Hence the point.

    I also call 911 whenever I see a collision, even if there are a lot of other people around.  Because if everyone assumes that someone else called, then NOBODY calls.  (Also, it seems if they get multiple calls, they take it more seriously and get there quicker.  And if they ask me “do you see anyone injured?” I say “You’re supposed to come find out.”)

    • #117
  28. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Max Ledoux (View Comment):

    Archie Campbell (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    I’m not familiar with Kevin Williamson’s criticisms of Trump. Jonah’s are basically reasonable, but his “reasons” for not voting for Trump against Hillary, don’t withstand scrutiny. To me they sound like “Hang the country, voting for Trump would have made ME feel soiled somehow. And me feeling better about me is more important than the country.”

    Jonah has said many times that if the election came down to him that he would’ve voted for Trump.

     

    That’s a cop out. I think one should always vote as if the election hinges on your decision. I waited in line for over two hours in Brooklyn, NY, to vote for Mitt Romney in 2012. I knew New York was going to go to Obama, but I did my part anyway. Jonah didn’t vote for Trump. Fine. He didn’t have to. He doesn’t get any points from me for saying he would have if it had mattered. It did matter and he didn’t.

    On the plus side though, anything Trump does that Jonah likes/agrees with, we get to yell NO THANKS TO YOU!!!

    • #118
  29. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):
    “Republicans” like Joe Scarborough, some supposed consultant named Del Perchio[?], Nicole Wallace, Anna Navaro, etc. slam Kavanaugh for being a liar, a drunk, a danger to society, all for a pat on the head from their fanbase.

    This is all about money. Particularly with Scarborough, how could the guy change so much? Nicole Wallace is just a political mercenary. 

    • #119
  30. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    I just listened to that Max Boot interview. He thinks that many Trump supporters hate minorities and are White Christian supremacists. He thinks the NFL doesn’t have private employment contracts with their players.

    These guys are falling apart because the system they believe in is breaking down and it freaks them out mentally, or they are losing money, or they are losing out socially or something.

    Kavanaugh is a gigantic roadblock for their any-means-necessary statist conspiracy and social engineering.

    • #120
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