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Whether it was Feinstein, Grassley, Trump or John Roberts, who is to blame doesn't matter given the context of "historical power of allegations" which is the to

Whether it was Feinstein, Grassley, Trump or John Roberts, who is to blame doesn't matter given the context of "historical power of allegations" which is the topic at hand. The fact remains: Kavanaugh has been elevated to a position of supreme power for the remainder of his lifetime, despite credible allegations of sexual assault and perjury. The system failed Christine Ford.

vuln 8y ago
Could you explain how 'credible allegations' is better or more powerful than 'credible evidence'?
- kennywinker 8y ago
  To convict someone of a crime, you'd need credible evidence. To not give someone a seat on the supreme court, credible allegations should probably be enough.
jessaustin 8y ago
You could say "the system failed" the American people, and I would agree. We got a bad justice. However, this system and this process has nothing to do with Ms. Ford, and it did not "fail" her. She should have received her justice a long time ago, from a completely different authority. Perhaps the police, the courts, her parents, the school system, or whoever failed her. Those are completely different entities, and they have nothing to do with selecting Supreme Court justices. Having some justice dude approved or not by the Senate is not something that can possibly answer for teenage sexual assault. If Kavanaugh had been charged and convicted at the time of the alleged assault, and had never become a lawyer let alone a judge, the reptiles would have just selected someone with identical values as the next justice.
- omegaworks 8y ago
  >If Kavanaugh had been charged and convicted at the time of the alleged assault The system doesn't really punish wealthy white members of the elite that commit sexual assault[1]. There's no reason to believe that had he been convicted then, that he wouldn't have gone on to have the same career trajectory. 1. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/07/us/outrage-in-stanford-rape-case-over-dueling-statements-of-victim-and-attackers-father.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/07/us/outrage-in-stanford-ra... >the reptiles would have just selected someone with identical values as the next justice. Republicans could have avoided this critique entirely by abandoning Kavanaugh when the allegation came to light. Instead, they doubled down on him. Politicians only do this if they judge that the ramifications of their decision would tip in their favor come next election season. There is a vocal contingent of the country that seeks to retain existing power structures that wave away consequences for wealthy white men. Whether there is enough political momentum to topple that, or even question it, will come to light in November. If it doesn't, our institutions will further entrench the values that let Kavanaugh slither by.
  - jessaustin 8y ago
    Haha we heard it here first: Brock Turner will be a Supreme Court justice. Never mind the fact that very few convicted felons are admitted to law school, let alone the bar... ISTM that the November effects of the whole mess will be R voters voting R, and D voters voting D. That is, R control of Congress will probably continue.
    - omegaworks 8y ago
      >the November effects of the whole mess will be R voters voting R, and D voters voting D. That is, R control of Congress will probably continue. There are more D voters. If both groups turned out in droves, D control would win the day handedly. Republicans are losing the demographic war. Young people want progressive policy, and the majority vote Democrat. That's why Republicans are resorting to tactics like gerrymandering, Voter ID and purging people off the voter rolls to keep control[1]. They're betting that they can make enough semi-permanent changes to institutions by installing judges and setting precedent to postpone the shift as long as possible[2]. 1. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/12/books/review-one-person-no-vote-carol-anderson.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/12/books/review-one-person-n... 2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/02/06/trump-immigration-plan-could-keep-whites-in-u-s-majority-for-up-to-five-more-years/?utm_term=.b14424a58f2e https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/02/06/trump...

vuln 8y ago

Could you explain how 'credible allegations' is better or more powerful than 'credible evidence'?

kennywinker 8y ago
To convict someone of a crime, you'd need credible evidence. To not give someone a seat on the supreme court, credible allegations should probably be enough.

jessaustin 8y ago

You could say "the system failed" the American people, and I would agree. We got a bad justice. However, this system and this process has nothing to do with Ms. Ford, and it did not "fail" her. She should have received her justice a long time ago, from a completely different authority. Perhaps the police, the courts, her parents, the school system, or whoever failed her. Those are completely different entities, and they have nothing to do with selecting Supreme Court justices. Having some justice dude approved or not by the Senate is not something that can possibly answer for teenage sexual assault. If Kavanaugh had been charged and convicted at the time of the alleged assault, and had never become a lawyer let alone a judge, the reptiles would have just selected someone with identical values as the next justice.

omegaworks 8y ago
>If Kavanaugh had been charged and convicted at the time of the alleged assault The system doesn't really punish wealthy white members of the elite that commit sexual assault[1]. There's no reason to believe that had he been convicted then, that he wouldn't have gone on to have the same career trajectory. 1. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/07/us/outrage-in-stanford-rape-case-over-dueling-statements-of-victim-and-attackers-father.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/07/us/outrage-in-stanford-ra... >the reptiles would have just selected someone with identical values as the next justice. Republicans could have avoided this critique entirely by abandoning Kavanaugh when the allegation came to light. Instead, they doubled down on him. Politicians only do this if they judge that the ramifications of their decision would tip in their favor come next election season. There is a vocal contingent of the country that seeks to retain existing power structures that wave away consequences for wealthy white men. Whether there is enough political momentum to topple that, or even question it, will come to light in November. If it doesn't, our institutions will further entrench the values that let Kavanaugh slither by.
- jessaustin 8y ago
  Haha we heard it here first: Brock Turner will be a Supreme Court justice. Never mind the fact that very few convicted felons are admitted to law school, let alone the bar... ISTM that the November effects of the whole mess will be R voters voting R, and D voters voting D. That is, R control of Congress will probably continue.
  - omegaworks 8y ago
    >the November effects of the whole mess will be R voters voting R, and D voters voting D. That is, R control of Congress will probably continue. There are more D voters. If both groups turned out in droves, D control would win the day handedly. Republicans are losing the demographic war. Young people want progressive policy, and the majority vote Democrat. That's why Republicans are resorting to tactics like gerrymandering, Voter ID and purging people off the voter rolls to keep control[1]. They're betting that they can make enough semi-permanent changes to institutions by installing judges and setting precedent to postpone the shift as long as possible[2]. 1. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/12/books/review-one-person-no-vote-carol-anderson.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/12/books/review-one-person-n... 2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/02/06/trump-immigration-plan-could-keep-whites-in-u-s-majority-for-up-to-five-more-years/?utm_term=.b14424a58f2e https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/02/06/trump...