Just boys bein’ boys
by digby
I guess the Republicans just can’t find men who aren’t accused of sexual harassment these days to run for office or go on the Supreme Court.
Far from the “hail Mary pass” conservatives are claiming, Democrats were reluctant to air the woman’s complaint against Kavanaugh, that he’d forced himself on her sexually, and covered her mouth to stop her screaming in high school. https://t.co/zY8ZDdlVrj— Jane Mayer (@JaneMayerNYer) September 14, 2018
This is the upshot of the article in case you don’t have a New Yorker sub:
The woman, who has asked not to be identified, first approached Democratic lawmakers in July, shortly after Trump nominated Kavanaugh. The allegation dates back to the early nineteen-eighties, when Kavanaugh was a high-school student at Georgetown Preparatory School, in Bethesda, Maryland, and the woman attended a nearby high school. In the letter, the woman alleged that, during an encounter at a party, Kavanaugh held her down, and that he attempted to force himself on her. She claimed in the letter that Kavanaugh and a classmate of his, both of whom had been drinking, turned up music that was playing in the room to conceal the sound of her protests, and that Kavanaugh covered her mouth with his hand. She was able to free herself. Although the alleged incident took place decades ago and the three individuals involved were minors, the woman said that the memory had been a source of ongoing distress for her, and that she had sought psychological treatment as a result.
In a statement, Kavanaugh said, “I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time.”
Kavanaugh’s classmate said of the woman’s allegation, “I have no recollection of that.”
The woman declined a request for an interview.
In recent months, the woman had told friends that Kavanaugh’s nomination had revived the pain of the memory, and that she was grappling with whether to go public with her story. She contacted her congresswoman, Anna Eshoo, a Democrat, sending her a letter describing her allegation. (When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Eshoo’s office cited a confidentiality policy regarding constituent services and declined to comment further on the matter.)
The Republicans obviously knew about this too. They had at the ready a letter with a bunch of Kavanaugh’s female high school classmates saying that he never tried to rape them, which really isn’t responsive.
I don’t know if this will do anything to derail the perjuring, torture-loving right-wing hitman’s ascension to the highest court in the land. He’s the perfect representation of the Trump movement. And the Republicans are desperately afraid of them.
I am reminded of this:
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, as it is officially known, has played a crucial role in putting conservative jurists on the bench. As White House counsel, McGahn is responsible for helping Trump select his judicial nominees. And, as he explained in his speech that November afternoon, he had drawn up two lists of potential judicial appointments.
The first list consisted of “mainstream folks, not a big paper trail, the kind of folks that will get through the Senate and will make us feel good that we put some pragmatic folks on the bench.”
The second list was made up of “some folks that are kind of too hot a for prime time, the kind that would be really hot in the Senate, probably people who have written a lot, we really get a sense of their views — the kind of people that make some people nervous.”
The first list, McGahn said, Trump decided to “throw in the trash.” The second list Trump resolved “to put before the U.S. Senate” for a confirmation vote. The president, McGahn assured his audience, was “very committed to what we are committed to here, which is nominating and appointing judges that are committed originalists and textualists.”
Kavanaugh clerked for Judge Kosinski who has recently been revealed to have been a disgusting sexual harasser of the highest order. Kavanaugh says he knew nothing about it. Just as he knows nothing about all the horrifying wingnut ratfucking he’s been involved in for the past 25 years. He’s a thoroughly horrible person. I have no trouble believing that a man who would gravitate toward this kind of dark political guerilla warfare would have a violent streak. In any case, he clearly has no morals about anything else. Not that it matters. At this point being a sexual predator is a requirement for Republican high office.
Here’s Laura Ingraham on the subject last night:
INGRAHAM: But with Brett, here he is 17 years old, is a Georgetown Prep kid at Washington Catholic School, is 17 with a friend, locks some woman when in a room and then she was able to leave. That is what is being reported this night as a story. But if someone you don’t know who heard it from someone else, who’s at Stanford.
What’s a little attempted rape, amirite? No biggie. Just boys bein’ boys.
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