Kavanaugh SCOTUS confirmation hearings and beyond.

If the GOP loved America they would honor their recent McConnell Rule and not hold the hearings prior to the Mid-Term Elections, or while the guy who nominated him is under investigation for election fraud, collusion, and obstruction of justice. But, no, they are apparently also owned by the Russian mob, it would seem.

Diana Hignutt said:

If the GOP loved America they would honor their recent McConnell Rule and not hold the hearings prior to the Mid-Term Elections, or while the guy who nominated him is under investigation for election fraud, collusion, and obstruction of justice. But, no, they are apparently also owned by the Russian mob, it would seem.

Click to expand...

I strongly believe the party, at least the majority of party leaders, was compromised well before 2016; what we're seeing would not be possible without their cooperation.

As for the confirmation hearing, my gut suspects the fix is already in...

Anyone have any thoughts on #ZinaBash and her hand signal? I watched the clip, and can at least say that IS NOT her resting her hands.

Brightdreamer said:

I strongly believe the party, at least the majority of party leaders, was compromised well before 2016

Click to expand...

I don't think so. I think the Senate has been working under untold rules between senators of both parties, that what goes around comes around and that tit-for-tat only goes so far, and in the end both parties had settled for a pas-de-deux. But this time is different. The GOP has a clear path to plugging the highest court of the nation with its evangelical cronies and it's going for that BIG prize without regards to the consequences.

Like the scorpion and the frog, loading the up the SC to the brim while it has the chance is in GOP's nature.

-cb

Kjbartolotta said:

Anyone have any thoughts on #ZinaBash and her hand signal? I watched the clip, and can at least say that IS NOT her resting her hands.

Click to expand...

Me. That is not a comfortable resting hand position. She was apparently mouthing "stupid" during Cory Booker's question period, and other nasty whispers and facial responses, too.

Yes, the fix is already in. Kavanaugh was being escorted around by John McCain's replacement, and if that isn't a FU message to the Democrats, I don't know what is. God, I despise Mitch McConnell with every fiber of my being.

I think this is a tempest in a teapot and it's sure to distract from the real issues. There is so much truly mind boggling stuff going on, that attempting to say that this woman (who I read was Mexican/Jewish) was flashing white supremacy signals, especially if proven that it was nothing, just gives more fodder to those who talk about the "loony left."

I tried resting my hands that way and it didn't feel awkward.

Kjbartolotta said:

Anyone have any thoughts on #ZinaBash and her hand signal? I watched the clip, and can at least say that IS NOT her resting her hands.

Click to expand...

That''s... I mean if she didn't mean it as a white power thing, I'd be hard-pressed to understand what else she was doing, as the Internets most definitely thinks that's what that is, and it's not really hidden info. I knew the second I saw it, from all the mess the past year or so with all the administration-adjacent people with their Pepe frogs and that hand sign in pics, and Charlottesville and etc., stuff.

Her husband, tweeting as "US Attorney Josh Bash"--on his official account!--is defending her vehemently. Wonder if he'll get fired for expressing personal opinions on social media like the FBI guy was for texting. *thinky face emoji* (sarcasm alert)

I'm actually more intrigued by the photo and video clip of Kavanaugh turning his back on Fred Guttenberg, father of Jamie, who was murdered in the Parkland attack. It strikes me as something that might become iconic and defining. SUPREME COURT TURNS BACK ON AMERICAN PEOPLE.

MaeZe said:

That is quite the evil-eye look on her face, though.

I wonder how one would write that sucking your lower lip while pushing your tongue out like that? It's an interesting facial expression.

Click to expand...

It's very similar to an expression Carol Burnett used on her TV show, when she was playing divas in skits, or the characters in that fake soap opera 'As the Stomach Turns'. Usually with dramatically raised eyebrows and and a general air of skepticism.

cornflake said:

That''s... I mean if she didn't mean it as a white power thing, I'd be hard-pressed to understand what else she was doing, as the Internets most definitely thinks that's what that is, and it's not really hidden info. I knew the second I saw it, from all the mess the past year or so with all the administration-adjacent people with their Pepe frogs and that hand sign in pics, and Charlottesville and etc., stuff.

Click to expand...

Perhaps she thought she was at a sporting event? 'Cause the only sign I've seen like that involved a coach trying to tell a player to make a particular play.

Would "Gouge your thumbnail into the ball before the throw" have any relevance here?

After spending all day doing it in secret...I'm still not convinced it's innocent. But you don't need a coded hand gestures to convince me Kavanaugh is terrifying, so I'll leave it alone, because stakes.

At the risk of being an indefatigable optimist, I'm hoping...something is gonna derail Kavanaugh's confirmation. Don't tell me I'm wrong, I already know. (But refusing that handshake looked hecka bad tho; Profiles In Studied Dickishness)

Kjbartolotta said:

(But refusing that handshake looked hecka bad tho; Profiles In Studied Dickishness)

Click to expand...

With this crop of TeaOPers? Win or lose, that man will never have to buy a drink in that town ever again - that was the sort of dickishness they could only dream of accomplishing after years of study, and he pulled it off entirely on the fly. It's like he was born to turn his back on the public.

frimble3 said:

Perhaps she thought she was at a sporting event? 'Cause the only sign I've seen like that involved a coach trying to tell a player to make a particular play.

Would "Gouge your thumbnail into the ball before the throw" have any relevance here?

Click to expand...

You can't really tell anything from the stills and the video clips only showing her making the sign. You need the longer clip that crossed my Twitter feed. It was televised by Fox and was a split-screen with Diane Feinstein talking on the left and Kavanaugh sitting with Bash behind him on the right. At the beginning of that clip, she is sitting with her arms crossed relaxed in her lap. She reaches down and appears to pick up her phone to check a text message, during which she either grins or smirks several times. After replacing her phone she crosses her arms and makes the sign. Holds it for a while. Then drops her right arm across her lap as she'd had it at the beginning of the clip. Proof, no. Suspicious, yes. I'd link but since it's someone else's Twitter account, I won't. If you're truly interested and want to verify, I'm pretty sure you can find it easily by checking the #ZinaBash hashtag. Right now it's the second clip down.

ETA: Just as an added note—most of us don't initially see that sign as any different than the "okay" sign, but it IS different, as a couple of neighborhood boys once explained to me. The usual (and casual) way of making the "okay" sign is to have your hand relaxed so that your thumb and forefinger are touching but the three remaining fingers are somewhat curved and fairly close together. The sign that has everyone in an uproar is of the thumb and forefinger touching and the remaining three fingers straight and splayed wide in a "W".

Ah! Thanks for the explanation! 'Whites Okay', more or less?
You have more useful neighbourhood boys than I do.

And isn't it pathetic that your president acts like a three-year old on the verge of a tantrum, and the translators for the rest of his pack are teenage kids?
Where are the grown-ups?

heh. I don't know how useful their moms find them since all they want to do is shoot baskets and talk to me—and only put out the garbage when I ask if they have. Anyway, they're fourteen and they tell me alllll kinds of stuff I doubt they tell their parents. The bane of my existence: I've always been "just one of the guys". And I don't know how accurate that hand sign info is, but it's how they explained and demonstrated it (along with a few gang signs, too ).

Also, not that anyone's hand can't land in any position, but aside from Ari's breakdown above, she knows where she's sitting and people on camera to that extent tend to know they're on camera and get self-conscious about how they're holding their hands/what to do with their hands, etc. You're sitting in front of cameras, you tend to notice.

Obviously there's no way to "prove" what she was doing but ....

Wow, there have been some good grillings by the Dems (Pat Leahy, for one), and Cory Booker threw himself in front of the speeding train today. Susan Collins is going to have to think hard about voting for Kavanaugh after the email reveal of his true position on Roe (that there is no SC precedent that can't be overturned). She'll be forever tainted by having caved to someone who lied straight to her face and had it exposed for public consumption if she does.

And hello, Kamala Harris. Once again, doing her prosecutor thing enough to make even spectators sweat. God, I love her.

Well, Cory Booker, Maisie Hirono and Pat Leahy just threw their torches onto the whole mess and are dancing around the fire crying "WE ARE SPARTACUS!".

If Kavanaugh is approved, it won't be for lack of evidence he's a lying sack of **************. The Repubs may still have the votes, but they've lost any chance of passing it off as "What? He's conservative, but a good jurist."

Grrr. Wish I could listen but I'm stuck at work.

MaeZe said:

I dunno, she could be picking a scab or scratching an ingrown hair or anything.

That is quite the evil-eye look on her face, though.

I wonder how one would write that sucking your lower lip while pushing your tongue out like that? It's an interesting facial expression.

Click to expand...

A single photo doesn't do it justice (haha).

In the video pointed out on Twitter yesterday, she gets a text. After reading it, she puts her hand in that position and doesn't move it for more than 30 seconds (definitely not scratching an itch). Sort of as if someone told her exactly where to put her hand to be on camera. She looks several times to the left, and her blink rate goes up, as if she's - well, as if she thinks she's trolling the libs, wanting to be seen, but not get caught.

I wonder if Miller, whose hands strangely keep falling into that position, sent her instructions, or at least a dare.

Still a far shot, but I wonder if Kavanaugh is Borkable after all.

Big moments for both Harris and Booker here. Hmm, might need to rethink my mild 'needs more experience' assertion about her in the thread that was recently Arkham'd.

Oh, for those giving her the benefit of the doubt, Zina Bash flashed another White Power/OK sign yesterday. After her husband angrily defended her against the very thought of it.

She seemed to do it after another text, too. I wonder who's telling her to do these things?