In a bit of cosmic comeuppance, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is learning that his obsession with other people’s sex lives doesn’t protect you from similar scrutiny. In the face allegations of attempted rape and assault when he was a teenager, Kavanaugh’s past as a moral crusader looks more than a little hypocritical.
Kavanaugh earned his conservative chops as a lawyer working for Ken Starr during Starr’s (four-year long) investigation into Bill Clinton’s activities. What started as an investigation into a real estate deal that Clinton was evolved in morphed into a search into anything that struck Starr’s fancy.
Related: Memers aren’t holding back against Brett “I am not a rapist” Kavanaugh
Ultimately, the investigation settled on Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky, having struck out on multiple other fronts. It was here that Kavanaugh went to town.
How about we take this to the next level?
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The Starr Report is notorious for its graphic descriptions of the sex between Clinton and Lewinsky. Those descriptions are the handiwork of Kavanaugh.
Kavanaugh showed an unseemly obsession with the details (to say nothing of the mechanics) of the encounters between Clinton and Lewinsky. Kavanaugh lovingly detailed how Lewinsky performed oral sex on Clinton nine times but not “to completion.”
“On all nine of those occasions, the President fondled and kissed her bare breasts,” Kavanaugh wrote in the final report. “He touched her genitals, both through her underwear and directly, bringing her to orgasm on two occasions. On one occasion, the President inserted a cigar into her vagina.”
Kavanaugh also wrote about how Clinton masturbated into a sink, was getting oral sex while on the phone with members of Congress and engaged in phone sex with Lewinsky. In a footnote, Kavanaugh added that the pair also “engaged in oral-anal contact as well,” but apparently this was too much even for him to discuss at length.
Kavanaugh’s lurid prose was criticized as a sign of a thinly veiled vendetta. Judge Richard Posner, a federal appeals court judge appointed by Ronald Reagan, said: “We expect better from our prosecutors; …they are not to hate their quarry.”
Related: Brett Kavanaugh: Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court is just as right-wing as Gorsuch
Kavanaugh could have established that Clinton had a sexual relationship with Lewinsky and lied about it without letting the world know that Clinton thought the cigar in Lewinsky’s vagina tasted good. Instead, Kavanaugh took to his moral high horse, arguing to his colleagues that “it is our job to make his pattern of revolting behavior clear—piece by painful piece.”
Of course, the Clinton investigation was never about morality. It was about politics and power. Morality was just the veneer of respectability used to cloak naked partisanship.
So it’s entirely fitting that Kavanaugh finds his own sexual history at the center of a giant political battle. This time out, don’t look to the forces of morality to stick to the same principles as they did during the Clinton era. Having forgiven the current president for philandering and self-admitted sexual assault, Kavanaugh’s supporters are already trying to cast the accusations against him as a Democratic plot or dismiss them as simple teenage horniness (or “seven minutes in heaven” in one particularly creepy defense).
There are a lot of horny teenagers in the world who didn’t try to rape someone. Also, for a law-and-order type like Kavanaugh, juvenile behavior is more often criminalized than excused.
So it’s entirely appropriate that Kavanaugh is being tarnished by the very behavior that he built his reputation on. Just don’t expect him or any of his conservative supporters to learn anything from it.
Once they made their peace with Trump, every other immorality was a breeze to accept.
kevininbuffalo
The new presumption of guilt.
Juanjo
Oh honey, it must shit to be you.
DCguy
Look at the desperation of the right wing troll accounts. They are attacking the fact that you supposedly can’t know Kavannaugh is guilty, and YET, they are also screaming AGAINST having an investigation.
We get it, Republicans hate women.
Aires the Ram
Our legal system works like this: If I accuse you of stealing the tires off my car in the middle of the night, I file a police report and state that I think you did it, I must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, before a Judge and/or Jury, that you are indeed guilty of stealing my tires, beyond a reasonable doubt. It is NOT your job, the accused to prove your innocence, it is the prosecution’s job to prove you guilty, and you have the right, and duty, to your own defense. It DOES NOT work the other way around. If I accused you ( to the police) of stealing my tires, and the court and law enforcement told you that you MUST PROVE YOUR INNOCENCE, or else you’re going to jail, you’d be very pissed, especially if it wasn’t you who stole my tires. If we ever sink to this level, like you’re seeing with this woman who is accusing Kavanaugh of something that allegedly occurred 36 years ago., we are nothing but a banana republic.
Juanjo
This is not a criminal investigation. It is a civil investigation into the fitness of this man to sit on the Supreme Court. He has a duty to show he is, in fact, fit to do so.
BTW, in our criminal system, YOU do not have to prove anything if you are the victim. The law enforcement agents are the ones who do the investigation and the government through the District Attorney in the jurisdiction is the one who seeks an indictment or files an information. It is the duty of the government to prove the case.
In this case, Trump is refusing to allow the FBI to investigate based on a bit of bull shit, claiming it is not a federal crime. That is correct but ignores the facts. The FBI is not doing an investigation with the intention of filing a criminal case, they are re-examining a background check they have already done based on recently acquired allegations.
DCguy
In other words, the FBI should investigate to determine the truth.
But it’s adorable that you left that part out.
Prax07
The world would be so much nicer if trumpie, every last idiot supporter of his, and every last republican just up and died.
PanzerRider
What an incredibly dangerous slippery slope this is. We can not function as a society if we allow a mere accusation to be seen as a guilty verdict. People may rejoice that a conservative judge is the one on the receiving end of this modern day frontier justice but those rejoicing will be quickly silenced when they are the ones being accused of some despicable act. I’m not a fan of Judge Kavanaugh. I would have preferred a more moderate voice on the court. Having said that Dr. Ford has got to provide more evidence or reliable corroborating proof that the acts she is describing actually occurred.
Juanjo
Which is exactly why Dr. Ford has requested that the FBI reopen their background investigation check and look into the allegations. Notice the Trump is refusing to order this as are the Republicans in Congress. You seem to be following the common talking points found among the far right here. You are confusing a civil background check with a criminal investigation. You are also deliberately clouding up the issue of proof.
Dr. Ford has made an allegation of extreme misconduct which could result in criminal prosecution if accurate. No actual investigation has been done and the Republicans are refusing to do one. Instead, they want Dr. Ford to produce irrefutable evidence – in a space of a few days and without the financial resources needed to do so. The FBI did a background check on Kavanaugh. Did this come up? Maybe, given the fact the Republicans had a long list of affidavits from women speaking of how wonderful Kavanaugh was and how he never raped them, it raises questions. One usually does not see something like that unless someone is expecting an issue might pop up.
That aside the issue is now here and it does relate to the man’s fitness to serve on the Supreme Court. It is entirly reasonable to have the FBI go out and check into the allegations.
PanzerRider
An FBI investigation into this incident is neither necessary nor required for Dr. Ford to testify before the committee. Her testimony is hers, and hers alone. An investigation would have no impact on what it is she has to say. Therefore, no delay is necessary. There are several Republican Senators (Murkowski, Collins, Flake) who could, and most likely would, call for an in-depth investigation provided that Dr. Ford provides reasonable and believable testimony.
I have not clouded the issue of proof for the simple reason that Dr. Ford and her lawyers have provided no proof. She has stated that two individuals, besides Judge Kavanaugh, were present at the party in question. Both have denied being there. Outside of this it comes down to a she said/he said situation.
As to the timeline of this situation, in regards to a proper amount of time to investigate, it is curious that Senator Feinstein who knew of the allegation since sometime in July waited until the last hour to release it. She had to have known that this was going to make an already partisan situation even that much more so. Senator Feinstein, good intentions or not, handled this situation extremely poorly which has made Dr. Ford’s accusation even less tenable that would have been if Feinstein released the information in a timely manner.
In regards to your concern for the list of 65 females who support Judge Kavenaugh it is not remotely surprising that a list such as this would be compiled in advance. This is due diligence. Republicans, rightly or wrongly, are expecting a situation like this to arise because it has happened before to a Republican nominated SC justice nominee, Clarence Thomas. Both sides have multiple lines of defense in place when nominees are testifying before the Senate. I have no doubt that the Democrats were more than ready for any allegation that may have been thrown at Kagan and Sotomayor. In other words that had dozens, if not 100’s, of people ready to come forward in their defense. And least we forget that Dr. Ford’s high school produced a list of over 200 of its former students who support her and her allegations. This a play that is in the playbook of every politico in DC.
Josh447
Ford and family had their house built a few years ago. She made sure every room had a second exit. She has also been seen by friends as highly uncomfortable in enclosed spaces. She has therapy details dating back 6 years. If you don’t think that’s credible enough to come up in this and conduct a thorough examination and investigating and bring witnesses to this hearing, you’re way off base. You should try putting yourself in her position and see what you come up with then.
Josh447
Clinton must be tickled pink w a Cheshire cat grin. No better reading or media for him than this right now.
DCguy
Look at all of these anti-LGBT, right wing troll accounts desperately trying to deflect from the fact that Republicans are scrambling to block a simple 3 day investigation.
If Kavannaugh is innocent, why are the trolls out in force to scream against an investigation?
PanzerRider
The Republicans in the Senate do not have the authority to order an investigation into this situation as they do not control the Federal law enforcement agencies, in this case the FBI, that would carry out such an investigation. Their job in this matter is to offer advice and consent to the President in regards to the nominee that the President has put forward. As part of this advice the Senate may ask the President to have Federal law enforcement conduct an investigation into the general background of a nominee or to a specific topic they feel needs to be investigated.
The Republicans stance on this issue is that prior to asking for such an investigation they need to gather as much pertinent information as possible in order to determine the necessity of it. This requires speaking to the accuser to better understand her accusations and to determine the validity of the accusations. Given that any actual investigation will most likely be used by Democrats as political capital to strengthen their opposition to Kavanaugh this is a reasonable response.
The Republican leadership in the Senate is highly suspicious of the motives of the Senate Democrats because to date the Democrats have failed to act in good faith in regards to this matter. The initial letter sent by Dr. Ford to Senator Feinstein has yet to be released in its entirety. The only copy of the letter they have received has been redacted. They aren’t even sure what the total makeup of the accusations are. Yet you desire an investigation into something that hasn’t been fully explained?
Had Feinstein acted in good faith and in a timely manner, she has had the letter since July, Dr. Ford would be in a much stronger position than she currently finds herself. Senator Feinstein’s actions have created a situation in which the Republicans have the political capital to spin this situation in a manner that is beneficial to them. Your anger in this matter is justified. You just need to focus it on the correct party which is the honorable Senator from the great state of California. Her actions have diluted the potency of a very serious matter to the point that Kavanaugh will be confirmed.