Glen Reynolds on Trump

Not everyone lost

Some good came out of this dumpster fire.

[Kavanaugh's] statement was variously dismissed or praised as “Trumpian” in its bluntness and disregard of convention. My friend Frank Cannon, in a column for The Hill, went a step further by observing, “For Republicans, Sept. 27, 2018, should be remembered as the day when their party became, clearly and unapologetically, the Party of Donald Trump.” And it is true that there was something about the scene that clarified, for anyone who needed it, the logic of Donald Trump’s ascension in American politics.

The judge, after all, was there in the first place courtesy of a president who has unequivocally kept his word on judicial appointments, sparing conservatives even the suspense that used to precede Supreme Court nominations by Republican presidents. And if the tone in which Kavanaugh addressed Democrats on the Judiciary Committee reflected the influence of Donald Trump, by displaying no respect for connivers who deserved none, then, yes, we could use more of it. Sometimes presidential words of conciliation and uplift are called for, and sometimes we can do without the gloss. I have never felt more attuned to the rhetorical style of our different kind of president than when, on first reaction, he called the smear campaign against his nominee the “con job” that it is.

As Bill McGurn notes in the Wall Street Journal, the worst part of all this for Kavanaugh is that it’s not even about him. His travails have nothing to do with some dark event in 1982, and everything to do with a disastrous event in early 1973, the act of “raw judicial power,” as Justice Byron White called Roe v. Wade, that smothered good will in American politics like nothing else could, corrupting everything it touches.

"They serve different masters now"

Ya think?

What I been saying

If you see yourself as perpetually in need of a champion, be careful what champion you choose. There can be a hefty price-tag attached to these bargains.

Wait, what?

I need help understanding something. I'm just a fragile woman, spirit broken by the patriarchy, and I lack the analytical skills that society unfairly assumes are the only valid cognitive skill for assessing difficult life problems. My glorious feminine intuition isn't up to the task of grasping how a city's police force can be disqualified by "conflict of interest" from investigating the claims of a prominent state official whose son is on the City Council. I'm not sure which party is involved, is that important? Can you big strong men help me? And then I need you to move a couch. Then shut up.

Rs win cloture vote on Kavanaugh

From the Guardian, which for some reason was the only source I could find that would lay the results out plainly:

Senate votes to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination to final vote.

The Senate voted 51-49 in favor of the cloture motion, which will bring an end to debate on Kavanaugh’s nomination to the supreme court.

The final vote on his confirmation could happen as early as tomorrow.

Support for cloture is not equivalent to support for Kavanaugh, so it’s not clear whether or not he will make it through.

A key senator, Republican Susan Collins of Maine, said she will reveal her plan for the final vote in a speech at 3pm this afternoon.

There's also an FBI investigation supplemental executive summary out, concluding that there is no corrobation for accusations against Kavanaugh, but strangely enough I can't find a link to it on any MSM sites except Fox. So here's a link to Wolf Howling at Bookworm Room instead.

Don’t Miss October

Today’s was the most perfect afternoon that I can remember. Don’t forget to get outside.

The picture is from a while ago: I’m mostly steel horses these days. But it made me happy to see it again.

The new Lindsey Graham

Something seems to have given way in the man.

Civil War Officers Recalled for WW I

Major James B. Ronan has an interesting military history blog. One short article on it is about two Civil War veterans who were recalled to duty for World War I.

He is apparently a member of something called the Company of Military Historians. Their 2019 annual conference will be in Columbus, Georgia, next April, if anyone is interested.

Why oh why

To be filed under "We may never know what motivated this _____ to _______", here is Kevin Williamson's take:

Why did Dunham fabricate a story about being raped by a campus Republican? It is impossible to say. We can say that she did not choose to fabricate a story about being raped by a member of the Oberlin democratic-socialists club, or a young Democrat, or an environmental activist.

Is that relevant?

* * *

Why would the young woman in [the Rolling Stone] case fabricate a story about being brutally raped by UVA fraternity brothers? It is impossible to say. We can say that Rolling Stone did not choose to publish a false story about a rape allegedly committed by members of the Berkeley chess club or by a creative-writing student at Bryn Mawr College.

Crashing and burning

From Jonah Goldberg, at best a lukewarm sometimes-Trumper:

But that’s not your job, you supposedly objective journalists. You should care every bit as much about disproving the allegations of Swetnick, Ramirez, and — yes — Ford as proving them. Your job — as you’ve said countless times, preening in your heroic martyr status in the age of Trump — is to report the facts. If Swetnick is lying, you should want to report that every bit as much as you would if you could prove that Kavanaugh is. Because you’re not supposed to have a team. It’s fine if you support the #MeToo movement in your private time, but you’re not supposed to lend any movement aid and comfort, never mind air cover, in your reporting.

Now, I get that most journalists are liberal, even if they deny it. I understand that most think they’re just seeking the truth. But, dear champions of the Fourth Estate, you might take just a moment to understand that you need to be fair to the other side of the argument even if you disagree with it.

You might also consider why millions of people love it when Trump says you are the enemy of the people: It’s because of how you are behaving right now. You’re letting the mask slip in Nielsen-monitored 15-minute blocks of virtue-signaling partisanship. You’re burning credibility at such a rate, you won’t have enough to get back to base when this is all over.

More shoes dropping

Maggies Farm has two links about the recent testimony from ex-FBI senior lawyer James Baker.  One reveals that Baker testified to the FBI's consultation with an "unusual" and "troubling" source before pursuing the FISA warrants to spy on Trump's campaign.  The other reveals that the troubling source was the DNC's law firm.

Lacking the temperament

I'm reminded of the meme from various controversies, notably the Trayvon Martin travesty, that the problem with some people is they wouldn't take their beating.

Buckle Up

The next three days are going to be wild.

She Must Be Tiny

In Canada, film of a pro-life woman being kicked down by a pro-choice protester. He succeeds even though he looks like he might blow away in a strong wind, but apparently he was bigger than her.

This is the sort of thing that works better in Canada. Don't get any ideas, American protesters.

UPDATE: She is, in fact, quite small. Her name is Marie-Claire Bissonnette, and here is her story.

Problem Solved, Ladies

The Ayatollah Khamenei has heard your outcry, and stands ready with a solution to all your #MeToo problems.

I think you'll really like it.

(No disrespect to any woman who chooses hijab for herself, of course; one is free to do what one likes.)

The Decline in Civics

Another depressing story.

Just a third of Americans can pass a multiple choice "U.S. Citizenship Test," fumbling over such simple questions as the cause of the Cold War or naming just one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for.

And of Americans 45 and younger, the passing rate is a tiny 19 percent, according to a survey done for the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.

Worse: The actual test only requires that 60 percent of the answers be correct. In the survey, just 36 percent passed.

Among the embarrassing errors uncovered in the survey of questions taken from the U.S. Citizenship Test and conducted by Lincoln Park Stragtegies:
* 72 percent of respondents either incorrectly identified or were unsure of which states were part of the 13 original states.
* 24 percent could correctly identify one thing Benjamin Franklin was famous for, with 37 percent believing he invented the lightbulb.
* 12 percent incorrectly thought WWII General Dwight Eisenhower led troops in the Civil War.
* 2 percent said the Cold War was caused by climate change.

The last one is a good guess if you didn't know, since Climate Change is frequently said to cause everything.

Good Point

There is a report that Republican Senators currently cannot walk down the hall without crowds of protesters following them and shouting at them. In response, someone I've never heard of writes:

Imagine the rhetoric if conservatives were verbally harassing and stalking Democrats around. Shouting them down in elevators, restaurants, through the halls of Congress. If a random conservative had shot up a congressional bball practice, attacked candidates....

Any similar action by Republicans or conservatives would be said to be the work of Brownshirts. They would be said to be literal fascists trying to destroy the norms of democracy.

Militant Normals

I haven't read retired infantry colonel Kurt Schlichter's book yet, but I am invited to a release party that Uncle Jimbo of BLACKFIVE fame is hosting. If any regular readers want to come, and will be in Arlington on Saturday evening, drop me an email.

The book blurb sounds like I agree with the basic thesis:

They built this country, they make it run, and when called on, they fight for it. They are the heart and soul of the United States of America, They are the Normals, the regular Americans of all races, creeds, preferences, and both sexes who just want to raise their families and live their lives in peace. And they are getting angry...

For decades they have seen their cherished beliefs and beloved traditions under attack. They have been told they are racist, sexist, and hateful, but it was all a lie. Their ability to provide for their families has been undermined by globalization with no consideration of the effects on Americans who did not go to Harvard, and who live in that vast forgotten space between New York and Santa Monica.

A smug, condescending elite spanning both established parties has gripped the throat of the nation. Convinced of their own exquisite merit while refusing to be held accountable for their myriad failures, these elitists managed to suppress the first rumblings of discontent when they arose in the form of the Tea Party. But they were stunned when the Normals did not simply scurry back to their flyover homes.

If any of you think you'd like a signed copy -- I'm looking at you, D29 -- let me know and I'll see what I can do.

A Tolling Bell for Trump/Russia

Megan McArdle writes that the NYT's leaked Trump tax documents show the product of a byzantine system more than anything else. But one thing I notice that they don't show is Russian connections. The NYT would have been trumpeting that as the top-line finding if there were any, but they don't. So the theory that Putin is holding a chain on Trump that goes back to compromising information about Russian money laundering looks to be dead, or close to dead, as a result of this leak.

Since that was the only part of the story that was credible to me, I'd say that in my estimation this saga is closed.