The massive hole in journalism

As the hearings for Kavanaugh proceeded, one terrible lie after another was rolled out by the nominee and identified by the press. Big, ugly lies with warts. There was his denial, under oath, that he had anything to do with Senator Patrick Leahy's stolen emails. There was his denial that he had anything to do with the nomination of anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ judge William Pryor. Yet emails proved otherwise.

These are just two of dozens of bald-faced lies —there are 29 lies now listed at Medium.com at the link below. Yet once the sexual abuse allegations surfaced (and they are significant) all the former lying was simply erased from the media sphere.

It's almost a scaled up version of Dr. Ford's memory prioritizing the "who" of her ordeal over the "where." (And she articulated this beautifully in physiological terms at the hearing). Once we were in sexual abuse territory nobody that I've observed in the mainstream media has sufficiently recalled the earlier nomination-killing lies. These were HUGE IMPEACHABLE LIES. Add those to EVERY story people! Just as we must add all of Trump's long list of crimes to every new story of wrongdoing. The very format of journalism must change to keep up with these abominable people.

Kavanaugh's sexual assaults are awful and disturbing, yet the Republicans are still falling back on the claim that the accusers could be lying and have insufficient credibility (even though they have advanced degrees and thorough security clearances between them, and even though other witnesses such as Dr. Ford's therapist back them up).

So here's the rub: the biggest, most insane problem here is Kavanaugh's own credibility which has already been established during the hearing as worthless. Even before the sexual allegations he's been exposed as dishonest and not worthy of a position on the Supreme Court. He shouldn't even be flipping hamburgers.

Here's an example of mainstream media omission from today's Daily Kos, a progressive forum that should know better. The article quotes, and fails to correct, a statement about an absence of proof of lying:

Kavenaugh's 29 lies now listed

Here ya go:

On Medium.com
Cut and paste the following into a browser:
medium.com/@demandjustice/kavanaugh-29-lies-and-counting-69ab6dee833d

R.A.G.E. actually means something very specific

R.A.G.E. means
Rightwing Assholes Gone at Elections


(Nov. 6 people. Put it on the calendar this time and call every last friend you've been meaning to call for 5 years and tell them to vote and pass it on).

Putin's Civil War

BRETT KAVANAUGH'S PUTIN-ENDORSED QUALIFICATIONS FOR RIPPING APART A NATION:

—Self-admitted alcoholic who blacks out on occasion.

— A man who can't control himself at a Senate hearing.

— A man who has allegedly forced his genitals on a woman against her will. This allegation can be corraborated by nearby witnesses but won't if the president* abuses his executive privileges and prevents the FBI from doing its job thoroughly.

— A man who has trapped a woman in a room, held her down, turned up music to prevent others hearing her screams, placed his hand over her mouth to muffle her. There was a witness who has written that this same Brett Kavanaugh has been known to drink until he passed out.

—Refused polygraph test when accused of sexual assault by several reputable women (whose accusations have stood up to vigorous cross examination).

—Endorses torture (which is unconstitutional).

—Endorses extending executive power (which is also unconstitutional).

—Lies about using emails stolen from Democrats.

—Lies repeatedly under oath.

— (PLEASE ADD MORE BELOW....)

To place this man on the Supreme Court would be an act of civil war driven by traitors working for an outside power. That power, Russia, is ruled by an emotionally insecure tyrant with a complete absence of empathy for the scores of journalists and lawyers he has murdered. These individuals were uncovering multiple crimes by Putin and his crime syndicate.

This is real.

2 words for Kavanaugh: abusive alcoholic

This is the personality profile of a repeat abuser under the influence of alcohol. This is the new Republican USA. Mark Judge wrote that Kavanaugh passed out repeatedly. His yearbook indicated intense binge drinking. He has written in a deposition that sometimes he has had too many drinks.

As the Kavanaugh hearing is making increasingly clear: These abusive alcoholic Republicans only get angrier when you question their behavior. And especially when you question their logic and their refusal to have an FBI investigation.

Want this kind of abuse on the Supreme court backing up an equally abusive and criminal President?

Who should be fired at NPR?

Some editor at NPR has pushed through a false equivalency between "sexual assault" and the gang rape of scores of under age women through the use of alcohol and drugs. The former is terrible, but vague. The latter has placed Bill Cosby in prison.

Are we being numbed by National Public Radio (and its "squeaky clean" white fan base) into assuming that Kavanaugh, Judge and all their preppie high school thugs are NOT going to prison?

They should say "the accusations of gang rape" not "the sexual assault allegations."

If Kavanaugh and Judge were working class African Americans Fox News would be calling the accusation full on gang rape.

I'm sick to my stomach and getting nothing done.

"What happens at Georgetown Prep STAYS at Georgetown Prep."

That excerpt from a speech by Kavanaugh explains everything. It is the general consensus of a community of Republican hypocrites. It is why ZERO response came from Judiciary Rep Mike Davis when Avenatti submitted the 3rd scorched Earth testimony against Kavanaugh on Monday and precisely why we need smart, information-age lawyers like Avenatti to make the testimony public today.

Kavanaugh's quote also explains why the thoroughly corrupted Republican judiciary committee members and McConnell are trying to "plough through" all these women. They truly think that abusive behavior is trivial, especially if they can all agree to hide it. (McConnell's emphasis on "plough through" is entirely sexual by intent. These are rapist enablers, if not former, quaalude slinging rapists themselves. They genuinely see no problem with it. They are monsters.

So THANK YOU to the three brave women who have come forward to testify. We have your backs.

And F'K YOU to the judicial rape squad.

And THANK YOU to Avenatti for your media savvy. Stay the course. Keep your street savvy. We should all be in the proverbial street with you.

So I talked with 3 random Americans....

... one at a diner and two at a Good Will store. None of them knew we were in the midst of a constitutional crisis, that we might lose Social Security and the ACA if a Kavanaugh-reinforced Trump has his way and shuts down Muellar. None knew what the difference was between the two major parties. "All politicians are the same" was the standard position.

When I suggested they start reading newspapers they said they couldn't trust any of them and they just switch off TV news. These weren't pro-Trump people (who are not worth any drop of logical discourse). They were low-information NON-voters. And there are MILLIONS of them.

A huge cross-section of America has become poorly educated, disengaged and disenchanted. They aren't angry at the status quo like we here at DU. They have retreated from ANY form of mature adult engagement with civic life. They work and consume what little they can afford.

So we must reach out to them. We must be street diplomats, bringing them back into a relationship with the democratic process. I told the waitress at the diner to consider looking at one of the more "fun" news aggregators like RawStory. It's not perfect, but it's a tad easier on tired eyes than, say, the Washington Post or Mother Jones. She said she might try it. I was encouraged. All is not lost.

WE HAVE TO PATIENTLY AND PERSISTENTLY TALK WITH OTHER AMERICANS OR WE WILL LOSE THIS GREAT EXPERIMENT IN DEMOCRACY. THE INTERNET ALONE WILL NOT SAVE US.

And I recommend handmade, across-the-pumper signs saying:

Raise the minimum wage:
VOTE FOR DEMS NOV. 6

Don't compare Al Franken to Kavanaugh

Kavanaugh has been accused of trapping a woman in a room, muffling her screams, and attempting to tear her clothes off. He has already committted PERJURY which makes his denials of attempted rape pretty difficult to take seriously.

As for Franken, that famous "groping" photo on the plane was SATIRE. There is no comparison. And Franken did it fully in the presence of observers who could check his behavior if he crossed any lines. The photo, carefully inspected, shows no actual contact. It was satirical in the spirit of goofy satire that his accuser had established hours earlier when she ACTUALLY grabbed the ass of a bass player on stage. And she even grapped another performer with her legs as video of that USO tour has shown beyond the shadow of a doubt. She was performing SATIRE too. (And only "came forward" after a push by Trump adviser Roger Stone).

That means BOTH Franken and his accuser were mocking the act of groping with her involvement in the theatrics. To mock something, to perform satire, is actually in the GREAT TRADITION of Vaudeville theater. It is a method of establishing our principles. i.e. actual gropping is over the line.

So the problem here is not Al Franken, but the American education system which doesn't teach the public (including quite a few congressional folks) anything about Vaudeville, a stylized satirical art form at the historical root of Hollywood comedy. The public has learned nothing about the critical role satire in general plays in both the arts and in human behaviour.

Furthermore, Franken is Jewish and since giving up his SNL career, still conducts his photo ops in an affectionate, theatrical fashion which seems to have thrown off a few WASP associates (as a WASP myself I am a veritable expert on this colder culture!). And Franken's short so instead of placing his arms around shoulders, he puts them around people's waists. So what!!!

And finally all of his colleagues from the comedy world, including Saturday Night Live, signed a letter stating he was a wonderful human being.

So establishing Franken's behavior as a line we shouldn't cross places hundreds of humorless Democrats, Republicans and their operatives beneath him.

NOTE: If there was actual poor behavior we never had a chance to address it because the pogrom against this comedy genius prevented an actual investigation. And he even invited an investigation. Mob justice thwarted due process. Period.

Might I add that picking on short, Jewish former comedians is a form of bullying? Shame on all who indulged in that mob behavior. I'm looking forward to an investigation and apologies from all who bullied Franken if all they had against him was about goofy satire and photo-ops.

Now Brexit is flipping?

London Mayor Pushes For 2nd Brexit Vote

[Flip Manafort, flip Brexit? Never mind Theresa May's getting a bad exit deal from the EU, we must not forget that Putin pushed for Brexit via his legions of goblins to undermine the EU (and democracy) and gain the upper hand... maybe Manafort will spill what he knows in this related area...]

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5b9e25a2e4b013b0977b90b9