Dramatic Accusations and Twists Accelerate Ahead of Kavanaugh and Ford Testimony Today: Reason Roundup
Plus: Is postmodernism bad?
Despite my most fervent wishes to stop blogging daily about Brett Kavanaugh's sexual past: Here we are again. The halls of power, the TV networks, and Twitter today are filled with new and increasingly bizarre allegations about Kavanaugh and his accusers, as the Supreme Court nominee and research psychologist Christine Blasey Ford prepare to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee beginning at 10 this morning.
Since we left off here bright and early yesterday—when the world was just meeting Julie Swetnick, the third woman to accuse a teenage Kavanaugh of sexual assault or impropriety—Kavanaugh has said he has no idea who she is and that he felt like he was in the Twilight Zone; President Trump tweeted shade at her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, and then went on to give a typically trainwreck-esque press conference about it; and the Senate released prepared written testimonies from Kavanaugh and from Ford.
Trump's press conference defense of Kavanaugh centered on the fact that he, too, had been accused of sexual assault by a lot of women. These allegations were false, he said. Therefore, Kavanaugh's accusers were probably looney, too (in so many words). You can read the whole thing for yourself here.
And that was just the beginning! As Wednesday evening wore on, the pace of new accusers, new dirt on accusers, allegations of false identities, volunteer suspects, and all hell loosening continued to accelerate. Ahem:
- Lawyer Michael Avenatti dodged questions about whether Kavanaugh and his high-school friend Mark Judge had personally attacked his client, Swetnick.
- People began to point out that according to public records, Swetnick is around two years older than Kavanaugh and graduated from high school in 1980, therefore making her an adult during the time period in which she claims to have attended myriad parties with Kavanaugh and Judge and implies that they were involved in serial gang rapes.
- The results of Ford's polygraph test were released (which should not matter to people, because polygraphs are junk science).
- An anonymous fourth accuser appeared, saying that Kavanaugh had physically assaulted a young woman in 1998, when he was an assistant to Kenneth Starr. The allegation came from a woman who said her daughter and others had been around for the incident. "When they left the bar (under the influence of alcohol) they were all shocked when Brett Kavanaugh, shoved her friend up against the wall very aggressively and sexually," the mother wrote to Sen. Cory Gardner. "There were at least four witnesses including my daughter."
- An anonymous fifth accuser appeared, having already submitted a letter to the Senate—then retracted his story.
- Senate Democrats suggested these anonymous accusers were false flags from Republicans intended to discredit the real accusations.
- An alleged ex-boyfriend of Swetnick's has spoken out about a restraining order he secured against her in 2001.
- Senators say two men have come forward and claimed they, not Kavanaugh and Judge, were the ones who assaulted Ford in high-school.
- Swetnick participated in an interview with Showtime's The Circus. If Kavanaugh's appointment is going to be legitimate, "all of these things should be investigated," she said. "From what I experienced firsthand, I don't think he belongs on the Supreme Court. I just want the facts to come out and I want it to be just and I want the American people to have those facts and judge for themselves."
- All 10 Democrats who sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee are saying that Kavanaugh must withdraw.
FREE MINDS
Libertarian postmodernism? Nick Gillespie defends it in a new video from Reason TV.
QUICK HITS
Thousands of Chuukese immigrants living in the U.S. plan to vote in March on whether the island state should become an independent nation. There's pressure to add voting sites in Texas, Oklahoma and Utah because so many want to have a say in the decision. https://t.co/dPAxnp4Tbl
— Anita Hofschneider (@ahofschneider) September 27, 2018
- Sweden says the "distracted boyfriend" meme is sexist.
- Rand Paul's push to lift some Russian sanctions failed.
- The House succeeded (albeit relatively narrowly) in passing its latest sham sex trafficking bill, this time with language from the PATRIOT Act.
Thanks to @iDueProcess @FreedomWorks @ACLU @adctweets and others for opposing #HR6729, which expands the #PatriotAct to violate the privacy and rights of potentially millions of innocent Americans.https://t.co/Ren5orBjEghttps://t.co/S6VK2vmlnX https://t.co/DIHTNgd3Ua
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) September 26, 2018
- More bad news from crime-lab DNA testing.
- Voter enthusiasm for the midterms is at a two-decade high.
State of Indiana: Making lethal injection drug records public would subject drug makers to "public shaming, public protests, hate mail and lawsuits" & thwart Indiana's ability to get execution drugs. https://t.co/MZL1smUGhB via @markalesia
— Tony Cook (@indystartony) September 25, 2018
