The Inverted Morality of Republicans

With two new allegations of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh --- one public, one private so far --- it's even more obvious today that he is unfit for a Supreme Court appointment than it was yesterday.

But at this point, discussing Kavanugh's problems is redundant.  Instead, I want to focus on one point of the New Yorker story by Jayne Mayer and Ronan Farrow:

Senior Republican staffers also learned of the allegation last week and, in conversations with The New Yorker, expressed concern about its potential impact on Kavanaugh’s nomination. Soon after, Senate Republicans issued renewed calls to accelerate the timing of a committee vote.

Kavanaugh has already disqualified himself by lying to Congress, and one very brave woman has come forward to tell her story of Kavanaugh attempting to rape her in high school.  Under such circumstances, a person with ANY sense of propriety, ethics or common sense would, upon seeing a second woman come forward, realize that the Kavanaugh nomination must come to an immediate end.

But the Senate Republicans saw this, and immediately sought to 'accelerate the timing of a committee vote' --- as if confirming him would somehow change the fact that he's clearly a serial sexual predator.

It's not just Trump; it's the whole Republican party.  They are, without exception, rotten to the core.

Kavanaugh

Brett Kavanaugh is, quite simply, unfit to serve on the Supreme Court.  The fact that Trump hasn't pulled his nomination demonstrates Trump's utter lack of integrity (try to contain your surprise).  The fact that McConnell and other Senate Republicans haven't publicly expressed their intention to reject his nomination demonstrates theirs.

Again, try to contain your surprise.

What MAY surprise you is that I'm not (yet) talking about the allegations made by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford against Kavanaugh.  No, I'm talking about the multiple instances where Kavanaugh committed perjury --- something it seems that no one is discussing.  In particular, when the Bush administration was working to confirm judicial nominees early this century, a Republican aide named Manuel Miranda stole some strategy memos from Democrats, and

. . . [Kavanaugh] was repeatedly asked under oath as part of his 2004 and 2006 confirmation hearings for his position on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit about whether he had received such information from Miranda, and each time he falsely denied it.

He repeated these lies during his recent Supreme Court confirmation hearings.  Perjury is a felony, and while it seems that legal experts agree Kavanaugh's lies don't meet the high bar for actual prosecution, it's a slam dunk that no one who brazenly commits perjury multiple times has any business serving as a judge, much less sitting on the Supreme Court.

Note: But the Republicans don't care.  Not even one out of 51, apparently.

Now the allegations of attempted rape made by Dr. Ford are an entirely separate matter, but Kavanaugh's checkered history with the truth puts him at a disadvantage in terms of credibility.  While Dr. Ford has passed a polygraph, and experts in sexual assault deem her story credible, there is no reason to give much weight to Kavanaugh's denials.

Note: But the Republicans don't care.  Not even one out of 51, apparently.

Kavanaugh's Republican supporters aren't doing themselves any favors, either.  While they correctly point out that the concept that one is 'innocent until proven guilty' is the bedrock of our legal system, they are also blocking an FBI investigation that might exonerate Kavanaugh.  This is a neat trick to make sure Kavanaugh is never proven guilty, even if he is.

Or maybe they're blocking such an investigation precisely because they're concerned it might incriminate him instead.  Or quite possibly, they don't want anyone looking too closely at Kavanaugh's formative years because he might have still other skeletons in his closet.

In the end, it's clear that Kavanaugh doesn't belong on the Supreme Court, and it looks like even the Senate Republicans recognize that fact.

Note: But they seem determined to put him there anyway.

Donate

I've donated to some of these candidates --- I wish I could donate to all of them.

In an effort to support a 'blue wave', I've identified a number of close races where a few extra dollars might help push the Democrat over the top.  ALL RACES BASED ON UPDATED FIVETHIRTYEIGHT ANALYSIS AS OF 10/22/2018!

I'll make an effort to keep this page up to date, but as always with stuff you read on the internet, caveat emptor.

Senate
Like most people (with a conscience, anyway), I'm both angry and upset about Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court.  The good news is, we have a real chance in the next month to re-take the Senate.  If we manage to get 51 Democrats elected, it will guarantee that Trump can't seat any more Supreme Court justices until at least 2021.  So we need to do everything we can to elect Democrats to the Senate, even Democrats with views we strongly disagree with.

Here are the Senate races which are still in play, listed from most GOP-leaning to most Democrat-leaning, according to FiveThirtyEight as of October 22:

• Beto O'Rourke (TX).  Trailing incumbent Ted Cruz by 5.0%.
• Phil Bredesen (TN).  Trailing Marsha Blackburn by 4.1% in the race to fill the seat vacated by Bob Corker.  MoveOn has pulled its funding from Bredesen for saying he supports Brett Kavanaugh, but that was a mistake.
• Heidi Heitkamp (ND).  Trailing challenger Kevin Cramer by 4.2%.  Cramer who recently said that even if Brett Kavanaugh DID attempt to rape Christine Blasey Ford, it's 'nothing' because it 'never went anywhere'.
• Jacky Rosen (NV).  Trailing incumbent Dean Heller by 0.1%.
• Claire McCaskill (MO).  Leading her challenger by 1.7%.
• Kyrsten Sinema (AZ).  Has a 1.9% lead in the race to replace retiring Senator Jeff Flake.
• Bill Nelson (FL).  Leading Florida governor Rick Scott by 2.6%.
• Joe Donnelly (IN).  Has a 3.7% lead in his race for re-election.

I've taken Joe Manchin (WV) off this list, because FiveThirtyEight currently favors him by nearly 10 points.  Since my last update, the Republicans have gained ground in Texas, North Dakota, Nevada and Indiana.  Sinema's lead remains constant, and Democrats have gained ground everywhere else.  If the current polling holds, Democrats will lose one seat (Heitkamp) and pick up one other (Sinema), leaving Republicans with the same 51-49 advantage they currently hold.

So we need to get Jacky Rosen back ahead in Nevada, and hope that O'Rourke, Bredesen or Heitkamp pull off an upset.  Those four races are probably the best ones to put money into.

U.S. House

• Of course I need to mention the Democratic challenger Angie Craig right here in my home district of MN-02.  This district has been red for a very long time, but Angie has a real chance of bringing home the win for team D.  Leading by 6.8%.
• Dan Feehan is gaining on Republican Jim Hagedorn in the open DEMOCRATIC seat in MN-01 which Tim Walz vacated to run for governor.  Trailing by 0.2%.
• Joe Radinovich is the Democrat running to replace retiring Democrat Rick Nolan in MN-08. The GOP is running attack ads against him because, it seems --- he has a lot of parking tickets, speeding tickets, and so forth.  Trailing by 5.2%.
• Amy McGrath has a real shot to flip a seat in ruby-red Kentucky (KY-06).  She also has some amazing campaign ads.  Leading by 0.7%.
• Katie Porter is on track to flip a seat in CA-45.  Leading by 3.6%.
• NEW!  Josh Harder is likely to flip CA-10.  Leading by 4.0%.
• NEW!  Katie Hill is likely to flip CA-25.  Leading by 3.2%.
• HOLY SMOKE!!!  Harley Rouda is currently ahead of the repugnant Dana Rohrabacher, considered the member of Congress most compromised by Russia.  We need to win this one, folks!  Leading by 3.0%!
• Xochitl Torres Small is in a dead heat to fill another open Republican seat in NM-02.  Leading by 0.2%.
• FiveThirtyEight still has this race as 'Lean Republican', but Cook Political Report has just moved UT-04 to a tossup between Democratic challenger Ben McAdams and incumbent Republican Mia Love.  Trailing by 1.8%.
• Lizzie Fletcher is positioned to defeat incumbent Republican John Culberson in TX-07.  Trailing by 0.2%.
• Gina Ortiz Jones is falling behind incumbent Republican Will Hurd in TX-23.  Trailing by 5.8%.
• NEW!  Colin Allred is within striking distance of current House Rules Committee chair Pete Sessions in TX-32.  Trailing by 1.6%.
• Paul Davis is in a tossup race for an open GOP seat in KS-02.  Leading by 0.9%.
• Sharice Davids has pulled into the lead over incumbent Republican Kevin Yoder in KS-03.  Leading by 5.9%.
• Sean Casten is close behind incumbent Republican Peter Roskam in IL-06.  Leading by 2.0%.
• Brendan Kelly is close on the heels of incumbent Mike Bost in IL-12.  Trailing by 2.2%.
• Elissa Slotkin is tied with incumbent Mike Bishop in MI-8 (Cook Political Report just changed the race to 'Lean Democrat').  Leading by 0.7%.
• Kara Eastman is neck-and-neck with incumbent Republican Don Bacon in NE-02.  Trailing by 3.0%.
• Cindy Axne is statistically tied with Republican incumbent David Young in IA-03.  Leading by 1.9%.
• Aftab Pureval has slipped behind incumbent Republican Steve Chabot in OH-01.  Trailing by 4.0%.
• NEW!  Danny O'Connor is closing on an incumbent Republican in OH-12.  Trailing by 2.0%.
• Debbie Mucarsel-Powell has a shot at unseating incumbent Republican Carlos Curbelo in FL-26.  Trailing by 0.4%.
• NEW!  Kristen Carlson has a chance to flip FL-15.  Trailing by 3.0%.
• Kathy Manning is in a tossup race against incumbent Republican Ted Budd in NC-13.  Trailing by 1.4%.
• Dan McCready has moved NC-09 to a tossup.  Leading by 0.9%.
• NEW!  Linda Coleman is within striking distance in NC-02.  Trailing by 2.4%.
• Leslie Cockburn is poised to pick up an open GOP seat in VA-05.  Trailing by 2.0%.
• Abigail Spanberger is a bit more than one point behind the odious Dave Brat in VA-07.  Trailing by 0.2%.
• NEW!  Elaine Luria is within striking distance in VA-02.  Trailing by 2.0%.
• Andy Kim is neck-and-neck with incumbent Republican Tom McArthur in NJ-03.  Leading by 2.5%.
• Tom Malinowski is a slight favorite over incumbent Republican Leonard Lance in NJ-07.  Leading by 1.8%.
• Antonio Delgado is slightly favored over incumbent Republican John Faso in NY-19.  Leading by 1.7%.
• NEW!  Anthony Brindisi is favored to flip NY-22.  Leading by 2.2%.
• NEW!  Nate McMurray is within striking distance of incumbent Republican Chris Collins, who has been indicted for insider trading.  Trailing by 4.3%.
• Scott Wallace is in a dead heat with incumbent Republican Brian Fitzpatrick in PA-01.  Leading by 0.6%.
• NEW!  George Scott has a chance to flip PA-10.  Trailing by 3.2%.
• Jared Golden is within striking distance of flipping ME-02.  Leading by 2.0%.
• Kim Schrier has a narrow lead in the race to fill an open (Republican) seat in WA-08.  Leading by 1.4%.

Governor

• Laura Kelly has a good shot to claim the governor's mansion in Kansas, and it's vital that she does.  Her opponent is Trump's voter-suppression guru Kris Kobach, who is such a clown a judge recently ordered him to take classes to gain a better understanding of the law (no, really).  Kelly would likely have a decent lead over Kobach if it weren't for the fact that some third-party wanker has decided to try to screw things up for her.  I just made a donation to Kelly myself.  Trailing by 2.3%.
• Stacey Abrams has a good chance to claim the governor's mansion in Georgia.  If she manages to win, it will happen in spite of massive voter suppression on the part of her opponent.  Trailing by 0.4%.
• Andrew Gillum is consistently polling ahead of Trump's hand-picked candidate for governor of Florida, a position which has been held by the odious Rick Scott for the past 8 years.  Leading by 4.1%.
• Recent polls actually show Democrat Tony Evers pulling away from odious Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, but it might be a good idea to throw Evers a few bucks to make sure he keeps his lead.  Leading by 2.0%.
• NEW!  Richard Cordray is keeping it close in Ohio.  Trailing by 0.8%.
• NEW!  Steve Sisolak is neck-and-neck with his Republican opponent in Nevada.  Leading by 0.4%.
• NEW!  In Alaska's crazy governor's race, Mark Begich is trailing by 3.8%.

That's all for now.  I'm sure I'll come up with others before election day, so bookmark this post and keep checking in for updates!

A Kaepernick v Trump election

I want to make it clear up front: This is NOT a post suggesting that Colin Kaepernick should run for president in 2020.  Rather, it's to call out the utter moral decay of the Republican party based on a recent article in the National Review.

As one should expect from the National Review, the article is both one-sided and dishonest, and I've dissected it in some detail here.  But the upshot is that the author, Kyle Smith, has decided that the Democratic party is the 'party of Kaepernick', and he seems to believe this will be simply devastating for Democrats' electoral chances.

Well, since the Republicans are unquestionably the party of Trump, let's spend a bit of time thinking about who comes out looking better in this comparison.

To start with, let's try doing something that very few people have done since Kaepernick first knelt during the national anthem.  Let's read what he has to say about his reasons for doing it:

"I'm going to continue to stand with the people that are being oppressed. To me, this is something that has to change. When there's significant change and I feel that flag represents what it's supposed to represent, and this country is representing people the way that it's supposed to, I'll stand."

"This stand wasn’t for me. This is because I’m seeing things happen to people that don’t have a voice, people that don’t have a platform to talk and have their voices heard, and effect change. So I’m in the position where I can do that and I’m going to do that for people that can’t."

"It's something that can unify this team. It's something that can unify this country. If we have these real conversations that are uncomfortable for a lot of people. If we have these conversations, there's a better understanding of where both sides are coming from."

"I have great respect for the men and women that have fought for this country. I have family, I have friends that have gone and fought for this country. And they fight for freedom, they fight for the people, they fight for liberty and justice, for everyone. That’s not happening. People are dying in vain because this country isn’t holding their end of the bargain up, as far as giving freedom and justice, liberty to everybody. That’s something that’s not happening. I’ve seen videos, I’ve seen circumstances where men and women that have been in the military have come back and been treated unjustly by the country they fought have for, and have been murdered by the country they fought for, on our land. That’s not right."

Whether one agrees with his methods, his purpose is honorable: using his platform as an NFL player to give voice to the oppressed whose voices cannot be heard.  And this one small action was so threatening to people in power (the NFL owners, the Republican party, and Trump) that they took away his platform, and with it, his career.

There is no question that Kaepernick would still be playing in the NFL if he had never taken this stand.  One could argue about whether he'd be a starter, but it's probably fair to assume that he would be earning as much as Teddy Bridgewater, the backup to Drew Brees.  That's $5 million both for the 2017 season he missed, and the current 2018 season.

So at a minimum, he's sacrificed his NFL playing career and $10 milliion in career earnings to take this stand.  And since leaving the NFL, he has helped to raise more than $1 million for charity.

How does this compare to Donald Trump?  How much time do you have?

Well, like Kaepernick, Trump also set up a charity to collect money.  But unlike Kaepernick, Trump's charity was actually a self-dealing sham.  Trump really only cares about giving to Trump.  During the 2016 campaign, he pledged $1 million to veterans organizations, but didn't actually come through with the money until he was shamed into it.  And of course, that's really the least of his sins.

He lies with shameless abandon.  He's racist.  He obviously conspired with Russia to rig the election in his favor.  He's still acting as Putin's lapdog, probably because Putin has compromising information on him.

He jeopardizes our national security on a daily basis, both actively and passively.  He uses the office of the president as his own personal ATM machine (in violation of the Constitution's emoluments clause).  He's shredding our global alliances, and he's putting children in cages.

It's late, and I have to get up for work in the morning.  Suffice to say that the pit of Trump's evil and corruption is practically bottomless.

But the big brains over at the National Review, they think the real problem is that Democrats are failing to criticize a guy who gave up a career millions of young men dream about in order to speak out for the oppressed.

That tells you everything you need to know about the complete and utter moral bankruptcy of the American conservative movement.

Kaepernick

So, Kyle Smith of the National Review (a right-wing publication, but one which occasionally tut-tuts Donald Trump) has decided that the Democrats are the party of Kaepernick:

Last week, left-wing Democrat Ayanna Pressley ousted long-term incumbent Michael Capuano from the John F. Kennedy/Tip O’Neill House seat in the Democratic primary while praising the NFL anti-flag protests, which her opponent called “wrong.” Democratic Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke says — in Texas! — that there is “nothing more American” than kneeling for the national anthem. The judicious center-left New York Times columnist David Leonhardt notes in his daily newsletter that “the anthem is a trap for Democrats.”

Of course, I doubt that anyone is actually holding 'anti-flag protests', especially not anyone running for Congress as a Democrat.  Ayanna Pressley has said she supports "both the cause and the tactics" of NFL players taking a knee to "elevate the issue of police brutality", while Beto O'Rourke gave an articulate and powerful explanation of his support for peaceful protests, one which his opponent Ted Cruz is similarly distorting.

From this laughably biased start, Smith keeps rolling to the right, claiming that "The Left and its base of activists, pundits, and (increasingly) woke capitalists simply can’t let this issue go".  But of course, if the right had allowed the country to come together and try to address police brutality, then Kaepernick would still be playing football and the protests and this article wouldn't exist.  Instead, the right and outlets like NR have followed the lead of the whiner-in-chief, using alleged 'anti-flag protests' for more than a year to distract from the fact that Trump is destroying the country.

Smith goes on to note that "Demonizing a huge population based on stereotypes derived from the actions of a few of its members is exactly the kind of anti-American impulse that liberals once stood so valiantly against."  Indeed, liberals still do stand against such demonization based on stereotypes --- such as when a right-wing publication demonizes the entire Democratic party based on some made-up allegations of 'anti-flag protests'.

After further distorting the motivation for the protests, Smith veers briefly back into rationality --- "Do the anthem protests matter when it comes to deciding which political party to vote for? It’s hard to see how they do" --- before divesting himself of all self-awareness: "Thanks to the Trumpification of national discourse --- voters appear to be growing less rational by the hour."

At least, that seems to be what Smith and the National Review are hoping.