Trump Thread

[Montmorency]

There is a small part of me that wishes that the vote had come down to a 50-50, and then Pence then voted "No."

NOT because of any great qualms I have with Kavanaugh as a jurist (had the allegations clearly substantiated then he would have rightly been rejected, but I have no great grief with his rulings from the bench thus far). But because it would have split the GOP in half and wrecked its current form. I am increasingly of a mind that that must be (in some form) a needful step to moving towards a better conservative party for the USA.

Wild story.

had the allegations clearly substantiated then he would have rightly been rejected,

I have some problems with this.

1. If anything short of Kavanaugh personally declaring "Yes, I was an '80s prep villain all my life, and I would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for you meddling liberals!" could have sunk his nomination, it would have been because Manchin or Flake would have changed their vote (i.e. it would have been 49-50). And not really Collins, with her speech she indicated her position was fixed from the beginning.
2. As long as we're referring to legal standards, the integrity of the nominee is what must be demonstrated "beyond a reasonable doubt", not the opposite. If every single accuser and corroborating witness against him were Soros-paid liars, Kavanaugh still would not have been fit. Somehow the Republicans convinced a swathe of the country that lifetime positions of power should be held to lower scrutiny than a security guard or McDonalds shift manager.
3. Kavanaugh's own statements and behavior, as well as the platoon of character witnesses and affiants, are all consistent with a characterization of Kavanaugh as an aggressive sex pest.


EDIT:

but I have no great grief with his rulings from the bench thus far

By the way, you claim to be libertarian-leaning. Kavanaugh's record favors a very weak 4th and 5th Amendments, among other things.