FREDDIE DE BOER:

“…On August 18th 2017 I lied and accused Malcolm Harris of rape and sexual harassment of women, particularly of women he works with. These allegations were completely untrue, Malcolm in no way deserved them, and if anyone held a shred of doubt, let him be fully exonerated. Crucially, despite my mental state at the time, I knew when I sent those tweets that they were untrue. I am responsible for having made those false allegations, and that makes me a liar, it makes me guilty of slander, and it makes me someone who undermined the profound seriousness of rape allegations…”

https://fredrikdeboer.com/2018/10/02/statement/

Orrin Hatch:

“…A notable shift occurred in the left’s anti-Kavanaugh campaign over the weekend. Attention has turned away from Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations of sexual assault—the entire reason for last week’s hearing and the ensuing delay in Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation vote—and toward his behavior at the hearing.

We’re starting to see arguments like the following: Even if Judge Kavanaugh is innocent, what he said at the hearing, and how he said it, is disqualifying.

This is rich. The hearing occurred in the first place only because of Democratic duplicity. It occurred only because Senate Democrats sat on Ms. Ford’s allegations for six weeks rather than referring them to committee investigators, as they should have done immediately. It occurred only because Ms. Ford’s lawyers—recommended to Ms. Ford by Senate Democrats—refused to tell their client of our invitation to testify privately in California, as she said she preferred.

That Judge Kavanaugh had the temerity to defend himself vigorously is now being counted as a strike against him. Over and over we hear him described as “angry,” “belligerent” or “partisan,” followed by the claim that his conduct at the hearing shows that he lacks a judicial temperament. Even “Saturday Night Live” got in on the action.

You’ve got to be kidding me. Do the people making this argument really expect a man who until five seconds ago had an unblemished reputation to sit passively while his reputation is viciously and permanently destroyed? While he is accused of the most horrific and obscene acts imaginable? Judge Kavanaugh’s critics seem to be aghast that he is a human being who is unwilling to take slander lying down…”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/brett-kavanaughs-righteous-anger-1538519713

Conrad Black:

“…We are in the midst of the fourth and fifth rounds, now unfolding simultaneously, in Donald Trump’s revolutionary eviction of the Democratic establishment with its allies in the media, Hollywood, Wall Street and on K Street, and its lookalike post-Reagan Republican also-rans and regional managers. Trump won the Republican nomination and election and has taken control of the Republican congressional delegation.

What we are witnessing is the parting fusillade of the NeverTrumpers and goal-line stand of the Democrats who have only recently realized that they had a serious survival problem on their hands, and that Trump is a formidable enemy and cannot easily be banished….if Trump succeeds in the next two rounds-winning a conservative majority on the Supreme Court and consolidating his congressional position, (and seeing off the NeverTrumpers as a bonus), he will dominate all three branches of government, something that only Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson have done in the last century…”

https://amgreatness.com/2018/10/02/a-showdown-like-no-other/

I read two stories today about Judge Kavanaugh that lead me to believe many on the left are mentally disturbed. The first story was about a young Kavanaugh throwing ice cubes on a man in a bar. The second was about the NY Times receiving a hand written letter from Kavanaugh written when he was in high school or shortly after and describing drinking beer, etc.

Think about the twisted sick freaks that revealed these stories to a national paper in an attempt to derail the nomination of a former high school or college classmate to the highest court in the land.

Think about a national newspaper running these stories.

Think about that.

Some people are sick freaks. Caustic self-hating people.

Blue Wave?

“…Democrats thinking the New Jersey election for the U.S. Senate would be an easy seat to hold on to may have to adjust their expectations.

A new poll from Stockton University released Monday shows Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) just two points ahead of his Republican challenger, Bob Hugin, the retired executive chairman of the biopharmaceutical company Celgene Corporation. Menendez leads Hugin 45% to 43%, and Libertarian candidate Murray Sabrin sits at 3% in the poll.

The poll also found Menendez continues to be an unpopular candidate, with just 30% of New Jerseyans having a favorable opinion of him and 54% having an unfavorable opinion. Working for the Menendez campaign, however, is the fact that 43% of New Jersey residents have not heard of Hugin…”

https://www.dailywire.com/news/36545/toss-new-poll-shows-republican-dead-heat-sen-bob-ashe-schow?amp&__twitter_impression=true

Trump to press: ‘I consider you a part of the Democrat Party.’

Roger Kimball:

“…In short, the crime was Donald Trump’s election. More precisely, the crime was the fact that Donald Trump was elected without the permission, indeed, over the strenuous objections of that entitled cohort whose members believe it to be part of the natural order of things that they govern. The implications of this conviction—that the primal crime of Trump’s administration was his election, compounded by his infuriating habit of meeting any attack with a potent counterattack—are huge. Among other things, it follows that Donald Trump’s tenure is, for these people, existentially illegitimate. And from that conviction it follows that a policy of resistance, obstruction, and illegality is (in the minds of these people) sanctioned…”

https://amgreatness.com/2018/10/01/with-the-kavanaugh-fight-political-warfare-escalates/

NYT: KAVANAUGH ONCE THREW ICE ON SOME GUY AT A BAR

Kavanaugh Accuser Co-Authored Study Citing Use Of Hypnosis To Retrieve Memories

Headline of the day.

Houston officials halt plans to open first US ‘robot brothel

“…The left’s attack on Kavanaugh involves the following, which I think sets a new standard for chutzpah: take a man with a sterling public record during his entire life, mount an attack on his integrity that involves an unsubstantiated, uncorroborated, impossible-to-defend-against charge of sexual attack (up to and including gang rape), and do it at the pinnacle of his career, unleashing a social media war against him of the most vicious kind, including death threats towards him and his family. Do that publicly while cloaking yourself in self-aggrandizing sanctity, and make him sit there and listen.

But that’s not the “chutzpah” part, although that does take some chutzpah. The real chutzpah part is this: if he acts at all angry in his response to being defamed in that way, say that his anger shows that he doesn’t have the temperament to be a justice, despite the fact that it is well-documented that he has shown an exemplary judicial temperament for his entire previous career as a judge…”

https://www.thenewneo.com/2018/10/01/the-left-and-the-double-bind-setting-a-new-standard-for-chutzpah/

This is a good article, worth clicking over and reading the whole thing.

Mollie Hemingway:

“…The media are working overtime not just to prevent the eminently qualified Brett Kavanaugh from being confirmed to the Supreme Court, but to destroy his life as well. One of their avenues is to make it impossible for him to coach girls’ basketball in the future.

USA Today’s Erik Brady wrote:

The U.S. Senate may yet confirm Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, but he should stay off basketball courts for now when kids are around…

The nation is deeply divided. Sometimes it feels like we don’t agree on anything anymore. But credibly accused sex offenders should not coach youth basketball, girls or boys, without deeper investigation. Can’t we all agree on that?

The article, which was illustrated with a picture of Kavanaugh and one of the girls’ basketball teams he coaches, has since been dramatically revised. Apparently editors at USA Today realized that calling a human being a pedophile with precisely zero actual evidence of any sexual impropriety was indefensible…”

http://thefederalist.com/2018/09/30/media-sink-to-new-lows-in-their-anti-kavanaugh-smear-campaign/

John Hinderaker:

“…Pretty much all observers expect the Democrats to capture the House in November. If they do, they will impeach President Trump. But the much more serious danger is that they may also take the Senate. If that happens, the Trump administration will be paralyzed. The Democrats likely will refuse to confirm a single significant appointment. I would not rule out the possibility of a constitutional crisis, if the Democrats try to bring the executive branch to a standstill by abusing its “advise and consent” power to insist that President Trump nominate Democrats to key posts in the administration and the judiciary. In the Democrats’ disgraceful obstruction of Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court, we have a preview of the insanity that will reign if they become a Senate majority…”

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/09/there-is-still-time-to-help-save-the-senate.php

THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO COMPLAIN THAT TRUMP IS UNDERMINING THE NORMS OF DECENCY.

They could pull this on anyone they don’t like.

“…The years-old mystery of what’s in President Donald Trump’s tax returns will likely quickly unravel if Democrats win control of at least one chamber of Congress.

Democrats, especially in the House, are quietly planning on using an obscure law that will enable them to examine the president’s tax filings without his permission.

The nearly 100-year-old statute allows the chairmen of Congress’ tax committees to look at anyone’s returns, and Democrats say they intend to use that power to help answer a long list of questions about Trump’s finances. Many also want to use it to make public confidential information about Trump’s taxes that he’s steadfastly refused to release.

“Probably the approach would be to get all of it, review it and, depending on what that shows, release all or part of it,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, the No. 4 Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee…”

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2018/09/democrats-plan-to-examine-trumps-tax-returns-after-midterm-election-strategy-could-be-applied-to-any.html

USS Decatur conducts 10-hour patrol in the South China Sea, sailing within 12 nautical miles of Chinese-held outposts in Spratly island chain

This is an important event to put China on notice that the U.S. will sail anywhere on the open seas in accordance with international laws.

“…A U.S. Navy warship patrolled near at least two Chinese-held outposts in the disputed Spratly island chain in the South China Sea on Sunday, challenging Beijing’s maritime claims amid growing tensions between the two countries.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur navigated past Gaven and Johnson reefs over the course of a 10-hour patrol in the South China Sea, sailing within 12 nautical miles of both features in what amounts to a freedom of navigation operation, or FONOP.

The two outposts are among seven where China has built heavily fortified artificial islands since 2013, raising fears among its Asian neighbors and in the U.S. that Beijing could use them to enforce its claims to almost all of the South China Sea…”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/american-warship-sails-near-spratly-islands-challenging-china-1538290867

Details are not available, but this sounds like a positive step to turn the U.S. trade imbalance.

“…Trade ministers from the U.S., Mexico and Canada have reached a deal to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Trump administration announced late Sunday night.

The new pact, which is being called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, is a major step toward completing one of Trump’s signature campaign promises and gives the president a concrete policy win to tout on the campaign trail this fall. It also sets the stage for what is sure to be a high-stakes fight to get the agreement passed by Congress before it can become law.

The Trump administration already formally notified Congress at the end of August of its plans to sign a new pact and faced a deadline of the end of September to provide a draft of the agreement.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in late August that officials are planning to sign with their Canadian and Mexican counterparts by the end of November — a date that would also satisfy Mexico, which is eager to have current President Enrique Peña Nieto sign the deal before his successor takes over Dec. 1.

“It’s a great win for the president and a validation for his strategy in the area of international trade,” a senior administration official said on a call with reporters late Sunday.

People briefed on the outlines of a revamped deal described changes in language governing dairy imports, dispute resolution between countries, limits on online shopping that can be done tax free, and limits on the U.S. threat of auto tariffs…”

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/30/nafta-trade-canada-819081

Ed Driscoll strung this together

JONAH GOLDBERG: The Moral-Panic Phase.

Why the Hell are people losing their minds? I don’t know. Why did St. Vitus’ Dance sweep Europe? Why did tulips get so expensive during the Tulip Craze? Why did the witches hang?

I suspect what’s happened is a convergence of things. First the #MeToo movement, which mostly has been a force for good, is entering its moral-panic phase. Second, the Internet accelerates groupthink and extremism for all the familiar reasons. Third, a lot of Democrats have concluded that the only way to win the party’s presidential nomination is to prove you can be the most fearless jackass in the herd (See, Cory “Almost Spartacus” Booker) and the presence of Michael Avenatti in the market has put inflationary pressure on everyone’s asininity. Fourth, as I keep writing (even at book length), we are turning politics into a form of tribal entertainment where it’s easy to convince ourselves that our opponents are existential monsters.

And fifth, as politics has become a secular religion, the Supreme Court has become like a Roman Temple and people are terrified that Kavanaugh is a less indulgent priest. If the Supreme Court wasn’t the institution where a single swing justice — not coincidentally the one Kavanaugh is slated to replace — decides how human beings should define themselves in the world, people wouldn’t be freaking out nearly so much.

Read the whole thing. In his New York Times column this week, Ross Douthat concludes that “we all sense that in this political disaster, we’re seeing a glimpse into a cultural abyss.” What comes next?

A column by Barton Swaim in the Weekly Standard that Glenn linked to earlier today argues that “The Sexual Revolution Is Over:”

What comes next probably won’t be some 21st-century form of Victorian public morality. But neither, if I’m right, are we likely to advance further into the realm of sexual chaos urged upon our society by young radicals a half-century ago. Everything comes to an end, including revolutions.

Thursday’s hearings also “may be a watershed moment in Identity Politics,” a blogger at Maggie’s Farm writes:

This was a great example of how identity has been weaponized for political gain. Don’t think this is the end of Identity Politics, though. The Democrats need identity to survive. Mao’s Cultural Revolution relied on hearsay and Identity, and was implemented shortly after the Great Leap Forward had failed to propel the nation forward economically. The Democrats are failing massively. They are launching their own Cultural Revolution. I’ve warned friends of mine who are sympathetic to the ’cause’ to be careful. Movements like this eat their young.

In any case, as Rod Dreher writes, it’s also “The End of a Trusting Society:”

Look at what Brett Kavanaugh now has to put up with: an Erik Brady column in USA Today saying he shouldn’t coach his daughter’s basketball team because he might be a pervert. Excerpt:

The nation is deeply divided. Sometimes it feels like we don’t agree on anything anymore. But credibly accused sex offenders should not coach youth basketball, girls or boys, without deeper investigation. Can’t we all agree on that?

“Credibly accused”? This is beyond disgusting — and it’s in a major American newspaper. How does it differ from this, had USA Today been around in 1954:

The nation is deeply divided. Sometimes it feels like we don’t agree on anything anymore. But credibly accused communists should not work in Hollywood without deeper investigation. Can’t we all agree on that?

Gosh, I can’t imagine why Judge Kavanaugh was upset in his testimony, can you?

This is the world we are creating for ourselves.