US Politics

Loving this LBJ chat fellas, time to endorse Robert Caro's Years Of Lyndon Johnson again.

Tineash wrote:Loving this LBJ chat fellas, time to endorse Robert Caro's Years Of Lyndon Johnson again.

Yeah Caro's biographies of LBJ are the strawberry floating bomb, though I don't necessarily agree with a lot of his conclusions, you can't deny the sheer level of research he's put into the volumes. I spent six weeks at the Johnson archives and wrote my PhD thesis on his media strategy during Vietnam, Caro was great for background reading. I'm really worried he'll die before releasing the last volume - he indicated that it might take two to ten years to finish and he's already in his 80s.

Corazon de Leon wrote:

Tineash wrote:Loving this LBJ chat fellas, time to endorse Robert Caro's Years Of Lyndon Johnson again.

though I don't necessarily agree with a lot of his conclusions, you can't deny the sheer level of research he's put into the volumes. I spent six weeks at the Johnson archives and wrote my PhD thesis on his media strategy during Vietnam, Caro was great for background reading.

That's terrific, so what conclusions did you disagree with? Seems like the really controversial stuff is rooted in Vietnam and that's being held for the 5th volume.

So uh.....Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un are in love now.



https://www.inquisitr.com/5094998/trump ... ationship/

Trump loves dictatorships.

Special relationship with UK ended. Now Kim jong un is my true love.

Lagamorph wrote:So uh.....Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un are in love now.



https://www.inquisitr.com/5094998/trump ... ationship/

Just think about the sex.

Lagamorph wrote:So uh.....Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un are in love now.



https://www.inquisitr.com/5094998/trump ... ationship/

Such a progressive president

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/09/ ... h-is-lying

A great article that lists all the lies and misdirection Kavanaugh included in his testimony.

twitter.com/NPR/status/1046950333610647552

Do the country proud, FBI!

twitter.com/WalkerBragman/status/1046950538464702464

Even the pretend FBI investigation that Trump set up is going to struggle to not find Kavanaugh lying through his teeth.

twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1046880156391018496

twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1046885029283028994

twitter.com/LasagnaGarden/status/1046846530374840321

As an undergraduate student at Yale, Brett M. Kavanaugh was involved in an altercation at a local bar during which he was accused of throwing ice on another patron, according to a police report.

The incident, which occurred in September 1985 during Mr. Kavanaugh’s junior year, resulted in Mr. Kavanaugh and four other men being questioned by the New Haven Police Department. Mr. Kavanaugh was not arrested, but the police report stated that a 21-year-old man accused Mr. Kavanaugh of throwing ice on him “for some unknown reason.”
A witness to the fight said that Chris Dudley, a Yale basketball player who was friends with Mr. Kavanaugh, then hit the man in the ear with a glass, according to the police report, which was obtained by The New York Times.

The report said that the victim, Dom Cozzolino, “was bleeding from the right ear” and was later treated at a local hospital. A detective was notified of the incident at 1:20 a.m.
Mr. Dudley denied the accusation, according to the report. For his part, speaking to the officers, Mr. Kavanaugh did not want “to say if he threw the ice or not,” the police report said.

The report referred to the altercation, which occurred at a bar called Demery’s, as “an assault.” It did not say whether anyone was arrested, and there is no indication that charges were filed.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/01/us/p ... fight.html

I think the main problem here is the guy just went and flat out lied to the committee about his drinking which I don't think he needed to do.
I don't know how puritanical they are in the US but the drinking part of the allegations shouldn't preclude him from being a judge decades later. I'm sure there are plenty of people who were party animals as a young adult who now are stand-up citizens with incredibly important jobs at hospitals where if they strawberry float up people die and I think most would agree it would be harsh indeed to denounce them for being black-out drunk at the age of 19 or 20.

I have no idea why he just didn't admit to drinking more than was sensible but at the same time denying the rape allegations? You can be a problem drinker and still have the good sense that sexual assault is a bad idea and not do it so admitting to one doesn't make the other a certainty.

I also really have no idea why the committee didn't press him on the terms in his diary as his explanations about a weak stomach and a drinking game were so stupid and obvious lies that it almost looked like they were prepared to accept whatever he said without any question.

I'm not saying he's guilty of the sexual assault allegations, but he's definitely a liar, which is not exactly what you want from a judge...

Showing very poor character.

KK wrote:I'm not saying he's guilty of the sexual assault allegations, but he's definitely a liar, which is not exactly what you want from a judge...

Showing very poor character.

Yep, a very odd choice of defence strategy.

Peter Crisp wrote:

KK wrote:I'm not saying he's guilty of the sexual assault allegations, but he's definitely a liar, which is not exactly what you want from a judge...

Showing very poor character.

Yep, a very odd choice of defence strategy.

Could it be that he knows his nomination is strawberry floated, and decided to put on a show for Trump so that he'd get the AG post when Sessions gets fired? Showing Trump that he'd be a good lapdog to ruin the Russia probe etc.

Monkey Man wrote:

As an undergraduate student at Yale, Brett M. Kavanaugh was involved in an altercation at a local bar during which he was accused of throwing ice on another patron, according to a police report.

Oh Jesus, I hope they nail this guy to the wall!

Seriously though, what a non-story that article is. Man threw ice at someone 32 years ago.

Preezy wrote:

Monkey Man wrote:

As an undergraduate student at Yale, Brett M. Kavanaugh was involved in an altercation at a local bar during which he was accused of throwing ice on another patron, according to a police report.

Oh Jesus, I hope they nail this guy to the wall!

Seriously though, what a non-story that article is. Man threw ice at someone 32 years ago.

Absolutely this.

Preezy wrote:

Monkey Man wrote:

As an undergraduate student at Yale, Brett M. Kavanaugh was involved in an altercation at a local bar during which he was accused of throwing ice on another patron, according to a police report.

Oh Jesus, I hope they nail this guy to the wall!

Seriously though, what a non-story that article is. Man threw ice at someone 32 years ago.

Usually I’d agree, but it’s relevant in this case as Kavanaugh has stated he didn’t ever get blackout drunk. Stupid drunken behaviour like that shows that he was out of his face while at college and was therefore lying during his testimony.

Prof Ludington, who teaches at North Carolina State University, said he had seen Judge Kavanaugh slurring his words and staggering after excessive alcohol consumption while at Yale.
The professor also said Judge Kavanaugh "was often belligerent and aggressive" when drunk.
"I can unequivocally say that in denying the possibility that he ever blacked out from drinking, and in downplaying the degree and frequency of his drinking, Brett has not told the truth."

He noted that it was not Judge Kavanaugh's drinking habits in college that worried him - it was the fact that he made questionable statements under oath.
"If he lied about his past actions on national television, and more especially while speaking under oath in front of the United States Senate, I believe those lies should have consequences," Prof Ludington said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-45710340

Nah, you don't have to be blind drunk to throw ice at someone in a bar. That's reaching. There should be enough evidence against him without these "ooh look he threw ice at someone once, he must be a bad guy" sort of stories.