Kavanaugh hearing signals a cultural shift moment

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/kavanaugh-hearing-signals-cultural-shift-moment
MGB: Even if Kav was not a virgin, he is accused of attempted rape at worst or some degree of sexual battery at best if he put his hands on her body. Whether the two actually knew each other seems to be the key point. She says he did, he says he did not know her. An FBI investigation will find the truth or at least we hope so. Kav should not be used a scapegoat for all horsing high school and college students who go too far, either in jest or reality (both or wrong) or who rape drunken women. If he is lying about knowing her, it may be a memory lapse. If he is lying about molesting her, even if he does not remember, he needs to withdraw from consideration and resign from his post on the appellate court.

Whether or not his silence about Bush Administration information is due to ignorance (many items crossed his desk, he likely did not read most), due to the secrecy of the matter (which he could not even disclose, then or now), the fact that Cheney's treachery on torture did not come to Bush's attention until DOJ lawyers threatened to go to the Post or that he deliberately lied is probably not knowable until the Bush papers are fully declassified.

Whether he is a Trump flunkee does matter. If he is, he should be voted down.

The outcome of this process will have as much or as little impact as the Thomas confirmation did on the re-election of George H.W. Bush - which is none at all. Bush was seen as cold in not dealing with the slowdown caused by the S&L crisis and other impacts of too many tax cuts for the rich. It also had nothing to do with his no new taxes pledge. Clinton simply out emoted Bush, which was easy, while still taking enough big money from donors to get his message out. He was no Mondale and no Dukakis.  He was more a Carter with style.

Polls are now showing that not even tax policy is important for the election. It is simply whether people think that Donald J. Trump is either corrupt or an idiot (or both). Most voters do and are excited about getting rid of him (even independent Republicans). This is an existential crisis for the Republican Party. Only Trump's resignation will turn it to a simple rout, ala 1974.  In the minority, the GOP would be advised to put women on the Judiciary Committee, provided they are not decimated into minor party status.

The reason Trump did not meet with Rosenstein yesterday was that he suspects, probably correctly, that the DAG has a copy of the Muller Report and knows that once it is out, Pence will likely have to invoke the 25th Amendment on a deranged President. 

If this happens, the Kavenaugh nomination will likely be pulled, with Pence putting forward someone who will vote to overturn Roe, let that person be defeated and them nominate Merrick Garland. Only Pence knows whether he will make deals with a new Democratic majority or be a veto machine like Gerry Ford, but he would likely be only a half term President.

Even if Kav is confirmed, there is likely only one vote to repeal Roe and no votes to give the power to regulate personhood to the states, simply because it is not constitutionally theirs and, unless the 14th Amendment is repealed, never will be. This is not like Plessey, which itself was badly decided because it ignored the 14th Amendment and gave primacy to state's rights in violation thereof. More than a generation of lawyers who have done to real law schools (not Ave Maria or Liberty) can cite chapter and verse the logic behind Roe. It is a done deal, only worth mentioning to pander to either feminists of fundamentalists on election day.

Will this impact future nominations? Maybe, but any grilling about either drinking or sexual activity will be handled in the confidential hearing after the formal hearing is complete, although background checks will likely be much more thorough. 

Elite Catholic boys schools should become coeducational and made non-elite. This will happen if they seek public funds and accept any Catholic student, which will require both acceptance of teachers unions (even the pro-choice ones - because, like I said, abortion is really non issue) and the repeal of Blaine Amendments which forbid such funding due to an unconstitutional anti-Catholic bias.

The Church must also get into the adult education business (now currently left to community colleges) and votech education (ending the bias toward pre-college students), which usually does not start until public community college. Sometimes getting students out of an academic track may mean the difference between graduating high school and a life of low wage labor or criminal activity. Adding religion class to such a curriculum will lead to more educated Catholics of all classes.

Senator Flake did throw a wrench into the confirmation process and Rosenstein, Mueller and Pence may derail it altogether or may not. As Rachel Maddow says, "watch this space."