[QUOTE=kladner;497017]Not surprisingly, Senator Flake's contact site is "down for maintenance." How convenient. My attempted contact follows.
Your shameful complicity in the Kavanaugh railroading[/QUOTE]

But, but...he asked real nicely for one whole [I]week[/I] of investigation! That's totally good enough for a naked partisan who thinks being investigated over credible allegations of sexual assault is revenge on behalf of the Clintons.

You know, just like what happened to Neil Gorsuch, right? /s

[QUOTE=kladner;497017]Not surprisingly, Senator Flake's contact site is "down for maintenance." How convenient. My attempted contact follows.
Your shameful complicity in the Kavanaugh railroading[/QUOTE]
Perhaps there were enough attempted contacts to crash the site
:-D

It sounds like Senator Flake has taken a page from Ron Paul's playbook. Senator Paul is notorious for yapping about "principled" objections, then just voting with the party.

However, as you note, Senator Flake is not running for re-election, so in his case the usual threats of loss of committee positions etc would be nugatory.

His chance to show moral courage would have been voting against bringing the nomination to the floor. That ship has now sailed.

[QUOTE=wombatman;497024]But, but...he asked real nicely for one whole [I]week[/I] of investigation! That's totally good enough for a naked partisan who thinks being investigated over credible allegations of sexual assault is revenge on behalf of the Clintons.

You know, just like what happened to Neil Gorsuch, right? /s[/QUOTE]
I revise my opinion of Senator Flake, provisionally, in light of today's developments. The "cornered in the elevator" moment seems to have struck deep. It remains to be seen if the senator wishes to, and can resist, the forces of damnation and hellfire, which are surely raining down on him at this moment for his apostasy. I hope that he has been truly moved, and isn't just putting on a show. This hold-out move for further investigation could truly derail the railroading of Kavanaugh onto the SCOTUS. I hope this stiffens the spines of "Wavering Democrats," and uneasy "Moderate Republicans," especially those of the female persuasion of either party.
EDIT: And I agree that "Senator Flake".gov is probably experiencing some pretty serious traffic.
I do applaud the result his tactic has produced. A week of FBI investigation, if sincere, could dig up a lot of details which don't come out in signed statements. Flake did throw that much sand in the gears. MacTurtle and Cornhole were ready to push it through the Senate on Monday.
Note: While I did not get to send the missive, it did remain extant on the Contact form long enough for me to copy the text. It lived through a few Refresh Page cycles, too. Perhaps it left some trace in the system. :razz: :whee:

[QUOTE=kladner;497038]I revise my opinion of Senator Flake, provisionally, in light of today's developments. The "cornered in the elevator" moment seems to have struck deep. It remains to be seen if the senator wishes to, and can resist, the forces of damnation and hellfire, which are surely raining down on him at this moment for his apostasy. I hope that he has been truly moved, and isn't just putting on a show.[/QUOTE]

Well, in his official explanation, he said some milquetoast thing about "the process" and didn't mention the elevator bit at all. Now, it may be that he doesn't want people to know that he was influenced in that way, as to prevent future incidents. But who knows.

[QUOTE=wombatman;497065]Well, in his official explanation, he said some milquetoast thing about "the process" and didn't mention the elevator bit at all. Now, it may be that he doesn't want people to know that he was influenced in that way, as to prevent future incidents. But who knows.[/QUOTE]
It is true that the normal sort of process has been tossed in the weeds since the Garland nomination. The cover story is more true than Flake probably intended.

[QUOTE=kladner;497071]It is true that the normal sort of process has been tossed in the weeds since the Garland nomination. The cover story is more true than Flake probably intended.[/QUOTE]

Agreed. With that said, it's unlikely the investigation is going to do anything but provide cover for the GOP's officially "undecided" members to vote for Kavanaugh. The White House has limited the FBI to only the first two women (Dr. Ford and Deborah Ramirez) who made accusations of Kavanaugh. Swetnick, the woman who claims to both have knowledge of and be a victim of gang rape perpetuated by Kavanaugh and his friends at beach week (which Kavanaugh's official teenage calendar has on it) will not be included in the investigation. In addition, the White House limited the FBI to only certain people who can be interviewed.

So despite all the proclamations of the FBI having free reign and all that, this is very much a sham investigation. Sadly, it seems like we'll have to hope that Avenatti (who is representing Swetnick) can blow it all up like he did with Stormy Daniels.

[QUOTE]Agreed. With that said, it's unlikely the investigation is going to do anything but provide cover for the GOP's officially "undecided" members to vote for Kavanaugh.[/QUOTE]
That is exactly my concern, as well. It might cover for Wavering Democrats, too.

[QUOTE=wombatman;497114]Agreed. With that said, it's unlikely the investigation is going to do anything but provide cover for the GOP's officially "undecided" members to vote for Kavanaugh.[/QUOTE][b][i]Finally![/i][/b] -- a government operation that will stick to its intended purpose, and not expand due to "mission creep." Perhaps [i]Il Duce[/i] is actually making headway against the bureaucratic state :whistle:

A High-End Legal Ratf*cker Is Still a Ratf*cker
 

Nothing I can add to this [STRIKE]profane[/STRIKE] obscene masterpiece. It is all F words. No goddamns. (but there is a 'hell' or two.)
[URL]https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a23570618/brett-kavanaugh-republican-ratfcker-supreme-court/[/URL]
-Charles Pierce
[QUOTE]So here's my thing. I believe most of what has been alleged about Brett Kavanaugh from the people who knew him back in the day. His demeanor before the committee last week made him look like every privileged lace-curtain Irish inebriate with whom I grew up. I believe everything Dr. Christine Blasey Ford said about him, not because I oppose his nomination, but because she was human and he was a wind-up rage doll. Those charges and that temperament are enough to keep him off the Supreme Court. Hell, they're enough to keep him out from behind the counter at Costco.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=kladner;497326]Nothing I can add to this [STRIKE]profane[/STRIKE] obscene masterpiece.[/QUOTE]

The world /used/ to be able to trust the US of A to be a stable player.

No problem. There are many ready and able to fill the vacuum.

[QUOTE=chalsall;497328]The world /used/ to be able to trust the US of A to be a stable player.

No problem. There are many ready and able to fill the vacuum.[/QUOTE]
Indeed. I think we'll see a multi-lateral arrangement. China, Russia, and India seem like the big dawgs, especially the first two. Then we'll see how parts of Europe may want to "revise" their alignments, if the US doesn't blow up the world to maintain "supremacy" over rubble.