Reader Durandel comments on yesterday’s post:
Republicans show their demoralization by being quiet. Libs show it by having histrionic displays of emotional incontinence.
Republicans are “fired up” when they express righteous indignation and post dank memes. Libs do the same by telling dumb jokes and mocking their enemies on tv and in public.
Using Twitter as a proxy, it’s clear the Dems are afraid that a Tiddy Bowl is coming. There’s no confidence in their outrage.
Astute observations. My take:
For all their Blue Wave talk, the Democrats aren’t putting on the typical displays they affect when they’re winning.
The Left wasn’t accosting Senators in elevators and restaurants in the run up to Obama’s two victories. They were glib and smug.
Democrats might still have taken both Houses of Congress despite their epic hissy fit. The GOP base was demoralized by our leaders’ failure to deliver anything but a bow tie-grade tax cut, and the only way for Dems to win is to suppress Republican turnout.
Enter Kavanaugh. Word had been circulating that Trump had a foolproof plan to win the midterms. I don’t even think the current clown funeral was it. The story goes that McConnell asked Trump for the cleanest SCOTUS nominee on his list and scheduled the confirmation process for a midterm boost. He thought it would be a slam dunk but somehow underestimated Democrat duplicity. Trump and Kav saved the day by standing their ground.
Feinstein and Schumer never thought they’d have to back up their pawn’s allegations. They expected the GOP to cave like they did with Moore. Bad move.
Unlike Moore, Coach K was a beltway insider who paid his dues, put in his time, and had his SCOTUS seat coming by the rules of the old game. But the Dems tossed out the old rules in a brazen power grab. Worse move.
McConnell and Kavanaugh are standing firm because this was supposed to be a done deal. Read Kav’s letter, and it’s clear he’s pissed because the Dems are denying him his own. Other Republicans like Lindsey Graham have finally realized, “Holy shit! The other side just detonated the ‘taking a dive for cocktail party invites’ agreement. All bets are off!”
Now that the GOP is responding accordingly, the Democrats are trapped in a nightmare scenario. They have charged headlong into a Xanatos gambit of their own making.
Consider if Kav had been quietly confirmed like Gorsuch. The GOP probably would have narrowly held the Senate, but confirming a guy who was then seen as a dull establishment type wouldn’t have energized the base, and normie swing voters would not have woken up. The Blue Wave would still have been in play.
Instead it’s the Dems who’ve snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. They’re so terrified of their own freak show base that they caved to the pussyhatters and subjected Judge K to a witch trial. Meanwhile–and not nearly enough attention has been paid to this fact–for the first time, the entire Republican party is united behind Trump. The Senate, the base, even NRO for fuck’s sake, are rallying behind Coach K. That’s a perfect storm brewing against the Democrats.
Trump probably didn’t plan this whole monkey circus, but he used it to maximum advantage.
The dems created their own worst enemy here, with their disgusting and depraved attempts to debase and smear a good man and attack his family
Whatever they get won't be even close to what they deserve
BriaND Haraison,
Assuming that the Dems are routed what retribution will they face? I see the regular people so red pilled that'll demand punishment for the freak show.
xavier
Give it time Harrison. It’s going to take a while for good people to relearn that justice isn’t a four letter word.
Amen. God's mill grinds slowly but finely
One of Kav's accusers has been referred for prosecution after lying to Congress, and the staffer who doxxed Hatch and Graham just got arrested. The former standard of right-wingers who step one foot out of line getting the book thrown at them while bike lock-swinging AntiFa thugs get off is over since the Dems broke the gentlemen's agreement.
Brian,
So the counterttack begins. the Senate leader has invoked cloture and voting takes place on Friday or Saturday.
And what other retribution will the Dems face from now until the midterms?
xavier
Xavier –
Massive potential for retribution by the electorate exists just for a single Senate 'confirmation' vote.
Over the past few days I spoke with more than a dozen people at the meeting I'm attending who are on the fence over their Senate and House incumbents and the opposing candidates.
How they are resolving that decision is startling to me.
To a person, they stated that if there is nothing in the FBI report and their Senator X votes for Kavanaugh, they will *consider* voting for Senator X. If their Senator's vote is "no", they *will* vote for X's opponent. About half of these people also said that if their Senator's vote is "no", they will also vote for the opponent of their Democrat House member.
I'm not certain I've seen voters of all stripes this viscerally angry, or The R Team this fired up to fight back and mete out punishment.
"The Uncanny Valley."
Man of the atom,
So basically it'll be a blue rout?
xavier
Xavier — who knows, but the likelihood for a "Blue Wave" now appears to be limited to select toilet bowls in the Northeastern US.
Turnout is always key. The majority party in an off-cycle (non-Presidential) election normally has lower voter turn-out than the minority. That may not be the case this cycle.
The Red Team looks like it wants to come out and play in the crisp November weather.
The White House deputy press secretary announced that the FBI report is in, and that they found no evidence for any of the allegations against Kavanaugh.
The Senate will finish reviewing the document today. The White House is confident Justice K will be confirmed and made of point of saying they couldn't go into detail. That could be a bit of salesmanship to fire up the base. But given McConnell's readiness to move on cloture and refusal to brook further delays, I think he's got the votes.
Brian –
While made in jest, I think the "Uncanny Valley" comment might describe a portion of the electorate's response to the Kavanaugh Circus.
Voters saw what looked like human beings on the Senate Judiciary Committee, their staff, their MSM sycophants, and the Judge K haters across the US behave in inhuman and uncivilized ways.
The Normies don't like Democrats with their masks off, therefore voters are responding accordingly.
As always, YMMV.
That theory definitely has merit.