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Atlantic reporter McKay Coppins joins the show to chat about his latest profile of Brett Kavanaugh, which tracks the Supreme Court justice’s journey from his contentious 2018 Senate confirmation hearings to the bench. After what David calls a “frank exchange of ideas” about the piece, our hosts give us their take on a federal judge’s decision to dismiss the National Rifle Association’s bankruptcy case, the Facebook Oversight Board’s decision to uphold the platform’s ban on Donald Trump, and lower level judicial confirmation hearings.
Show Notes:
-Coppins’ Atlantic profile of Brett Kavanaugh
-Coppins’ Atlantic piece on stockpiling food
Sarah, you are very passionate, but you came in a bit too hot here, and shouting down--not cool.
McKay Coppins politely didn't remind you about why people wonder about Kavanaugh and revenge.
Did he not say, "This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the Clintons and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups."
And did he not also say in anger: "What goes around comes around." If that's not a threat to get even, I don't know what is.
Perhaps those were intemperate remarks. But harking back to the Clintons is only a reminder that he was a partisan hack on the Starr team, trying to get them to get Monica Lewinsky to describe her sexual encounters in vivid detail. So unfortunate of him to bring it up.
During those hearings I was noncommittal and found the whole process very upsetting. Unfair to him in many ways. But a lot of scrutiny is required for a lifelong appointment. And I also read commentary, that many Republican politicians involved in the nomination process thought Amy Coney Barrett would've been a better nominee.
Kavanaugh had written a law journal article about how the President is too important to be impeached. People were pointing to that, as a reason Trump wanted him on the Court.
Hi Sarah and David--Just a great, spirited exchange. Here's the thing that I've said from the beginning about the Kavanaugh controversy: that he could have taken the wind out of the oppositions's sails by saying, "Yes, I did a lot of underage drinking in high school. Yes, I went to lots of parties. No, I don't remember this specific incident that Ms. Balsey-Ford describes. Could it have happened? I just don't know. I do know that I've never tried to rape anyone." Etc. His stance that he never did any illegal drinking in high school is patently false, as the drinking age in Maryland was raised to 21 when BK was 17. The fact that Blasey-Ford says that Judge was also in the room has always ratcheted up the credibility of her story to me; also that the story is just so . . . weird. My personal theory is that the two boys were lying in wait upstairs for some girl to come up and use the bathroom so they could jump her, but that rape wasn't the motive per se. Doesn't make it excusable, of course. I won't take up the space here to discuss my theory in detail. My point is: Kavanaugh could have stopped this whole thing early on by telling the truth. But Trump wanted him to refuse to budge. And then, of course, once Michael Avenatti got involved the fat was in the fire, and that was a real travesty--can't agree more. I just think the whole shitstorm was totally avoidable.