The Myth of Utopian Libertarian Economic Liberty

John Scott

Definition from the web site of the Institute of Humane Studies

The libertarian or “classical liberal” perspective is that peace, prosperity, and social harmony are fostered by “as much liberty as possible” and “as little government as necessary.”

According to Libertarianism: A Primer by David Boaz, Free Press, 1997:

Libertarianism is the view that each person has the right to live his life in any way he chooses so long as he respects the equal rights of others. Libertarians defend each person’s right to life, liberty, and property-rights that people have naturally, before governments are created. In the libertarian view, all human relationships should be voluntary; the only actions that should be forbidden by law are those that involve the initiation of force against those who have not themselves used force-actions like murder, rape, robbery, kidnapping, and fraud.

Libertarians admire the free market ideology as described by Adam Smith and articulated by Milton Friedman, who was a disciple of F.A. Hayek,

Definition by Wikipedia

In economics by the open market and consumers, in which the laws and forces of supply and demand are free from any intervention by a government, price-setting monopoly, or other authority. Proponents of the concept of free market contrast it with a regulated market, in which a government intervenes in supply and demand through various methods such as tariffs used to restrict trade and protect the economy. In an idealized free market economy, prices for goods and services are set freely by the forces of supply and demand and are allowed to reach their point of equilibrium without intervention by government policy.

In the US in the 1950s, conservative founders of the John Birch Society embraced Libertarian ideas and free market ideology. James McGill Buchanan became a particular darling of this group and later founded the George Mason University which became an intellectual breeding ground for right-wing activists. Nancy MacLean in her book DEMOCRACY IN CHAINS describes in detail the history of a group of wealthy individuals who have organized and funded the rise of an extreme anti-democratic movement. This has been done over a number of decades with determination and stealth.

According to author Nancy MacLean there are a number of traits shared by these wealthy individuals. They do not believe that they should be compelled to contribute to the well-being or welfare of any other group or individual. They do not believe that their economic liberty should be regulated or interfered with by government or any other institution. However, at the same time they refuse to guard the political or civil liberty of any other group or individual. They have been quite willing to use military force and dictatorship in imposing their economic policies on populations around the world. You may refer to the book Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein for an exploration of their methods and the disastrous results. History demonstrates that this economic/social scheme has never been voluntarily accepted by any population. It has only been imposed with violent force.

The Libertarian ideal of the golden age of the US was the period following Reconstruction after the Civil War and ending with the beginning of the Great Depression. This period of history is also referred to as the Robber Baron age. This Libertarianism is a movement against the principles of democracy in favor of control of the population by an oligarchy.

What developed in the late 19th century and the early 20th century were movements that mobilized communities in solidary in collective actions. The labor movement demanded livable wages and safe working conditions. This greatly offended the oligarch masters. How dare workers unite to negotiate their working conditions and wages? This was considered a distortion of the labor market and threatened established power structures. Increased wages created a consumer market for appliances and goods that were previously unaffordable.

The oligarch class desires to see voting rights restricted as in the late 18th century to white men of property. Starting in 1920 women earned the right to vote. In 1965 with the passage of the Voting Rights Act African Americans were finally given the unrestricted right to vote. The expansion of voting rights was the result of people working as a community together to achieve a desired positive result. Democracy is by character a government defined as rule of the majority. The libertarian oligarch class feels extremely offended to be coerced to support with taxation social programs like public schools, social security, medical care and the US Postal Service.

In their utopia all people would solely be responsible to provide for their own education, health care, pension and transportation. With all minimum wage laws and child labor laws abolished how would it be possible for wage slaves to educate their children, provide health care and self-fund pensions? This sounds like the old class system of Europe with an aristocracy that controlled resources while the working classes lived in desperate poverty as serfs. This is liberty for the few and servitude for the many. Like Protestant Calvinists they believe that the wealthy are by grace destined to rule over the rest of humanity.

The Libertarian oligarchs are determined to destroy all aspects of community and collective action. This may be due to their worship of individualism or their knowledge that it is much easier to subdue and control isolated individuals. Charles Koch has organized his own community of billionaires to fund think tanks like the Cato Institute. His organizations have basically taken over the Republican Party by threatening incumbent office holders with funding more extreme primary opponents if they do not support their extreme undemocratic agenda. Their agenda is more authoritarian than the liberty as promised by their Libertarianism.

They state that they wish to go back to a time before governments were created. What would that mean in a modern society? Do they really pine for the days when the man with the biggest stick ruled? If there were no government then how would the people in a society interact? The oligarchs who controlled the resources use police state tactics as they have done in countries such as Chile?

I think that we should all be suspicious of all utopian schemes. Libertarians would claim that their theories would have solved all problems caused by boom and bust business cycles and market corrections if only their theories were employed more completely and purely. We have heard this all before from extreme left leaning and right leaning purists.

James Madison in contributing to the drafting of the US Constitution was concerned about the tyranny of the majority over the minority. The minority have always been the moneyed elite. The extreme radical right’s plan to take this protection way beyond Madison’s checks and balances threatens to destroy all of the democratic gains by the working majority of the last 100 years.

hemlockone: Excellent comeback! Although it's impossible to peer into the dark recesses of Coalage3's mind (Who would want to?) in order to ferret out the true motive(s) for posting such ridiculous nonsense, one may reasonably surmise from the hollow words that such an apparently angry person must be extremely irritated that the party of Trump (truly a kakistocracy) is almost universally thought of -- other than by the shrinking minority of Republican fascist followers -- as a racist, fascist, sexist, criminal organization that is rapidly, finally! imploding spectacularly on itself thanks largely to the increasing lunacy of its childish leader, "a sad, embarrassing wreck of a man" (George Will). So Coalage3 is engaging in a pathetic attempt to turn the tables by redirecting these damning accusations toward present-day Democrats -- with no real proof of course. It's an age-old, rather desperate, psychologically defensive tactic and nothing more than a meaningless and immature schoolyard taunt: "I'm rubber; you're glue. What you say bounces off me and sticks to you." Nice try indeed.​

"Sure sounds and looks like fascism to me..." -- Coalage3. Obviously this sad, embarrassing wreck of a poster has no idea what fascism actually is.

John Scott: It was a pleasure reading your explication and analysis of libertarianism.

"In an idealized free market economy, prices for goods and services are set freely by the forces of supply and demand and are allowed to reach their point of equilibrium without intervention by government policy." -- Wikipedia

The key word here is "idealized," since libertarianism has never worked in reality anywhere at any time in history or in the modern era. By "worked" I mean for the good of the people on the whole rather than only for the tiny ruling class of greedy, power-hungry reprobates.

In a nutshell: "This Libertarianism is a movement against the principles of democracy in favor of control of the population by an oligarchy." -- John Scott

The "proof is in the pudding". If you act like a fascist, if you look like a fascist, if you talk like a fascist, you are probably a fascist.

The democratic party now acts, looks, and especially talks like fascists. Why has the democratic party now ceded their support of the working people in this country to the repubs? Why does the democratic party now side with big business, big pharma, big banking, and silicon valley?

What has happened to the democratic party in this country?

"... alternative facts ... truth isn't truth ... up is down ... East is West ... don't believe what you hear or read ... believe me, folks ... believe me .... only I can fix it ... me ... me ... me ... it's all about me, not you ... best president ever ... better poll numbers than Lincoln!

No really.

Believe me ...me ...me

...not FAKE NEWS !!!

Lies, lies, lies, all lies !!!

No collusion, collusion, collusion.

No really, folks.

I'm not a crook.

Investigate the Democrats, the FBI, the 400 pound guy on the bed

...anybody but me, me, me, the greatest president ever.

...fake news ...fake news ...fake news

...enemy of the people ...enemy of the people ...enemy of the people

...build the wall ...build the wall ...build the wall

...lock her up ...lock her up ...lock her up !!!

...USA ...USA ...USA !!!

...Jesus ...Jesus ...Jesus !!!

Rinse and repeat the bald-faced lies 5,000 times (just since inauguration)

...and counting.

No, the deeper question is what has happened to the gullible minds, mostly uneducated, of a third of the nation? This is your brain on Fox News/Republican Party/Trump the Fool. There's yer fake news, laddie, lassie, Russian bot, or whatever ye be.

Again, you named the wrong party and asked the wrong questions.

So what, pray tell, has happened to your mind and all those who share the same skewed worldview, so far to the right it fell off the end of the bar into the spittoon? That's the real question for starry-eyed, sycophantic trolls who post endless, mind-numbing falsehoods on this once-fine blog. Practitioners of the Trump Cult, i.e. Republicans, need to take a serious look at themselves and their own heavy delusions instead of pointing their stink-fingers at everyone else, as Trump the Dear Leader constantly does. And now you.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Do it for for the sakes of your own sorry selves, if not for the good of the country and the sane among us. Hey, here's some more threadbare conservative advice to pass on to your fake president and his Organization of Orcs: Rise up out of La La Land and take responsibility for your own corrosive actions and divisive words. Come clean and face the judgment of the People like real men, albeit rich and privileged white men, instead of like sniveling cowards in the pockets of billionaires, like Putin the Puppet Master. Or is that too oxymoronic? Thus far, all Trump's actions and words indicate someone who is guilty as hell. For starters, forget Hillary's stupid emails and release Trump's damn tax returns! All of them. Let's get at the truth. All of it.

So let's talk about fake outrage and hysteria, hypocrites, hacks, and frauds. Ever been to or seen a Trump rally? Or listened to right-wing hate radio, watched Faux Fux News, or read "Alt Right" racist propaganda, or your everyday, whacked-out, conspiracy-theory websites? Of course you have. Quite a bit, obviously. By the way, all the above is the real “lügenpresse” (lying press) that is destroying our body politic. Notice that most of the white-supremacist perps and their enablers invariably vote Republican no matter what -- true blue through and through, transparent and shallow to the end. Why is that? And why does it seem that your own brand of fake outrage is primarily directed at only one party -- weirdly enough, the one not even in power? Go figure.

How about all the vitriolic, over-the top, beyond-the-pale, kiss-my-ass (pick your descriptors) floor speeches by Republican politicians ad nauseam during the Clinton and Obama turns at the helm? Mmmm, what's that hackneyed Fux News motto -- "Fair and Balanced"? Now there's some good old fashion Orwellian-speak. Or how about simply reading at random any of the numbed-out, robotic Trump-trolls strangely fixated on this blog -- dead-enders who couldn't give up the ghost even after it was shut down for six months. Sad. (My favorite theory is they're subconsciously crying for help, desperately seeking adult intervention from truth tellers like Thom.)

While gushing over Cover-it-all-up Cavanaugh (an unabashed, anti-union/anti-worker, corporatist Wall Street goon from way back) and groaning in ecstasy about their watered-down, upside down version of legislative fairness (yeah right), Republican boot-licking circle-jerkers always ignore, play down, or excuse how Mitch McTurtle (again) turned the People's government into a funny-book farce, a laughing stock of democracies everywhere. Always mindful of his wealthy donors' wishes and for self-serving, blatantly partisan political advantage, he stubbornly refused to hold fair-minded hearings on Merrick Garland for nearly a year -- a much more qualified judge than the latest slimy weasel the Heritage Foundation just dug out of the swamp, cleaned up, and handed off to Trump the Clueless Clown, in an all-out effort to help McTurtle ram the process through before Senators can do their job and properly vet Cavanaugh's long paper trail. In one fell swoop, Mitch the Whiny Bitch directly violated the whole spirit and intent of the Constitution (again), to which he swore an oath (yeah right). His one-sided, one-off, so-called "McConnell Rule" à la Merrick Garland has spun constitutional logic into a hopeless Gordian knot. And all his goddamn fellow Republican sell-outs know full well this was a huuuge abrogation of his public duty; yet, they still let him slide. So what else is new?

Sorry, some of your other Goebbels-esque "half-truths and big lies," spewing forth almost nonstop from your calloused fingertips, will have to wait for a proper cleansing later. To wit: "Republicans are the party of the workers." WTF?! Dear God in heaven, stick an ice pick in me throbbing temple and pray for me black soul!

And on immigration: Somehow in the atrophied brains of right-wing bubble-heads, it's not really such a bad thing after all that the irreligious, psychopathic toilet-tweeter in the White-man House had directly ordered a deliberate, unflinching policy to rip thousands of innocent, crying, little brown children in their formative years from the arms of their innocent, crying, little brown parents, and then throwing them into metal cages onto cold, cement floors like stray dogs, causing permanent psychological damage that will last a lifetime.

Help me out here; I'm at a loss. What would be the proper adjectives to describe an evil beyond the phrase "pure evil"? Perhaps radical evangelical Christianists who support this ungodly administration should strive to actually understand their bible instead of just thumping on it or using it as a cudgel against nonbelievers. King James, Luke 17:2: "It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones." Just one?! Hell, Dildo Trump, lil' Jeffie Sessions, neo-Nazi Steve Miller, et all, just offended 3,000 of God's little brown ones. What should be their proper punishment -- something magnanimous just short of medieval justice, one would hope anyway? Perhaps being hung, drawn and quartered, with their severed limbs scattered to the four corners of Earth would be more fitting -- metaphorically speaking, that is, in the equivalent political sense. At the very least, "Vote the bums out!"

Republicans, the so-called party of family values (Hah!), is busily destroying families who are guilty of nothing more than misdemeanor border crossings, all too often because they were routinely and indiscriminately -- and illegally -- turned away at the legal crossings. Far too many of these downtrodden families are seeking legitimate asylum after escaping certain death, forced prostitution of their daughters, and the inevitable prospect of having their sons drafted as child soldiers in their gang-infested, "sh*t-hole" countries with dysfunctional governments, brought to us by the erstwhile, undemocratic, so-called "free"-market policies of the addled Reagan, henchmen like Oliver North (the new NRA fair-haired butt-boy), and the fascist boys from the widely discredited Chicago School of Economics. All Republican, all the way, with a huge helping of Ayn Rand/Koch brothers' libertarianism.

The long and despicable history of CIA and NSA foreign meddling is coming back to bite us in the ass.​ Vis-à-vis South and Central America, one revealing read that never loses its luster of truth is of course War is a Racket by Smedley Butler. Tried and true American fascism at its finest. Two more are Confessions of an Economic Hit Man and its sequel by John Perkins.

Somehow these unspeakable atrocities, carried out by the jack-booted thugs of ICES (Immigration and Customs Enforcement Stormtroopers, pronounced "ISIS") are excused because that damnable, uppity Obama had deported more undocumented immigrants than any other president to date. Sure, his aggressive policy of catching the worst of the criminals -- true evil-doers who committed actual serious crimes, not just run-of-the-mill traffic tickets, misdemeanors, and such -- did unfortunately break up families, just like what happens during the course of any other criminal adjudication, for citizens and non-citizens alike. But that wasn't the singular, overt goal of his policy, unlike Trump's wicked intent. By the way, Obama turned the tide. When his presidency ended, more immigrants were going south than coming north, a fact never acknowledged by Trump or his racist crowd of brain-dead zombies.

"Fascism will come to America wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross." USA! USA! USA!

On the economy and jobs: How soon we forget. Google the "bikini graph." Despite fierce Republican resistance to any Obama-era legislative "win," (When the Tea Party Came to Town by Robert Draper), a Democratic administration managed to dig us out of the Republican Great Recession of 2008 that cost millions of jobs (much like FDR did after the Republican Great Depression of the 1930s) to hand the Republicans one of the longest expansions in modern times, the coattails on which they and Trump are now riding high, hypocritically taking credit and boasting without any agency whatsoever. In fact, the Republican Party and Republican policies are anti-worker and pro-billionaire. Always have been; always will be. No matter how hard you try to flip the script.

Note: Although you may post whatever jive turns your crank in this little shop of horrors and whores, why not stick to just one or two topics per discussion for easy consumption and debate, instead of wandering all over the place, which is Hot Coffee's wont? Karl Rove coined the term "dump-trucking," whereby one dumps so much garbage into a conversation that no one else can possibly refute it all without writing a book. Then, taking an undeserved victory lap, fake debaters will proclaim that a lack of response must be an affirmation of said lies. How convenient.

Full circle: So what exactly is your understanding of modern-day fascism? Not some sterile, abstract dictionary definition, but a real-life understanding in your own words of the actual, ongoing fact of it, and your apparent complicity as an unwitting authoritarian follower.

I love the paid protesters in the Kavanaugh hearings. It appears the leftie/socialists are getting more desperate every minute. Nothing like a bunch of screeching people to help the cause.

https://www.rt.com/usa/437794-paid-protesters-kavanaugh-hearings/

As for Cory's big stand at the hearing,

“We cleared the documents last night after Senator Booker’s staff asked us to. We were surprised to learn about Senator Booker’s histrionics this morning because we had already told him he could use the documents publicly. In fact, we have said yes to every request made by the Senate Democrats to make documents public.”

Source: Twitter account for Seung Min Kim
@seungminkim

@#13:

In other words you have absolutely no clue what fascism actually is but love to hurl the word around as if you do, especially against the Democratic Party.

And no, Democrats are not "trying to stifle [your] free speech and free assocation [sic] rights," nor will they "do whatever it takes to silence any dissenting voice." You just pulled that out of your butt because it dovetails in with the whole body of lies that is the right-wing universe, the dime-a-dozen talking points that make up virtually 100% of your posts on the Thom Hartmann forums -- certainly nothing very original or savvy, mostly just shameless displays of crude ignorance.

Now ignorance is not necessarily stupidity, but willful ignorance certainly is. So what is it; are you not well informed or just plain stupid? Right-wing propaganda appeals to both types of lazy minds, the gullible who don't think for themselves and depend on authoritarian figures like Trump, Fux News hosts, and right-wing haters on the radio and the internet to tell them what (alternative) reality is. Mostly, they just hear what they want to hear, because it makes them feel safe in an uncertain world and vindicates their narrow attitudes and viewpoints.

The good news is that the hopelessly brainwashed only make up a shrinking third of the electorate and should get clobbered this November and again in 2020. As they say in the Army, bend over and grab yer ass, 'cause here it comes. Your time is up, troglodytes.

Speaking of whom, the only ones I see -- on this particular thread anyway -- who are either ridiculing or advocating to stifle free speech and free association are you, Diane, and Kend. Antifa certainly does not represent the Democratic Party just as radicalized white supremacists do not represent the Republican Party. (At least I hope not.) While each side has the constitutional right to assemble in protest or counter-protest, they do not have the right to violence. Democratic leaders have repeatedly condemned such acts. So clean the manure out your ears and quit lying about it.

In answer to your inane question, of which you seem so proud and mistakenly think has such great import: No, the installment of Trump by the outdated Electoral College (He lost the election by the People.) has not caused harm to me personally -- not yet. It soon will, however, when I'll be in the market for a new car, or for home improvements, or pay medical bills, or buy groceries, gas, electronics, or just about anything else I may need or want. His meataxe approach to an unnecessary and self-defeating trade war, if it continues on the same trajectory, will inevitably skyrocket prices across the board, put upward pressure on inflation, and force the Fed to jack up interest rates, exploding the cost of borrowing.

Given the facts that we are near the tail end of the second longest economic expansion in modern history, that his administration has deregulated an already wild-west shadow banking system, and that the vast majority of workers' wages have remained flat, most nonpartisan economists fear that we could be facing another major recession rivaling the Great Republican Recession of 2008. Possibly it could be much worse. Get back to us then and be sure "...to tell everybody on this board how the election of Trump has specifically harmed you." Perhaps you are a billionaire and will be insulted. Bully for you.

The reason your question is silly and pointless is that relying on anecdotal evidence from a limited sample does not indicate a larger trend. Then again, reading chicken bones is what passes for scientific research in Republican Bizarro World. You'd get better results by asking the people actually harmed by Trump's idiocy and bigotry -- say, legitimate asylum seekers, who are not merely immigrants, but who had their kids kidnaped and thrown into cages by Trump nonetheless. (No, Obama never had that policy, no matter how many times you repeat that despicable lie.)

Furthermore, it doesn't get any more personal than the dirty air we breathe, the tainted water we drink, and the poisoned food we eat as he guts the EPA. Similarly, pulling out of the climate accords and denying human-caused global warming through inaction will hand our kids, their kids, and their kids' kids a nightmare world on the brink of total collapse. (BTW, there's no such thing as "clean coal" and never will be.) Too bad you won't be around to ask them if they were harmed personally. All our hapless children will also be paying for the five trillion dollar tax giveaway to the billionaire class ($1.5 trillion immediately added to the deficit) that Trump gleefully signed off on. They will also be paying with blood and treasure for endless war as a result of lavishing taxpayer largesse on his billionaire buddies in the for-profit "defense" (offense) industry. I could go on, but those are the big issues that will harm everyone personally sooner or later.

Your question reveals one of the fundamental differences between so-called "conservatives" and liberals/progressives. The former only focuses myopically on their little egocentric patch of existence and wellbeing, to hell with everyone else; the latter, which, fortunately, is the majority of the human population, feels more empathy for others and can lift their inner spirits out of abject selfishness to care for those less fortunate. It comes down to whether you think we live in a "me" society or a "we" society. "We all do better when we all do better." -- Paul Wellstone.

I assume that you won't (your loss), but you really should read Conservatives Without Conscience by John W. Dean.

In regards to my feelings about Trump, hate is the wrong word. Disgust is more apt. One reason is his bumbling ineptitude at his job -- a man clearly out of his depth who simply has no business running the country domestically or interacting with our allies and enemies abroad, especially when he attempts to craft his more base instincts into policy, usually with disastrous results. (Read the anonymous oped by one of his senior aids published in the New York Times a few days ago, or the excerpts published in the Washington Post from Bob Woodward's latest book soon to be released, Fear: Trump in the White House.) Another is his deeply ingrained racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, and just plain bigoted attitudes on display daily for all to witness. Perhaps the biggest reason for disgust though is his severely partisan politics that fan the flames of hatred and divisiveness not only in our own population but, by extension, throughout the world. He's setting such a horrible example from such a powerful bully pulpit. Beyond all that, however, I also feel great sympathy on a human level for this terribly damaged soul, just as I would toward anyone who suffers from such all-consuming mental illness, coupled with declining mental capacity.

Speaking of embarrassment, If I was a troll, I would be red-faced embarrassed to have voted for this vindictive, loudmouthed, small-minded fool, a congenital pathological liar and malignant narcissist who stinks morally to high heaven and only thinks of himself first and foremost. (It has been leaked that even his own lawyers pleaded with Mueller in an off-the-record meeting to not put him under oath, because he simply is incapable of telling the truth or remembering all his lies -- so far, 5,000 in less than two years.) But through their own words, Trump trolls betray no sense of shame or self-reflection. How can one have a constructive debate with anesthetized people who are intellectually dishonest and refuse to accept indisputable facts and outward reality?

By the way, I will ask you the same question I've asked all the other right-wing trolls who post here. And nobody could give me an honest answer. Why do you hang around on the Hartmann forums anyway? Do you have some quirky psychological need (perhaps a deep-seated resentment) to talk back to Democrats/liberals/progressives/whatever -- you know, to give 'em a good what for, as if you fancy yourself a truth teller enlightening lesser minds? (Hint: that doesn't work unless you actually tell the truth.) If that's not the case, then why are you here?

Just what I thought. You cannot name one way that the Trump presidency has personally harmed you. If you could have, you would have. I bet that you have even prospered since the beginning of his term and you are afraid to admit it.

Now that is very interesting since you believe him to be a terrible president. Right?

He must not be that bad if you cannot list even one single way in which he has harmed you. That's okay...not one progressive on this forum has been able to list any harm that Trump has done to them.

I'll make it even easier for you. Unless you are an illegal immigrant, what harm has Trump done to anyone in the US? Come on now...surely you must have an answer for that softball question?

Here is probably the best indication of just how good the economy is right now under Trump. Barack Obama says today that he deserves some credit for the economy. For BO to say that is an acknowledgement that the economy must be roaring. If I were Trump, I would use that clip every single chance I could.

@#20,22

Another Trumpie with poor reading comprehension. As they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Sorry for using so many words, I guess, but most or all of the gibberish and off-the-mark points you're sputtering about in your last two "dump-trucks" have already been duly answered above. What a waste of time that was.

"Trump won the election so he gets to appoint the judges. That's the way it works."
-- Coalage3

Tell that to Obama.

Okay, I think we're done here. The beatings will resume in November. Enjoy

I am spartacus

Ha Ha...

From the Washington Post no less,

"Middle-class income rose above $61,000 for the first time last year, U.S. Census Bureau says"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/09/12/middle-class-income-hit-an-all-time-high-last-year-us-census-says/?utm_term=.79f89168b0d1

Thank you President Trump.

I tuned in today for the first time in quite a while. What a display. In your opening statement you convicted Brett Kavanaugh of raping a young lady. There was no alleged in your opening comment. I stopped listening after your personal group therapy session got into full swing but I have no reason to believe at any point you stopped peeing down your own leg. Shame on you big time.

So far we have:

- Her lawyer saying she's not saying it should disqualify him.

- Her entire social media history has been scrubbed.

- Avowed progressive Democrat who has donated to leftist causes

- Her parents losing their home at a foreclosure presided by his mother.

- The person she says pulled him off her denies it ever happened

- Kavanaugh's unequivocal denial, which is a thing of beauty

- Zero substantiating witnesses

- A 35 year old accusation held until time for the vote when Feinstein supposedly had it for months

- Feinstein's office refusing to set up discussions with her for congress

- A party outraged about an unsubstantiated report with zero evidence from 35 years ago who doesn't want to talk about the well-documented Keith Ellison allegations.

Of course, this is all political now. The democrats could care less about this accuser. If they were really "concerned" , Feinstein would have spoke up weeks ago. All they care about is stopping the Kavanaugh appointment at any cost. And the republicans are helping them. idiots!

The only supposed witness to the incident denies the accusation. The alleged victim supposedly cannot recall any other relevant details. An accusation itself is not evidence. Kavanaugh has already been investigated and vetted more than once. Let the woman testify, let Kavanaugh respond, and then McConnell/Grassley should immediately schedule the confirmation vote.

LOL, hi Diane,

A great day to you as well!

I don't really listen to Thom anymore, however I get an email from him on fridays that reminds me to stop by here from time to time.

Yes, the nanny state .....straws and cow farts will be the downfall of the world...didn't you know? Do ya think the wildfires might have made up for all the spare the air days where Ca. couldn't warm their homes with a fireplace, or enjoy a BBQ?

I believe in a clean world....but what about never mentioned airplanes, chemtrails, GMOs, pesticides, rockets, you know the little stuff.

Ca. needs a real water storage plan...instead we get a railway to no where that no one wants.

Hope your state is smarter!

Can't wait to see the FISA docs & emails. The sooner the better.

Now it is being reported that the accuser will testify if certain conditions are met. What? She should be treated like any other senate committee witness. If they really want to question her, then issue a subpoena for a specific date and time. If she doesn't want to comply, then move on and have the vote. If she really has something of substance to offer, she will show when she is told to do so.

The dems will do anything to delay and obfuscate. Have they no shame?

Why didn't this alleged victim come forward before now? 30+ years? This looks and smells like a set-up. We already know the fascist dems will do anything and everything to try and get what they want. They really are shameless. Thanks Ted Kennedy. You have set a standard that the country can really be proud of. The dems have learned weill the previous lessons taught by Hitler's inner circle. As to Merrick Garland, the dems should ask Little Joe Biden what was he thinking.

Kavanaugh has already been investigated and vetted by the FBI on at least two prior ocassions. The allegations will never ever be proven one way or the other. That is obvious. The only person who is gaining anything by this action is the Professor. You think there will be a book deal in the future? Kavanaugh is the one who is taking a hit, not the professor. The liberal media will make sure that she is accorded rock star status regardless of the outcome. Her "conditions for testifying" are also nothing more than a setup so that that she can make a grand entrance into DC, in front of the cameras, if she does show up.

Grassley should grow a pair and tell the woman she is welcome to testify on Monday as scheduled. Trump should offer to send Air Force One to pick her up. The committee will insure her safety. She will be treated fairly and respectfully. And then Kavanaugh can answer questions. And then vote on the nomination.

And why does Feinstein not make avaiable to Grassley the original letter she received that started this whole debacle? A redacted version has been furnished, but not the original. This is a legitimate request from the committee chairman. What is Feinstein hiding? Maybe she wants her Chinese friends to have the first look at it?

R. Rosenstein.....wiretap the pres 2 weeks into the job. LOL

Check mate is in our future. Dems are taking themselves down.

Lets investigate Ellison at the same time. There are little things to go on, like witnesses and videos to work with. Hyppocrites. I still haven't heard one single Dem Woman or Man stand up for Juanita, Paula, or any of Billy"s victims, and one WAS actually raped.

Tell us DeepSpace, Just how would you investigate.??? The Dr. doesn't KNOW anything except his name. Di Fi won't even release the letter..email or whatever it was. They have told the Dr., we will come to you or you can come to us, we all know nothing will be quite enough to meet her demands. Just a little part of the insurance policy.

Why take down her yearbook and social media? So FBI could investigate easier or does she want a one sided investigation.

Why didn't her Atty. start investigating back in July ???? Who gave the minors the Kegs? How drunk was the DR?

No Dem seems to care He has a wife and daughters plus the whole town they live in that sees this crap.

I guess you choose how you look, unlike everyone else, nope no pasty face for you. You sure seem to like Clinton's pasty face though.

R Rosenstein was outed by the lefts beloved NYT not Fox News but then facts don't much matter now do they?

Getting time to drag Bruce & Nellie in to testify.

FISA! FISA! FISA!

Checkmate is a coming.

Who knows. Haha, can she blame old-age forgetfulness? "Dang, where's the stupid keys ...and the letter ...the damn letter ...oh well." It could be a confidentiality thing too, which the original author may have to release before the letter can be further disseminated. Plus, the original recipient was Dr. Blasey's own senator, who forwarded it to Feinstein, who forwarded it to the FBI, who then stuck it in Kavanaugh's background file as miscellaneous information without acting on it.

The primary problem it seems was that Dr. Blasey vacillated between playing it safe or sticking her head above the fox hole, which is her right. That decision was ultimately taken away from her, however, when someone in the aforementioned chain of custody leaked her name and upended her life, which all happened very recently.

One must applaud this woman's bravery for a willingness to step forward, tell her own story, and expose her deepest nightmare to the world so that the rest of us might better understand who exactly is being considered as a key Justice for our nation's most august body. Until there is evidence to the contrary, we must all treat her with the utmost respect, as an honorable woman who is doing her patriotic duty by charging forward and facing down some of the most influential power-mongers on the planet. That sure ain't for the faint of heart.

Because his mind is too shot to juggle much complexity, the Boy King outsourced his job of vetting judges to the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation, two of the most influential sources of anti-democratic, pro-billionaire propaganda, disinformation, and chronic mind rot. The slobbering goblins holed up in these loony bins snorted in delight at their amazing luck and got right to work on their wet-dream list of prospective Supreme Court nominees.

Dredging the swamp, they snagged 25 of the nation's most pro-active corporatist bottom-feeders they could find, so slimy even the Koch brothers stand in awe. So if Kavanaugh flames out (because "that woman" doesn't know her place and didn't keep her damn mouth shut), there are plenty more squealing little oinkers waiting in the pen from which to choose.

Too bad for the clownish egomaniac-cum-tinpot dictator though. Kavanaugh, more than your average fascist-minded judge, basically believes -- once all his legalese rhetoric is stripped away -- that a president should be a king, exempt from the laws to which we mere subjects are, well, subjected. How convenient to have the ultimate yes-man glued to that vacant seat for the upcoming SCOTUS battle, Trump v. Democracy -- or perhaps, Trump v. Reality.

The more wealth and power, the more privilege; the more privilege, the more wealth and power. Can't you see that fascism works just great? It's more efficient and so much simpler to run society with an iron fist from atop the hill -- at least for the taker class of one-percenters.

What is this democracy sh*t of which you speak, peasant? "Constitutionally limited, representative, democratic republic?" Too many words. Back to work! MAGA, MAGA, MAGA !!!

Yeah, Mentalage3 does seem to have a lot of trouble viewing the real world as it actually is. I wonder if there's any cure for "photo negative mind," or does it become a permanent condition after so many hours of Fux News, et al, mind rot? Poor guy. Sad.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/8/richard-blumenthal-trump-outsourced-supreme-court-/

No, it doesn't. What sets a really bad precedent is to make a rush job out of a deliberative process that was wholly intended to be as thorough as humanly possible, especially after serious allegations surface. Dr. Blasey should not be considered a mere "hiccup." (ATTN: Women of Nevada. Republican senator Dean Heller is up for reelection. Vote this bum out!)

BTW, do you ever take a moment to ponder what you say before you say it? You arbitrarily seek sympathy for the feelings and predicament of the alleged perp; yet, you freely cast aspersions on the alleged victim without any regard for her feelings. Can you imagine having gone through such a traumatic, desperately unwanted, horribly memorable experience only to have it dismissed as your own fault? Why is your empathy only one-sided? Oh yeah, you're CON-servative.

Blaming the victim is the worst defense imaginable. WTF is wrong with you? "Oh piffle, it was a long time ago and she's too stupid to remember it right and obviously must be mistaken. Oh yeah, and no doubt she was drunk and asked for it." (So, you were in that room too?) How would you feel, Kend, if someone said something like that about you "under the same circumstances"? What happened to you doesn't matter and nobody cares and you're lying anyway. Now go away, bitch.

"Presume" is the wrong word; you're looking for "suspect." Whenever an allegation of this magnitude is presented, anyone with a brain must of course suspect the accused. That's the whole point of an accusation and a justice system to resolve it. However, under our principles of justice, that suspicion must be tempered with a presumption of innocence until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. I think most people on all sides agree with that, notwithstanding the fiery-eyed true believers of their own bullsh*t. Your insinuation otherwise is disingenuous. But to keep it real, vetting for a qualified justice is about assessing character as much as it is about adjudicating any purported legal exposure.

The "many" who should scare you are those who advocate not to have a proper and impartial FBI investigation before the hearing. For someone to be awarded for life one of the most exalted pedestals in the great hallways of American justice, the American people deserve to have confidence the process is being conducted fairly for all involved, including Kavanaugh. If he is truly innocent, shouldn't he be the first to call for a thorough investigation to clear his name, so that he won't have a dark cloud hanging over his every decision like Clarence Thomas does? Conducting a quick and dirty hearing that smacks of a witch trial is an unprecedented breach of acceptable standards and one more step toward fascism.

All the issues and concerns that you Trump trolls have brought up is the very reason the FBI needs to step in and try to sort it all out in a professional manner that is on record. As I've said before, all your counterpoints and questions unwittingly make my point: Call for the f*cking investigation! It's in the best interests of Kavanaugh, Dr. Blasey, and the American people. Why is that so goddamn hard to understand, for chrissake?!

Kend, you recently posted that you've been coming to this blog for 10 years in a good faith effort to understand the Democratic/progressive/liberal/whatever mindset. Then you basically concluded that in all that time you haven't learned a damn thing and are no closer to an understanding. I agree.