Because Senator Graham (Rep-SC) brought up witchcraft trials and 'tests' (how to handle Judge Kavanaugh)....I went back today and spent an hour over one of the 500-odd topics which I've often had an interest in witches.
Being from Alabama, we never really had any local witches, and most of my introduction was limited to books such as The Crucible and some historical piece which the local school had bought for their library but I noted since 1959 (when it was put into the school library and the first check-out card was placed into it)....it'd only been checked out three times by the time I'd read it in 1972. I was probably the only kid in that school that checked out every single non-fiction book they had.
To know that you are in the presence of a witch? Well....there are seven basic ways:
1. You get the witch to give you some urine (don't ask), and you mix this with rye....making it into some kind of bread. Then you find some dog (can't be a human), and if the dog eats the cake....a true witch will have severe pains. I admit it's pretty crazy but this whole witchcraft thing of the 1690s took off and guys just invented stuff like this out of thin air.
2. The Lords Prayer. Basically, if you could recite the whole prayer, you were safe.
3. You measure up some gal, and gather all the Bibles in the community to equal her height.....stacking them on a scale. You put the witch on the other side of the scale. If the gal is heavier than the Bibles....she's a witch. You tended to find that fat chunky women usually lost out on this test.
4. Women that hung around cats....especially black cats....were readily identified as witches.
5. You look over the accused gal for scares or birthmarks. Now the fact that everyone in some family might have scares, or birthmarks? Well.....that did present a problem.
6. The tear test. Basically, if you could provide tears, on request.....you were clear of being a witch.
7. The scratch test. Basically, you'd scratch some witch enough.....that she'd cast a spell. Usually, in this episode.....you ended up with forty-odd scratches, which the locals would all deem it sufficient that you didn't apparently have any spell-casting ability.
The odd case with the Kavanaugh episode....is that none of the Democrats seem willing to say how he could be innocent, and thus he can never prove or disprove the 'witch' business.
Friday 5 October 2018
The Kavanaugh 'Circus'
In summary, it was a series of bluffs....some designed at a one-star level....some at a five-star level, and it appears....they all failed.
The idea early in this strategy by the Democrats was simply to impress enough negativity upon Kavanaugh enough that he'd back out. For a normal guy, I think the Ford letter business would have done that. So Kavanaugh called the bluff, and forced her to show up and provide testimony. She had several counter-bluffs ready to go (the lie detector test, the second person backing up the story, etc). Well....he counter-bluffed.
Somewhere in the middle of this mess....Senator Graham woke up and probably delivered the greatest responses of his career. Some CNN folks were able to put a dozen hours a day into a negative-Kavanaugh message. And then pieces of the Ford story started to fall apart.
The three basic problems here? (1) No witnesses to support Ford's story. (2) The high school year book which shows an entire group of people in the early 1980s who partied, and consumed booze. (3) A recovered memory, which sometimes had information and sometimes had zero information. On the last issue, you kinda wonder if there alcohol blackouts involved.
So Kavanaugh will likely get the votes. But the bigger question....did this damage the Republicans in the election? No....I think it actually damaged two to four Democratic Senators more, and their likely chances of winning might be diminished by five-percent. In the thirty states that Trump won? This strategy probably did a fair amount of damage to the Democrat's brand.
And the thing you have to worry about....two older Democratic justices in the court and if either were to pass on....over the next year or two. With a GOP count of 60-plus Senators....Trump might be able to stack one more conservative judge on the court and set up a pattern for twenty-plus years. That's serious damage to the Democratic brand.
The idea early in this strategy by the Democrats was simply to impress enough negativity upon Kavanaugh enough that he'd back out. For a normal guy, I think the Ford letter business would have done that. So Kavanaugh called the bluff, and forced her to show up and provide testimony. She had several counter-bluffs ready to go (the lie detector test, the second person backing up the story, etc). Well....he counter-bluffed.
Somewhere in the middle of this mess....Senator Graham woke up and probably delivered the greatest responses of his career. Some CNN folks were able to put a dozen hours a day into a negative-Kavanaugh message. And then pieces of the Ford story started to fall apart.
The three basic problems here? (1) No witnesses to support Ford's story. (2) The high school year book which shows an entire group of people in the early 1980s who partied, and consumed booze. (3) A recovered memory, which sometimes had information and sometimes had zero information. On the last issue, you kinda wonder if there alcohol blackouts involved.
So Kavanaugh will likely get the votes. But the bigger question....did this damage the Republicans in the election? No....I think it actually damaged two to four Democratic Senators more, and their likely chances of winning might be diminished by five-percent. In the thirty states that Trump won? This strategy probably did a fair amount of damage to the Democrat's brand.
And the thing you have to worry about....two older Democratic justices in the court and if either were to pass on....over the next year or two. With a GOP count of 60-plus Senators....Trump might be able to stack one more conservative judge on the court and set up a pattern for twenty-plus years. That's serious damage to the Democratic brand.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)