This was such an odd strategy. They needed the optic of empathy, not someone in an adversarial position who is making this look more like a trial. Maybe that’s the point to bamboozle people into thinking there’s some official burden of proof for Dr. Ford involved here, but that is ... not smart. It’s just another…

It’s times like these that I think, “If only we had a federal agency trained to efficiently and professionally investigate allegations affecting the public interest...”

That’s been their MO around federal judges for the last 2 years. They’ve been accused of not properly vetting candidates numerous times because they love their litmus tests and short lists. When you look at all the folks who are ABA-rated unqualified, withdrawn, opposed by home-state senators, and just vile human…

I must have blocked out the Texas pledge in Texas history class along with 75% of everything else that came up. I cannot for the life of me remember what possibly took up an entire school year of lesson plans.

What a shame. I do like some of their traditional reporting and they have some quality folks that I follow. But my regular contact was through their podcasts, particularly See Something Say Something and the excellent Another Round.

That’s Grassley’s next response.

Those stats are crazy. I think there’s a legitimate state interest in trying some juvenile offenders as adults for certain crimes. But I think the process for that needs to take into account the philosophy of why we have different juvenile and adult procedures in the first place—and that includes the types of services …

You know, I actually don’t even think it’s a terrible move. It could have been done in a way to instill some sense of integrity to the process. But then Grassley just had to couch it in such a partisan way that it’s hard to believe there’s good faith behind it. That’s a shame.

A Taurus would. I had to check his birthday. But even I’m not that extreme a packrat hoarder.

That brought back a memory. I remember sitting for the pledge in my TX high school way back in yesteryear and the only teacher who got salty was this substitute teacher. She told me to stand, I told her I didn’t have to, she tried to lecture me, and I shrugged and went about my business—because there was nothing she…

It really is a blatant and transparent move to make the hearing adversarial—that’s on Republicans. If they were worried about their own inability to not screw this up, even in good faith, it seems appointed Senate staff would have been the better choice. And a non-legal advocate would have been a better outside…

The point about having actual, in-person conversations with people is spot on. Beyond politics, even interacting with people face-to-face, listening while also challenging, articulating your own view of the world and being accountable for those values are all alternative so just blindly consuming the news cycle.

Just reading that advice does bring a sense of ease. I love the point about supporting people in the thick of things. I think this also goes for the people in your life who work for relief organizations, grassroots advocacy, direct services, social justice non-profits, public service, etc. A lot of these folks are…

Very true. I think that’s actually the most relevant takeaway here. There was that contingent of partyers in my high school for sure, but it was actually pretty small.

Pretty much, yes! That he was part of the drinking culture at GP was so easily proven so why bother taking such great pains to distance himself. And it’s not even necessarily a bad optic, certainly not a disqualifying one.

Showing that kind of honesty is all around us. I say that coming from a criminal justice background where people who have made what society views as the worst kinds of mistakes are required to do this just to reenter their communities. And there are a lot of lessons there.

This is the point that completely baffles me. This would have gone away a long time ago if he had displayed a shred of honesty about his behavior. It is not controversial to admit that he was a typical 17 year old privileged kid who partied in high school. Instead he wants to paint a fantasy of being a perfect angel…

I think that’s all valid. I felt anxiety and dread in the book too, it was just in spite of the narrative’s flaws. I’m not even arguing that the movie was better than the book—it’s just that I enjoyed the way the story unfolded in the movie more because I wasn’t as regularly distracted by the things I didn’t like…

The fear and loneliness issue wasn’t my quote by the way, although my criticism was a lack of attention to his character development generally. It’s the risk of epistolary storytelling consisting primarily of exposition. But I wanted extra breathing room for more moments that were solely to tell us who this character…

<insert double-down> ... and this for context.