Category Archives: Media Criticism

Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary

Ford’s Credibility

19 Comments

She refused to turn her therapy notes, which are key evidence, to the Judiciary Committee:

Now, I totally understand why someone would not want to turn over therapist records that undoubtedly discuss intimate details of one’s life. But if you are in the process of derailing a Supreme Court nominee based on otherwise unsubstantiated allegations of sexual misconduct thirty-six years ago, and in that process giving the nominee a reputation as a rapist, it seems to me you have the moral obligation to either turn over all relevant evidence, or withdraw your allegation. In the absence of that evidence and any corroboration beyond her say-so, if I were a Senator I would ignore the allegations.

Also, they would be part of a serious FBI investigation.

The story has fallen apart, and now they’re saying he lied about drinking beer.

[Update later morning]

Why sexual-assault survivors should be furious at the Democrats.

[Update a few minutes later]

This reminds me of the 90s when, after making progress against sexual harassment in the workplace, the Democrats and feminists threw it all overboard in order to defend Bill Clinton. In this case, they just destroyed the #MeToo movement.

Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary

The Left’s Unanswered Kulturkampf

70 Comments

This circus is the ultimate culmination of it.

We have someone who has been investigated by the FBI six times, and somehow, they never stumbled over any evidence of him drugging and raping women. Either they’re too incompetent to continue to exist as an investigatory body, or this is all bullshit.

In his Fox News interview, he described how these smears are affecting his and his family’s life, seemingly sincerely. So we have two theories that fit the facts: He is sincere and innocent, or he is a sociopath who has been fooling people for decades by merely seeming like a kind, upright man of the highest probity while having a secret life of being a drunken rapist.

Guess which way I’m going with both theories?

Just take the vote. And I hope there’s a huge backlash against Democrats at the polls in a few weeks.

[Update a couple minutes later]

“She’s not credible. Not at all.”

Yes, while in college, she attended high-school parties at which she was aware that the boys were drugging the girls and gang raping them, but she personally avoided drinking anything, and didn’t warn any of the girls. And she’s totally honest. That’s the best the Democrats have.

Riiiiggght.

[Friday-afternoon update, after the hearing on Thursday]

Jim Treacher: I believe she believes this happened.

So do I, or at least I’m willing to believe it. As he notes, the Republicans screwed up by allowing this be about lying, and credibility. The fact that she believes it happened, of course, does not mean that it happened; memory is a funny thing, and she’s had lots of therapy and encouragement from Democrats to nourish the belief that it was Kavanaugh.

[Bumped]

[Saturday-morning update]

Take a roll call; it’s important to know where senators stand.

[Update a while later]

Yes, the Republicans shouldn’t have delayed the vote.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Space, Technology and Society

Japan To The Moon

2 Comments

…privately. Yes, it’s ambitious, but I don’t think this is the problem:

The longer-term goals are laudable, but the company seems to seriously underestimate the difficulty of reaching lunar ice, harvesting it under extremely cold conditions, and producing propellant from ice. These are all significant engineering challenges in unprecedented conditions. Moreover, even under optimistic circumstances, NASA’s plans to return to the Moon wouldn’t put a handful of humans—let alone hundreds—on the lunar surface before the late 2020s, and China doesn’t intend for such landings until the early 2030s.

I don’t think that NASA’s or China’s plans are relevant to private lunar plans.

Business, Culinary, Health, Media Criticism, Science And Society, Technology and Society

Hospital Food

9 Comments

There’s no doubt it could use a lot of improvement, but I think this is bogus:

Dr. Eisenberg says the jury is no longer out on the benefits of eating a more plant-based diet with less refined foods, sugar and red meat. A study published last year in JAMA estimated that nearly half of the deaths from heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes are caused by poor diet.

They are, but there’s zero evidence that red meant causes any of them. Patricia had to spend a night in the hospital for a procedure a few weeks ago, and her breakfast was terrible, nutritionally.

[Update a few minutes later]

Related: Incorrect diagnoses kill 80,000 people per year.

The medical profession gets far too much respect.

Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Social Commentary

Kavanaugh

56 Comments

I’ve been too busy at the AIAA conference in Orlando to blog, and I drove down to West Palm Beach last night to get back to work on the house. But I have to say I’ve never seen anything as hypocritical and cynical as what the Democrats are doing now.

As I tweeted yesterday, if I were Grassley, I’d call Karen Monahan as a witness on Monday, to show the Democrats what a woman with a real story looks like, then watch the scum like Schumer and Feinstein howl in rage.

[Friday-afternoon update]

Yes, Dianne Feinstein should be censured.

[Bumped]

[Update a while later]

Know who I would never in a thousand years hire as my defense attorney? This woman. You’d have to be monumentally incompetent to not get your client off with a charge and (lack of) evidence like this. Telling a client with such a situation to not go to trial would be legal malpractice.

[Late-afternoon update]

Yes, rejecting Kavanaugh for this would disgrace him for life. But it would keep him off the court, which is all they care about, not her or him.

[Saturday-morning update]

Yes, let’s end the confirmation-hearing circus. It certainly isn’t required by the Constitution, and as Glenn notes, it originated in anti-Semitic opposition to Brandeis.