Month: October 2018

Shame On You, Susan Collins

~ Ann Policelli Cronin ~ 1 Comment

Shame on you, Susan Collins for voting for someone who lied under oath to the Supreme Court. Shame on you for not telling us that you know that Brett Kavanaugh lied under oath. Even if he cannot remember his assault on Christine Blasey Ford or even if it never happened, he lied about his drinking, lied about known terms referring to sexual exploits, and lied about his attack on the reputation of a contemporaneous 18 year old young woman.  In your long, obfuscating speech in which you announced your vote, you did not mention those verified facts.

The 2400 law school professors who opposed his confirmation know that Brett Kavanaugh lied under oath.

The American Bar Association opposed his confirmation because they know that Brett Kavanaugh lied under oath.

John Paul Stevens, a former Justice of the Supreme Court, opposed Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation because he knows that Brett Kavanaugh lied under oath and does not conduct himself with the judiciousness of a Justice of the Supreme Court. I bet the current Supreme Court Justices as well know that Brett Kavanaugh lied under oath.

James Comey, former Director of the FBI who said it was significant when someone lies in the present time about what he wrote in his high school yearbook, knows Brett Kavanaugh lied under oath.

Twenty million people who watched the Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday, September 27th know that Brett Kavanaugh lied under oath, some of whom are now  appalled that someone who perjured himself will sit on the Supreme Court and others who are exhilarated that he got away with it.

And I know that Brett Kavanaugh lied under oath.

So what will I do about it?

  1. I will today send sizable (for my budget) donations to Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Donnelly who are in tight Senate races in states in Trump country where it was risky to vote NO on Kavanaugh. They, however, followed their consciences and voted NO. The deserve whatever I can do to help them.  DONE
  2. I will contact the website called Crowdpac, which was set up in Maine to gather support for whoever will run against Susan Collins in 2020. Their website crashed yesterday after Susan Collins gave her speech announcing her support for Brett Kavanaugh because it was  inundated with donations for her future opponent. WILL DO TODAY
  3. I will phone bank in my own state next week for Beto O’Rourke in a get out the vote effort in Texas because he is man of integrity and his victory will get rid of a Senator on the Judiciary Committee who voted for Brett Kavanaugh. Also, his victory  will help to create a Democratic majority in the Senate. SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 16
  4. I will continue to support Stacey Abrams in her race for Governor of Georgia. She is someone who can change our political culture because she knows what it is to not be allowed a voice by the dominant culture, to not be an elite AND knows how to become a leader with integrity and compassion anyway and uplift our national discourse.  DONE
  5. I will do all I can as a private citizen to urge the Democratic Party to stand for inclusion, for integrity, and for giving voice to the voiceless and to reject money as the controlling influence in politics. I will urge the Democratic Party, which has been my heritage, to create itself anew and give us all a  future with promise. HAVEN’T FIGURED OUT HOW TO DO THIS YET. ANY IDEAS?

Shame on you, Susan Collins. But we will overcome.

 

 

 

Read And Weep

~ Ann Policelli Cronin ~ Leave a comment

Read this NYT editorial and weep. 

We will “join our solitudes in the communion of struggle” as the poet Denise Levertov advocates. We will invite new voices to work with us to give our country a future of decency and integrity.  We will not give up.

But first we will read the above editorial and weep. We will weep for what might have been right now.

 

Do Not Be Defined By Loss But By Hope

~ Ann Policelli Cronin ~ 2 Comments
Image may contain: text

 

As people of integrity who respect our Constitution and the Supreme Court, we seem to have lost the seat on the Supreme Court. That’s for now.

Let us “join our solitudes in the communion of struggle” and begin to know our power to unfold a new world that is now only in bud form.  Let’s build a country based on truth-telling, respect, and empathy for one another. Let’s mark today not as the end of a struggle for the Supreme Court but the beginning of our struggle to build a more just society.

If you want to let Christine Blasey Ford know of your support and appreciation, you can send her a postcard at the following address. Postcards are suggested because, for security reasons, all envelopes are opened prior to her receiving them.

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford
Paolo Alto University
1791 Arastradero Rd
Paolo Alto, CA 94304

Above is a copy of the front of my postcard. Feel free to use the quote from Denise Levertov. I also wrote my own message of support and gratitude on the flip side.

 

Please, God, May They Vote No

~ Ann Policelli Cronin ~ 1 Comment

Please, God, let there be wisdom.

Let there not be a Justice on the Supreme Court who lied under oath to get there.

Let there not be a Justice on the Supreme Court who more than 2400 law professors say is unfit.

Let there not be a Justice on the Supreme Court who the American Bar Association, the voice of the nation’s lawyers, say is unfit.

Let there not be a Justice on the Supreme Court who former Supreme Court Justice Stevens says is unfit.

Let there not be a Justice on the Supreme Court who millions of Americans witnessed lying under oath.

Let there not be a Justice on the Supreme Court who millions of Americans witnessed disrespecting our government by mocking Senators and not answering their questions but purposefully veering off topic and running out the clock.

Let there not be a Justice on the Supreme Court so full of partisan vitriol that his decisions would not be respected by the American people.

You see, God, what is at stake here is not whether we have a conservative or a liberal Justice. What is at stake here is: Will we survive as a nation?

There must be integrity in the three branches of government for our democracy to keep going. In front of us now is the integrity of the one of those branches: The Supreme Court of the United States of America.

Please, God, let Senators have the wisdom to vote NO on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.

FBI Charged With Investigating The Wrong Thing

~ Ann Policelli Cronin ~ Leave a comment

The FBI has been charged by the White House with investigating the wrong thing. The agency should not be investigating if Brett Kavanaugh assaulted Chrsitine Blasey Ford but rather if Brett Kavanaugh lied under oath to Congress. Going into the FBI investigation, it was clear that we already knew all that would be told about the charge of that assault. What needs to be investigated is if someone who wants very much to be on the Supreme Court of the United States evades the truth and lies.

The FBI was told by the White House to not interview Christine Blasey Ford because to interview her would require also interviewing Brett Kavanaugh. The FBI investigators , much more skilled in questioning than the Senators who questioned Brett Kavanaugh, would have found evidence that his answers were not verifiable.

An article in Current Affairs goes through Brett Kavanaugh’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 27, 2018 and illustrates the specifics of how Brett Kavanaugh cleverly avoided answering questions and perjured himself.  It is a long read but worth your time when you consider the importance of this lifetime appointment. Having justices on the Supreme Court who respect the truth is essential to the functioning of our democracy.

I am going to send this article to my Senators and urge them to highlight its content as they discuss the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh with the media in hopes that telling the truth under oath becomes what the public insists upon.

Will you do the same?

Requirement For The Job Of Supreme Court Justice: Truth-Telling

~ Ann Policelli Cronin ~ Leave a comment

In order for any court of law to function, there has to be the belief that taking an oath to tell the truth means that the truth is being spoken. Those taking the oath must believe that. The jury must believe that. The judge must believe that.

That belief is so important that we must not knowingly put a judge on any court who does not respect that taking an oath to tell the truth means telling the truth. Brett Kavanaugh has not told the truth under oath. For that reason alone, he should not sit on the Supreme Court of the United States

The September 28th editorial in The Boston Globe lists the times that Brett Kavanaugh has not told the truth to the Senate Judiciary Committee:

• In 2004, Kavanaugh said he was not involved in the handling of the controversial nomination of federal Judge William Pryor. That was a lie. E-mails later showed that he was involved.

• Kavanaugh was asked if he was involved with a scheme to steal Democratic staff e-mails related to judicial confirmations. He lied about it. E-mails showed that he was involved.

• In 2006, Kavanaugh was asked if he was involved in the controversial nomination of federal Judge Charles Pickering. He lied about that too and said he was not.

• In 2006, Kavanaugh was asked about his role in the nomination of William Haynes, the Pentagon general counsel involved in creating the Bush administration’s interrogation policies. He lied about that.

Then, on Thursday, under oath and with the nation watching, he made statements so preposterous that senators should view them as an insult to their intelligence.

• He said the term “devil’s triangle” in his yearbook entry referred to a drinking game. Google it. It doesn’t.

• He said the word “boof” referred to flatulence. Again, no.

• Then there was his assertion that his yearbook description of himself as a “Renate Alumnius” was meant only to signify his friendship with Renate Dolphin, a woman who attended another school and socialized with Kavanaugh. Other football players were described as “Renate Alumni.” We know what they intended to insinuate. You know what they meant to insinuate. Everyone knows. Senators may never be able to establish with forensic certainty that Kavanaugh’s entry was intended as a sexual boast, but they’re allowed to use common sense.

In addition to these examples, it has been verified on October 1, 2018 that Brett Kavanaugh lied about when he first learned of the accusation against him by Debbie Ramirez, a Yale classmate. He said under oath to the Judiciary Committee that he first learned of that accusation when it was reported in The New Yorker. Emails between Brett Kavanaugh and other Yale classmates show that he knew about the accusation and discussed it with others before the publishing of The New Yorker piece.

The Boston Globe concludes:

Put aside that allegation (by Christine Blasey Ford) for a moment, serious as it is. Forget about the FBI inquiry. You can believe that a Supreme Court nominee’s conduct in high school doesn’t matter anyway. You can believe that crass material in a yearbook shouldn’t be held against him as an adult. You can even believe that maybe he genuinely doesn’t remember the assault, which Ford says happened when he was very drunk.

Those are all separate questions from whether he’s been honest.

Unfortunately, the only way for senators to convince themselves that Kavanaugh hasn’t already been shown to be a habitual liar is to lie to themselves.