The Senate voted today on the motion to invoke cloture on Judge Brett Kavanaugh and it passed by a vote of 51 to 49. It appears he now has the votes to be confirmed.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Me) and Joe Manchin (D-WVA) both announced their intention to vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Manchin's statement is here. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)announced her intent to vote against him. Murkowski is the only Republican to vote against Kavanaugh

Senator Susan Collins went on and on in a speech on the Senate floor. Highlights (from my listening to it live): [More...]

Republicans assert the new FBI background report on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh adds no new details or confirmation of the improper sexual conduct claims against him that would disqualify him from serving on the Supreme Court. They say it's time to vote. Indeed, a vote will likely occur Saturday.

The Democrats and accusers are angry, claiming the FBI didn't interview enough people -- i.e., those supporting the accusers' character and other high school and college classmates of Kavanaugh. However, the people Christine Ford said were present at the party where she was attacked were interviewed and none confirmed her account or even remembered such a gathering at which both Kavanaugh and Ford were present.

This was entirely predictable. [More...]

It's a jail day for me, an open thread day for you.

All topics welcome.

Donald Trump today ordered the FBI to conduct a supplemental background investigation of Brett Kavanaugh, which is to completed within 1 week and limited to existing accusations.

Mark Judge sent this letter (signed under penalty of felony) to the Committee yesterday. In it he says he never saw Kavanaugh "act in the manner Dr. Ford describes."

Today his lawyer said he will cooperate with the FBI or any confidential law enforcement agency in the probe (she did not say he would testify before any committee.)

Also today, Judge submitted this letter, again under penalty of felony, denying all the allegations in Julie Swetnick's claim.

1:51 pm: Sen. Flake says he has agreed with Democrats that the full Senate vote should be delayed for one week for the FBI to do "due diligence" by investigating existing accusations against Kavanaugh. But he's not saying the Kavanaugh committee vote should be delayed. The press is flummoxed, thinking they didn't vote. They did vote. They passed Kavanaugh on to the full Senate by a vote of 11 to 10. All Flake did was say he wants more information before the full Senate vote. If he changes his mind when the full Senate votes, Kavanaugh would not prevail. But today he votes with other Republicans to pass Kavanaugh's confirmation on to the full Senate.

The committee is now out of jurisdictional control. It's up to the full Senate now. All Flake has done is agree with Democrats that the full Senate vote should be delayed a week so the FBI can investigate pending (not future)allegations of accusers.

Original Post

The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court at 1:30 pm ET. You can watch the vote live here or here.

For those who thought it was all over, think again. Brett Kavanaugh is angry, very angry. And he's credible.

The Senate Hearing on Christine Ford's allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh begins at 10:00 am. I will be in court by 8 am MT, so I'm putting the thread up early. It's meant to be a live thread for your comments as the hearing is happening and your thoughts on it afterwards.

The Judiciary Committee has posted these items:

• Ford's Written Testimony
• Kavanaugh's Written Testimony
• A letter from 64 of Kavanaugh's high school friends on the Avanatti/Swetting allegations
• A letter from 65 of Kavenaugh's female high school friends dated Sept. 14 when Ford's allegations first arose

[More...]

The finale to El Senor de los Cielos was very good. I watched it twice, just to make sure I didn't miss anything. They killed off the one good cop, and the only Cuban spy with a conscience, but everyone else survived, except Lightning, the boxing champ, and he died of old age.

Aurelio's fingers moved, but he didn't wake up from his coma. I take that as a sign they haven't decided yet whether Rafael Amaya is gone for good or coming back for Season 7.

The finale of Big Brother is tonight. It's been a better season than most. I happen to like Julie Chen. She's left The Talk but is sticking with Big Brother. It wouldn't be as good a show without her. And she's not intimidated by what's happening to her husband. She now signs off BB as "Julie Chen Moonves" which she never did before.

There's quite a few more significant topics in the news this week I haven't gotten around to writing about yet. Hopefully, you will pick up on them and keep the discussion going.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Bill Cosby has been sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison. He was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.

Cosby, now 81 and legally blind, must serve 3 years before becoming eligible for parole. His lawyers had asked for house arrest due to his age, blindness and vulnerability in prison.

After hearing testimony from a psychologist today, the Judge declared him a "sexually violent predator".

The judge ruled on Cosby’s “sexually violent predator” status after a psychologist for the state testified that the entertainer appears to have a mental disorder that gives him an uncontrollable urge to have sex with women without their consent.

...Cosby faced a sentence of anywhere from probation to 10 years in prison.... Prosecutors asked for five to 10 years behind bars, saying he could still pose a threat to women.

[More...]

It's that time of year again. Tonight is the finale of the sixth season of El Señor de los Cielos (ESDLC 6). The show has been somewhat of a rudderless ship this season, due to the disappearance of lead actor Rafael Amaya midway through filming. Amaya plays Aurelio Casillas, loosely based on deceased trafficker Amado Carrillo-Fuentes. Some reports say Amaya contracted an illness in a bat cave while filming an episode of the show in Turkey and he's still gravely ill. Other reports speculate there were contractual disputes with Telemundo and he's out of the show permanently. Telemundo has said nothing and the show just keeps on trucking.

Until this week, there have been no sightings, even on social media. He wasn't at the wrap party for the show in August. But here he is, at an event with a Mexican political consultant for the new President, posted on her FB page on Sept. 19. So we know he's alive.

To cover Amaya's absence, Telemundo's writers put Aurelio in a coma at the end of July, so all we see is someone lying immobile in bed with a head swathed in bandages. Then they brought in an actor to play his half-brother that no one ever knew he had. [More...]

Update: Apparently Rosenstein is meeting with Trump on Thursday to discuss his job. (I wonder if Trump will ask for a loyalty oath promising not to indict Don,Jr.)

Original Post: Axios reports that Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein has tendered a verbal resignation to John Kelly upon learning Donald Trump plans on firing him.

Looks like the sources for this New York Times article are getting their way.

The tail-spinning of Trump's administration is making me dizzy. He's on a downward spiral and he knows it. I hope getting rid of Rosenstein is too little too late?

It is hard enough to find qualified, smart people to run for office as it is. I’d bet in the 70’s to 90’s, hundreds if not thousands of well-qualified people refused to run for elected office or judgeships due to worry about whether they could pass the FBI’s background checks on drug use. No one cares about drug use now, it’s ubiquitous and a fact of life, in large part due to our government’s backwards policies on drug laws. Now the issue is disqualification due to 35-year old groping and indecent exposure allegations dating back to high school and freshman year in college. People are so worked up about it, they are ready to bring out the firing squad. Even though the target of their socially or politically motivated hatred hasn’t been charged with a crime, convicted of a crime and there’s been no confirmation a crime ever happened.

In other words, people now think it’s just fine to assume the male is guilty of whatever accusation is hurled his way. Why? Because other women chose to suffer in silence at perceived indignities they suffered way back when and see this as a chance to get even? There’s a big difference between taking accusations seriously and assuming the accusation is true. The former calls for an investigation, which may be appropriate. But nothing justifies the latter (i.e., the assumption the accusation is true) prior to a hearing or trial before a neutral and detached magistrate or tribunal. That’s the law in America. For everyone. [More...]