WHAT A CIRCUS: Kavanaugh Accuser Julie Swetnick Sued by Former Employer For Sexual Harassment in 2000.

AGING BETTER: In the Nursing Home, Empty Beds and Quiet Halls: Fewer patients are winding up in nursing homes, and hundreds of the facilities are closing each year.

In my town, at least, we’re seeing a lot of fancy “independent living” and assisted living places, with wine bars, movie theaters, etc. opening up.

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE: Lawsuit alleging that Harvard University’s admissions practice discriminates against Asian Americans is officially headed to trial.

To coin an Insta-phrase, why is the Ivy League such a cesspit of racism?

MEANWHILE, OVER AT THE HOUSE OF STEPHANOPOULOS: Terry Moran of ABC News cozies up to sedition.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Sarah Hoyt: Chuck Schumer Hates You and Me.

LEFTISM IS HATE: ‘Men Are Trash.’ That’s What These Idiots Think Of Your Husbands, Sons, Fathers, And Brothers.

THE POWER LINE WEEK IN PICTURES: JUSTICE KAVANAUGH EDITION.

TAKING SIDES: Elite college invites Democratic Party to register students as voters, ignores Republican Party. Unsurprisingly, it’s Pomona College, which has stopped even pretending.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Yale prof: Communism is a ‘religion’ with ‘sloppy theology.’

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ANDREW MCCARTHY: Republicans Should Not Have Delayed the Kavanaugh Vote. The Democrats aren’t acting in good faith, and they don’t actually care about these accusations. They just don’t want Trump to be able to fill the seat.

#FAKE NEWS: Journalists made a damaging Kavanaugh story go viral – but it was too good to be true.

Mainstream media reporters and commentators appeared to be much too zealous in spreading a false story on social media Friday that was very damaging to Brett Kavanaugh, the president’s nominee to the Supreme Court.

The story was contained in just one tweet, and it had no link, just a claim that the content came from the Wall Street Journal.

Despite the dubious sourcing, various reporters retweeted it over and over for hours, apparently in hope that the damaging story was true.

The tweet came from an account named “Alan Covington,” and it said that Republicans pulled a prosecutor who was questioning Brett Kavanaugh during his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee because she had determined he had lied.

“Mitchell advised Republicans that to continue questioning Kavanaugh she was required by her oath in Arizona to inform Kavanaugh of his rights after he lied to her,” the tweet read.

But the story was completely false, and they soon began to delete their tweets and undo their retweets.

But not before damage was done.

I’M SHOCKED, SHOCKED THAT BETO O’ROURKE WOULD PEDDLE A CONVENIENT FALSEHOOD: Beto O’Rourke’s deported Panhandle honor student wasn’t actually deported.

THE PURPORTED CONCERN FOR WOMEN IS ALL A CROCK: CA Dems Slam Kavanaugh While Remaining Silent on Ellison, Cardenas, and Cisneros: Porter, Levin, Hill, Rouda have campaigned and attended fundraisers alongside Cisneros, who has been accused of sexual harassment.

MATTHEW CONTINETTI: Call the Roll on Kavanaugh: It’s time to see where each senator stands.

The Democratic strategy toward Judge Brett Kavanaugh has been apparent since September 4. Within minutes of Chuck Grassley calling the Judiciary Committee to order, Democrats began to interrupt him. They wanted to delay the hearing until their demands for documents had been met. They managed to prolong the hearing for about an hour. Then they retreated.

The objective was clear: Delaying the confirmation would be tantamount to defeating the confirmation. Why? Because if the delay lasted past Election Day, and if Democrats took the Senate, then the empowered minority could pressure two wayward Republicans into voting No. In January the Democratic Senate could block any subsequent Trump nominee—payback for Merrick Garland. . . .

What is clear is that the Senate must vote, up or down, on Kavanaugh’s nomination. One way or another, the roll must be called. Yeas and Nays must be recorded.

For two reasons. The first is political. If Republicans walk away from Kavanaugh now, especially after Lindsey Graham’s philippic, the conservative grassroots will revolt and the midterm election will be an unmitigated disaster. According to polls, the GOP has already lost the middle. It cannot afford to lose the right. The base is the difference between no wave and a blue wave, between a blue wave and a tsunami. Let each senator say what he or she believes, and record that judgment by vote. Even if the nomination fails because no Democrat votes yes and two Republicans vote no, that is a better outcome for the GOP than no vote at all. Conservatives expect to be disappointed by individual Republicans. No vote? Conservatives walk away.

The other reason to call the roll is more abstract. This story is about more than an allegation of sexual assault. It has become a matter of political precedent. The public deserves to know the Senate’s position on the following question: Are uncorroborated allegations, sometimes made anonymously, from high school and college enough to disqualify men and women from appointed office? Are we prepared to establish a standard by which appointees are judged by comments in a high school yearbook, statements from classmates 30 or 35 years ago, and attendance at student parties where alcohol was consumed?

If we are to go down this road, then we should know where each of the 100 men and women elected to the United States Senate, including Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Jeff Flake, stand at the outset. How else will we be able to apportion blame when the three Furies arrive? Because they are on their way.

Read the whole thing.

RIP: Marty Balin, founder of the Jefferson Airplane, dies at 76.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, LÁSZLÓ BÍRÓ, THE INVENTOR OF THE FIRST COMMERCIALLY SUCCESSFUL BALLPOINT PEN, WAS BORN: Journalists aren’t usually great inventors, but the Hungarian-born Bíró was an exception. He noticed that the ink used on newsprint dried quickly and smudge-free, so he started working on pen that could use that ink. He patented an early design for a ballpoint pen in Paris in 1938.

As Nazism enveloped Europe, Bíró, who was Jewish, made his way to Argentina. While there, he filed another patent, this time in the United States, in the name of Bíró Pens of Argentina. The invention caught the attention of F.G. Miles, who secured a license to manufacture the pens for the Royal Air Force. The pens were economical and, unlike fountain pens, could write upside down.

After the war, Marcel Bich bought the patent. For the purpose of marketing the pen, Bich shortened his name to “Bic” so that it wouldn’t be confused by English speakers with you-know-what.

Bíró’s birthday is celebrated as Inventors’ Day in Argentina.

PETER WOOD: Trial By Accusation.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Here’s How To Successfully Debate A Democratic Socialist.

SPACE: Bezos’ Blue Origin wins key rocket engine contract.

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MEGAN FOX: How to ‘Christine Blasey Ford-Proof’ Your Daughter.

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