WAR ON WOMEN: Blue check lib who fights voter suppression vows to ‘never let Collins have a moment of peace in public again.’

WEIRD THAT SOMEONE WHOSE CAREER WASN’T IN POLITICS CAN HAVE BETTER INSTINCTS THAN THE POLITICIANS:

Again and again, President Trump was instructed not to do it. A cadre of advisers, confidants and lawmakers all urged him — implored him, really — not to personally attack the women who had accused Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual assault.

So he did it anyway.

Addressing thousands at a boisterous rally in Mississippi, Trump relied on his own visceral sense of the moment and mocked Christine Blasey Ford for gaps in her memory, directly impugning the accuser’s credibility.

Establishment Republicans initially reacted with horror. But Trump’s 36-second off-script jeremiad proved a key turning point toward victory for the polarizing nominee, White House officials and Kavanaugh allies said, turbocharging momentum behind Kavanaugh just as his fate appeared most in doubt. . . .

“How did you get home? ‘I don’t remember,’ ” Trump said, reenacting Ford’s hearing. “How did you get there? ‘I don’t remember.’ Where is the place? ‘I don’t remember.’ How many years ago was it? ‘I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.’ ”

The riff lasted less than a minute, but had lasting ramifications. The senators whose votes Kavanaugh was wooing said they were aghast at the president’s rally-stage behavior. But Kavanaugh allies saw a clear benefit: An argument by the president that bucked up Kavanaugh, discredited Ford and became a clarion call for conservatives.

More than two dozen Trump supporters interviewed at the president’s campaign rally Thursday in Minnesota said they wish he had not gone after Ford, fretting that doing so was not presidential. Yet many also acknowledged the president had simply spoken aloud what many of them thought privately.

Everybody knew her story was bunk, but — since she was a white, upper-class, professional, liberal woman — everyone said she was “credible.” But she wasn’t, and only Trump was willing to say it. Once he did, well. . . .

THE GUARDIAN FIGURES SOMETHING OUT THAT MOST U.S. MEDIA IGNORE: Women aren’t a monolith – and the white women supporting Kavanaugh prove it.

It’s not just white women, either.

YEP: Victor Davis Hanson: Campus Sex-Panic Chaos In The Senate. Nice that Susan Collins brought an adult sensibility to clean things up. Now let’s do that on campuses.

STAND BY FOR #FAKENEWS: A Former Obama Operative Built a New Anti-Republican Attack Machine. “Oppo works best when its target is unaware, so Burton’s project, dubbed Citizen Strong, has operated by stealth, waiting until just now to publicly declare its existence as a 501(c)4 ‘dark money’ group with three affiliated political action committees. Even this step doesn’t reveal much. Dark money donors can give unlimited sums anonymously, and Burton won’t identify his benefactors or even the three operatives he’s hired to help run the group.”

I remember when dark money was bad.

AND THAT’S EVEN WITHOUT BRINGING UP THE UNDERAGE DOMINICAN HOOKERS: Democrats Have Another Problem in New Jersey: It’s not just that their senior senator was indicted.

Bishop Jethro James, leader of an 86-member black pastors’ association, is upset the Menendez camp seems to assume they have the black vote wrapped up.

“The Democrats have been taking the African-American vote for granted for too long,” he said in his office at Paradise Baptist Church in Newark. “It’s an insult. Some folks in the two-party system think this is like a political plantation: ‘You do what we say.’ We are long past that.”

The source of James’ ire was a call he received from T. Missy Balmir, a senior adviser for Menendez and veteran player in Democratic state politics. The call came after James hosted Hugin in his 400-member church a few weeks ago.

“They basically said, ‘Why did you invite him to your church? Why did you have a Republican in?’” James recalled.

The pastor didn’t appreciate this communication from Team Menendez, especially since the incumbent has not exactly been a fixture in Rev. James’ community. According to the Star-Ledger report:

“You know how many times I invited Bob Menendez to my church?” James said. “You know how many times he’s come? None. But at election time, they want our endorsement.”

… And, as it turned out, James seemed to like a lot of what Hugin — the former chairman and CEO of Celgene Corp., a New Jersey biotech company specializing in drugs for cancer and chronic disease — had to say.

“We (African-Americans) are 40 percent more likely to get cancer,” James said. “I’d say about 40 percent of the women in my congregation have had breast cancer. I myself had prostate cancer. Bob Hugin’s company made the drugs that saved my life.”

The issue of health care makes for a rather stark contrast between Messrs. Hugin and Menendez. While Mr. Hugin was working in biotechnology, Mr. Menendez was famously seeking to help Medicare fraudster Salomon Melgen capture more funding from federal health programs.

Weird how all the #MeToo stuff has given Menendez a pass, though.

SO MUCH WINNING: The ‘Skills Gap’ In Unemployment Is Almost Non-Existent In Trump’s Economy.

MATTHEW CONTINETTI: Trump’s Remarkable Week.

Can we pause for a moment to consider what has transpired in the last seven days?

TRADE: Earlier this week, the Trump administration announced it had reached an agreement with both Mexico and Canada to revise and rebrand the North America Free Trade Agreement as the United States Mexico Canada Agreement. This announcement fulfills one of President Trump’s key pledges on the campaign trail while benefiting constituencies in important states such as Michigan (autos) and Wisconsin and Minnesota (dairy). Trump also renegotiated the Korea Free Trade Agreement and has made progress with the Europeans as well as the Japanese.

ECONOMY: The Trump Bump continues, with Friday bringing news that unemployment has reached its lowest level since 1969. Consumer confidence is high, and data from the manufacturing and service sectors indicate continued growth. No president is responsible for the state of the American economy. But fiscal and regulatory policy help. And presidents take credit or receive blame in any event.

JUDGES: Susan Collins’s announcement that she will vote to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh practically guarantees he will be seated on the Supreme Court in the coming days. Kavanaugh’s elevation will secure a five-vote majority of originalist and textualist judges on the high court for the first time in modern memory. Such a transformation of the federal judiciary has been a goal of Republican presidents since Ronald Reagan. The fact that it will be Donald J. Trump who will cement this victory is no small feat. On the contrary, it may turn out to be his greatest and longest-lasting achievement.

FOREIGN POLICY: President Trump is slowly and steadily re-orienting U.S. foreign policy to face the central challenge of the twenty-first century: the rise of China to great power status. Beginning with the national security strategy released at the end of 2017, and continuing through today’s announcement of a landmark review of the defense industrial base, Trump has accomplished the “pivot to Asia” that the Obama administration so often talked about.

More at the link. Are you tired of winning yet?

IF YOU CAN HEAR THE DOG WHISTLE, YOU’RE THE DOG: Crazy Liberals Claim Trump’s Criticism of Soros Is Anti-Semitic Dog Whistle.

(Classical reference in headline.)

ROBBY SOAVE: Brett Kavanaugh Will Be Confirmed, and Liberals Should Blame Michael Avenatti.

JUSTICE ELENA KAGAN ON FREE SPEECH ON CAMPUS: “I think people should lose their thin skins.” Agreed.

PREDICTION: Kavanaugh Will Join The Supreme Court And Republicans Have The 2018 Momentum. Here’s Why.

EMILY YOFFE: The Problem With #BelieveSurvivors: It’s important to listen to those who come forward—and also to those accused.

Even as we must treat accusers with seriousness and dignity, we must hear out the accused fairly and respectfully, and recognize the potential lifetime consequences that such an allegation can bring. If believing the woman is the beginning and the end of a search for the truth, then we have left the realm of justice for religion.

Whether an investigation takes place at a school, at a workplace, or in the criminal-justice system, neutral fact-finding must apply, regardless of how disturbing we find the offense, the group identity of the accused, or the political leanings of those involved. History demonstrates that ascribing honesty or dishonesty, criminality or righteousness solely on the basis of gender or race doesn’t increase the amount of equity in the world.

Nope, but maybe that’s not the actual goal.

AND THIS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IS MY SHOCKED FACE:  The real collusion.

I READ IT IN THE FUNNY PAPERS:  And it was true.

FOR MARXISM COMES WITH HATRED OF MANKIND, AND WITH HIM COMES DEATH, RIDING A PALE HORSE AND WHOSOEVER GIVES IN TO THE CALLS OF MARX SHALL SUFFER FAMINE AND PESTILENCE AS WELL:  Typhus outbreak in… Los Angeles?

YEAH. I CAME TO THIS CONCLUSION TOO:  The Kavanaugh setup becomes clear.

NEVER WAS ANYTHING SO INAPPROPRIATELY NAMED, INCLUDING MY CLASSMATE GRACE WHO COULD TRIP ON BOTH FEET WHILE STANDING STILL:  Bonfire of the Lefties: Robert Reich mobilizes MoveOn’s anti-Kavanaugh mob to descend on Washington.

TO BE FAIR, THEY STARTED BEING EXPOSED BY THE INTERNET AND BLOGS, BUT YES:  The Mainstream Media Fraud.

OKAY, GUYS, I’M AFRAID TO LOOK, SO JUST TELL ME: IN THIS WORLD DOES SPOCK HAVE A BEARD?  Susan Collins Assures Kavanaugh’s Nomination.

DISMANTLING DUE PROCESS FOR THE SAKE OF COMPASSION IS THE STUPIDEST BARGAIN SINCE MANHATTAN SOLD FOR A BUNCH OF BEADS:  A Nation Of 12 Angry Men: Reasonable Doubt For Everyone Except Brett.

SHOCKER: The Women’s March is not handling Sen. Collins’ Kavanaugh decision very well.

SPUTNIK:

GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY: