Rough horseplay

From Jen Hayden at Daily Kos, a recounting of an interview on CNN:

Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director for The Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative organization funded by dark money that is spending millions to promote conservative extremist judges like Brett Kavanaugh, says that what Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has described, that Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge locked her in a room, turned up a stereo to drown out her protests, groped her, and tried to take off her bathing suit and that she feared for her life when Kavanaugh put his hand over her mouth to cover her protests, even if all that were true, it was merely “rough horseplay.”

The things that conservatives say. What is it that these people expect to get from the sale of their souls?

There are witch hunts, and there are days when the witches beg to be caught.

One of the great ironies of this age is that the Republican Party, masters of the witch hunt, are accusing Special Counsel Robert Mueller of conducting one.

Well, I called them "masters of the witch hunt," but, really, let's look at their success rate. Their efforts to dig up dirt on the Clintons did find that Bill Clinton lied to investigators about his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Congrats, Republicans, but that's about it.

The House of Representatives launched a slew of investigations into Hillary's handling of Benghazi, but actually found nothing to reproach her for. Their search devolved into multiple investigations of her private email server, which also led to nothing, except for the House's embarrassing (for them) eleven hour interrogation of Hillary, during which they seemed totally unprepared and had no idea what questions to ask her. She owned them that day.

From these repeated Republican failures, we can come to a couple of conclusions. First, the Republicans are bound and determined to go on witch hunts, seemingly as an alternative to governing.

Second, let's examine three possibilities of what the multiple investigations of Hillary Clinton mean.

Possibility 1: The House investigators are just totally incompetent when it comes to investigating. There's actually something to be said for this possibility, but it doesn't prove that Hillary was guilty of anything.

Possibility 2: The House investigators tried their best for years, but that wily Hillary is just the smartest master criminal in the history of criminality, and they couldn't catch her. But they'll keep trying as long as they draw breath.

Possibility 3: Hillary Clinton is innocent.

OK, that's one kind of witch hunt. (The real kind.)

Now, consider the Mueller "witch hunt." Yes, I put that in quotes. If I shift metaphors here, and call the Mueller investigation a fishing expedition, it's one of the most successful fishing trips in the history of humankind. The fish are leaping into the boat!

Just today, the biggest, most elusive of all legendary fish in the Mueller expedition was finally reeled in. Paul Manafort has not only pleaded guilty to charges he did not want to fight in court, but has agreed to provide further information on Donald Trump. Now, that's fishin'.

Meanwhile, Trump's pick for the Supreme Court has been accused of sexual misconduct. His defenders may point to the fact that this misconduct happened when he was in high school. Normally, this would be enough to dismiss the charge as trivial, but the charge is attempted rape. If the allegation is true, even in high school Kavanaugh sought to control women's bodies.

Well, we'll see how that one plays out, but, really, there have been so many indictments and so many guilty pleas, the phrase "witch hunt" is wildly inapt. Trump is surrounded by criminals; they seem to be the only kind of people he knows.