For those questioning whether Ed Whelan may not be acting in good faith in his current role, here's my own unrelated interaction with him. The “Whelan Way:” Ed Whelan’s Bad Faith and Nasty Attack on My Book on Justice Scalia’s Legacy" electionlawblog.org/?p=98592
Real question here is if Ed is the lone ranger here or this is was vetted with his Federalist Society/Trump Administration/Judicial Confirmation Network allies. I'd bet on lone ranger because this is both loony AND counterproductive (makes case for FBI investigation compelling)
I just cannot see the rational calculation that accusing another man of attempted rape who travelled in the same social circles could actually help bring any wavering Republicans to vote for Kavanaugh.
And yet, lots of folks pointing out to me that Leonard Leo may be involved in spreading these ideas, and there was the Kavanaugh doppelganger Parker column (washingtonpost.com/opinions/is-th…). So maybe they are irrational enough to try this boneheaded move supporting reason for FBI invest.
Seems like they've settled on a defense strategy of raising identity for purposes of reasonable doubt, as opposed to attacking Dr. Ford as lying about whether the incident happened. They may have calculated that all they need is reasonable doubt to get Kav over the hump.
I think that's a miscalculation to believe that raising doubt as to identity will be enough to insulate Senate Republicans from the wrath of women and men voters who will see this strategy for what it is.
Indeed, assuming Dr. Ford and the committee agree on the ground rules for her to testify next week, I'd think it more likely that Kavanaugh withdraws than McConnell puts his R Senators through a public committee hearing with Dr. Ford.
It is kind of amazing that Whelan apparently couldn't even get a place like the Daily Caller or Breitbart to run his "story" about mistaken identity.
So despite my initial view that such a boneheaded thing couldn't be centrally planned, it appears that it was....centrally planned by Senate Rs and the White House.
Ed Whelan’s trial balloon burst this morning (for which he still faces a serious potential tort case for defamation) and his (faux?) contrition is very satisfying for those of us who have long argued that Ed does not operate in good faith.
I hope people remember this when considering including Ed in symposia and events where people with diverse views come together for reasoned discussion.
Appropriate that the first response to his pseudo-apology is from Louise Mensch
Appropriate that the first response to his pseudo-apology is from Louise Mensch
And let’s not miss for a second that Ed is *only* apologizing for *naming* the classmate, and not for raising a false claim based on no credible evidence in order to undermine the testimony of Dr. Ford for purely political reasons.
He did not even give the poor guy a chance to deny the false charges. A breach of basic journalistic ethics (ed writes for @NRO)
And for those journalists writing about Ed’s “apology,” you should note he did not apologize for falsely accusing another man of attempted rape, only for naming him. Still accomplishing his purpose to try to buck up nomination with unsupported mistaken identity theory
