September 7, 2018 • 41 mins
Who is Trump's SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh? A&B try to find out.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Bridget and this is any and you're
listening to stuff mom never told you. And you might
recall earlier this summer when the Supreme Court Justice Kennedy
announced his retirement. Everybody, myself included, was losing their collective minds.
(00:29):
And here's why. President Trump gets to choose his replacement,
and he picked Rhett Kavanaugh, a conservative judge for the
United States Court of Appeals for d C Circuit, often
thought of is the second most powerful court in the country.
One of the reasons people were freaking out is that
getting to pick a Supreme Court justice is a pretty
big deal. So this week, Kavanaugh is undergoing a pretty
(00:51):
lengthy series of hearings so folks can get a sense
of just who this guy is and where he stands
on the issues. Yeah, you can try to Yes, you
can try to um. His confirmation hearing started on Tuesday,
and here in the States and probably outside of the
States you might have seen some of it because it
(01:14):
got a little wild. It was a little rowdy. Um
fun fact. I was supposed to go and then at
the last minute I was like, can I really? I mean,
I am I am down for getting arrested for the cause,
but I was like, I've got some stuff in the works,
so I don't want to get arrested now, y'all say
that for later. UM seventy women, including Women's March leader
Linda Sarsore an actress Piper Paraboo, Yes that Piper Pearaboo
(01:37):
from Coyote Ugly, were arrested on the opening day of
his hearing. UM and activists even dressed up like handmaids
and sort of live in the hall to sort of
make a very arresting visual statement of how they feel
about capitall. Yeah, and Senator took grass Lee and Iowa
Republican who's the Judiciary Committees chairman, pushed back on those calls,
(01:58):
and outgoing Senator or A Hatch, the Utah Republican, at
one point called for the removal of a quote loudmouth protester. Yeah.
So it was definitely a rowdy scene. And I think
one of the reasons why people are so vocal about
about their opposition to Kavanaugh is that this is really important,
you know. I think it was Kamala Harris who made
(02:19):
the point that this person's positions could very well impact
the air you and your kids breathe. You know the
schools you and your kids go to, what medical procedures
you can and can't get, So it's a big deal.
And the fact that we don't really know a ton
about him, and again that's that's tends to be in
line with a lot of judges, Like if you remember
the Gorsix cheerings, he was not someone who was super
(02:41):
forthcoming and the process of having to sort of, you know,
finesse information out of these people is is not unusual.
But you know, that's why that's one of the reasons
why this is so frustrating, because the American people deserve
to know this. We deserve to know where this person
stands on X Y Z issue, you how they feel
about these rulings, so we can get a sense of
(03:02):
how they're going to, you know, how they're going to
be in this position. Yeah, I mean, it's hard to
without information without knowing where people stands. It's weird because
politics has become that but it shouldn't be that. But
it fills me with an underlying sense of dread that
(03:25):
is no fun. I don't blame you, okay, So let's
back up, just who is this guy? Who is Brett
Kavanaugh NPR describes him as quote a connected Washington insider
with roots and politics in the George W. Bush White House.
Another thing to note is that he's only fifty three,
so that means if he's confirmed, he's going to be
on the Supreme Court for a long time. UM. Side note,
(03:48):
RBG girl, if you're listening to this, please continue your
workout routine, keep eating healthy. We're all rooting for you,
Yes we are. She's so tough. Another notable fact about
him is that he believe is that a sitting president
should be protected from litigation and criminal investigations because they
are quote time consuming and distracting, and that a president
(04:10):
who is concerned about an ongoing criminal investigation is almost
inevitably going to do a worse job as president. Yeah. Um,
that's concerning to me. During Wednesday's hearing, he backed off
a little bit from this, from this position that he
had earlier publicly taken, but the fact that Trump is
(04:30):
still under investigation did still play a pretty big role
in his hearing. Um. And I gotta say, Kamala Harris,
of all the different ways that senators tried to kind
of get Kavanaugh to just answer God in question, she
really had him on the ropes, and the topic that
really got him there was the Trump investigation. Here was
(04:52):
one sort of rather explosive part of the hearing. What
happened really late Wednesday night about Robert Mueller or his
investigation with anyone at that firm? Yes or no? Well,
is there a person you're talking I'm asking you a
very direct question, yes or no. I need to know that.
(05:14):
I'm not sure I know everyone who works with that
law firm. I don't think you need to. I think
you need to know who you talked with so honestly
that that I find that Cook to be so dizzy
ng because one, it just shows how the ranks that
he will go to not answer this question too. I mean,
it's a yes or no question. I think that Harris
(05:35):
is so smart for framing her questions this way, but he,
you know, he clearly doesn't want to answer it. Later
on an aid for Harris implied that they have information
or that they they suspect that there is some reason
to believe he has had connection with someone from Trump's
law firm about these investigations. But I guess, you know,
(05:56):
TV t v D. I guess we'll find out. But
that clip really does is illustrate to me that he
is not someone who we'll just answer a question out right,
like he will use anything like he's very slippery, he's
not forthcoming. Um, that was the first time he to
my knowledge that he sort of got ruffled. Oh yeah,
(06:18):
it definitely was. It definitely was. Like I stayed up
to watch the hearing overnight and so this happened pretty
late at night, and the in the this morning, when
I was looking at the paper, all of the headlines
were Harris gets him on the ropes for the first time.
He was flustered like like this, like for he was
visibly shaken when she asked him about this. I'm no expert,
(06:38):
but it seems like he is making a point to
not answer this question. Um. Senator Mike Lee from Utah
basically steps in and it's like stop, stop, he's already
dead and says and says, Harris, you know, he can't
be expected to remember everything, to know every person who
was on this list of people who ever worked at
that law firm. Which again, it's it's almost like that
(07:02):
that is not the spirit of the question, Like it's
I think it's very clear what the spirit of the
question is if you asked me, have you ever had
a conversation about X y Z with somebody who worked
at x y Z? I would understand that question. She's
not asking him to like list the name of every
person who has ever worked at that law firm. It's
almost sort of um, it's almost like this red herring
(07:23):
where she's asking what I think is a pretty clear question,
and he's responding, Oh, I don't know the entire rundown
of this law firm by name, and that's not really
what she's asking. I think that someone who is smart
enough to become a judge knows that. I would hope so. Um.
That sounds like something children do to avoid answering directly
(07:45):
a question when they're in trouble with their parents. Do
you have any connections with the Russian law firm? Bridget Listen,
I can't be said to know the names of every
person who has some connection to a Russian law firm,
you know. I mean I talked to people all day long.
I just took a cab this morning. Maybe he had
a connection. I don't know. I can't. I can't be
(08:05):
in charge of who who does what with their time
message received. If I just said no, of course not.
I mean again, she and she asked it yes or
no question is a very clear yes or no questions.
So I think it's very interesting that he had that
response and was so visually freaked out by it. So
one of the questions that that I had kind of
(08:27):
going into this episode is do people actually like Kavanaugh?
Um When they first announced that he was going to
be the nominee, I did see this really annoying meme
popping out that was like, Oh, he drives carpool with
his kid gets such a nice guy. It's just a
really good guy, And I thought, no one is accusing
it of not being a good father or like not
(08:49):
being a super sweetheart, you know. I mean, that's fun.
But I also think that it's focusing on that almost
sort of it seem like we're out of line for
wanting to know his actual rulings and opinions and all
of that. Like I think it was Ben Sass opened
his remarks um the senator from Nebraska talking about how, oh,
(09:14):
a lot of liberals would have us believe you're this terrible,
terrible guy. I think they're crazy because you're so nice
and all of your colleagues and all of your law
school classmates all talked about what a nice guy you
were and how you know, how dedicated you were, And
I thought, come on, like, people raising objections to his
(09:35):
record or the lack of clarity and transparency around his record,
is not accusing him of not being a nice guy
or a dedicated law student or whatever. And even and
even raising that, it's so disingenuous to me, And it's
almost insulting to the American people that because people are
understandably concerned that indequates like, oh, we're being we're overreacting
(09:59):
because we are, you know, daring to ask questions of
this super sweet guy who drives car pool questions like
how would you rule on Row versus Wade. Yeah, it's
a job interview, and we sure you can be a
nice guy, but are you the person for the job?
(10:19):
Like that's the whole thing. Can you imagine showing up
to a job interview like at a bank and then
being like, so, what's your background in banking? And you're
being like, WHOA I could have carpool? Okay, everyone agrees
on a nice person. Everyone agrees on a nice person. Yeah,
I'm a car pool person. And you know what that
is right. It's someone who carpools. An ABC News Washington
(10:43):
Post poll found the public is evenly divided on Kavanaugh's nomination.
He has among the lowest support levels for a high
Court nominee in polling going back to nine, seven, six,
and ten. Americans also say that Kavana should publicly state
his position on abortion before being confirmed. Again, A completely
reasonable position for the American people to take. Yeah, And
(11:07):
I would hope that no matter what side of the
aisle you fall on, you would agree with that. We
just want to know positions. That's something you should know
for something that's important. That's right. And only two nominees
have had weaker public support than Cavita Harriet Myers, who
withdrew her nomination in two thousand five, and Robert Bourke,
(11:29):
who was rejected by the Senate. So throughout all of
this um there's been some kind of not helpful practices.
The White House has withheld more than one hundred thousand
pages based on claims of executive privilege, and Democrats also
(11:49):
complained that Republicans dumped forty five thousand documents on the
committee the night before the hearing, which was Labor Day.
If I remember correctly. Yes, giving senators bill time to
review them. Yeah, that's here, no time at all, exactly.
And here's my thing. It just goes back to this
idea of transparency. He can hold whatever positions he wants
(12:10):
to hold. He can, you know, be a judge, whatever
kind of way he wants to be a judge. We
just deserve to know. And I think that the fact
that they're making it this difficult for just to get
information to me speaks volumes. I mean, people deserve to know,
you know, who was super not here for those shenanigans.
I think I do. Kamala Yaris making a really fiery speech.
(12:35):
This is a hearing about who will sit on the
highest court of our land. This is a hearing that
is about who will sit in a house that symbolizes
our system of justice in this country. And some of
the most important principles behind the integrity of our system
(12:55):
of justice is that we have due process and we
have transparent and true to form. When Kavanaugh was given
the chance to speak, he really didn't say a ton.
He has this way of really answering questions without really
answering the question he he I feel like I left
(13:15):
that hearing without better understanding of who he was, like
who I thought he was when I walked into that hearing,
I left with no clear challenges to that that understanding
that I had. The quote that I remember him saying
the most was I don't decide cases based on personal
or policy preferences. I am not a pro plaintiff or
pro defendant judge. I am not a pro prosecution or
(13:37):
pro defense judge. I am a pro law judge, which me,
I mean, yeah, like that, Like that doesn't what does
that mean? That doesn't mean anything to me. Just saying oh,
I just follow the law it is it doesn't help me.
And I feel like it's almost insulting because it pretends
(13:59):
that he not have this background and conservative politics that
he does not. You know, he can't go He can't,
as much as he probably would have liked to, And
he tried to walk these comments back during Wednesday's hearing.
He can't go back and erase the fact that he
said that he thought a sitting president should not could
not be investigated for criminal wrongdoing while he's the president.
(14:20):
He can't go back and erase that. And so to
act like that never happened is you just can't. You
just can't do it, you know, And I think people
have a right to to know. And I guess that's
that's what makes me so angry about these hearings is
how the Republicans, they seem very exasperated, like, how dare
you ask these questions? When? But why are we asking
that this isn't a big deal? Sure, um, And if
(14:45):
the shoe were on the other foot, and it has been,
they would be complaining as well. We have some more,
some more stuff to talk about here, um, but first
we're gonna pause for a quick break or word from
our sponsor, and we're back, Thank you sponsor. So again,
(15:10):
one of the biggest issues with Kavanaugh is that he's
not being clear on where he stands on really important issues,
issues like Row versus Wade. So the public has pretty
much left to kind of piece together what like his positions,
how he might rule, what he thinks all of that
based on opinions that he's that he's put out there
and bits and pieces of speeches that he's done, which
really is not a I don't think it's a good
(15:34):
way of having to construct who this person is who
will have such a big hands in our democracy. Sure,
and Here's what Vox has to say. Much of the
debate around Kavanaugh's confirmation has centered on what the judge
really believes when it comes to row. Has coming so
far have been vague and are likely to remain so.
But Feinstein said in our opening statement at Tuesday's hearing,
(15:56):
the judges record indicates he would likely be willing to
overturn the landmark ninety three decision. Doing so wouldn't just
strike an enormous blow to reproductive rights in America, she
pointed out, because of rose role in American law, overturning
the decision could also threaten marriage equality and other freedoms.
Kavanaugh reportedly told Senator Susan Collins last month he considered
(16:20):
Roe versus Way to be settled law, But as fine
Stein pointed out, that doesn't mean much since the Supreme
Court has the power to unsettle the law. Yeah, and
so sim saying, oh well Roe, you Wade, that's settled
law again? You know who was not okay to just
accept that answer? Can you guess? I think I can?
(16:40):
Kamala Harris, here's what she had to say. Five justices,
if in agreement, can overturn any precedent, would you agree
there's a reason why the Supreme Court doesn't do that,
But but do you agree that it can do that? Well,
it is overruled precedent at various times in our history,
the most prominent example being Brown versus Board of Education,
(17:02):
the Eerie case which overruled Swift versus Tyson. We both
agree the court has done it and can do it.
So yeah, he can say, oh, this is settled law
as a way to make us not cannot concerned and
not ask follow up questions. But Harris is right, colin
Roe v. Wade, settled law doesn't mean anything. A Supreme Court,
(17:23):
as she points out, as he very well knows, has
the power to change settled law. And you know, I
think that it's it's interesting that she has to resort
to asking these questions in such a roundabout way because
he won't just splot out say how he feels about
these things. But you know, I want to be clear,
(17:44):
he's making it seem as if a Supreme Court justice
does not have the power to overturn settled law if
it's you know, on the books, as Harris has has
sort of gotten him to agree, that doesn't really mean
a lot. That doesn't really mean anything. Another reason that
(18:04):
um people are a little, a little suspicious or something
that keeps coming up in this conversation of where Kavanaugh
stands on Roe v. Wade and abortion is his ruling
in Garza versus Hargin. In his descent last year, in
the d C Circuit Court case Garza Vargin, Kevinaugh opposed
a ruling allowing an unauthorized immigrant teenager to receive an
(18:27):
abortion while in federal care. He argued that since quote
the minor is alone and without family, our friends, that
she should be transferred to an appropriate sponsor before getting
the procedure. And requiring the teenager to seek such a sponsor,
Kevinall wrote, the government quote is merely seeking to place
the minor in a better place when deciding whether to
(18:49):
have an abortion. So you might be thinking, oh, that
doesn't sound so bad, but here's what he also wrote
it as descent, he wrote that quote, the government has
permissible interest in favoring fetal life, protecting the best interests
of a minor, and refraining from facilitating abortion, and that
the decision to extend that right to an undocumented immigrant
was quote as novel as it was wrong. So I
(19:12):
mean you tell me right, Like, this is someone who says,
I'm not going to rule using my personal or political
you know, preferences or policy blah blah blah. I rule,
I rule a long law. But I do think that
the government has a responsibility to prevent people from getting
abortions if they want them. So I mean, you tell
(19:33):
me again, I'm no, I'm no expert. But he said
very clearly during this hearing that he was not someone
who was going to allow his you know, personal or
political opinions to impact the way that he rules on
things that dissent seems to do just that. Like there's
I mean, you can't kind of have it both ways
in my book, Well, if you can, I certainly have
(19:58):
figured it out. None of does know how to have
it both ways. That's what I think exactly. Um, And
here's what Diane Feinstein had to say this argument. Findstein
said at the hearing, quote, rewrite Supreme Court precedent, if adopted,
we believe, would require courts to determine whether a young
woman had a sufficient support network when making her decision,
even in cases where she has gone to court. So again,
(20:20):
it might not seem you know, saying like oh, we
just want that, we just want what's best for the minor.
That sounds all well and good, but that could set
a really tough precedent where even though the court said,
like what happened in this case, yes, you were fine
to get your abortion. If that's what you want to do,
go do it, that is at a precedent where the
(20:41):
court could say, oh, well, she doesn't have friends around
her family around her No, you know. And and I
think that Findstein is correct to to point that out.
And on Wednesdays hearing, Harris once again trying to ask
Kavina some pointed questions about the law as it regards
(21:03):
to women's bodies, and the exchange went viral. Can you
think of any laws that give government the power to
make decisions about the male body? Um, I'm happy that
answer more specific question male versus female, I'm not. I'm
(21:26):
not thinking of any right now. Center. So really, I mean,
I've I've watched both days of the hearings. Now I
don't feel like we found out that much about this
man's record, that much about how what kind of judge
he would be. I feel like, again, the way and
I went into the hearing feeling is If anything, I
(21:47):
feel like I've got I feel like he's squirrelier. I'm like, oh,
he's squirrelier and easilier than I thought. If anything, I
feel less at ease than I did when I started
watching the hearing. Another kind of clue that might give
us some idea about this guy's positions is a twenty
seventeen speech that he made at the American Enterprise Institute,
(22:10):
and it offered a little bit more insight into how
he might feel about things like, Oh, I don't know abortion.
Kavanaugh commended the opinions of former Chief Justice William Rendquist
in this speech, including notably Rendquists Descent, and Roe v. Wade.
Rendquist was the minority in a seven to decision in
the nineteen seventy three case which guaranteed women's constitutionally protected
(22:31):
right to an abortion. He wrote it as assenting opinion
that the prevalence of abortion regulations made it tough for
him to argue that it should become a quote enumerated right,
and concluded that, barring certain restrictions, states should legislate the matter.
In Kavanaugh speech, he says it is fair to say
that Justice ryan Quist was not successful in convincing a
(22:52):
majority of justices in the context of abortion, either in
Row itself or in a later cases such as Casey,
but he as successful in stimming the general tide a
freewheeling judicial creation of unenumerated rights that were not rooted
in the nation's history and tradition. And again, I hear
that speech, and I think it basically sounds like he's
(23:13):
saying he really put an end to this idea that
people this can have any old rights whenever they want. No. No,
the rights that we need to protect are the ones
that are rooted in tradition, tradition. Yes, Yeah, And I again,
I think it's patently absurd that we're left to sort
of piece together this guy's opinions on on law. It
(23:36):
threw a handful of speeches, but he's kind of left
us no choice. And I can I can't help but
read that speech and think this is not somebody who
was going to be invested in protecting, you know, my
reproductive justice and my reproductive rights. Yeah, we shouldn't be
having to like puzzle piece together from like little scraps
we can find from its history. It doesn't make sense, Honestly,
(24:02):
it's not how things um of functioning functioning Supreme Court
should should go about things. But you know, it's where
we are, and we do have some more some more
issues that are a little concerning. But first we're gonna
take one more quick break for word from our sponsor
(24:31):
editor back, thank you sponsor. So a few more issues
that people are raising alarm bells on um while and
this his record on guns, according to a piece by
Hannah Sharier, the Second Amendment litigation director at the Gifford's
Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in Opinion, for example,
Kavanaugh dissented from the decision of two Republican appointed judges
arguing that Washington's gun magistration law and a ban on
(24:54):
assault weapons violates the Second Amendment. Kavanas a logical claim,
was at the public safety should play no role in
determining the constitutionality of public safety laws. Um again, Yeah,
it's just it. I don't agree with the head safety
should play no role in public safety laws. Yeah, I mean,
(25:18):
it's it's concerning, and it's especially concerning when you consider
the fact that during the opening day of the hearing,
Capital straight up refused to shake the hand of a
father who lost his daughter during the park Land shooting,
and that moment really did go viral. Of this father.
He this father says he went up to him kind
of father to father. And bear in mind, this is
(25:40):
the one who for the first you know, week of
the news cycle when he was first announced as the nominee,
we spent forever hearing about oh, he's such a good dad.
Dedicated dad, drives carpool, don't you know, as the the
coach on the kids team. Like him being a dedicated
father was a big part of of the narrative about
you know who this guy was. And yet when someone
(26:02):
who lost his child, you know, I tried to connect
with him, he says, dad to dad. He was really rebuffed,
and I part of me kind of gets it. You're
out of hearing. You've been being talked at for hours.
That is part of the job. Cecil Richards didn't have
a problem doing it, you know when she was in
hearing whatever um. But part of me gets it that
(26:25):
you know, someone comes up to you quickly and you're like,
what's happening. But I also think once you hear someone
say if you want to be a Supreme Court judge
and wants to hear someone say Hello, shake my hand.
My my daughter was killed in Parkland. Like to not
respond like his He has this deer in headlights response
(26:45):
that I just feel like whether or not he was
just in a weird moment of what's happening, I'm being
taken off guard or it was what I believe it
to be, and this father believes it to be an
intentional choice to not engage with him. Um, it doesn't
look good. Yeah, here's what the father had to say.
It would have been a way for one dad to
(27:06):
look another dad in the eye and maybe he would
have asked me more questions about why I'm there. But instead,
as soon as I said murdered in Parkland, he just
did an immediate turn and went the other way. Yeah,
it really just doesn't look good. You know, this is
someone who lost their their child, and if Kavanaugh was
(27:27):
to become a justice, he would be ruling on cases
that very well, could you know, have an impact on
that kind of thing going forward? And I think, yeah,
it just it just doesn't it. Really. When I saw
this clip, it like made me feel kind of almost
(27:49):
like queasy when I saw this, because it just doesn't
look good and the optics of you know, this father
standing there and Kavanaugh just turning away from him like
glassy eyed. It just well, it wasn't good. No, and um.
Something else people are concerned about is the Affordable Care Act,
(28:10):
because his nomination threatens that as well. The Trump administration
has already made a botched attempt to repeal the law.
They joined a lawsuit by twenty states that would if successful,
and the requirement that health insurers cover those with pre
existing conditions. The case is due to be heard in
the District Court in Texas and could wind up before
(28:32):
the Supreme Court and Kavanaugh if he is confirmed soon.
This means people with a very long list of conditions,
things like acne, asthma, could have their healthcare threatened. So
for some people this is literally life or death. Yeah,
it is life for death. I I try not to
(28:53):
be someone like when I went into this episode, I
was like, I don't want to be alarmist. I want
to put together what is out there, but I want
to be clear. You know, for folks, folks like my
dad who have chronic health conditions, you know, the Affordable
Care Acts saved my dad's life. And I think that
people who like people deserve to have their dad's around,
(29:17):
if their dads can be around. You know, people deserve
to have healthcare. People desert to not And I'm not
even saying the Affordable Care Act is perfect, because the
Lord knows. It's not that. I think that we need
to understand what's at steak. And so if you see
that hashtag popping off hashtag what's at stake, I think
it's because I know that people, myself included, are fatigued.
(29:41):
I know that we have stuff being thrown at us day.
It feels like we have something thrown on us day
in and day out. You know, on Wednesday, the day
of this hearing, that was also the day that this
sort of bombshell anonymous New York Times article came out,
supposedly written by somebody high up of the administration about
how out of a job our president is doing. This
(30:02):
is coming from out from inside of his administration. We are,
I mean, he's under investigation, pussy grabbing. I mean it's
it is a constant, constant, constant show of stuff being
thrown at us, day in and day out. So I
get it. I get it. Part of me thinks that
we have just sort of accepted that this is normal.
(30:23):
But it's not normal our president is under investigation. Should
he really get a Supreme Court pick with that being
the case? Like, is that okay? And I think it's
not normal? It's I just think that we need to
remind ourselves that, yes, we're hearing a lot of really
absurd stuff day in and day out, but we can
(30:43):
say no, we can make the choice to say I'm
not okay with this. And so if you're listening to
this right now and you're thinking what can I do,
we actually have some steps you can take. So first
of all, you should be calling your senator. Um. I
live in Washington, d C. So I should don't have
a senator to call. But if you don't live in Washington,
d C. You should be calling your senator. Um. Even
(31:05):
if your senator is doing is is, you know, making
a lot of noise, even if you if your senator
is Kamala Harris, it's often a good idea to call them,
and you know, you know, we sometimes you call it
in the business banks and spanks, where if they're doing
a bad job, they get spanks. So you call them
and say I'm annoyed at you for not doing for
not blah blah, but if doing good job, they get thanks,
(31:27):
and so you call them and say keep up the
good work. And you know so no matter where you live, Um,
this is a worth balled endeavor, I would say. So,
if you want to call your senator, the number is
two O two two two four three one two one.
You will be connected to your senator. You can you know,
it will determine where you live, and it will walk
(31:47):
through the process. Again, I am not someone I think.
I think we both Annie, we both feel this way.
Talking on the phone is not thing. I will go
out of my way to avoid it. The links I
have taken, Oh my gosh, I want to hear more about,
like what you've done to not talk on the phone.
(32:08):
By the way, I read somewhere that they're actually toying
with the idea of having an option on ridesharing apps
where you can say you don't want to talk. I
saw that. I thought of you immediately. I was like, oh,
is this the is this the Annie? Annie? You call
it that? Somebody listened to the show and was like, hmmm, no,
I'm certainly not the only person who had that idea.
(32:28):
But if you go, if you like Bridget and I
and you do perhaps avoid talking on the phone. Don't
like talking on the phone. You can go to blockbread
dot com and they have a really handy tool and
they provide a script of what to say which every
time I call a senator or or something of that nature.
Those scripts helped me out so much. Yeah, they definitely do. UM.
(32:53):
Some of y'all know. For a while I worked at
Planned Parenthood, and so if you were on Plan Parenthood's
text or SMS list, you got text messages UM from
either from B from P, p BT from PP, or
bridget from PP. Hello, those are all me. I was not.
I was not I'm not actually a robot. I was
a real person. And what we found is that people
(33:15):
were so so so much more likely to actually take
the steps and call their senator if you made it
really clear. So when you called that number, you heard
my voice on a recording being like, hey, thanks for calling. UM,
here's what you should say, you know, a complete rundown.
So it is annoying if you hate talking to the
phone and have phone anxiety, and and I are right
(33:36):
there with you, we get it. But this is so
important and we really they really do make it so easy,
so please, please, please make your voice heard and let
us know. Like, I want to know, are you making
these calls? Did you get through to your senator? Like
if someone if someone has an interesting response, I want
to know. I want to know how it went. Yes,
we would love love to know. And UM, I can
(33:58):
say on a personal note, I they have post it
notes everywhere. I don't know if you've ever noticed this, Bridget,
but I've post it notes everywhere. That's say, this is
not normal. I have noticed. I've never brought it up
because I wasn't sure if it was about Trump or real.
I never didn't want to. I didn't want to pry
this whole podcasting biz is not normal. It is not normal. Um.
(34:21):
But no, I mean it's it's true, and I do
think we need those reminders. If you feel like you
are losing it, you're not. This is not normal. None
of this is normal. Remember Annie's post it notes, this
is not normal. They are everywhere. Um. So that is
our Brett Kavanaugh episode. We are recording this like the
(34:46):
Thursday after the second hearing, so things could change very rapidly. Yeah,
expect to follow up. Um, if anything explosive happens, we'll
definitely do a follow up episode. Um, but keep watching
and keep keep calling, keep the pressure on, you know,
and we'll see how it goes when we're all on
this ride together. We all live in this country together,
(35:06):
so we'll see. And to the listeners outside of the
United States, UM, thank you, thank you, and free for us.
And speaking of listeners, this brings us to listener mail.
Stephanie wrote, I am into railing solo through Central Europe
and Scandinavia for four weeks this summer and then and
(35:30):
am having a fantastic time. I listened to your podcast
in the Olympic Park and Munich were decided on the
spur of the moment to go zip lining across the
Olympic stadium. I really enjoyed traveling alone for many of
the reasons discussed in the podcast. I am happy in
my own company. I love being able to decide my
own itinerary and do things my own way. Most people
(35:51):
in my life know that I am very independent and
have no issue with me traveling alone. I have had
anyone tell me that I'm going to be murdered, but
a few people have tried to suddenly ask what about
your boyfriend? As if once you have a partner, you
can't travel alone. I thought what you said Annie about
travel snobbery was really interesting. I am Irish and as
(36:13):
Ireland is a very small country, the vast majority of
people have passports and have traveled outside of the country.
While Ireland is a beautiful place, there isn't the attitude
that Annie described there being in the US of home
not being good enough for you. Also, the bigger country
is the more expensive it is to leave it. With
cheap airlines such as Ryanair, you can get flights from
(36:35):
Ireland to the UK and the rest of Europe pretty cheaply.
It is completely normal for people to go to resorts
in Spain, Italy and France for their holidays. It can
even be cheaper to go on holidays abroad and to
stay at home in Ireland. I think we're travel snobbery
could come in in our context. Maybe where you choose
to go it is seen as more adventurous to go
(36:56):
to more far flung places, are places that are off
the beaten track. Uh yeah, um I was lucky enough
to I interned in Europe for eight months and um
I got to I got to visit so many countries
because Europe is the travel situation is, um, it can
(37:19):
be pretty cheap, pretty easy, and yeah, you can be
in one country in a couple of hours, depending on
where you are in a different country from where you are.
And I remember the first time I went to Ireland,
the at passport control at border patrol, the woman checking
my passport laughed at me because he was like, are
(37:41):
you trying to check off all the countries or something
like yeah, yeah, trying to collect them all, um, like pokemon.
And that was kind of nowadays because the European Union,
the Shinun Agreement, they don't really stamp your passport when
you go to a different country, but it um in
the UK and Ireland they still do, and it used
(38:03):
to be sometimes if you asked, they would, but now
I really wouldn't advise asking because they get pretty annoyed. Um,
But I'm glad. I'm glad that your experience traveling alone
has been so good. And they're flining across the Olympic stadia.
That's that's pretty rad. Oh my god. The first so,
the first time I left the country properly was to
(38:25):
go on a trip to Australia, UM for this like
big human rights training and uh, when I said it was.
It was so I had been to a few places,
but never any place like Australia and never I don't
because ever as an adult, never alone. And when I
got there, they didn't stamp my passport and I'm about
how to fit. I was like, I was like, you're
subbout to stamp it. They didn't stamp it. They didn't
(38:47):
they didn't stay it like I was. I was like
having a melk um because there is I mean, it's
so stupid, but it is like a little I don't know,
it's dumb, but it's just like proven woun. I wouldn't
advise asking there, but it's you know, it's just stupid,
like I can't even like I don't even have ever spots.
It's dumb, but I wanted it. I understand, I understand.
(39:10):
I just know that like nowadays, I don't think you'll
succeed if you ask, and they'll just be mad at
you can confirm cancer firm. Lisa wrote, I have struggled
with an eating disorder since I was around seven years old. Seven.
I have been in proper recovery for six months now
and I'm doing really well. But of course the diet
(39:32):
culture is still an unrelenting toxic force I'm faced with
every day. I remember seeing the tip to eat in
front of the mirror to discuss yourself many years ago.
It never resonated with me until I saw it in
a different light on a truly body positive account. I've
used this practice as a way to make peace with
my eating and my body. I've eaten naked in front
(39:53):
of my mirror to appreciate the beauty and nourishment. Maybe
this is gonna be a helpful tip to other listeners
struggling in this realm Um Lisa, thank you for sharing.
I'm glad that you're in recovery. I'm glad that it's
going really well, and I'm I'm proud of you for
taking these steps to get rainy to be. And I
love this tip. I love the idea of eating naked
in one of a mirror. UM nourishment can be really beautiful.
(40:15):
And I hope this tip helps others who are struggling.
I do too, And I love how you took this tip,
which I mentioned in that in the episode we did
around UM Kim Kardashian and eating disorders. UM that when
I was younger, I read that you should eat in
front of a mirror to gross yourself out. I love
that you took that and made it positive. That's wonderful. Yes,
(40:36):
reclaim reclaim it. Yes, thank you so much to both
of them for writing in. If you would like to
write to as you can, our email is mom Stuff
at host to work dot com. Our Instagram is stuff
bomb ever told you, and our Twitter is mom Stuff
Podcast and thanks to our producer Andrew Howard too. Don't
(41:00):
under
Hey, this is Bridget and this is any and you're
listening to stuff mom never told you. And you might
recall earlier this summer when the Supreme Court Justice Kennedy
announced his retirement. Everybody, myself included, was losing their collective minds.
(00:29):
And here's why. President Trump gets to choose his replacement,
and he picked Rhett Kavanaugh, a conservative judge for the
United States Court of Appeals for d C Circuit, often
thought of is the second most powerful court in the country.
One of the reasons people were freaking out is that
getting to pick a Supreme Court justice is a pretty
big deal. So this week, Kavanaugh is undergoing a pretty
(00:51):
lengthy series of hearings so folks can get a sense
of just who this guy is and where he stands
on the issues. Yeah, you can try to Yes, you
can try to um. His confirmation hearing started on Tuesday,
and here in the States and probably outside of the
States you might have seen some of it because it
(01:14):
got a little wild. It was a little rowdy. Um
fun fact. I was supposed to go and then at
the last minute I was like, can I really? I mean,
I am I am down for getting arrested for the cause,
but I was like, I've got some stuff in the works,
so I don't want to get arrested now, y'all say
that for later. UM seventy women, including Women's March leader
Linda Sarsore an actress Piper Paraboo, Yes that Piper Pearaboo
(01:37):
from Coyote Ugly, were arrested on the opening day of
his hearing. UM and activists even dressed up like handmaids
and sort of live in the hall to sort of
make a very arresting visual statement of how they feel
about capitall. Yeah, and Senator took grass Lee and Iowa
Republican who's the Judiciary Committees chairman, pushed back on those calls,
(01:58):
and outgoing Senator or A Hatch, the Utah Republican, at
one point called for the removal of a quote loudmouth protester. Yeah.
So it was definitely a rowdy scene. And I think
one of the reasons why people are so vocal about
about their opposition to Kavanaugh is that this is really important,
you know. I think it was Kamala Harris who made
(02:19):
the point that this person's positions could very well impact
the air you and your kids breathe. You know the
schools you and your kids go to, what medical procedures
you can and can't get, So it's a big deal.
And the fact that we don't really know a ton
about him, and again that's that's tends to be in
line with a lot of judges, Like if you remember
the Gorsix cheerings, he was not someone who was super
(02:41):
forthcoming and the process of having to sort of, you know,
finesse information out of these people is is not unusual.
But you know, that's why that's one of the reasons
why this is so frustrating, because the American people deserve
to know this. We deserve to know where this person
stands on X Y Z issue, you how they feel
about these rulings, so we can get a sense of
(03:02):
how they're going to, you know, how they're going to
be in this position. Yeah, I mean, it's hard to
without information without knowing where people stands. It's weird because
politics has become that but it shouldn't be that. But
it fills me with an underlying sense of dread that
(03:25):
is no fun. I don't blame you, okay, So let's
back up, just who is this guy? Who is Brett
Kavanaugh NPR describes him as quote a connected Washington insider
with roots and politics in the George W. Bush White House.
Another thing to note is that he's only fifty three,
so that means if he's confirmed, he's going to be
on the Supreme Court for a long time. UM. Side note,
(03:48):
RBG girl, if you're listening to this, please continue your
workout routine, keep eating healthy. We're all rooting for you,
Yes we are. She's so tough. Another notable fact about
him is that he believe is that a sitting president
should be protected from litigation and criminal investigations because they
are quote time consuming and distracting, and that a president
(04:10):
who is concerned about an ongoing criminal investigation is almost
inevitably going to do a worse job as president. Yeah. Um,
that's concerning to me. During Wednesday's hearing, he backed off
a little bit from this, from this position that he
had earlier publicly taken, but the fact that Trump is
(04:30):
still under investigation did still play a pretty big role
in his hearing. Um. And I gotta say, Kamala Harris,
of all the different ways that senators tried to kind
of get Kavanaugh to just answer God in question, she
really had him on the ropes, and the topic that
really got him there was the Trump investigation. Here was
(04:52):
one sort of rather explosive part of the hearing. What
happened really late Wednesday night about Robert Mueller or his
investigation with anyone at that firm? Yes or no? Well,
is there a person you're talking I'm asking you a
very direct question, yes or no. I need to know that.
(05:14):
I'm not sure I know everyone who works with that
law firm. I don't think you need to. I think
you need to know who you talked with so honestly
that that I find that Cook to be so dizzy
ng because one, it just shows how the ranks that
he will go to not answer this question too. I mean,
it's a yes or no question. I think that Harris
(05:35):
is so smart for framing her questions this way, but he,
you know, he clearly doesn't want to answer it. Later
on an aid for Harris implied that they have information
or that they they suspect that there is some reason
to believe he has had connection with someone from Trump's
law firm about these investigations. But I guess, you know,
(05:56):
TV t v D. I guess we'll find out. But
that clip really does is illustrate to me that he
is not someone who we'll just answer a question out right,
like he will use anything like he's very slippery, he's
not forthcoming. Um, that was the first time he to
my knowledge that he sort of got ruffled. Oh yeah,
(06:18):
it definitely was. It definitely was. Like I stayed up
to watch the hearing overnight and so this happened pretty
late at night, and the in the this morning, when
I was looking at the paper, all of the headlines
were Harris gets him on the ropes for the first time.
He was flustered like like this, like for he was
visibly shaken when she asked him about this. I'm no expert,
(06:38):
but it seems like he is making a point to
not answer this question. Um. Senator Mike Lee from Utah
basically steps in and it's like stop, stop, he's already
dead and says and says, Harris, you know, he can't
be expected to remember everything, to know every person who
was on this list of people who ever worked at
that law firm. Which again, it's it's almost like that
(07:02):
that is not the spirit of the question, Like it's
I think it's very clear what the spirit of the
question is if you asked me, have you ever had
a conversation about X y Z with somebody who worked
at x y Z? I would understand that question. She's
not asking him to like list the name of every
person who has ever worked at that law firm. It's
almost sort of um, it's almost like this red herring
(07:23):
where she's asking what I think is a pretty clear question,
and he's responding, Oh, I don't know the entire rundown
of this law firm by name, and that's not really
what she's asking. I think that someone who is smart
enough to become a judge knows that. I would hope so. Um.
That sounds like something children do to avoid answering directly
(07:45):
a question when they're in trouble with their parents. Do
you have any connections with the Russian law firm? Bridget Listen,
I can't be said to know the names of every
person who has some connection to a Russian law firm,
you know. I mean I talked to people all day long.
I just took a cab this morning. Maybe he had
a connection. I don't know. I can't. I can't be
(08:05):
in charge of who who does what with their time
message received. If I just said no, of course not.
I mean again, she and she asked it yes or
no question is a very clear yes or no questions.
So I think it's very interesting that he had that
response and was so visually freaked out by it. So
one of the questions that that I had kind of
(08:27):
going into this episode is do people actually like Kavanaugh?
Um When they first announced that he was going to
be the nominee, I did see this really annoying meme
popping out that was like, Oh, he drives carpool with
his kid gets such a nice guy. It's just a
really good guy, And I thought, no one is accusing
it of not being a good father or like not
(08:49):
being a super sweetheart, you know. I mean, that's fun.
But I also think that it's focusing on that almost
sort of it seem like we're out of line for
wanting to know his actual rulings and opinions and all
of that. Like I think it was Ben Sass opened
his remarks um the senator from Nebraska talking about how, oh,
(09:14):
a lot of liberals would have us believe you're this terrible,
terrible guy. I think they're crazy because you're so nice
and all of your colleagues and all of your law
school classmates all talked about what a nice guy you
were and how you know, how dedicated you were, And
I thought, come on, like, people raising objections to his
(09:35):
record or the lack of clarity and transparency around his record,
is not accusing him of not being a nice guy
or a dedicated law student or whatever. And even and
even raising that, it's so disingenuous to me, And it's
almost insulting to the American people that because people are
understandably concerned that indequates like, oh, we're being we're overreacting
(09:59):
because we are, you know, daring to ask questions of
this super sweet guy who drives car pool questions like
how would you rule on Row versus Wade. Yeah, it's
a job interview, and we sure you can be a
nice guy, but are you the person for the job?
(10:19):
Like that's the whole thing. Can you imagine showing up
to a job interview like at a bank and then
being like, so, what's your background in banking? And you're
being like, WHOA I could have carpool? Okay, everyone agrees
on a nice person. Everyone agrees on a nice person. Yeah,
I'm a car pool person. And you know what that
is right. It's someone who carpools. An ABC News Washington
(10:43):
Post poll found the public is evenly divided on Kavanaugh's nomination.
He has among the lowest support levels for a high
Court nominee in polling going back to nine, seven, six,
and ten. Americans also say that Kavana should publicly state
his position on abortion before being confirmed. Again, A completely
reasonable position for the American people to take. Yeah, And
(11:07):
I would hope that no matter what side of the
aisle you fall on, you would agree with that. We
just want to know positions. That's something you should know
for something that's important. That's right. And only two nominees
have had weaker public support than Cavita Harriet Myers, who
withdrew her nomination in two thousand five, and Robert Bourke,
(11:29):
who was rejected by the Senate. So throughout all of
this um there's been some kind of not helpful practices.
The White House has withheld more than one hundred thousand
pages based on claims of executive privilege, and Democrats also
(11:49):
complained that Republicans dumped forty five thousand documents on the
committee the night before the hearing, which was Labor Day.
If I remember correctly. Yes, giving senators bill time to
review them. Yeah, that's here, no time at all, exactly.
And here's my thing. It just goes back to this
idea of transparency. He can hold whatever positions he wants
(12:10):
to hold. He can, you know, be a judge, whatever
kind of way he wants to be a judge. We
just deserve to know. And I think that the fact
that they're making it this difficult for just to get
information to me speaks volumes. I mean, people deserve to know,
you know, who was super not here for those shenanigans.
I think I do. Kamala Yaris making a really fiery speech.
(12:35):
This is a hearing about who will sit on the
highest court of our land. This is a hearing that
is about who will sit in a house that symbolizes
our system of justice in this country. And some of
the most important principles behind the integrity of our system
(12:55):
of justice is that we have due process and we
have transparent and true to form. When Kavanaugh was given
the chance to speak, he really didn't say a ton.
He has this way of really answering questions without really
answering the question he he I feel like I left
(13:15):
that hearing without better understanding of who he was, like
who I thought he was when I walked into that hearing,
I left with no clear challenges to that that understanding
that I had. The quote that I remember him saying
the most was I don't decide cases based on personal
or policy preferences. I am not a pro plaintiff or
pro defendant judge. I am not a pro prosecution or
(13:37):
pro defense judge. I am a pro law judge, which me,
I mean, yeah, like that, Like that doesn't what does
that mean? That doesn't mean anything to me. Just saying oh,
I just follow the law it is it doesn't help me.
And I feel like it's almost insulting because it pretends
(13:59):
that he not have this background and conservative politics that
he does not. You know, he can't go He can't,
as much as he probably would have liked to, And
he tried to walk these comments back during Wednesday's hearing.
He can't go back and erase the fact that he
said that he thought a sitting president should not could
not be investigated for criminal wrongdoing while he's the president.
(14:20):
He can't go back and erase that. And so to
act like that never happened is you just can't. You
just can't do it, you know, And I think people
have a right to to know. And I guess that's
that's what makes me so angry about these hearings is
how the Republicans, they seem very exasperated, like, how dare
you ask these questions? When? But why are we asking
that this isn't a big deal? Sure, um, And if
(14:45):
the shoe were on the other foot, and it has been,
they would be complaining as well. We have some more,
some more stuff to talk about here, um, but first
we're gonna pause for a quick break or word from
our sponsor, and we're back, Thank you sponsor. So again,
(15:10):
one of the biggest issues with Kavanaugh is that he's
not being clear on where he stands on really important issues,
issues like Row versus Wade. So the public has pretty
much left to kind of piece together what like his positions,
how he might rule, what he thinks all of that
based on opinions that he's that he's put out there
and bits and pieces of speeches that he's done, which
really is not a I don't think it's a good
(15:34):
way of having to construct who this person is who
will have such a big hands in our democracy. Sure,
and Here's what Vox has to say. Much of the
debate around Kavanaugh's confirmation has centered on what the judge
really believes when it comes to row. Has coming so
far have been vague and are likely to remain so.
But Feinstein said in our opening statement at Tuesday's hearing,
(15:56):
the judges record indicates he would likely be willing to
overturn the landmark ninety three decision. Doing so wouldn't just
strike an enormous blow to reproductive rights in America, she
pointed out, because of rose role in American law, overturning
the decision could also threaten marriage equality and other freedoms.
Kavanaugh reportedly told Senator Susan Collins last month he considered
(16:20):
Roe versus Way to be settled law, But as fine
Stein pointed out, that doesn't mean much since the Supreme
Court has the power to unsettle the law. Yeah, and
so sim saying, oh well Roe, you Wade, that's settled
law again? You know who was not okay to just
accept that answer? Can you guess? I think I can?
(16:40):
Kamala Harris, here's what she had to say. Five justices,
if in agreement, can overturn any precedent, would you agree
there's a reason why the Supreme Court doesn't do that,
But but do you agree that it can do that? Well,
it is overruled precedent at various times in our history,
the most prominent example being Brown versus Board of Education,
(17:02):
the Eerie case which overruled Swift versus Tyson. We both
agree the court has done it and can do it.
So yeah, he can say, oh, this is settled law
as a way to make us not cannot concerned and
not ask follow up questions. But Harris is right, colin
Roe v. Wade, settled law doesn't mean anything. A Supreme Court,
(17:23):
as she points out, as he very well knows, has
the power to change settled law. And you know, I
think that it's it's interesting that she has to resort
to asking these questions in such a roundabout way because
he won't just splot out say how he feels about
these things. But you know, I want to be clear,
(17:44):
he's making it seem as if a Supreme Court justice
does not have the power to overturn settled law if
it's you know, on the books, as Harris has has
sort of gotten him to agree, that doesn't really mean
a lot. That doesn't really mean anything. Another reason that
(18:04):
um people are a little, a little suspicious or something
that keeps coming up in this conversation of where Kavanaugh
stands on Roe v. Wade and abortion is his ruling
in Garza versus Hargin. In his descent last year, in
the d C Circuit Court case Garza Vargin, Kevinaugh opposed
a ruling allowing an unauthorized immigrant teenager to receive an
(18:27):
abortion while in federal care. He argued that since quote
the minor is alone and without family, our friends, that
she should be transferred to an appropriate sponsor before getting
the procedure. And requiring the teenager to seek such a sponsor,
Kevinall wrote, the government quote is merely seeking to place
the minor in a better place when deciding whether to
(18:49):
have an abortion. So you might be thinking, oh, that
doesn't sound so bad, but here's what he also wrote
it as descent, he wrote that quote, the government has
permissible interest in favoring fetal life, protecting the best interests
of a minor, and refraining from facilitating abortion, and that
the decision to extend that right to an undocumented immigrant
was quote as novel as it was wrong. So I
(19:12):
mean you tell me right, Like, this is someone who says,
I'm not going to rule using my personal or political
you know, preferences or policy blah blah blah. I rule,
I rule a long law. But I do think that
the government has a responsibility to prevent people from getting
abortions if they want them. So I mean, you tell
(19:33):
me again, I'm no, I'm no expert. But he said
very clearly during this hearing that he was not someone
who was going to allow his you know, personal or
political opinions to impact the way that he rules on
things that dissent seems to do just that. Like there's
I mean, you can't kind of have it both ways
in my book, Well, if you can, I certainly have
(19:58):
figured it out. None of does know how to have
it both ways. That's what I think exactly. Um, And
here's what Diane Feinstein had to say this argument. Findstein
said at the hearing, quote, rewrite Supreme Court precedent, if adopted,
we believe, would require courts to determine whether a young
woman had a sufficient support network when making her decision,
even in cases where she has gone to court. So again,
(20:20):
it might not seem you know, saying like oh, we
just want that, we just want what's best for the minor.
That sounds all well and good, but that could set
a really tough precedent where even though the court said,
like what happened in this case, yes, you were fine
to get your abortion. If that's what you want to do,
go do it, that is at a precedent where the
(20:41):
court could say, oh, well, she doesn't have friends around
her family around her No, you know. And and I
think that Findstein is correct to to point that out.
And on Wednesdays hearing, Harris once again trying to ask
Kavina some pointed questions about the law as it regards
(21:03):
to women's bodies, and the exchange went viral. Can you
think of any laws that give government the power to
make decisions about the male body? Um, I'm happy that
answer more specific question male versus female, I'm not. I'm
(21:26):
not thinking of any right now. Center. So really, I mean,
I've I've watched both days of the hearings. Now I
don't feel like we found out that much about this
man's record, that much about how what kind of judge
he would be. I feel like, again, the way and
I went into the hearing feeling is If anything, I
(21:47):
feel like I've got I feel like he's squirrelier. I'm like, oh,
he's squirrelier and easilier than I thought. If anything, I
feel less at ease than I did when I started
watching the hearing. Another kind of clue that might give
us some idea about this guy's positions is a twenty
seventeen speech that he made at the American Enterprise Institute,
(22:10):
and it offered a little bit more insight into how
he might feel about things like, Oh, I don't know abortion.
Kavanaugh commended the opinions of former Chief Justice William Rendquist
in this speech, including notably Rendquists Descent, and Roe v. Wade.
Rendquist was the minority in a seven to decision in
the nineteen seventy three case which guaranteed women's constitutionally protected
(22:31):
right to an abortion. He wrote it as assenting opinion
that the prevalence of abortion regulations made it tough for
him to argue that it should become a quote enumerated right,
and concluded that, barring certain restrictions, states should legislate the matter.
In Kavanaugh speech, he says it is fair to say
that Justice ryan Quist was not successful in convincing a
(22:52):
majority of justices in the context of abortion, either in
Row itself or in a later cases such as Casey,
but he as successful in stimming the general tide a
freewheeling judicial creation of unenumerated rights that were not rooted
in the nation's history and tradition. And again, I hear
that speech, and I think it basically sounds like he's
(23:13):
saying he really put an end to this idea that
people this can have any old rights whenever they want. No. No,
the rights that we need to protect are the ones
that are rooted in tradition, tradition. Yes, Yeah, And I again,
I think it's patently absurd that we're left to sort
of piece together this guy's opinions on on law. It
(23:36):
threw a handful of speeches, but he's kind of left
us no choice. And I can I can't help but
read that speech and think this is not somebody who
was going to be invested in protecting, you know, my
reproductive justice and my reproductive rights. Yeah, we shouldn't be
having to like puzzle piece together from like little scraps
we can find from its history. It doesn't make sense, Honestly,
(24:02):
it's not how things um of functioning functioning Supreme Court
should should go about things. But you know, it's where
we are, and we do have some more some more
issues that are a little concerning. But first we're gonna
take one more quick break for word from our sponsor
(24:31):
editor back, thank you sponsor. So a few more issues
that people are raising alarm bells on um while and
this his record on guns, according to a piece by
Hannah Sharier, the Second Amendment litigation director at the Gifford's
Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in Opinion, for example,
Kavanaugh dissented from the decision of two Republican appointed judges
arguing that Washington's gun magistration law and a ban on
(24:54):
assault weapons violates the Second Amendment. Kavanas a logical claim,
was at the public safety should play no role in
determining the constitutionality of public safety laws. Um again, Yeah,
it's just it. I don't agree with the head safety
should play no role in public safety laws. Yeah, I mean,
(25:18):
it's it's concerning, and it's especially concerning when you consider
the fact that during the opening day of the hearing,
Capital straight up refused to shake the hand of a
father who lost his daughter during the park Land shooting,
and that moment really did go viral. Of this father.
He this father says he went up to him kind
of father to father. And bear in mind, this is
(25:40):
the one who for the first you know, week of
the news cycle when he was first announced as the nominee,
we spent forever hearing about oh, he's such a good dad.
Dedicated dad, drives carpool, don't you know, as the the
coach on the kids team. Like him being a dedicated
father was a big part of of the narrative about
you know who this guy was. And yet when someone
(26:02):
who lost his child, you know, I tried to connect
with him, he says, dad to dad. He was really rebuffed,
and I part of me kind of gets it. You're
out of hearing. You've been being talked at for hours.
That is part of the job. Cecil Richards didn't have
a problem doing it, you know when she was in
hearing whatever um. But part of me gets it that
(26:25):
you know, someone comes up to you quickly and you're like,
what's happening. But I also think once you hear someone
say if you want to be a Supreme Court judge
and wants to hear someone say Hello, shake my hand.
My my daughter was killed in Parkland. Like to not
respond like his He has this deer in headlights response
(26:45):
that I just feel like whether or not he was
just in a weird moment of what's happening, I'm being
taken off guard or it was what I believe it
to be, and this father believes it to be an
intentional choice to not engage with him. Um, it doesn't
look good. Yeah, here's what the father had to say.
It would have been a way for one dad to
(27:06):
look another dad in the eye and maybe he would
have asked me more questions about why I'm there. But instead,
as soon as I said murdered in Parkland, he just
did an immediate turn and went the other way. Yeah,
it really just doesn't look good. You know, this is
someone who lost their their child, and if Kavanaugh was
(27:27):
to become a justice, he would be ruling on cases
that very well, could you know, have an impact on
that kind of thing going forward? And I think, yeah,
it just it just doesn't it. Really. When I saw
this clip, it like made me feel kind of almost
(27:49):
like queasy when I saw this, because it just doesn't
look good and the optics of you know, this father
standing there and Kavanaugh just turning away from him like
glassy eyed. It just well, it wasn't good. No, and um.
Something else people are concerned about is the Affordable Care Act,
(28:10):
because his nomination threatens that as well. The Trump administration
has already made a botched attempt to repeal the law.
They joined a lawsuit by twenty states that would if successful,
and the requirement that health insurers cover those with pre
existing conditions. The case is due to be heard in
the District Court in Texas and could wind up before
(28:32):
the Supreme Court and Kavanaugh if he is confirmed soon.
This means people with a very long list of conditions,
things like acne, asthma, could have their healthcare threatened. So
for some people this is literally life or death. Yeah,
it is life for death. I I try not to
(28:53):
be someone like when I went into this episode, I
was like, I don't want to be alarmist. I want
to put together what is out there, but I want
to be clear. You know, for folks, folks like my
dad who have chronic health conditions, you know, the Affordable
Care Acts saved my dad's life. And I think that
people who like people deserve to have their dad's around,
(29:17):
if their dads can be around. You know, people deserve
to have healthcare. People desert to not And I'm not
even saying the Affordable Care Act is perfect, because the
Lord knows. It's not that. I think that we need
to understand what's at steak. And so if you see
that hashtag popping off hashtag what's at stake, I think
it's because I know that people, myself included, are fatigued.
(29:41):
I know that we have stuff being thrown at us day.
It feels like we have something thrown on us day
in and day out. You know, on Wednesday, the day
of this hearing, that was also the day that this
sort of bombshell anonymous New York Times article came out,
supposedly written by somebody high up of the administration about
how out of a job our president is doing. This
(30:02):
is coming from out from inside of his administration. We are,
I mean, he's under investigation, pussy grabbing. I mean it's
it is a constant, constant, constant show of stuff being
thrown at us, day in and day out. So I
get it. I get it. Part of me thinks that
we have just sort of accepted that this is normal.
(30:23):
But it's not normal our president is under investigation. Should
he really get a Supreme Court pick with that being
the case? Like, is that okay? And I think it's
not normal? It's I just think that we need to
remind ourselves that, yes, we're hearing a lot of really
absurd stuff day in and day out, but we can
(30:43):
say no, we can make the choice to say I'm
not okay with this. And so if you're listening to
this right now and you're thinking what can I do,
we actually have some steps you can take. So first
of all, you should be calling your senator. Um. I
live in Washington, d C. So I should don't have
a senator to call. But if you don't live in Washington,
d C. You should be calling your senator. Um. Even
(31:05):
if your senator is doing is is, you know, making
a lot of noise, even if you if your senator
is Kamala Harris, it's often a good idea to call them,
and you know, you know, we sometimes you call it
in the business banks and spanks, where if they're doing
a bad job, they get spanks. So you call them
and say I'm annoyed at you for not doing for
not blah blah, but if doing good job, they get thanks,
(31:27):
and so you call them and say keep up the
good work. And you know so no matter where you live, Um,
this is a worth balled endeavor, I would say. So,
if you want to call your senator, the number is
two O two two two four three one two one.
You will be connected to your senator. You can you know,
it will determine where you live, and it will walk
(31:47):
through the process. Again, I am not someone I think.
I think we both Annie, we both feel this way.
Talking on the phone is not thing. I will go
out of my way to avoid it. The links I
have taken, Oh my gosh, I want to hear more about,
like what you've done to not talk on the phone.
(32:08):
By the way, I read somewhere that they're actually toying
with the idea of having an option on ridesharing apps
where you can say you don't want to talk. I
saw that. I thought of you immediately. I was like, oh,
is this the is this the Annie? Annie? You call
it that? Somebody listened to the show and was like, hmmm, no,
I'm certainly not the only person who had that idea.
(32:28):
But if you go, if you like Bridget and I
and you do perhaps avoid talking on the phone. Don't
like talking on the phone. You can go to blockbread
dot com and they have a really handy tool and
they provide a script of what to say which every
time I call a senator or or something of that nature.
Those scripts helped me out so much. Yeah, they definitely do. UM.
(32:53):
Some of y'all know. For a while I worked at
Planned Parenthood, and so if you were on Plan Parenthood's
text or SMS list, you got text messages UM from
either from B from P, p BT from PP, or
bridget from PP. Hello, those are all me. I was not.
I was not I'm not actually a robot. I was
a real person. And what we found is that people
(33:15):
were so so so much more likely to actually take
the steps and call their senator if you made it
really clear. So when you called that number, you heard
my voice on a recording being like, hey, thanks for calling. UM,
here's what you should say, you know, a complete rundown.
So it is annoying if you hate talking to the
phone and have phone anxiety, and and I are right
(33:36):
there with you, we get it. But this is so
important and we really they really do make it so easy,
so please, please, please make your voice heard and let
us know. Like, I want to know, are you making
these calls? Did you get through to your senator? Like
if someone if someone has an interesting response, I want
to know. I want to know how it went. Yes,
we would love love to know. And UM, I can
(33:58):
say on a personal note, I they have post it
notes everywhere. I don't know if you've ever noticed this, Bridget,
but I've post it notes everywhere. That's say, this is
not normal. I have noticed. I've never brought it up
because I wasn't sure if it was about Trump or real.
I never didn't want to. I didn't want to pry
this whole podcasting biz is not normal. It is not normal. Um.
(34:21):
But no, I mean it's it's true, and I do
think we need those reminders. If you feel like you
are losing it, you're not. This is not normal. None
of this is normal. Remember Annie's post it notes, this
is not normal. They are everywhere. Um. So that is
our Brett Kavanaugh episode. We are recording this like the
(34:46):
Thursday after the second hearing, so things could change very rapidly. Yeah,
expect to follow up. Um, if anything explosive happens, we'll
definitely do a follow up episode. Um, but keep watching
and keep keep calling, keep the pressure on, you know,
and we'll see how it goes when we're all on
this ride together. We all live in this country together,
(35:06):
so we'll see. And to the listeners outside of the
United States, UM, thank you, thank you, and free for us.
And speaking of listeners, this brings us to listener mail.
Stephanie wrote, I am into railing solo through Central Europe
and Scandinavia for four weeks this summer and then and
(35:30):
am having a fantastic time. I listened to your podcast
in the Olympic Park and Munich were decided on the
spur of the moment to go zip lining across the
Olympic stadium. I really enjoyed traveling alone for many of
the reasons discussed in the podcast. I am happy in
my own company. I love being able to decide my
own itinerary and do things my own way. Most people
(35:51):
in my life know that I am very independent and
have no issue with me traveling alone. I have had
anyone tell me that I'm going to be murdered, but
a few people have tried to suddenly ask what about
your boyfriend? As if once you have a partner, you
can't travel alone. I thought what you said Annie about
travel snobbery was really interesting. I am Irish and as
(36:13):
Ireland is a very small country, the vast majority of
people have passports and have traveled outside of the country.
While Ireland is a beautiful place, there isn't the attitude
that Annie described there being in the US of home
not being good enough for you. Also, the bigger country
is the more expensive it is to leave it. With
cheap airlines such as Ryanair, you can get flights from
(36:35):
Ireland to the UK and the rest of Europe pretty cheaply.
It is completely normal for people to go to resorts
in Spain, Italy and France for their holidays. It can
even be cheaper to go on holidays abroad and to
stay at home in Ireland. I think we're travel snobbery
could come in in our context. Maybe where you choose
to go it is seen as more adventurous to go
(36:56):
to more far flung places, are places that are off
the beaten track. Uh yeah, um I was lucky enough
to I interned in Europe for eight months and um
I got to I got to visit so many countries
because Europe is the travel situation is, um, it can
(37:19):
be pretty cheap, pretty easy, and yeah, you can be
in one country in a couple of hours, depending on
where you are in a different country from where you are.
And I remember the first time I went to Ireland,
the at passport control at border patrol, the woman checking
my passport laughed at me because he was like, are
(37:41):
you trying to check off all the countries or something
like yeah, yeah, trying to collect them all, um, like pokemon.
And that was kind of nowadays because the European Union,
the Shinun Agreement, they don't really stamp your passport when
you go to a different country, but it um in
the UK and Ireland they still do, and it used
(38:03):
to be sometimes if you asked, they would, but now
I really wouldn't advise asking because they get pretty annoyed. Um,
But I'm glad. I'm glad that your experience traveling alone
has been so good. And they're flining across the Olympic stadia.
That's that's pretty rad. Oh my god. The first so,
the first time I left the country properly was to
(38:25):
go on a trip to Australia, UM for this like
big human rights training and uh, when I said it was.
It was so I had been to a few places,
but never any place like Australia and never I don't
because ever as an adult, never alone. And when I
got there, they didn't stamp my passport and I'm about
how to fit. I was like, I was like, you're
subbout to stamp it. They didn't stamp it. They didn't
(38:47):
they didn't stay it like I was. I was like
having a melk um because there is I mean, it's
so stupid, but it is like a little I don't know,
it's dumb, but it's just like proven woun. I wouldn't
advise asking there, but it's you know, it's just stupid,
like I can't even like I don't even have ever spots.
It's dumb, but I wanted it. I understand, I understand.
(39:10):
I just know that like nowadays, I don't think you'll
succeed if you ask, and they'll just be mad at
you can confirm cancer firm. Lisa wrote, I have struggled
with an eating disorder since I was around seven years old. Seven.
I have been in proper recovery for six months now
and I'm doing really well. But of course the diet
(39:32):
culture is still an unrelenting toxic force I'm faced with
every day. I remember seeing the tip to eat in
front of the mirror to discuss yourself many years ago.
It never resonated with me until I saw it in
a different light on a truly body positive account. I've
used this practice as a way to make peace with
my eating and my body. I've eaten naked in front
(39:53):
of my mirror to appreciate the beauty and nourishment. Maybe
this is gonna be a helpful tip to other listeners
struggling in this realm Um Lisa, thank you for sharing.
I'm glad that you're in recovery. I'm glad that it's
going really well, and I'm I'm proud of you for
taking these steps to get rainy to be. And I
love this tip. I love the idea of eating naked
in one of a mirror. UM nourishment can be really beautiful.
(40:15):
And I hope this tip helps others who are struggling.
I do too, And I love how you took this tip,
which I mentioned in that in the episode we did
around UM Kim Kardashian and eating disorders. UM that when
I was younger, I read that you should eat in
front of a mirror to gross yourself out. I love
that you took that and made it positive. That's wonderful. Yes,
(40:36):
reclaim reclaim it. Yes, thank you so much to both
of them for writing in. If you would like to
write to as you can, our email is mom Stuff
at host to work dot com. Our Instagram is stuff
bomb ever told you, and our Twitter is mom Stuff
Podcast and thanks to our producer Andrew Howard too. Don't
(41:00):
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