Bork was a mentor of the founders of the Federalist Society, a constitutional originalist group whose influence on the American right is partially responsible for the court's right-wing lean today Calmes' look at the history of the group is captivating.ĭissent is a remarkable work of reportage. Republicans had been determined to pack the court even before the newly Democrat-controlled Senate blocked President Ronald Reagan's nomination of Robert Bork to the court in 1987, Calmes writes. Interspersed throughout the book is Calmes' look at the factors that made Kavanaugh's confirmation - and the Supreme Court's present composition, which clearly favors conservatives - possible. Noting that some conservatives have been disappointed in Chief Justice John Roberts, Calmes writes, "Kavanaugh did not disappoint conservatives, however: He came down on the 'right' side on the abortion, Dreamers, and gay rights decisions, and signaled eagerness to expand gun rights." Dissent ends with a look at Kavanaugh's brief tenure on the Supreme Court, which Calmes considers carefully and with real insight. Kavanaugh, of course, would eventually be confirmed, after his own tearful testimony in which he denied attacking Ford. The tension was palpable - hers, and everyone else's." Turning back, she faced the senators, visibly breathed deep, and swallowed hard. She captures Ford's dramatic appearance beautifully: "At one point, she nervously turned to the friends behind her, smiled, and waved slightly," Calmes writes. ![]() Her chronicle of the Kavanaugh hearing, at which Ford laid out her claims against Kavanaugh, is riveting. ![]() Psychologist Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of viciously assaulting her when they were both high school students as one of the young man's friends looked on her claims shook the nation, with one passage from her testimony - "Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter-the uproarious laughter between the two - and their having fun at my expense" - resounding among survivors of sexual assault.Ĭalmes writes about Ford's decision to come forward with real sensitivity and fairness, and she speaks to numerous sources about the psychologist's experiences - Calmes is a first-rate reporter, and her skills are on full display here. It was Kavanaugh's conservative cred that led Trump to nominate the jurist for the Supreme Court, which led to one of the most dramatic hearings in recent Senate history. He would later co-author Starr's famed government report on President Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky, which would lead to the Democrat's impeachment. Kavanaugh went on to earn his undergraduate and law degrees at Yale and earned his conservative bona fides early in his career as a lawyer, interning for Ken Starr, then President George H.W. After a weekend of bad behavior, guys wouldn't have to soberly confront the offended girls in the corridors and classes." The younger Kavanaugh attended Georgetown Prep, a boys' high school known for "sports and partying" and which also had a "darker side," Calmes writes: "t Prep a chauvinistic machismo was celebrated. ![]() ![]() Calmes traces Kavanaugh's childhood in the Washington, D.C., area, where he grew up the son of a lawyer and a lobbyist.
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