Justice Kavanaugh is speaking at a Federalist Society dinner tonight, his first public speech since his confirmation:
Kavanaugh, President Trump’s second appointment to the nation’s highest court, is set to speak before a friendly audience at the conservative Federalist Society’s annual lawyers convention. According to the justice’s request, the event will not be broadcast and no video cameras will be permitted, but media will be covering the event. He will speak at 9:30 p.m.
It will be Kavanaugh’s first major speech and public appearance since his widely watched appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September of last year.
You can probably guess how the left is reacting. If you guessed a Christine Ford jumbotron and women in Handmaid’s Tale outfits, collect your winnings!
There are also handmaids standing outside the Federalist Society-Brett Kavanaugh dinner. As Federalist Society members pass by them in tuxedos. pic.twitter.com/4Q4zTLJdEL
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) November 14, 2019
It’s really a shame someone can’t hack that screen to play Julie Swetnick’s car crash interview on NBC News. Maybe that would remind some of the protesters that the allegations against Kavanaugh weren’t confirmed (including Ford’s). And of course there must be the requisite chanting of “Hey, hey, ho, ho…” mandated by the protesters union:
Still awkward as all these Fed Society people in tuxes are stuck standing here with people shouting "hey hey, ho ho! Kavanaugh has got to go!" Also I see Rod Rosenstein is in line (!) for this gala with Brett Kavanaugh. pic.twitter.com/4HakyMg3ry
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) November 14, 2019
Plenty of progressive media types seem thrilled with the protest:
Indelible in the hippocampus is the smug nastiness of the Federalist Society.
An elegant, perfect protest — I hope no one's black-tie dinner is spoiled as their ears ring with Christine Blasey Ford's account of what Brett Kavanaugh did to her. https://t.co/oOQYPOs9mU
— Virginia Heffernan (@page88) November 14, 2019
Some very smart people greeted Federalist Society gala guests at Union Station with a huge screen showing Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony. pic.twitter.com/jJwRzQAcYp
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) November 15, 2019
One of the points of outrage about this dinner is that Facebook is one of the donors. Actress Alyssa Milano put out the red-alert this morning:
🚨FACEBOOK is sponsoring an event with Brett Kavanaugh and the Federalist Society🚨
What an absolute slap in the face to survivors of sexual abuse and supporters of common decency. @Facebook knows better, but they just don’t care.https://t.co/98mniygCbu
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) November 14, 2019
Last year, a Facebook exec supported Kavanaugh at his confirmation hearing.
Now the company is sponsoring a dinner where he’s speaking. We won’t take this lying down, and their employees shouldn’t either. @WeDemandJustice is making sure of it. https://t.co/gKteOO9dyW
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) November 14, 2019
And Debra Messing is “SICKENED” in all caps, which lets you know its really bad:
I am SICKENED to hear that FACEBOOK is a sponsor of the @FedSoc dinner tonight where #Kavanaugh is the keynote speaker! Have they no shame? https://t.co/SedmydEQ5P
— Debra Messing✍🏻 (@DebraMessing) November 14, 2019
NARAL is also outraged:
Brett Kavanaugh has been accused of sexual assault and is an existential threat to #RoeVsWade. FACEBOOK is sponsoring a @FedSoc dinner tonight for him. This on top of their refusal to crack down on anti-choice disinformation is too much.https://t.co/lhQYbwvmSy
— Ilyse Hogue (@ilyseh) November 14, 2019
Even Elizabeth Warren jumped on the outrage bandwagon:
Facebook is spending millions lobbying the government as they face antitrust scrutiny. They're going on a charm offensive with Republican lawmakers. Now, they're sponsoring a dinner headlined by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Let's call this what it is: Corruption. https://t.co/n6GyyV4DOe
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) November 14, 2019
Last month I wrote about Slate’s court reporter who said she hadn’t returned to the Supreme Court since Kavanaugh was confirmed. She vowed not to get over being upset about it (while simultaneously claiming she doesn’t know if he’s guilty of anything). So it seems the left is looking to continue this sort of protest for some time to come. What’s the strategy here exactly? I’m not sure what they hope to accomplish, practically speaking, but this speculation from Mark Hemingway makes a lot of sense.
This thread is interesting because it telegraphs something pretty obvious — there's a big planned effort afoot to demonize the Federalist Society and turn them into the next left-wing bogey man like they did with the Koch Brothers. https://t.co/3kqmmH8919
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) November 14, 2019
With Justice Ginsburg out sick yesterday and the real possibility that Trump could win reelection next year and crush any hope of progressive appointments to SCOTUS in the near future, the left must be feeling pretty worried. Getting their people worked up about Kavanaugh and the Federalist Society now might be a way to prepare the ground for the battle to come.
