Brett Kavanaugh: Soulless Dick

Shame on murdered girl's dad for thinking her death matters to the mighty.

Fred Guttenberg, the father of Jaime Guttenberg, one of the 17 killed in the Parkland school massacre, tried to shake the hand of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during a break in Kavanaugh's nomination hearing yesterday. You see, Guttenberg isn't especially pleased with Kavanaugh's Second Amendment absolutism and the $30 million in advertising the NRA has bought to support Kavanaugh's nomination. He wanted to tell Kavanaugh about the human cost of the NRA's desire for more guns, everywhere. But Kavanaugh looked at Guttenberg with what seems to be pure disgust, then turned away and left, flanked by security.

As one does with the commoners these days.

The rightwing narrative is that Kavanaugh had no idea who the weird man coming at him with an outstretched hand was -- heavens, maybe he was one of those Violent Leftist Antifa Super Soldiers, who usually look like balding middle-aged dads. That seems a tad improbable -- during her opening remarks before the break, Senator Dianne Feinstein had called attention to Guttenberg, who was seated up front, not in the hearing room's general seating area, and Guttenberg said Kavanaugh seemed to recognize him and wave security over. Guttenberg said on Twitter, 

Just walked up to Judge Kavanaugh as morning session ended. Put out my hand to introduce myself as Jaime Guttenberg's dad. He pulled his hand back, turned his back to me and walked away. I guess he did not want to deal with the reality of gun violence.

White House Comms Liar Raj Shah insisted Kavanaugh was maybe going to shake that guy's hand, but he had been protected by the security team's swift action:

As Judge Kavanaugh left for his lunch break, an unidentified individual approached him. Before the Judge was able to shake his hand, security had intervened.

You know, that's not what we saw!

Sure as heck looks like Guttenberg is speaking to Kavanaugh and extending his hand well before the security guy gets there, but then, time, and even cause and effect, does seem to work differently for this White House.

And here's MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell, whose piece we're throwing in since it includes the amazing AP photograph that MSNBC already paid royalties for:

Shah later posted "NEW VIDEO" which he claimed proved him right -- although again, it only shows the same thing, from another angle: Guttenberg approaches Kavanaugh, Kavanaug stares coldly at him and turns away, and then the security guard gets between them. Fine, fine -- he "intervened."

Friend of Wonkette Charlie Pierce had perhaps the best take on Kavanaugh giving Guttenberg the cold shoulder:

If Kavanaugh had the political sense god gave the common alderman, he would have given the guy the big handshake right there before god and the world. Maybe an arm draped over the shoulder.

Why are people so bad at this?

  We'll go with "because this administration is filled with cold, soulless, calculating bastards." Besides, embracing an activist dad who wants to take all the guns just because his daughter was murdered? That might look bad to the people who really matter: the NRA, for whom Kavanaugh's confirmation is a top priority.

If he'd been on the Supreme Court sooner, there would be even less states could do about assault rifles like the one used in Parkland: In 2011, Kavanaugh dissented when the DC Appeals Court upheld the District of Columbia's assault weapons ban; the Supremes have since refused to hear similar cases, leaving state bans on semiautomatic rifles in place. That puts him even outside the views of his judicial role model, Antonin Scalia, who in the Heller decision said military-grade weapons like the AR-15 could lawfully be restricted.

In conclusion, if Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed, look forward to more guns everywhere, a vast blossoming of freedom that certainly ought to offset the end of women having the right to make their own reproductive decisions.

[ NBC News / Rolling Stone ]

Wonkette is funded by YOU ONLY. Be a pal. Click the buttons to keep us in writers like Dok, FOR EVER!