GRASSLEY’S PERJURY TRAP TODAY?

Americans now view the GOP more favorably than they do Democrats, according to this Gallup poll.  Which, Gallup notes, hasn’t happened often:

“The Republican Party’s favorability rating for the last decade (averaged) 39%, compared with the Democratic Party’s 44%.”

In most polls this year, more Democrats than Republicans have said they’re likely to vote in the midterm elections. But “voter enthusiasm” among Republicans is spiking, has “soared past” Dems in some battleground states.

“In some cases, we’re talking MAJOR gaps now, with the Rs on top,” says political analyst Larry Schweikart.

Pastor Bill Kent explains why: “We are willing to walk barefoot over broken glass and hot coals to vote GOP after this repulsive smear campaign by Democrats.”

Thanks to CPL as he is known now all over the Internet (Creepy Porn Lawyer Michael Avenatti), the repulsive smear campaign dropped yesterday (9/26) from the gutter to lower than whalepoop at the bottom of the ocean.

Julie Swetnick, Avenatti’s client, alleges she attended 10 parties at which Brett Kavanaugh, his friend Mark Judge, and “others” spiked the drinks of girls, then gang raped them. But she never saw Kavanaugh spike the punchbowl, or rape anybody. Here is her “sworn statement” (which isn’t notarized, and hence is legally meaningless).

Ms. Swetnick is three years older than Brett Kavanaugh. According to her statement, she was a college girl who partied with high school students. At those parties, she saw girl after girl getting raped. She herself “pulled a train” at one.

Charles Cooke has seven questions about Ms. Swetnick’s story. Brian Cates has more. I’d like to know why – if she knew girls were getting drugged and raped at those parties – she kept going back to them.

As with Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez, Ms. Swetnick (natch) is unable to produce a single person or bit of evidence to corroborate her story.

Blasey Ford and Ramirez are lying, but it is at least plausible that a drunk teenage boy would do the things they said Brett Kavanaugh did. To believe Ms. Swetnick, you’d have to have been born yesterday, with an IQ between a rock and a carrot.

“Dr. Ford’s story collapsed within days. Ramirez’s collapsed within hours,” noted Unseen1. “This one within minutes…What’s next? Seconds?

The more Democrats double down on smears, the angrier decent people get.  One reason:

Another reason is that women who have fathers, brothers, husbands, sons or grandsons don’t think a man’s life should be destroyed by an uncorroborated accusation of sexual misconduct. Jellenne’s account of what the gals at her nail salon think of this is a must read.

Leftists always overreach. IMO, a very stable genius counted on that, setting up – with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley – an ambush.

The last time Americans viewed Republicans more favorably than Democrats was in 2011, after the GOP lawmakers elected in 2010 promised to repeal Obamacare. When they failed to deliver, support for Republicans plunged.

Many conservatives, understandably, thought Spinus Republicanus had gone extinct. So when Grassley appeared to bend over backward to accommodate demands from Christine Blasey Ford and her team of leftist lawyers, they feared the GOP was about to cave yet again.

What if Grassley made concession after apparent concession because he really really really wants Blasey Ford to testify under oath?

Which Grassley would really really really want if he has evidence that would blow Blasey Ford’s story to smithereens. What might that be?

It’s clear why Diane Feinstein was reluctant to turn over the letter she received (ostensibly) from Blasey Ford.  Take a look at this analysis of Ford’s letter as a fake.  It’s riddled with sophomoric grammatical errors that a Ph.D. whose published journal articles never makes.  Does Grassley have proof of this?

To accommodate Blasey Ford, Grassley delayed a vote in committee from last week to Monday, then to Friday (tomorrow 9/28). But this was not a meaningful concession. Nor – in the unlikely event Ramirez or Swetnick would risk telling their stories under oath — would it matter much if the vote were delayed until next week.

Democrat hopes they could postpone a confirmation vote until after the midterms were based on their assumption the October recess would go on as scheduled. But McConnell says he’ll keep the Senate in session until there’s been a floor vote.

Brett Kavanaugh won’t be on the Supreme Court for the start of the October term. But this means only that he won’t be able to participate in any cases in which oral arguments were heard before he was confirmed.

No oral arguments are scheduled for next week.

The longer the confirmation vote is delayed, the less time Red State Dems up for re-election this year have to campaign. And the more the brouhaha over Kavanaugh grows, the more attention there’ll be to what for them is a lose lose vote.

If Red State Dems vote against Kavanaugh, enraged Republicans and Independents will make them pay. If they vote for Kavanaugh, angry moonbats may stay home.

Grassley made no meaningful concessions. If Blasey Ford shows up, she’ll testify first, will be questioned by a female attorney experienced in prosecuting sex crimes.

This last is a stroke of genius. It guarantees questions will be focused; vague, evasive answers will be followed up. It kills in the crib the otherwise inevitable Democrat charge poor Christine was bullied by nasty old white men.

If Blasey Ford were telling the truth, you’d think she’d want to be questioned by a female attorney experienced in prosecuting sex crimes. But her team of expensive leftist lawyers object to that, the clearest indication she isn’t.

Grassley has set a perjury trap. Which is why so many think Blasey Ford will be a no show.

If Blasey Ford doesn’t show up after all the accommodations Grassley has made to give her the opportunity to “tell her story,” the optics will be very bad for Dems.

So Blasey Ford should testify, says leftie journo Neera Tanden, but refuse to answer any questions from any person who is not a senator.

Yeah, that’ll look great on national television. Blasey Ford is screwed whether she shows up, or not, whether she answers questions, or not.

It isn’t just Blasey Ford who’s screwed.  Feinstein wrote Grassley Monday (9/24)  asking that the hearing be delayed until after Deborah Ramirez’s accusation (more ludicrous than Blasey-Ford’s)  could be investigated.

Grassley’s response to ChiFi is masterful. You should read the whole thing for gems like this:

“It is unclear why Ms. Ramirez’s claims should have any bearing on Dr. Ford’s testimony. In fact, the obvious connection between the two claims is that Senate Democrats hid both allegations of misconduct from the Committee and the public.”

But here’s Grassley’s real shot across Chinese Feinstein’s bow:

“As you know, false statements made to the press are not subject to criminal penalty, but false statements to  Congress are.”

 Blasey-Ford will be cross-examined by Rachel Mitchell, who “is a skilled attorney with nationally known expertise in sex-crime prosecutions.”

She’s the best there is at catching claimants in a sex-crime prosecution in a perjury trap.  That’s the name of this game.  Now Blasey Ford knows it.  Will she bail or will she show?

What is clear is Grassley is mightily peeved and is out for blood. Whether Blasey Ford shows or not, today’s hearing is must see tv.

Jack Kelly is a former Marine and Green Beret, and was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force during the Reagan Administration.  Until his retirement last year, he was the national security writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.