Senate Judiciary Committee
Yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Christine Blasey Ford's sexual assault accusation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh lasted about nine hours (including breaks), but it could have accomplished as much (or as little) in half that time. Grandstanding, bloviating senators on both sides of the aisle were not content to make a point once when three, 13, or 20 times would do. Kavanaugh also was prone to repetition, which was only partly his fault, since the senators kept asking the same questions over and over again. This index gives you a sense of the hearing's priorities:
Number of times Kavanaugh confessed to liking beer (in so many words): 7
Number of times Kavanaugh confessed to sometimes drinking too much beer: 3
Number of times Kavanaugh denied having alcohol-induced memory lapses: 10
Number of time Kavanaugh alluded to conflicts with the freshman college roommate who said he was a mean drunk: 4
Number of times Kavanaugh noted that the three people Ford has said were at the gathering where he allegedly attacked her do not recall the event: 15
Number of times that Kavanaugh or a Republican senator noted that lying to Congress is a felony: 16
Number of times Democrats called for an FBI investigation: 20
Number of time Kavanaugh dodged the question of whether he would support an FBI investigation: 12
Number of times Republicans quoted Joe Biden on the inconclusiveness of FBI investigations: 3
Number of time Democrats praised Ford's courage: 13
Number of times Kavanaugh or a Republican senator complained that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) sat on Ford's allegations for a month and a half: 12
Number of times Feinstein said she was respecting Ford's wish for confidentiality: 3
Number of times Kavanaugh or a Republican senator argued that the allegations could have been investigated by the committee while maintaining Ford's confidentiality: 5
Number of times Feinstein denied leaking the allegations to the press: 4
Number of times Kavanaugh's high school yearbook came up: 5
Mentions of vomit: 8
Mentions of flatulence: 4
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