Judiciary Committee of Public Opinion

The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to send the Brett Kavanaugh nomination to the floor, but Sen. Jeff Flake said he will only support it after a brief FBI investigation.

Voters in 10 competitive House battleground districts are deeply divided on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, according to a wave of new polls. But even there, his support is eroding.

With a record number who oppose Kavanaugh's nomination (50%), his support has eroded in key specific groups.

He hasn't gained anywhere.

Independents are less supportive of Kavanaugh -- 38% said he should be confirmed in August compared to 26% now -- a 12-point loss.

In comparison, the number of independents who said they don't want him confirmed rose from 36% in August to 52% in the poll released Sunday -- a 16-point gain.

That -10 point gap is a bad omen for midterm republicans.

And: Democrats, some Republican governors, and the American Bar Association urged the committee to halt the vote until an FBI investigation.

What’s next? A vote on a motion to proceed, with an agreement for the supplemental background check of not longer than one week (passed).

Trump ordered the FBI investigation.

ME, mommy ME!

Donald Trump held a press conference to talk about his favorite subject: HIMSELF.

Asked about whether he believed the women who had made accusations of inappropriate conduct against Brett Kavanaugh, Trump responded: "I've been accused ... by four or five women, who got paid a lot of money to make up stories about me who made a lot of money."

(Fact check: More than a dozen women have accused Trump of a variety of charges relating to sexual behavior. He has threatened to sue those women after the conclusion of the 2016 campaign. He hasn't filed a single lawsuit.)

Comparing his accusers to Kavanaugh’s made Senate Republicans groan.

Trump turns questions at press conferences into soliloquies about his greatness.

When asked about Kim Jong Un, Trump said that if he had not been elected president, the United States and North Korea would be at war.

When asked about his planned meeting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Trump said that Rosenstein had been "very nice" to him.

When asked about Kavanaugh's accusers, Trump noted that he had won 52% of the female vote in 2016. (Fact check 3: He actually won 41% of the women's vote.

When asked about the impact of his tariffs on farmers, he noted that farmers love him.

When he called on a reporter for The New York Times, he said the reporter should thank him for the profits the company was making.

Trump often turns the conversation to himself. Today was another hour-long “look at me mommy-a-thon.”

Laughingstock

Trump to UN General Assembly, "In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country."



There's laughter.



Trump says "so true" and there's much more laughter.

Trump’s ad-libbed response drew some applause. It was exhibiting a sense of humor about himself. He could very well have been seething underneath.

The president’s pathological aversion to embarrassment is well documented, and being roundly mocked by a collection of world leaders would seem to qualify.

nuff sed

(Trump is one bathetic SOB)

Watching TV

Trump's schedule released to Axios differs from schedules the White House sends to the media every day.

Trump has designated "Executive Time" from 8:00 to 11:00 in the Oval Office, but actually spends these hours in his residence watching FAUX television and tweeting.

At about 11:00, Trump takes the first meeting of the day, which is typically an intelligence briefing.

During the day he has a couple of meetings, with "Executive Time" interspersed, and returns to the residence at about 18:00, says Axios.

This unscheduled "Executive Time" during the work day is spent in the dining room next to the Oval Office where the president watches cable news.

In one example, the president's schedule began at 11:00 with "Policy Time", then "Executive Time" at 12:00, an hour for lunch, followed by more "Executive Time" from 13:30.

At the beginning of his tenure, Trump would hold breakfast meetings in the Roosevelt Room, but he has since pushed the start of his day back later and later as his television viewing increased.

Today, Rob Rosenstein, met with Mr. McGahn, to resign on amicable terms.

But Mr. McGahn, who is leaving the White House when the Kavanaugh nomination is concluded, reminded Mr. Rosenstein of his own short-term status.

Two people described the “conflict” about Rosenstein’s fate, believing that yet another departure before the midterm elections in November would be "bad for the president."