The Daily Signal - Ep. 288: Kavanaugh Clerks Counter the Left's Lies

Episode Date: September 3, 2018

It’s going to be a busy week in Washington with Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings taking center stage. The Senate Judiciary Committee starts with opening statements Tuesday, followed by two days of testimony from Kavanaugh on Wednesday and Thursday, then outside witnesses on Friday.The Daily Signal spoke to two female clerks who worked for him, and their stories are nothing like the scaremongering you’ll hear from the left.Also on today’s show:• We spoke with Saul Anuzis and Jim Martin, the president and the founder of the 60 Plus Association—the conservative alternative to the AARP.• Our favorite letters from you. Don’t forget, your letter could be featured next week; write us at [e-mail] or call 202-608-6205.• And this week’s good news story: an athlete gets a second chance at life from someone he inspired as a child.If you like what you hear, please leave a review or give us feedback. Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Tuesday, September 4th. I'm Rob Blewey, editor-in-chief. And I'm Jenny Malta Bono, contributor to the Daily Signal. On today's show, we'll discuss Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings for the U.S. Supreme Court. They begin today and will dominate the Senate's work this week. We also spoke with Saul Anusis and Jim Martin, the president and the founder of the 60-plus Association, the conservative alternative to the AARP. We'll also share your letters and an inspiring story about

two athletes. Well, we hope you enjoyed your break for Labor Day. It's going to be a busy week in Washington with Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings taking center stage. The Senate Judiciary Committee starts with opening statements today, followed by two days of testimony from Kavanaugh on Wednesday and Thursday, then outside witnesses on Friday. The Daily Signal will be there for extensive coverage. Well, Jenny, it's going to be a big moment in Washington this week, and we are excited. This is the second time in two years that there's been a Supreme Court fight, and Republicans are certainly hoping for a flawless performance from Brett Kavanaugh so that they can get him confirmed for the Supreme Court when its term begins in October.

Democrats, however, are expected to do everything in their power to slow down or stymie Kavanaugh's confirmation. And one of the lines of attack they're using centers on what his confirmation to the Supreme Court would mean for women. Here's Kamala Harris, a liberal senator from California in her own words. Listen, if you are a young woman in America or you care about a young woman in America, pay close attention to this nomination. Pay close attention. Because Kavanaugh has made his purpose clear. He told us that when he was on that list of 25, he has told us that in every decision that he has made on the issue of choice. And let's be clear about what this is about.

It's about government taking on the decision about a woman and what she does with her body instead of giving that woman and her family and her God the power to make the decision for herself. But is that just rhetoric or reality? The Daily Signal wanted to find out so Kelsey Harkness and Lauren Evans

decided to ask some of the women who know Kavanaugh best. They spoke to two female clerks who worked for him. Their stories are nothing like the scaremongering that you'll be hearing from the left. We want to play some clips from our new underreported documentary. The first comes from Sarah Pitlick, who clerked for Kavanaugh on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 2010 and 2011. At the time I showed up to clerk, I was the mother of a toddler, which I don't know if that's unique among his clerks now,

but at the time it was certainly unprecedented. I was the first of his clerks who had ever had that kind of of familial obligation to balance with the clerkship. Who knew if he was gonna tolerate it for me? A couple of months before I clerked, while I was still just swimming around and concerned about this issue, the judge called me out of the blue. He said, I know we have a situation here that I haven't personally dealt with before.

He had this just very frank and open conversation with me about how he thought we could adapt, hours, et cetera, to try to try to accommodate my needs as a mother so that I would not have to go days without seeing my child. And here's Rebecca Tabelson, another Kavanaugh clerk, on the D.C. Circuit. We scheduled our wedding for right after my clerkship with Judge Kavanaugh was supposed to finish. And as we were coming up to the wedding and towards the end of my clerkship with Judge Kavanaugh, I was helping Judge Kavanaugh with a major opinion.

And I think we were up to draft 125. and it became clear that we were still going to be working on the opinion right up to the time I got married. And so I went into Judge Kavanaugh's office and I thought this through. I was so nervous. I said, um, judge, you know, I've been thinking about it and I think I just need one day off before the wedding just to get everything together. And so I can keep working on this opinion right up until then. And he said, Rebecca, um, no, you're going to be taking a full week off before your wedding. I'm not going to hear from you.

And don't worry. I've got this opinion covered. I don't really need you on it, which is true. And I'll see you at the wedding. And I don't want to hear a peep from you before then. Ginny, it was so great that they were willing to share those stories. So many people coming forward and voicing their personal interactions with Brett Kavanaugh. I found it very heartwarming in many respects that he's treated people who've worked for him in that way.

But obviously, the Democrats aren't going to let that stop them. Any predictions on what to expect this week? Well, Judge Brad Kavanaugh is so qualified. And like you said, the Democrats, they didn't want anyone who President Trump would have picked. They're going to make it very difficult for him. But everything looks like he's going to do a great job. And in reality, he shouldn't have any trouble being confirmed. Well, you make a great point there.

And it seems that this is more about Donald Trump in many respects than it is Brett Kavanaugh. And I think if that's what the Democrats choose to focus on, they probably end up in a losing battle here. I agree with you. And while you all can read more about Judge Brett Kavanaugh in all of our. Supreme Court coverage at DailySignal.com and even better, subscribe to our Morning Bell email newsletter. We created the Morning Bell to be your one-stop source for credible news reporting and insightful commentary on the issues that are shaping the agenda. You can subscribe today and get it delivered to your inbox each weekday morning. Sign up now at DailySignal.com. Just click on the

connect button at the top of the page and subscribe today. We'll be right back with this week's interview. Jim Martin founded the 60-plus Association more than 25 years ago. go and recently handed the reins to a new president, Saul, Anusis. Jim and Saul, welcome to the show. You are leaders of the 60-plus Association, the American Association of Senior Citizens. Tell our listeners about the group and what you do. I started the group about 25 years ago to give seniors another voice in the nation's capital. Until then, the one and only voice for seniors came from the American Association of retired persons from a decided left-of-center philosophy.

And by the way, I did not know that, having been here as a newspaper reporter myself, a member of Congress mentioned that we need to have a conservative voice, if you will, for senior citizens. And I said, well, why? There's the AARP. Well, most seniors, of course, out in the 50 states, are more conservative.

The older you get, the more conservative, as the old axiom goes. But the leadership of the AARP, here in the nation's capital is far left. So there was a real need. So that day, we hatched the 60 plus association, now called the American Association of Senior Citizens. Well, thank you, Jim. I appreciate you telling us that. I think many seniors probably don't know that, though. And I mean, I know that from my own experience here in Washington, getting to know you over the years, I mean, you've been an very, you know, ardent supporter of bringing an alternative for seniors to

choose. What is the message that you want them if they're listening to this show to take away about the benefits they get from your organization? Okay, well, the short answer to that, because I often get asked, what is the difference between the 60-plus association and the AARP? One major difference, they're selling a lot of products, making a lot of money on the backs of seniors, if you will. We're selling a philosophy, limited government, less taxes, strong national defense. They also have an entertainer that they tout quite often. We do too. We have one called legendary singer Pat Boone. He's a real patriot. He's still out on the concert tour, but he speaks on behalf of seniors all over America. Jim and Saul, have you noticed any changes in the AARP as a result of them having some strong

competition now? Well, I think if you take a look at what they're doing, and they've actually gone out and hired Republicans and tried to bring in some people to make sure that they're the government. They're that their policies at least, you know, are perceived to be a little more center-based. But the reality, I think, as Jim mentioned, I mean, they are a left-wing organization. If you take a look at the support and the policies, I mean, they supported Obamacare. They supported all the Obama, you know, initiatives. We're on the other side. We truly are the conservative alternative.

And so if you take a look at the policies that we traditionally support, it is not unusual to see us trouting things that the Heritage Foundation has put out, working with you here at the Heritage Foundation. We've done many programs together and have participated in events here. And so we're taking a look at kind of reaching out to the conservative community out in the country. And one of the things that we are going to do is after Labor Day, we're actually launching a new program where a lot of the requests that we've been getting is saying, hey, could you at least give us some of the discounts that we get from ARP? The reason we actually join ARP is not that we believe in them philosophically, but, you know, it's nice, you know, saving on hotels or whatever. And so

you know, we want to be a member-centric group. And so instead of being an insurance company, which I think ARP gets like 80, 90 percent of all the revenue comes from selling insurance, we're going to make sure that, you know, what we do is give our members a discount and an ability to participate in some of the savings, but stick to our core philosophy, which is being a conservative alternative and sticking to policies that promote conservative solutions with regards to what ought to happen in this country and how to make America strong for, not only for the seniors, but for their children and grandchildren, which is really our target audience. So we've spoken about your inspiration and your mission, but what are some of your

organization's long-term goals? Well, I think, you know, a couple things. One is that we want to be a more aggressive partner with various groups around Washington. So I think that one of the things that Jim and I have been doing over the last 30, 60 days now is meeting with groups, having conversations. How can we partner together? How can we make sure that we're in a win-win situation of sharing, information, sharing policies, sharing constituencies to make sure we kind of grow together. So that's

probably number one for us. Number two, we're moving into kind of a new digital approach with regards to 60 plus. And so we'll be launching a new website after Labor Day. As we just mentioned, we're going to start offering discounts and different services for seniors to participate. So that's going to be an important part. Third, what we're doing is we're in a process of putting together a state-by-state organization. We're going to be working with heritage. We're going to be working with Americans for tax reform, with others who have organizations in the states. And we're looking at recruiting state directors in all 50 states in the various territories and participating there. And then probably finally, we're putting together a series of kind of entrepreneurial approaches to what 60 plus is going

to do on the educational process. We have a woman who is retiring from the financial planning services industry in New York. That's putting together a kind of a how to retire type package, give information on, you know, rather than pitching a specific service, you know, explain how do you deal with retirement? What should you do with your retirement funds? How do you integrate Social Security? How do you do the things you need from a financial standpoint? We have several other partnerships in the process of doing, you know, passing on a legacy to your children and grandchildren. How do we do that? How do we make sure that, you know, you're the next two, three generations coming up are going to actually participate and understand that it matters what you

believe and how you believe in it. So we've got a pretty aggressive, you know, a plan for what we'd like to do at 60 plus. And it's really just incorporating and pulling it in and working with our partners out there on the field. You know, part of that too is taking away membership from the AARP because we found out of when you're out campaign and talking with seniors. So many I'll come up and say, oh, my heavens, I love your philosophy, right of center, conservative, if you will. I belong to the AARP. I say, well, why? Well, they offer products.

And then when you remind them that the AARP made $600 million in profits last year, I remember there's an 82-year-old lady down in Greensboro, North Carolina, and she walked up to me at the bus. She said, 600 million? I said, yeah, she says, hmm, I got that letter from them. They said that I can get the best possible insurance at the best possible cost. I think they could have gotten me a little bit lower. And I had to agree with her, of course. But that is our goal. And again, it's been a long haul for me.

It's been 25 years. And when Saul and I got to talk and I went to my board, they unanimously approved the resolution to name him president. I agreed to stay on and work together through at least this cycle and perhaps into 2020. It's exciting to think about what we can do to counter the ARP. They've had a free run for 25 years or more. So when they whack us every now and then,

somebody says, well, you must be drawing blood. They're responding. In 2016, seniors supported Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. How would you say that President Trump has lived up so far? Look, I think if you take a look from a policy standpoint, I don't think you could ask for a better president in that regard. You know, we've got great Supreme Court Justice nominees. We take a look at lowering taxes.

We're taking a look at taking care of and dealing with the immigration that costs our citizens period, you know, all kinds of money. So, you know, if when you look at the policies that have been implemented by this administration and you take a look at, for instance, you know, the Heritage Foundation always puts out a blueprint with respects to what they hope might be conservative agenda items, you're pushing 70% of the issues that we all care about as conservatives that this president has implemented. I think it would be an understatement to say he's been a pleasant. surprise for most of us in the conservative movement with regards of the policies that he've moved forward. And I think, you know, on behalf of the 60 plus association, we as senior citizens are ecstatic over what's happening on a policy perspective. And we hope to keep moving forward with the president, working with the White House, participating in their policy meetings. And I think it's going to be, again, another good partnership in moving things forward in America.

And I believe your audience should know that this president, President Trump, is doing what President Reagan initially started doing, reading, if you will, everything he got from the Heritage Foundation. And it's a known fact. Our seniors get stuff from the Heritage all the time. But this president is implementing a lot of things that the Heritage Foundation puts out in your many publications. And it's been an honor to be associated with this White House, the policies that he's putting

together. I have, by the way, it's a newspaper reporter some 50 years ago when John Kennedy was in the White House. I came here as a reporter. I have never, in 50-some years, seen any president attacked like this one's been. Eisenhower got attacked. Kennedy got attacked from time to time. Reagan got viciously attacked from time to time. This one, it's 24-7. Now, if someone said this morning, if Trump could walk on water, the Democrats would say, well, that's because he can't swim for crying out of law. So he's held up well under it. He's made some tweeting should probably be abolished. I'll end on that note. But as a reporter, I mean, that's, that makes so much news. And let me just say on that point, I mean, I do think, you know, in a news news environment where, you know, so much of it is negative. I mean, having that direct access to talk to the American people, I mean, is an advantage that this press, this press,

president has that previous presidents probably didn't. Absolutely. I don't know. Seriously. No, yes. I said that to my wife recently. I said, this president is going around the liberal media by tweeting. I said, when I was a young reporter down in Florida for the Orlando Sentinel, you had to go

around the Sentinel. So we would go to the Vero Beach paper and the Daytona paper going around the big media. I said, tweeting, and which she was explaining to me a little bit better, what tweeting is. I said, this guy's got it. He's going to billions around. filtered, if you will, going around, well, I shan't mention the New York Times perhaps and the Washington Post and others. One of the other reporter I'd like to mention, John Gizzy, who's been a personal friend of mine for more than 40 years, and of Saul's, and of yours, Rob, and he's doing

a fantastic job at the White House. Well, he certainly is, and thank you both for the work that you're doing, you know, much like the Daily Signal, which was created to be an alternative to the mainstream media outlets that do in many cases only have that liberal slant. We appreciate that you're bringing an alternative for seniors, and we hope our listeners take a moment to check out the work you're doing and become a member. So Jim, Saul, thanks for joining us on the show today. Well, thanks for having us and remind your members, you know, just go to 60plus.org, and that's where you'll find us. And we look forward to working with you guys. Thank you. Are you looking for quick conservative policy solutions to current issues? Sign up for

Heritage's weekly newsletter, The Agenda. Each Tuesday in the Agenda, you will learn what issues Heritage Scholars on Capitol Hill are working on, what position conservatives are taking, and links to our in-depth research. The Agenda also provides information on important events happening here at Heritage that you can watch online, as well as media interviews from our experts. Sign up for the Agenda on heritage.org today. Thanks for sending us your letters to the editor. Each week, we feature some of our favorites, both on this show and in our Morning Bell,

mail newsletter. Ginny, what's in the mailbag? First up, Marty Miller writes about our recent interview with Congressman Lamar Smith of Texas. He says, Dear Daily Signal, I remember 20 years ago as a paper boy, I delivered the newspaper to almost three-fourths of the houses in my area. Today, this same paper might hit the doorstep of one compared to 10 in years past. I still get the paper. I call it the 30-second laugh instead of the trib, and I read it in about 30 seconds. I scan the headlines and just move on. This includes the sports section. One of these days, I, too, will cancel the useless thing.

Well, as a subscriber to myself to the Washington Post, I often question why I still do, but I do love just reading that newspaper each morning. Well, here's another from Sandra Price. Quote, I have been so offended and disgusted with the blatant liberal bias by the media. I have stopped watching our local stations as well as the national news. It is obvious, even in their body language. I also canceled my subscription. to the newspaper, which I had had for many years. I sent a letter to the editor informing him of my

reason for canceling. Never got any response, of course. The anchors on our local news each came on telling us how they strive to just report the news in a fair manner. It was laughable. I don't know what the answer is, but people I interact with are of the same opinion. I appreciate the work you are doing to try to make changes. It is true that people will start believing things they hear over and over. I am very proud of our president for the work he is doing in spite of all the opposition he faces. Your letter could be featured on next week's show. Send an email to Letters at daily signal.com or leave a voicemail message at 202-608-6205. Next, we'll share this week's good news story.

Ginny, we're on the cusp of football's new season and baseball's playoffs. I know you're excited about those Houston Astros who are in a tight spot there in the American League. We have a heartwarming story this week involving two athletes from both of those sports whose lives intersected. Here's a clip from Steve Hartman of CBS News. When pro football player Conrad Ruland was hospitalized with a brain aneurysm last November, he took it as a sign. He texted his mom from the hospital. God had something big in store for me. I can't wait to see where his will takes me.

But a few hours later, the aneurysm ruptured. I couldn't leave him. His parents, Mary and Ralph, raced to his side. I had my right ear on his chest and talked to him and laid that all day and listened to his heartbeat all day long. But her son was brain dead at 29. If this was God's plan, it sure felt like an awful one. And then when we left, I said whoever gets his heart, better deserve it. That person was Rod Carrow, an 18-time All-Star, who is among his men.

baseball's elite 3,000 hit club. Caro is alive today because of a heart transplant from the kid who he once met and whom he inspired to be a professional athlete. Their two families recently met and Karoo let Conrad's mother listen to the heart from her son. I'm going to ask mom to listen to his heart and tell me how beautiful it sounds. That was really cathartic for me to be able to hear it again. Every heartbeat is unique. There it is.

And she said this one was. unquestionably, Conrad. I've got it memorized. At this year's Baseball Hall of Fame induction, Kourou was back in the game and welcoming the latest inductees to Cooperstown, New York. He now plans to work with the Conrad's and the American Heart Association to encourage more Americans to become organ donors. Well, we wish him many more years of happiness, thanks to his new heart.

We're going to leave it there for today. Thank you for listening. The Daily Signal podcast is available on Rikershay, along with problematic women and The Right Side of History. All of our shows can be found at DailySignal.com slash podcasts. You can also subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Stitcher,

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Have a great week. You've been listening to the Daily Signal podcast, executive produced by Rob Bluey and Ginny Maltabano. Sound design by Michael Gooden, Lauren Evans, and Thalia Rampersad.