PER 6 Susan Collins Rhet analysis by Therese Tanski https://padlet.com/ttanski/rjh63wljifk2 Made with big dreams en-us 2018-12-12 01:23:45 UTC 2018-12-14 17:12:40 UTC hello@padlet.com Collins closes her speech reminding her audience of the disunity that is tearing apart our nation and that the nation must remember the core values we have in common. She blames the internet for furthering the polarization between parties and alludes to the Constitution and it's founding fathers who would be "alarmed" at our current state, having drafted the preamble to the Constitution that was to ensure a "perfect union." She closes with a reiteration of Kavanaug's exemplary qualifications instilling a hopeful tone that his confirmation will stop this divide in the Supreme Court and ends with her affirmative vote. ttanski https://padlet.com/ttanski/rjh63wljifk2/wish/314028875 2018-12-12 19:55:14 UTC https://padlet.com/ttanski/rjh63wljifk2/wish/314028875 https://padlet.com/ttanski/rjh63wljifk2/wish/314042573 Continuing in paragraphs 8-11, Collins continues to counter argue against skeptics that are doubtful or who question Kavanaugh's position towards modern issues such as  same-sex marriage that are "worth",  "facilitating access to" birth control, and abortion rights. Collins also brings up about precedents and how Kavanaugh agrees with the use  precedent as "a constitutional tenet" in court cases, such as the Brown v. The Board of Education where it was declared unconstitutional to have separate schools for whites and blacks. This case made headlines and is still being used when similar cases pop up and they need something to use as a reference to make their choices. She proves that some expressed concerns, such as the birth control ideals are false and she shows the exact opposite by proving that he's in favor of what some people think he's opposed against by quoting Kavanuagh saying that "those are just Kavanaugh's phrases". She says it herself that "prominent advocacy organizations have been wrong."]]> 2018-12-12 20:27:35 UTC https://padlet.com/ttanski/rjh63wljifk2/wish/314042573 Collins wants to convince the Senate that Kavanaugh is a good candidate for the Supreme Court because of his past exemplary judicial record and adult life. ttanski https://padlet.com/ttanski/rjh63wljifk2/wish/314043601 2018-12-12 20:30:30 UTC https://padlet.com/ttanski/rjh63wljifk2/wish/314043601 To open up her speech, Senator Susan Collins admonishes the public in the Supreme Court about the group of people who are unfairly skeptical about nominating judge Kavanaugh due to his sexual assault allegations. In paragraphs 2-3 she utilizes condemnatory diction towards opponents such as "misrepresentations", "outright falsehoods" and calls opponents "special interest groups" using "dark money" to prevent the nomination of judge Kavanaugh. Furthermore, in paragraph 3 she establishes the actions that she took into deciding whether she would give her vote to Judge Kavanaugh or not. She uses such diction as "I met with", "I listened carefully to", and "I spoke with". She credits the actions she took into looking at the case to prove that her vote is reliable. https://padlet.com/ttanski/rjh63wljifk2/wish/314044224 2018-12-12 20:32:14 UTC https://padlet.com/ttanski/rjh63wljifk2/wish/314044224 From paragraphs 12 through 14, Collins displays that she is not the only one who is confident in Kavanaugh's ability. In paragraph 11, Collins quotes Lisa Blatt who states that Judge Kavanaugh "is clearly qualified" to be a part of the Supreme Court because "his opinions are invariably thoughtful and fair". By citing a professional, Ms. Blatt, she is refuting against those who claim that Kavanaugh has a conservative bias. Collins chose to quote Blatt because she wanted to show to those who oppose Kavanaugh for becoming a part of the Supreme Court. In his judicial record, Kavanaugh has promoted Democratic-like opinions in the majority of his cases such as promoting women in the legal profession. https://padlet.com/ttanski/rjh63wljifk2/wish/314046935 2018-12-12 20:39:46 UTC https://padlet.com/ttanski/rjh63wljifk2/wish/314046935 https://padlet.com/ttanski/rjh63wljifk2/wish/314047513 Collins continues to argue against her possible critics that she is not supporting one side but she is rather taking both sides into account to show that sexual assault is a serious problem that needs to be solved. In paragraph 17 Collins urges the Senate to take action in preventing sexual assault  so that the future female generation does not have to go through the same horrible experiences that the victims went through. By this she creates her own credibility in order to convey her audience that she understands what our female generation goes through. Later on in paragraphs 19-21 she talks about how Ford's letter was leaked to the public without her consent. By doing this, Collins attacks the person who leaked Ford's letter making them feel guilty while showing that she is sympathizing with Ford. This demonstrates that she understands what Ford is going through and that she never wanted her letter to reach the public's hands.Collins takes Ford's feelings of emptiness and sadness into consideration when trying to stop sexual assaults from happening. Collins understand that being a victim of sexual assault involves a great amount of pain and she doesn't want anyone else to go through that which gives her a reason to try to stop sexual assaults from happening. ]]> 2018-12-12 20:41:13 UTC https://padlet.com/ttanski/rjh63wljifk2/wish/314047513 In section 2 (paragraphs 7-20), As Collins frequently hears the rumors about Judge Kavanaugh removal of the ACA (affordable care act), she refutes the rumors by arguing how Judge Kavanuagh plans on keeping the ACA. https://padlet.com/ttanski/rjh63wljifk2/wish/314048624 Another assertion Collins attempts to refute is the idea that if President Trump were to be impeached, Kavanaugh wouldn't be for it because he's a supporter of protecting presidents from criminal trial because he wrote "that he believes Congress should enact legislation to protect presidents or civil liability while in office." However, she explains that in reality people misunderstood it. This just means that Kavanaugh doesn't believe the President has this protection at the moment, ]]> 2018-12-12 20:44:14 UTC https://padlet.com/ttanski/rjh63wljifk2/wish/314048624 From paragraphs 14-16, Collins explains that she understands both viewpoints of the supposed allegations against Kavanaugh, but nonetheless does not believe charges made against him can prevent him from becoming judge. She found the victim's testimony to be "sincere", "painful", and "compelling". This proves that as a woman, she puts herself in Ford's shoes and understands that the issue of sexual assault is something that should be taken seriously. She later on adds that the victim couldn't verify any of the events that happened with Kavanaugh. She uses diction such as 'outlandish' in paragraph 14 to assert the fact that the allegation sounded bizarre, since there wasn't any solid, credible evidence that would be used against Kavanaugh. With that, she wants to emphasize that the presumption of innocence(innocent until proven guilty) is very important in the case because Kavanaugh can and will be accepted in the Court since he can't be proven guilty. In paragraph 16, she argues the case isn't a criminal trial and that the claims shouldn't be taken "beyond reasonable doubt." She stresses that doubt as there is no clear evidence of Kavanaugh being an abuser and the charges/claims cannot prevent him from becoming a judge on the Supreme Court. https://padlet.com/ttanski/rjh63wljifk2/wish/314050318 2018-12-12 20:49:06 UTC https://padlet.com/ttanski/rjh63wljifk2/wish/314050318