Advise and Consent: Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh appears to be assured that he will be confirmed after two key senators announced they will vote for him

Republican Susan Collins of Maine and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia said Kavanaugh will have their vote. It could happen today.

In a lengthy speech on the Senate floor Collins explained her decision saying of Kavanaugh’s sexual assault accuser, “I found her testimony to be sincere, painful and compelling. I believe that she is a survivor of a sexual assault and that this trauma has upended her life. Nevertheless, the four witnesses she named could not corroborate any of the events.”

Collins said, “The allegations failed to meet the ‘more likely than not’ standard.”

  Manchin, a Democrat representing a red state, said,  “My heart goes out to anyone who has experienced any type of sexual assault in their life. However, based on all of the information I have available to me, including the recently completed F.B.I. report, I have found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist.”

Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski broke with her party. “I believe we’re dealing with issues right now that are bigger than the nominee,” she said. It just may be that in my view he’s not the right man for the court at this time.”

Amidst the drama, President Trump tweeted the conspiracy theory about anti-Kavanaugh demonstrators that, “The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals only looking to make Senators look bad. Don’t fall for it! Also, look at all of the professionally made identical signs. Paid for by Soros and others. These are not signs made in the basement from love!”

Police Beat: Jason Van Dyke, the white Chicago police officer who fired 16 bullets into 17-year-old Laquan McDonald four years ago, was convicted yesterday of  second-degree murder.

Demonstrators outside the courthouse chanted, “Justice for Laquan! Justice for Laquan!”

Much of the evidence against Van Dyke depended upon a police dashboard video that shows him firing within six seconds after getting out of his car. McDonald had been carrying a knife, and was at least 20 feet away. Van Dyke said he felt threatened.

The police department kept the video under wraps for a year and it caused an uproar when it was released. The chief of police was replaced and the reputation of Mayor Rahm Emanuel was badly damaged. He is not running for re-election.

Econ 101: The unemployment rate hit 3.7 percent last month, the lowest since 1969. Actual job growth was a somewhat disappointing 134,000, but it may have been depressed by the  fallout from Hurricane Florence.

Missing: The agency responsible for investigation of international crimes and mysteries is missing something. Its chief. Interpol chief Meng Hongwei, who’s from China, was reported missing by his wife after going back to China on what was described as a business trip.

The South China Morning Post in Hong Kong reported that Meng is under investigation in China for unspecified reasons.Interpol said in a statement,

“This is a matter for the relevant authorities in both France and China.”

Denial Ain’t a River: The city of Osaka has severed its sister city relationship with San Francisco over the display of a statue memorializing the “comfort women” used as sex slaves by the Japanese army during World War II.

An estimated 200,000 women were imprisoned in brothels. The statue featuring three women holding hands depicts the sex slaves from Korea, China, and the Philippines.

The Japanese have attempted to dodge responsibility for what they did ever since the war. They also objected to a statue in Pasadena. It’s like Turkey denying the Armenian genocide.

A letter of objection from the mayor of Osaka to the mayor of San Francisco says, “There is also disagreement among historians when regarding the historical facts such as the number of ‘comfort women’, the degree to which the former Japanese army was involved, and the extent of the wartime harm.” As if the actual number matters and there’s a question of whether it caused any harm.

Dept. of Corrections: We erroneously said yesterday that The Wall Street Journal editorialized against the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, which would never happen. We meant to say it was The Washington Post.

Going, Going, Gone: An artwork by the trickster artist Banksy sold for $1.4 million yesterday at a Sotheby’s auction in London. The work “Girl with a  red Balloon” featured a black and white image of a windblown girl in a dress releasing a heart shaped red balloon.

Moments after the gavel fell, a paper shredder hidden inside the bottom of the picture frame went to work and the shredded piece of art came out the bottom.

A Sotheby’s director said, “It appears we just got Banksied.”

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