“So, in couples counselling six years ago, she spoke of her traumatic experience with the ulterior motive of documenting it just in case Kavanaugh someday in the future was nominated for a SC position? Really?”
No, clearly not. But she never named Kavanaugh or anyone else in counseling. And yes I think it is possible that someone with the ulterior motive I believe she may have would not be beyond weaponizing any experience - and this lone record of it - against Kavanaugh for other purposes. I wish I could say more about why I think that but, per the comment from the moderator, I don’t think I’m allowed to talk about what those motives/purposes are, so I think that’s the most I can say there.
“In this particular instance, because there is considerable evidence (for example, his yearbook page) that he drank heavily in high school. He almost certainly has gaps in his memory of some of those drinking occasions. The most he could say honestly is “I have no memory of such an incident” (if in fact that is true). He can’t honestly say “It didn’t happen” because he doesn’t know that. It might have happened and he doesn’t remember it”
Anyone who has had teens (and we’ve all been one ourselves) knows that kids exaggerate on things like yearbook comments, snap chat stories, instagram posts & comments, etc. All in the effort to look cool, both individually and as a group. And I would imagine boys more than girls, but I know my daughter does this all the time. I know first hand the things she writes are far more glamorous than reality in her attempts to look cool. My nephews do the same. I’m sure Kavanaugh did probably drink in high school. Lot of kids do. So because of some comments in his yearbook, that extrapolates to he’s a heavy drinker with “gaps in his memory” (which implies blackouts) to the point where he attempted to rape someone and doesn’t remember? Well that’s your opinion and you’re certainly entitled to it.
What is the other “considerable evidence” that he “drank heavily in high school” and “almost certainly has gaps in his memory” and doesn’t remember trying to rape someone? Other than the yearbook example?
Read the Washington Post story about the woman who was raped in HS (above) and how her rapists got away with it and the treatment she got from other students and their parents.
Take a look and listen to Charles Blow (NYT) on Chris Cuomo’s show on his sexual abuse as a child and how it affects and impacts him to this day as well as why he didn’t tell.
Read about Jason Gesser, former NFL QB and standout player at Washington State University, and his “antics” as an assistant athletic director. The student newspaper investigated allegations of sexual misconduct and the university didn’t think any were credible until they did and he then resigned. Take a gander at the comments in the article and you”ll get a good idea as to why people don’t come forward. https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/wsu-cougar-football/former-wsu-qb-jason-gesser-resigns-amidst-sexual-misconduct-allegations/
As adults, as parents, we are supposed to teach our children to tell the truth and to believe in them.
To me, it all comes back to: what’s in it for the accuser/victim to lie? IMO, pretty darn little.
I stay away from political discussions on social media and forums, but I am so horrified by this situation with Judge BK that I have broken my own rule. I am a lawyer and have discussed this with many other lawyers and we are all in disbelief that this is being given any consideration. I know from my own work (and just from life) how easy it is to accuse someone of something like this. I think she might even believe it happened. I suspect it was some drunken groping (alcohol involved on her side, too) and while not OK behavior by the boys (whoever they might have been) it was over THREE decades ago and is simply not relevant. She didn’t mention his name to her therapist in 2012, despite the fact that I’m sure she knew he was on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. I guess he was an OK enough person to hold that very prestigious position, but all of a sudden she just couldn’t hold back her information any longer??? This man has an impeccable record of behaving properly towards women and no indication of alcohol issues. I am not being political- I would feel this way about any candidate being put through something like this. I am really upset about this and feel like it is setting the Me Too movement back and is a complete disgrace.
Regarding high school students exaggerating and needing another source, Kavanaugh’s good friend Mark Judge wrote a book about his high school years of blackout drinking and barely tried to change Kavanaugh’s name to O’Kavanaugh. This is very easy to google.
It is also very easy to google the name of Kavanaugh’s fraternity and their reputation for heavy drinking.
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/09/mark-judge-brett-kavanaugh-writing/570631/
…Other statements of Judge’s, though, are now also receiving attention. Like the quote he chose for his high-school yearbook page: “Certain women should be struck regularly, like gongs.” Or the article in which he wrote this: “There’s also that ambiguous middle ground, where the woman seems interested and indicates, whether verbally or not, that the man needs to prove himself to her. And if that man is any kind of man, he’ll allow himself to feel the awesome power, the wonderful beauty, of uncontrollable male passion.”
… Judge’s archive is filled with stories of a rowdy adolescence and opinions about, among other things, sexual assault… The Washington Post story that first named Ford mentioned Judge’s memoir, Wasted: Tales of a Gen X Drunk, which features the character Bart O’Kavanaugh, who “puked in someone’s car” and “passed out on his way back from a party.” In a 2016 lament about how social media discourages juvenile delinquency, Judge wrote, “When my high-school buddies and I got together and exchanged memories of that time, we found ourselves genuinely shocked at the stuff we got away with.”
Kavanaugh also gave speeches in 2014 and 2015 that referenced his drinking or that “what happened at G Prep, stays at G Prep”. The 2014 speech reminisced about he and his friends drinking while he was in law school at Yale and someone breaking a table.
And sure, Dr. Ford may be mistaken in some or all the details. Let the FBI find out, she’s asking them to check and it may be the only way to be sure.
I read somewhere that the reason the therapist did not record Kavanaugh’s name was because that is best practices for therapists. Can anyone here verify that as a code of professional ethics?
Snowball- a lot of people drank too much in high school. What can you show us in the last 3 1/2 decades about BK? It’s all such a giant “so what?” I assure you that she would have at least told the therapist that it was a prominent federal judge…
In an interview, her husband, Russell Ford, said that in the 2012 sessions, she recounted being trapped in a room with two drunken boys, one of whom pinned her to a bed, molested her and prevented her from screaming. He said he recalled that his wife used Kavanaugh’s last name and voiced concern that Kavanaugh — then a federal judge — might one day be nominated to the Supreme Court.
It shouldn’t matter even if he might currently be a teetotaler, in high school he drank heavily.
Cory Booker self reported and feels shame. I am still not a fan but he is owning his past.
@waitingmomla
Someone would not remember trying to rape someone else unless it made them remorseful or they were aware that what they were doing was wrong. I doubt very much that every former HS student (especially male ones) remember every sexual incident/encounter. If he didn’t consider what he had done to be significant in some way it would not stand out in his mind. It would, however, to the victim.
@snowball city:
Most therapists write very minimal notes because notes can be subpoenaed. They try to protect their clients so that their privacy is not invaded or things that they confide be used against them. My therapist will occasionally remind me that she cannot “unhear” something I tell her and therefore to be cautious.
Except that is suspect when the spouse corroborates and expands upon the story (while not under oath), and the therapist doesn’t.
It also seems odd with thousands of federal judges on the bench, to be that concerned of the extremely remote possibility that they could make it to the Supreme Court. So it’s okay for a teenage attempted bathing suit remover to be a Federal judge?
Lifetime appointment is merely an excuse to investigate someone’s entire life that you disagree with. Don’t remember this happening with other Justices, but I’m sure it will happen with every male from now on. Think of the long serving congressmen who died in office. How about Byrd, what was it, almost 60 years? You’re never going to get rid of some of these guys, whether disgustingly unethical, no matter what they do. And the things they did as adults, while in office. All it takes now is an accusation.
It all boils down to this. Some people think that a mere allegation is enough. No other proof needed. One denunciation and it’s over. No evidence. No proof. Even others who say it did not happen. Chilling to think so many are okay with that.
I see no upside for Prof Blasey Ford. Her private life was doxed and she has had to move her family to a secure location and hire security. The democrats bungled bringing this information forth so that it looks like a political ploy despite the fact that she came forward in July.
If it were only about preventing his nomination, there are plenty of other highly qualified conservatives who will not have baggage. Judge Gorsuch was confirmed without a scent of scandal.
Prof Ford is ill served to think that she is just having a giggle while throwing a monkey wrench in the proceedings.
Unfortunately women are all too often thought to have ulterior motives when bringing up uncomfortable truths.
edited to add: She is the one asking for a full investigation. I would think he would want one too in an effort to clear his name.