Kavanaugh/Ford Hearing

The Kavanaugh/Ford hearing yesterday was difficult to watch. Kavanaugh's belligerence and snarkiness was not a good look for any man in this situation, and absolutely unacceptable for a possible Supreme Court Justice. Disgusting. The guy can't keep his cool in an arena where he should have made a particular effort to make his feelings clear with a calm and professional demeanor.

Two things about which I feel very strongly that he is lying:

1) If someone I honestly did not know at all approached me out of the blue, and said they were at a party in high school, and Cathy, Kimberly, Doug and I were there, I would say it is very likely I was there, because those are my friends and we were together a lot. You cannot categorically deny being at a party where your close high school buddies were! People in your 40s or 50s, just think about your high school days. Could you deny being at a general gathering of your friends? The flat out denial that he was there is highly suspect. All you have to say is that it is likely I was at such a gathering, not sure I was at this particular one, but I don't remember this person and I certainly never committed such a heinous act on her or anyone else. That would have been a reasonable, believable response.

2) He's trying to convince everyone that he is religious, conservative, was a virgin until much later than most people, spent his time studying, playing football, and working out at Tobin's (which oddly always brought him to tears, although I get teary, too, when I think about working out...) . When we talk about his yearbook though, he's suddenly this big beer drinker, sometimes "drinking too much" (have YOU ever been blackout drunk, Senator? Good grief.), and his Catholic high school simply always tried to create these "Animal House"-like yearbooks that weren't really representative of anything that was going on there. Riiiight. Oh, and several boys at an all-boys school have "Renate Alumnus" on their page, I can guarantee that is not a reference to what a great friend she is, and how she is just an honorary member of their school. Does he think we are that stupid? Such a crock. Obviously the guy did the typical high school football player stuff, including drinking and partying a lot. Again, it would have been no biggie, and doesn't at all mean he attacked anyone, other than he tries so LOUD and angrily to tell a completely different story. Ugh. Give me a freakin' break.

Again, people in your 40s and up, think about a party in high school where something happened, not necessarily an attack or even a negative thing- something you have thought of now and again over the years. Maybe you made out with your new boyfriend for the first time, or you got pushed into the pool, or the cops showed up... anything that you still remember well. Like Dr. Ford said, that memory is strong for a reason. It is in long-term storage in your brain because it meant something significant to you. So what details do you remember? Depending on what happened, you probably remember who was involved in the incident/situation itself and the event details at the time it was happening. Do you remember the specific date or even the month or year of the event? How did you get to the party? Do you remember everyone who was at the party or what you did afterwards and how you got home that particular night? Probably not. But that important piece of the story is emblazoned on your memory like it was yesterday. The amount of data in her recollection makes perfect sense.

You would never forget who attacked you if such a thing happened to you. She knew exactly who he was. You would never hear anyone say, "Hmm, it may have been Joe who tried to rape me, but maybe it was Kyle. I dunno. It was so long ago, I forget." It just doesn't make any sense to suggest such a thing. If she wasn't certain, I feel like she would have said she wasn't certain.

These nutballs who are threatening both Kavanaugh and Ford are disgusting as well. Get help if you are threatening people for any reason. Seriously.

I don't like Kavanaugh's bratty behavior with the Democratic senators and especially not answering the questions about the FBI investigation. There has "never NOT been an FBI investigation" about these types of issues, as they said yesterday, so why not now? Are you so special that we don't need an FBI investigation, when it has always been done before? Especially now, in the times in which we find ourselves, with respect to sexual harassment/aggression. Better now than ever.

Senator Flake just demanded an FBI investigation or he will vote No on the Senate floor vote. NICE! Thank goodness for some across-the-aisle work to get people thinking with their brains instead of blind party loyalty. Hopefully the Republican leadership will agree, and the FBI will get the details to allow a more educated vote.