I'm not that familiar with Peterson other than watching some clips of him here & there. But up until this moment my impression of him was very favorable and that includes having first heard about this tweet a few days ago, for i was willing to give him a pass since as a Canadian it is understandable he might not have a deep understanding of American politics and how truly venomous the Democrat party is (doing what Peterson suggested would only embolden the Dems to continue smearing every nominee put forward). Plus he might not have been following the Kavanaugh hearings closely and so most of what he heard or read was likely heavily distorted by the liberal Canadian press.
But trying to shrug it off as a thought experiment lowers my opinion of him since it sounds like he's saying "i'm never wrong and i never say anything stupid, but if it ever appears that way then you can rest assured that it was simply a thought experiment." I mean it might be plausible if he had prefaced his statement with a "perhaps" or "maybe". That's what most people do when they are throwing something out there for consideration and are not necessarily signing off on it. But writing "Kavanaugh should step down" is certainly not an invitation for further input or thought on the part of the reader bur rather a definitive declaration brooking not dissent.
brooking NOT dissent = brooking NO dissent.
Although I watch twitter, I don’t actually twit. There is a reason. Twitter is not the greatest medium for well-thought-out communications. But within that limitation, was responding to a thread where Bret Weinstein said:
Bret Weinstein
@BretWeinstein
My position on the #Kavanaugh confirmation: Both outcomes are completely unacceptable.
3:01 PM - Oct 5, 2018
The two outcomes that he found unacceptable were the appeasement of the left via the ruination of Justice Kavanaugh, and the seeming discounting of a “credible” “victim” of abuse. To which, Dr. Peterson replied in an off-the-cuff manner:
If confirmed Kavanaugh should step down.
https://
twitter.com/EricRWeinstein
/status/1048290081939714048
A little while later, perhaps after thinking about this for two seconds, he said:
I’m not certain that is the right move. It’s very complex. But he would have his name cleared, and a figure who might be less divisive might be put forward.
Jordan B Peterson
@jordanbpeterson
His first is a fast, off-the-cuff response to Dr. Weinstein’s previous positing of a perceived dilemma, followed by the second, which is explicitly ambivalent about the worth of the first.
The first is a quickly-blurted out response to something. The second is the second thought.