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I Believe Judge Kavanaugh
Townhall.com ^ | September 28, 2018 | Linda Chavez

Posted on 09/28/2018 5:59:32 PM PDT by Kaslin

Thursday's hearing with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, was an almost perfect Rorschach test: Democrats and much of the mainstream media saw Ford's testimony as credible, authentic and emblematic of the mistreatment of women by privileged men. Republicans saw a decent man with an unblemished record being accused of the most heinous criminal acts in a last-minute attempt to derail his confirmation.

I watched the hearings transfixed. I am a conservative who generally supports Kavanaugh's judicial philosophy, but I also believe the GOP bungled this process. I would like to have heard, in person, from Mike Judge, who Ford claims was in the room when the alleged attack took place. I believe it was in everyone's interest -- including Kavanaugh's -- to ask the FBI to reinterview witnesses after the allegations were made.

But we're left to make a judgment without a perfect process. And after listening to both witnesses, I found Kavanaugh's testimony more compelling. That is not what I expected to feel.

Memory is often imperfect, and decades-old memories, even of traumatic events, change over time. My younger sister died when I was 12 years old. I have a vivid memory of the doctor calling to say that my parents should come to the hospital because she was in heart failure. I remember that I was sitting on a swing on the front porch of my apartment building, that I ran down the stairs to our basement apartment to answer the phone. I remember my parents returning later that evening with my sister's clothing in a small paper bag. I can see myself standing on the landing at the top of the stairs as my mother walked in, clutching the bag.

The picture in my mind now is as clear as the day it happened. Except that some of the details are wrong. My memories have conflated some facts. As perfect as the images in my mind may seem, they are inaccurate. The crystal-clear image of my mother clutching the bag as she comes up the stairs is in an apartment we no longer lived in when my sister died. The dress I remember my mother wearing could not have been what she wore. It's a dress I've seen dozens of times in a picture taken years later. I am remembering images I've looked back on hundreds of times, and I've altered some of those memories in the act of recalling them so often. That is the way memory works, and it is why memory is often unreliable.

Ford's testimony was based entirely on memory. No corroborating witnesses. No evidence to support a timeline or important information, such as how she got to the party in question or how she got home -- over 5 miles away -- at a time when she had no driver's license. All we have to go on is the searing details she provided from memory.

Kavanaugh, on the other hand, can point to sworn statements from those Christine Ford said attended the event. Their statements say they do not recall any such gathering taking place, and in one case, that the supposed witness has never even met Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh also produced contemporaneous calendars that detailed his activities from the time in question, which show him otherwise occupied on the dates the event might have occurred. And we have his unblemished record of more than a quarter century in high-profile jobs, which required six full-field investigations by the FBI and a previous Senate confirmation.

Perhaps I am reacting as a partisan -- though I have been critical of the Trump administration and Trump himself. But I believe Brett Kavanaugh. And if uncorroborated accusations are the new standard to determine who is fit to serve, then our toxic politics have sunk to a new and dangerous low.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: brettkavanaugh
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To: CardCarryingMember.VastRightWC
What's also interesting is that when I run these incidents or routes through my head, and I suddenly realize I'm in a false mirror image of what I actually saw, I am able to consciously correct the mind's-eye images to see it as it really had to have happened.

Yep. This seems to be common.

One old memory I have always seemed crystal clear, but just today I realized that I must've confused one little detail (which had to do with left-right perspective).

Other people do this, too. Sometimes, a friend or family member will insist you did or said something that you know you never did or said. You can tell they're mixing up different conversations. Then they spread misinformation. Or they'll insist you weren't somewhere, even though you remember being there.

Like Judge K., I kept detailed calendars for many years. Whenever anyone (loved ones) would insist we went somewhere, or didn't go somewhere, or whatever, the calendar would settle the argument.

41 posted on 09/28/2018 8:32:34 PM PDT by Tired of Taxes
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To: Kaslin

I believe the demonrats are aptly named.

I believe the RINOs are evil.

I believe Ford, Ramirez and Swetnick are full blown wackadoodles.


42 posted on 09/28/2018 8:42:00 PM PDT by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.")
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To: Tired of Taxes

I don’t accept the premise that she’s a victim of anything other than her personal demons. These are “recovered” memories from her session with a family counselor that we’re now seeing happened in a different year than she claimed. Here’s a link to a video about how easy it is to implant a false memory: https://youtu.be/58AxIGmjEP4. As a hypnotist, these are techniques that I definitely know how to implement.


43 posted on 09/28/2018 8:42:39 PM PDT by JMS
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To: 4Liberty

Will the FBI question Ford also as a part of their investigation? I sure hope so.


44 posted on 09/28/2018 8:43:51 PM PDT by sjeann
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To: JMS

Agreed. That makes sense. She did mention therapy sessions.

It’s either a “recovered” or “implanted” memory. Or she’s lying outright.

Even if something did happen, it’s been 36 years. She comes across as very fragile, or is that an act? Difficult to tell.


45 posted on 09/28/2018 9:01:52 PM PDT by Tired of Taxes
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To: Engedi
I was just blown away that Kav did not have his lawyer with him.

Was his lawyer siting behind him to his left (his wife was to his right)?

46 posted on 09/28/2018 9:08:29 PM PDT by ELS
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To: ELS
Was his lawyer sitting behind him to his left (his wife was to his right)?
47 posted on 09/28/2018 9:16:47 PM PDT by ELS
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To: Tired of Taxes

I believe it was an act - she wanted to come across as fragile and used upspeaking which is supposed to make her seem vulnerable. However, this is also the tonality one uses when asking a question so it’s also a sign of uncertainty if she’s making a statement with a question tonality. There was a distinct lack of outrage and anger like she was totally disassociated from the memory, almost as if she’s reciting something that she read about or watched in a movie. She never even explained how their circles even came into contact with each other. They ran in different circles and she has no other details other than to name certain people who refute her story.


48 posted on 09/28/2018 9:29:19 PM PDT by JMS
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To: Kaslin

This author is being entirely too charitable.


49 posted on 09/28/2018 9:38:41 PM PDT by wastoute (Government cannot redistribute wealth. Government can only redistribute poverty.uences.)
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To: Kinsingmonster

Hope really does spring eternal...


50 posted on 09/28/2018 9:39:45 PM PDT by wastoute (Government cannot redistribute wealth. Government can only redistribute poverty.uences.)
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To: Beatthedrum

Yeah yeah YEAH!!


51 posted on 09/28/2018 9:49:18 PM PDT by madameguinot
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To: JMS

Interesting. Yes, she did use a tone that made many of her statements sound like questions.

Then she really did ask questions, like wanting to know when the other guy worked at Safeway so that she could narrow down her story. (No one challenged her on that, either.)

She used a little-girl voice - maybe to come across as nonthreatening. It all looked like an act.

Contrast with Judge K’s demeanor: he was sobbing, broken. He was real. His poor wife looked tortured, his daughters sad, his mother devastated.

To be the kind of evil mastermind he’s accused of being, he’d have to be some kind of sicko with no conscience. Instead, the only people there with no conscience were the Dems doing everything possible to destroy him.


52 posted on 09/28/2018 10:32:56 PM PDT by Tired of Taxes
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To: Kaslin

I believe him too.


53 posted on 09/28/2018 11:09:29 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: dpetty121263

Flake has gone spineless and with him/Collins/Murkowski needed to confirm Kavanaugh, the rest are doing their best to try to garner their votes. When you have a razor thin majority, you can be held hostage by RINOs.


54 posted on 09/29/2018 3:26:37 AM PDT by trebb (So many "experts" with so little experience in what they preach....even here...)
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To: Kaslin

Democrats run Everything!! It’s totally DISGUSTING!!


55 posted on 09/29/2018 4:06:00 AM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: Right Wing Assault

If she SWORE that she is a Psychologist, then WHYT ISNT SHE ARRESTED??? That is TOTALLY ILLEGAL!! NOT JUST SWEARING TO IT, BUT ACTING AS ONE!


56 posted on 09/29/2018 4:07:31 AM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: dpetty121263

We know she’s lying. Ford is lying
It’s the old “the emperor has no clothes.”
They know she’s lying - he never had clothes!!!!!!
It’s the old “the emperor has no clothes”
It’s the old “the emperor has no clothes”
Everyone knows she’s lying - the emperor never had clothes


57 posted on 09/29/2018 4:08:12 AM PDT by missthethunder
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To: Ann Archy

Here’s the California seach tool: https://search.dca.ca.gov/

Look for Christine Ford or Blasey under Psychologist or Registered Psychologist. She’s not there. She lied and she broke California law.


58 posted on 09/29/2018 4:22:44 AM PDT by Right Wing Assault (Kill-googl,TWITR,FACBK,NYT,WaPo,Hlywd,CNN,NFL,BLM,CAIR,Antifa,SPLC,ESPN,NPR,NBA)
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To: Right Wing Assault

Will the CORRUPT FBI see this?? Doubt it! In a fair world she would be arrested TODAY!


59 posted on 09/29/2018 4:26:26 AM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: Kaslin

60 posted on 09/29/2018 8:03:13 AM PDT by doug from upland (Why the hell isn't Hillary Rodham Clinton in prison yet?)
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