The Kavanaugh Accusations

What to make of the accusations that Brett Kavanaugh sexually attacked a 15-year-old when we was 17?

There are two obvious possibilities - that it happened just as his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, describer or that she's outright lying. But these events happened nearly 40 years ago. There are several ways that Ford could be telling the truth as she sees it but not accurately describing what happened.

Here's the thing - memory isn't fixed. It's malleable and can play trick on you. What's more, Ford claims that she didn't tell anyone about the incident for decades. Memory is not a video file that can be reversed and replayed at will. It's a bunch of incidents with links to and from them. If you don't think about an event for a long time then it can be difficult to accurately reconstruct it. It's also possible to create false memories. One notorious example came from the 20th century's most notorious witch trial (and I'm not speaking figuratively). Members of a preschool were arrested on charges that they took their charges into underground chambers where they performed satanic ceremonies. This was impossible since the preschool was build on a slab with no basements. It turned out that people questioning the children had planted false memories in the kids by asking specific questions. Keeping that in mind, here are ways that Ford's memory could have played tricks on her:

It didn't happen as described. Was Ford actually forced into the bedroom or did she embroider the story to excuse being alone with two drunken guys (while possibly drunk herself)? She cold have been telling herself that it wasn't her fault that she was alone with them until she believed it.

It wasn't Kavenaugh. Did Ford know the two people who were in the bedroom with her? Or did she later decide it was these two? And if it was later, how much later was it?

It happened to someone else. Ford has very distinct memories of the incident but everything surrounding it is vague. Possibly she heard someone else describe the event and internalized it until she believes that it happened to her then fixed on Kavanaugh and his friend Judge as the perpetrators. This is the very definition of a false memory.

Because of the way this allegation was made, there was no time for a proper investigation. What we do know is that there is no supporting evidence. None at all. Of the three names we have, two deny that anything happened. In cases like this, investigators look for a pattern of behavior. Men who abuse women don't limit themselves to a single victim. Look at Harvey Weinstein or Matt Lower. Or Bill Clinton or Donald Trump. They all left a long trail or women willing to come forward and accuse them. So far, Ford stands alone in accusing Kavanaugh. But, at the same time, multiple women have supported him. His wife and two previous girl friends plus 200 other women have all vouched for his character.

Given how unsupported the accusations are, they should never have been made public. It's likely that they were only released to blacken Kavanaugh's name and force delays in the confirmation vote. The ultimate goal to to put off any confirmation vote until after a new, Democrat-controlled Senate is confirmed. After that, no one that President Trump nominates will be confirmed. Period.

What's more, we can expect similar accusations for all future Republican nominees to the Supreme Court.

A dirty trick like this should not be allowed to succeed.