"She was like, 'I can’t deal with this. If he becomes the nominee, then I’m moving to another country. I cannot live in this country if he’s in the Supreme Court'... She wanted out."
Said Russell Ford, the husband of Christine Blasey Ford, quoted in "Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford moved 3,000 miles to reinvent her life. It wasn’t far enough" (WaPo).
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343 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 343 of 343Leftists are ruthless whereas the Right lacks the killer instinct.
Doesn't every high school have a fast crowd? It's bound to be larger at boarding schools, which makes me wonder why parents leave their kids there when they live nearby and they could be day students (not possible at some prep schools). OTOH, academic standards and competitiveness will limit its size.
Professor, could you update your story?
The WaPo is fake news.
Kavanaugh wasn't added to Trump's list of Supremes until 2017.
This story from the husband is a lie.
Ford agrees to testify next week, under conditions to be negotiated. Which I take as a refusal to Grassley. Anybody want to take a bet on whether the "negotiations" break down, resulting in additional "unforeseen" delays in confirmation? If they wanted a deal, it needed to be done by 2:30 this afternoon. [original comment edited to correct time of deadline]
mockturtle said...
I agree with Mike Sylwester that this woman comes across as bipolar. Personality disorders are harder to deal with than psychoses.
Not sure if I am understanding your comment correctly, but bipolar is not a personality disorder. Additionally, one can have bipolar disorder without psychotic features. The article doesn't point to any proof of bipolar, a disorder that is overly diagnosed.
MayBee said...
I have no idea who is telling a version closer to the truth, but I deeply believe that if she is so affected by what she described, there is something deeper in her that needs help. A normal healthy person could see it as a teenage interaction lived through, lesson learned, move on. It shouldn't be still so traumatizing for her, we all have close calls and scary incidents that happen to us as we grow up, and if we can't move past them, that is a sign there is something more going on.
I find it ironic that her research focus is on trauma and resilience. There is a lot of evidence-based treatments that could have helped her conquer her fear of small, enclosed places and other PTSD-related symptoms. I don't doubt something happened to her, but memories are not always accurate and our brains have a tendency to splice together information, leaving us with memories that are true-ish. Malcolm Gladwell had a podcast episode addressing that very matter. I would tend to believe the therapist's notes since they are usually written during or soon after a session. The conflict between the therapist's notes and her current account would point to the "Fungibility of Memory." That doesn't mean Kavanaugh wasn't involved but one person's memory of an event does not make it so.
I don't see how a rational, intelligent person would put herself forward with a story so vague and unprovable, or how she thought she could remain anonymous. It must be the TDS.
But apparently it was A-OK if he was on the 2nd highest court in the land, that didn't bother her.
She was like, 'I can’t deal with this. If he becomes the nominee, then I’m moving to another country. I cannot live in this country if he’s in the Supreme Court'... She wanted out."
Hysteria.
Off topic but related: I had a friend who grew up in the Washington DC suburban area and her family was part of the "elite" society populated by the Kavanaughs and the Blaseys, about which we are getting a tiny glimpse because of Dr. Ford's accusation. My friend's father had been a prominent art historian connected with the Library of Congress. She was gorgeous, flirtateous, talented, smart, and spoke with a combination English and German accent, altogether irresistible. Men flocked around her wherever she went; she called them, "highly motivated," and she was horribly promiscuous. She had a problem which she never talked about and was not known until after her suicide, which was that her father had "incestualized" her as a child. Her classmates from the elite school only know she died young, no one even has any idea why or how she died.
This whole matter gives me an insight why Trump freaks out this crowd so much.
She can't remember what year it was. BS.
Sara responds: Not sure if I am understanding your comment correctly, but bipolar is not a personality disorder. Additionally, one can have bipolar disorder without psychotic features. The article doesn't point to any proof of bipolar, a disorder that is overly diagnosed.
You are right, of course. What I actually meant was Borderline Personality Disorder, a different diagnosis altogether.
R.Chatt @2:29: OK, let's call her father to the stand, as well, and interrogate him about possible incestuous issues regarding his daughter. May as well cover all the possibilities in relieving Ms. Ford of any agency in her personal behavior.
I was a juror in a rape case some years ago. The case should never have never have been brought to court it had so many holes in it. During the deliberations that took a couple of days I outlined 7 aspects of the case that provided reasonable doubt. All of us agreed except one female juror who insisted that she had to convict the accused. Her explanation was that she had been raped and could not find her way not to convict the accused. The facts did not matter to her. It was all an understandable emotion. I think something similar is going on with Althouse.
On the other hand, to give Althouse some slack, Kavanaugh seems just too good to be true - perfect scholar, perfect athlete, perfect coach, perfect husband, perfect father and perfect jurist. I wish he seemed more human with some failings and frailties like the rest of us. I don’t think Althouse likes or trusts that and that perfection strangely makes him less trustworthy in her eyes.
I don't believe she'll testify, she'll stall for more time, it's all about running out the time. It's all part of the plan.
Politicratus has it, I think.
The professionals in HR and the law look for 'pattern of practice' with which to nail perps. Kavanaugh does not exhibit a pattern of groping.
It is POSSIBLE that it's a one-off; such things do happen. But it raises the bar for evidence supporting that one-off event.
How long? How long will this bullsh*t go on? How long?
Postmodern dishonesty now dominating federal govt.
Time for patriots to step up and save America from the leftist haters.
ALTHOUSE: "who is more likely to be telling us what is closer to the truth ... I'd have to say her. That's how I feel right now. I'm letting you know."
I'd have to say I'm not at all surprised . Ah, well.
One more rant...She and her husband should have contacted Kavenaugh themselves and discussed her claims. Confront it head on with mediation, not in this vindictive way. Maybe her life would be better right now if that had happened instead of this circus. How do you find closure or healing doing what she is doing...if that is her motivation. After 36 years a teenager could have grown into a responsible, generous and thoughtful adult but that doesn't matter if you are out for revenge. Sick.
He's been a federal judge now for what, a decade?
This does not meet the "of sound mind" plausibility test, does it?
It is possible to separate "My gut tells me to believe her." from, "Her accusation contains enough specifics to investigate in any meaningful way."
Our oldest son was a police officer for over a decade. At the end of his career, he worked sexual assault/domestic violence. One of the hardest things about his job was that so many of the victims (whom he mostly believed, by the way, after investigating their stories) were mentally unstable. They didn't make good witnesses in court, and as a result their attackers were hard to lock up. He finally got one guy who they'd known for YEARS was a serial rapist, but they just couldn't get enough on him to put him where the sun don't shine.
It's probably no accident that so many of these women had mental health issues. Their weakness made them easier to prey on.
So, although I don't come down in the same place as our Prof. Althous, I also don't find her gut feeling unreasonable (so long as we're only talking about 'my gut tells me she's more believable than he is' and not, "Her accusation contains enough specifics to investigate in a meaningful way."
To my mind, Ford's waffling/indecision/inconsistent actions make her less credible as a witness. And unfortunately, unless she comes up with something we haven't heard yet, her credibility is all she's got. I don't really have any opinion (either way) as to whether Kavanaugh could have actually have done this. The flip side of, "Her accusation is awfully vague" is that I don't have enough information to judge one way or the other.
So I am left with practicality. And as a practical matter:
(1) Faced with allegations that can't be investigated in a meaningful way, there's not enough to assume Kavanaugh is guilty.
(2) Throwing out due process is a far worse miscarriage of justice than not punishing someone who - even if he's guilty - was a teen back then and from everything we can see, has led a good life since then. People can and do change.
(3) Allowing this farce to continue indefinitely or derail these hearings will not, in the long run, keep this from ever happening again. What it will do is demonstrate how easy it is to derail future hearings with flimsily sourced accusations. It's giving in to the mob, and that never ends well.
FWIW, my gut does not tell me to believe her. And my gut does not tell me to believe him, either. Due process is more important than ever in situations like this.
I wish he seemed more human with some failings and frailties like the rest of us
Anybody who spends THAT much on baseball tickets has *cough* major-league failings.
All of this is to stop Trump from getting ANYONE on the court before Nov.
If the nom was someone else, some other hail-mary pass BS would show up.
Soros will probably send his Gulfstream for CBF. Sedate her before the flight. CBF needs to get to DC fast so that Katz can coach her up on her LIES.
“I don’t recall.”
“Fifth Amendment.”
“Stop bullying me.”
I'd like the FBI to find out if Cat Butt Face has a history of flying on airplanes.
Poking a hole in her fear of flying because Bart raped her when she was 15.
The NYT on Buffy the Butt Faced Girl.
Dr. Blasey developed a passion for surfing, which she shares with her husband and two sons. “She’s been chasing waves,” said Beth Stannard, a friend and former co-worker, who said Dr. Blasey’s decisions to teach at Pepperdine, in Malibu, Calif., and to complete an internship at the University of Hawaii were at least partly informed by the campuses’ seaside locations. She and her family live in Palo Alto — where she has volunteered for her sons’ schools and junior lifeguard training, has restored her midcentury modern home with an eye toward historical preservation, and has attended Stanford football and basketball games with her family. The family also has a house in Santa Cruz, famed for its beaches and breaks.
"Did Ford swim to Hawaii for that internship? Did she ride a pontoon? Are we expected to believe she took a boat?"
Dr. Ford's responses are increasingly sounding orchestrated, issued for maximum PR benefit.
That doesn't mean they're not true but they're really sounding contrived. She can't fly in a plane because of what occurred 35 years ago? This sound awfully like they're delaying for time. And all of these demands about testifying?
And frankly her hiring of leftwing lawyers certainly don't make me feel confident that she just wants to get the truth out.
I was at the gym and saw the headline on CNN and FoxNews that "Ford Agrees to Testify Before Senate Committee". The sound is off on the televisions, so I couldn't hear the talking heads discussing the details of this acceptance, but I said to myself that the acceptance probably wasn't specific to a date or even the rules and procedures. Turns out I was 100% correct. Grassley will reject this without written commitment to an actual day and hour for her appearance.
As for the Althouse disclosure that she believes Ford is more likely to be closer to the truth than Kavanaugh - first, I think anyone who found the Rolling Stones thing plausible has a problem in this area. REALLY has a genuine PROBLEM. Not that rape/sexual assault isn't a difficult topic for many women!
Yes, I have known women who were raped - but when you lose your objectivity the best tactic is to try to acknowledge that. I have also known several women who made false accusations of rape/sexual assault. It's a two-way street.
I suspect that Ann would find almost any accusation credible.
But what worries me more than anything else is that the obvious question isn't being asked here, which is "Assuming it's true, should it matter?"
The most we are talking about is inappropriate touching. Even if I were to try to approach Ford's account as gospel (I did), the internals are about as "off" as the Rolling Stones raped-on-broken-glass story.
Look, two big football players want to rape you? And you fight them off and get out, but just don't tell anyone? So much force is used that you doubt your survival, but you head them off and leave under your own power, without saying anything?
Lord's letter about her claims has several Rolling Stonish red flags in it, but even if it were true, even if it had been reported to the police, and prosecuted, it would have been a juvenile offense and the record would have been cleared. Should such a juvenile offense follow someone for the rest of his/her life?
That's why I think this is so fatal - we are clearly approaching the point at which we are being asked to create a social situation in which the accusation is the crime, without term limits, without any possibility of defense, and any man can be accused in any way and it will utterly derail his life. This is not equitable; it will produce a mass of false accusations, and it will destroy justice rather than serving it.
There's something wrong with those who want to go down this path. Something terribly, terribly wrong.
Senator Hatch tweeted out that after the latest statement agreeing in principle that Ford would testify, we are exactly where we were LAST Monday.
TWEET:
Worth noting that this is exactly where we were on Monday morning— without agreeing to a date, time, and terms we are no closer to hearing from Dr Ford then we were when her lawyers said Dr. Ford was willing to testify during their media tour
6 days ago
Ms. Althouse, if Ford were from Meade's high school and accused him of the same offense with the same evidence, would you tend to believe it? I am assuming that you wouldn't believe it, right?
Michael Bromwich in now part of Ford's legal team.
He's a busy boy, since he is also Andrew MCabe's attorney.
She wants to testify Thursday; has asked for a little more time to negotiate details.
delay tactics.
"Ms. Althouse, if Ford were from Meade's high school and accused him of the same offense with the same evidence, would you tend to believe it?"
That's obviously an unfair question.
Meade is not up for the "Kennedy Seat".
I am Laslo.
Steve M. Galbraith said...
Dr. Ford's responses are increasingly sounding orchestrated, issued for maximum PR benefit.
I think she's going too far- she can't fly, she needs two doors in every room, she had to move 3,000 miles away, now she's thinking she needs to move to New Zealand (not afraid to fly there?). Melodrama. She thinks this will make her more sympathetic, but it makes here sound unstable. She accused a (falling down drunk) guy of pulling at her clothes and trying to hush her by covering up her mouth - and its made her an emotional cripple for life. Just Stooooooooop Lady.
Althouse is an anarchist at heart. She doesn't care if Kavanaugh never was withing 2500 feet of Ford during the 1980s. She actually chortles when Lefties make up shit like some sacred right to privacy that lets you take a human life. Or when a judge orders a man to pay child support when a DNA test said he wasn't the father. Who builds their life out of rejecting everything their parents (and their parent's generation) did, said, and stood for?
She's runs an excellent blog, though.
In conclusion, never trust an American kid that never had a beer--or got drunk on them growing up.
"Does Meade agree with you?"
No. And yes.
Why? Because when it comes to Cruel Neutrality™ I don't play games.
Cruel, maybe. Neutral, no.
Althouse is trolling her own blog again, people.
She will also need her therapy elephant transported to D.C. according to a rumor I heard, or possibly started.
I had to lock myself in a closet at frat party I attended at 16 when my date wouldn't take no for an answer. The only person I remember clearly is the nice man who handed me a telephone so i could call to arrange a ride home. He would have driven me himself but he didn't have a car.
I couldn't dredge up the name of the date on a bet.
The thing that tipped me to Ford's story not being credible is that she couldn't remember how she got to the party or how she got home. People don't walk in the Maryland suburbs. If she walked 3 or 4 miles, it would be memorable. She was too young to drive so she must have gotten a ride home or called a taxi. Also no girls at a party with 4 boys? - not very likely.
I think it will be very bad for the country to let the nomination be derailed by a vague accusation three decades old.
I think Professor Althouse is spectacularly wrong about this scenario, just as she was spectacularly wrong about Obama in 208. Some huge misses, there.
To add to my previous comment:
Anyone who has lived in the Deep South knows that lynchings really did happen. The social result is rather important in this context. Because any black man who was accused of raping a white woman was in acute danger of not even making it to trial, it is still true in many parts of the Deep South that older black men avoid ever being alone with a white woman whom they do not know. That's what the Althouse/Feinstein standard is going to produce. That's why I had to wait 40 extra minutes to get a cab ride in GA - the driver (older black male) had to go get a companion so he would not be alone with me on the ride. That's the inexorable reality the "the woman must be believed" is going to create.
And that, btw, is one reason why I believe there are going to be pretty strong reactions against this tactic at the ballot box. Black men have been there, seen this, ain't gonna go there no more. Any white men, or Hispanic men, with any brains get it too. Many of the women see it as well.
It's entirely rational, too. If we accept this standard, equality in the workplace is gone. A man won't be able to work late alone with a woman. If we accept this standard, we are rolling society back more than a century.
I consider those who don't comprehend what is going down here to be more than a bit "off", and by no means feminists. In any case, those who think this accusation, without any corroboration, should disqualify Kavanaugh from the office are highly dangerous and inept people who should not be allowed to have any societal power whatsoever.
This is my deep and burning belief. I intend to vote against every Democratic candidate in the next two elections entirely because of this incident. I've never done this in my life.
MOM asks: But what worries me more than anything else is that the obvious question isn't being asked here, which is "Assuming it's true, should it matter?"
And the obvious--to any sane person--answer is, "No, it shouldn't".
Excellent comment, MaxedOutMama @3:14
I get the sense that Ford and the Democrats think this is their Perry Mason moment.
Her testifying as to what she thinks she remembers is not a "trial". It can't possibly ever be a trial in that there is no way to prove the reality of what happened a lifetime ago. There are no witnesses. No physical evidence. No nothing.
It is just her word against his. The hearing is just that. A HEARING. The Senators will hear her and will hear Kavanaugh. Then they will vote on the issue in front of them. The nomination process proceeds to the next step....or they vote to not proceed.
There is not going to be a "trial". There is not a judge or jury. If she thinks she is going to get her "day in court" she is sadly mistaken and about 35 years to late for anything like that.
IF she wanted her day in court, she should have started about 34 years ago.
I don't believe a word she says.
Cassandra @ 2:53 PM
Yes, that's the rational approach. We need to be asking ourselves what a practical and functional rule to deal with such cases may be.
None of us can know what did or didn't happen. But if Kavanaugh had been, as an adult, a serial sexual abuser, I do think airing the accusation would have produced further claims against him.
Since it is impossible to investigate, since the alleged victim made no statements at the time to anyone, a practical rule is simply that this cannot be used to debar him from office. Otherwise, we are left with the result that the accusation is treated as proof of the injury, and this has always been a fatal rule.
This has gotten to be a flippen circus. I don't expect anything resembling justice to come out of this.
Ann may believe her, but given how Dianne Feinstein has handled this the senator obviously does not.
Hold the hearing. Hear from both accuser and accused. Ask no questions of either. Proceed to the vote.
Anyone feel mocking Vice President Pence?
His position is precisely because on an emotional level the guy is always guilty, and truth is no protection against any woman.
Another great point, MOM @ 3:47
I had an appointment with a male doctor the other day. A second a opinion about my bad knee. Anyway - the doc had a young female in the room during the consultation and she was there to take notes. I actually thought it was a good idea, for a few reasons. Not only the note taking, but the fact that there is someone in the room with the doc who can provide the buffer that might be needed in case some power-revenge obsessed psycho patient wants to make a false allegation against the doc.
In the land of the grand entitled leftwing lie.... be safe.
and the left mocked Mike Pence.
Merrick Garland was not denied HIS seat on the bench - Obama got to appoint 2 others. Merrick was the victim of the Biden rule - pure and simple.
Carolyn Bryant Donham was believed.
I am Laslo.
certain behavior is just wrong, and 'youthful indiscretion' is no excuse.
No, you shouldn't be looking to 'feel a cop',
and yes, it IS wrong to yell "THEATER" in a crowded firehouse.
...and dont get me started on Soviet jewelry
I promise will NEVER vote for a Democrat ever again and I may never vote for a woman again, of any party, when they seem to be only concerned about other women (except females in the womb) and not all citizens.
I hope the karma on this stunt pays off fast.
The Biden Rule and the Reid Rule were worth the wait. now we need a miracle. It's too bad the GOP is so lame.
The democrat party is downright dangerous.
This headline from HotAir reflects the truth here:
Christine Ford Meets Deadline By Not Agreeing To Terms
Humperdink said: "On the flip side, my lovely spouse (female, 67 yo and blonde), thinks Ford is a lying sack of ...."
Jim responded: "Ditto. Except mine is 48 and brunette. Twenty years of marriage.
She's embarrassed by her gender."
Of course, my bride has been pro-life forever and she sees right through this farce. She knows where this is coming from.
MaxedOutMama,
Thank you for both comments.
Will she wear her sunglasses under the Senate klieg lights?
MOM makes the salient point. The question before us is, should it only be possible to confirm Republican nominees to the Supreme Court if no woman can be found anywhere in America willing to tell a lie?
So Dr. Ford is not upset or angry that Feinstein withheld this life changing, shocking, horrible incident - that she told Feinstein about - from everyone for six weeks? Feinstein didn't reveal it so it could be quietly investigated by the committee and FBI?
And she's not upset that her named was leaked to the press? Forcing her out publicly without her consent? Before she was ready to go public with her charges?
If I were her I'd be mad as hell at what Feinstein and whoever leaked her named did to me.
That she isn't tells us something about what was going on here. It doesn't mean the charges aren't true; it does mean that she's not quite as innocent looking as she wants it to look like.
So the most discussed women in media of the last few months look to be Christine Margaret Blasey Ford and Stephanie Gregory Clifford.
It is the Hillary Clinton Hangover.
You've come a long way, baby.
I am Laslo.
She's embarrassed by her gender."
#MeToo.
"Grassley is bullying me!"
I work in a man's field and, I tell you, this is setting back real feminism by decades.
She claims she cannot testify because of a fear of airplanes. But she traveled to Hawaii regularly. https://pjmedia.com/trending/poking-a-hole-in-professor-fords-fear-of-flying-excuse/
LilyBart asserts: I work in a man's field and, I tell you, this is setting back real feminism by decades.
Those of us who worked for genuine women's rights in the 70's have apparently spawned a pussy-hat wearing, whining, puerile, entitled, neurotic bunch of brats who believe that playing the victim is the means to success. That or fellating influential men to boost their careers. Sad, sad situation. I'd like to slap them all.
She wants to delay until Thursday in hope of dredging up some #MeToos. They [the Senate] should never have let it get this far.
Cory Booker used to drive Ford to Hawaii.
Obviously.
I do, however, find it creepy of Ford & Co. to drop this particular accusation on Kavanaugh in this way at this time and place.
It could be, because - let's face it - women resent and often want to bring down and profit off of men with high status whom they feel have wronged them "emotionally."
OTOH, to have expected a 14-year old (or however old she was) to have found the wherewithal to have brought him to whatever "justice" - (and is there actually a crime for attempted assault? I doubt it, and for good reason. It would essentially criminalize any miscommunication between potential or actual sexual partners, and that's dumb) - would have existed up until this point is absurd. Up until now she's just dealt with it psychologically, which is perfectly legitimate. But to have had this much of her life consumed by what she feels was a traumatic experience is something that a guy in one of the highest offices of the land should have to account, and if appropriate, atone for. There's a moral/ethical standard for such high office and even if Bart wasn't a criminal, I think he should exercise or be made to exercise the good character expected of any decent citizen, let alone a public official.
Althouse's knee-jerk contrarianism might be her one bad habit. Given the exact same facts, except Kavanaugh was a Democrat and commenters here and women on TV were attacking him, she would probably feel differently.
Maxed Out Mama:
None of us can know what did or didn't happen. But if Kavanaugh had been, as an adult, a serial sexual abuser, I do think airing the accusation would have produced further claims against him.
Agreed. That is (and has been) the best argument for granting what would otherwise be (IMO) an insufficiently supported accusation to move forward at all. As it is, Ms. Ford delays and vacillates and temporizes and - most damning to my mind - seems to expect all sorts of deference and latitude that would never be granted anyone else, but for the public way she brought forth her allegations.
Which is, in itself, a real violation of the procedures set forth for handing this sort of situation. Just because you have a weak case and little or no evidence does not mean the entire system has to bend over backward to make up for that.
I'm pretty sure no court would be going this far out of its way to grant extension after extension to any of the poor, black rape victims my son worked with. Her sense of entitlement is far more damning than the lack of evidence provided so far.
That's obviously an unfair question.
Meade is not up for the "Kennedy Seat".
----------------
Good point. Plus, I have not exactly led an exemplary life (even though heaven knows I've never attempted to rape anyone). On the other hand, once when I was 6 or 7 I intentionally annoyed my older sister and she reported me to our mom who told her to "ignore him and he'll go away" and she was right!
I should probably confess my regretfull behavior from 1960, '61, or '62 to the the New York Times.
Ah come on - it's time for ThunderDome. Put the Prof. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh in the dome with a few weapons and once the dust settles, the winner is telling the truth. Then if he wins, have the vote and be done with it.
She wins - try her for manslaughter and put her in jail for 25 years.
What? They're just playing chicken? - trying to make the other one be the one who stops "negotiating?" If Grassley, then Flake and Corker vote against Kavanaugh? If not Grassley, then "negotiations" never end?
In an unrelated thought, isn't it the case that lines at Trump rallies are getting longer and longer?
Or maybe I'll just give my sister a call and apologize.
No, that would just annoy her all over again 50 years after my regrettable behavior.
I'll send her an extra nice birthday card. A Hallmark. That's what I'll do.
and yet karen Monahan, is an unperson, in the Minneapolis area, if not worse.
So your sister never bitch slapped you up side the head for being an annoying little brother? You got off lucky.
If you apologize to her now, won't that set a bad precedent? Has she aplogized to you for all the crap she did to you?
Lucky for me I'm retired and my first wife has no idea where I am.
Meade, slip a $2.00 bill in it too. Nothing enhances a birthday card more than a little cash.
Blogger Browndog said...
Michael Bromwich in now part of Ford's legal team.
He's a busy boy, since he is also Andrew MCabe's attorney.
For a woman with such a short,simple story, she sure has a lot of expensive lawyers
As seen on twitter -
I will not testify on a boat,
I will not testify with a goat.
I will not testify,
Here nor there.
I will not testify anywhere.
I will not testify first. Or last.
I will not testify slow or fast.
There's nothing more for me to say.
I can't remember, anyway.
Dr. Suess-Ford
RE Mike Pence and the hell he caught about not dining/meeting alone with women other than his wife, I would like to link back to Ann's post about the matter:
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2017/07/its-not-just-mike-pence-americans-are.html
Ann includes in the post comments about sexual harassment claims, etc, and Ann personally writes:
"It's a very real, complicated problem, men and women together, and there's no simple hey-quit-doing-that answer, because people really do get sexually involved with coworkers and because women in the workplace really do deserve equal treatment."
And so do men, in society. I don't think I am overreacting to the Dem attempt (deeply hypocritical, as we all know) to push the thesis that the woman is always right. It's already gone far enough to have broad social implications, and they are hardly favorable to women.
In the comments to that post someone left this New Yorker link, which was all about how much at a professional disadvantage Pence's approach left women:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/jia-tolentino/mike-pences-marriage-and-the-beliefs-that-keep-women-from-power
"The Pence approach rules out a lunch meeting or a professional dinner with a woman. It also “included requiring that any aide who had to work late to assist him be male.” As National Journal reported two years ago, other congressmen had similar policies, in some cases to avoid the appearance of impropriety—a policy that, the Journal noted, may very well violate laws against discrimination in the workplace."
I think I am entirely right in saying that the Democratic party has warped and twisted itself into a terrible parody of what it claims to be, and that it is deeply injuring women while pretending to be "for" women.
Look at what men are facing; take it seriously. They really are being left with no way to protect themselves. Institutionalized injustice is not and never has been the road to a more open and free society. The Dems are pushing a poison pill upon us.
Women who want equal rights and opportunities for women in society must not at that same time demand that women be given preferential treatment in any way.
"If you apologize to her now, won't that set a bad precedent? Has she aplogized to you for all the crap she did to you?"
No but... Wait. What the!!! How did you know about all that? Only one other person knew about that and she Promised not to tell. And that other person is the Honorable Diane Feinstein!
I'd be interested to know why Althouse thinks Ford's story is closer to the truth than Kavanaugh's. It's not because the evidence points that way. There is no evidence, really, at least not yet.
I haven't read the entire thread, so I hope my post isn't redundant.
For a woman with such a short,simple story, she sure has a lot of expensive lawyers
He (Bromwich) was forced to resign from his law firm due to conflict of interest. He chose representing Ford over his law firm.
You should look up his statement.
DBQ wrote “I have to laugh. The acronym CBF, to me, means Cat Butt Face (*)”
Perfect! As you describe CBF, I think of Elizabeth Warren. Her lips seem permanently lock into a sphinctorial purse.
ah you know who else he represents Andrew McCabe, that's just a coincidence, as with debra katz,
No agreement to testify. Just continued negotiating. Her lawyers do not want her on the record with any falsifiable statements or under oath.
Within the past few days I have been asked to be one of Christine Blasey Ford’s attorneys. My role will likely require me to appear publicly on Dr. Ford’s behalf, and the Senate is being advised of my involvement this afternoon. Because objections have been raised within the partnership to my doing so while employed by the firm. I am resigning from the firm effective immediately. This obviously is happening on a schedule that could not be anticipated.
-Michael Bromwich
Debra Katz-Lisa Banks-Michael Bromwich
Team Ford
Who's paying them?
George Soros
Elizabeth Warren. Her lips seem permanently lock into a sphinctorial purse.
Nah, you're just contrasting it against the wide-open mouths of the Republicans - who will suck on and swallow anything their elitist donors feed them.
Blogger buster said...
"I'd be interested to know why Althouse thinks Ford's story is closer to the truth than Kavanaugh's."
I suspect that at bottom, Althouse cannot bring herself to believe that an intelligent, educated, liberal American woman -- rather like herself -- would tell a vicious lie in order to ruin an honest man's deservedly successful career. Althouse does not have any ex-girlfriends.
MaxedOutMama said, :what worries me more than anything else is that the obvious question isn't being asked here, which is 'Assuming it's true, should it matter?'"
That is exactly where I am on this. Althouse suspects it happened as Ford describes, and I am inclined to agree. But I don't think it matters.
Believing Ford (and thus disbelieving Kavanaugh) and being reasonable also requires that that one maintain some doubt about what happened. Many, many things are possible here.
Crack said, "In this insane environment? Am I the only person who knows y'all are crazy?"
Probaby not, but it's worth asking.
Чикелит said, "Post after post and nothing ever gets resolved."
We think we're a pretty smart species, but we're really not different from barnyard chickens cackling and pecking at each other.
I don't find Ford believable, but that judgment is not evidence. Same for Althouse.
@wildswan 5:16: That's exactly the game, Ford's supporters are lengthening the field for as long as they can, hoping for another few damaging gotchas, or hopefully, a fatal gotcha from Trump himself. Gotchas being of course politically incorrect statements or tweets.
Peepee tape-- You ignore all the big donor money on the left from....mega corporations.
don't you.
Maxed Out said...
I think I am entirely right in saying that the Democratic party has warped and twisted itself into a terrible parody of what it claims to be, and that it is deeply injuring women while pretending to be "for" women.
Look at what men are facing; take it seriously. They really are being left with no way to protect themselves. Institutionalized injustice is not and never has been the road to a more open and free society. The Dems are pushing a poison pill upon us.
Yeah - but anything to stop Trump is justified in their warped heads. Any lie, and half-truth, any manufactured crime. If they have to machete the entire village, they will do it.
Ford can't move out of the country now for sure. If she gets on a plane to New Zealand, she's given away the game.
Then again, I can't be trusted because I never got drunk on beer growing up. I don't want to consume something that smells like that.
[MOM asks: But what worries me more than anything else is that the obvious question isn't being asked here, which is "Assuming it's true, should it matter?"
And the obvious--to any sane person--answer is, "No, it shouldn't".]
Count me as one of the insane. You are lonely for a man, Mock. Beggars can't be choosers. Will any sex offender do? What do you want in a man. Some of the pizza delivery boys are cute, but they expect to be tipped.
Re: "So the most discussed women in media of the last few months look to be Christine Margaret Blasey Ford and Stephanie Gregory Clifford."
Clifford's husband filed for divorce this past July.
I imagine within a year Mr. Christine Blasey Ford may very well be doing the same.
Difficult to find out that the woman you have married is a modern Joan of Arc.
I am Laslo.
Not Joan of Arc - Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction, and she brings her own bunny rabbits.
“Nah, you're just contrasting it against the wide-open mouths of the Republicans - who will suck on and swallow anything their elitist donors feed them.”
Who are some of those elitist donors feeding Trump? His utter contempt for those giving suck to JEB made Trump highly electable.
If you plastered over the crinkles in Warren’s CBF — enough to make them smooth — she’d have a giant spaghetti-o for a smile. Or a Mr. Bill “Oh no” look.
Dust Bunny Queen said...
"I get the sense that Ford and the Democrats think this is their Perry Mason moment."
[Redacted for brevity]
"There is not going to be a "trial". There is not a judge or jury. If she thinks she is going to get her "day in court" she is sadly mistaken and about 35 years to late for anything like that."
To quote Perry Mason,the statements are irrelevant, immaterial and incompetent. Kavanaugh is being tried in the kangaroo court of public opinion.
I'm much less inclined to believe her now. Being assaulted at age 15 shouldn't traumatize someone for life. If this sounds horrible and insensitive, bear with me.
I got attacked all the time at age 15. My nose was broken, I got hit in the head with a rock, and I had to hide in a stairwell after school to avoid being beaten up. I had to walk three miles to go home because if I rode the bus I'd be beaten. This went on for years. High School was a dangerous place. I'm not unique in this. People get hit, stabbed, and shot at school. It's depressingly normal for a lot of poor kids. Most of them go on with their lives and aren't going to be in therapy. There's no justice for them, but there's not a lot of lasting injuries, either.
I'm not traumatized so badly I have to move across the country. Nor would I seek revenge by ruining any of the people who attacked me. I don't even remember most of their names because I don't care anymore. Other than a knife scar and my nose being a little crooked there are no marks from the experience. Nursing a grievance for thirty-five years would do more damage to me than to anyone else. Acting on a desire for vengeance would turn me into someone else, someone I don't want to be. I limited the damage those jerks could do to me by moving on with my life.
What we have in this accusation is the culmination of a revenge fantasy. Whatever you think about the truth of what happened, ruining someone 35 years later is a special kind of bitterness. Holding on to revenge all those years... who does that?
When Dr. Ford seemed to be motivated by an honest desire for us to know what kind of person Cavanaugh was before nominating him to the Supreme Court, I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Now she increasingly seems to be motivated by revenge. And that is... not a good reason to believe her.
Maybe she is telling the truth, and maybe it's a good reason to can Cavanaugh. But it's vengeful.
Family secrets
https://brassballs.blog/home/christine-blasey-works-for-stanford-universitys-cia-undergraduate-internship-program-her-father-is-cia-too-and-so-was-her-grandfather-nicholas-deak
John Lynch (at 6:56 PM), good comment!
Who are some of those elitist donors feeding Trump?
Um, some very wealthy Muscovites highly connected to Putin and the hedge-fund managers who will profit most handsomely off his tax bill. Obviously.
His utter contempt for those giving suck to JEB made Trump highly electable.
Wow. You bought into that act? You must be very gullible. He is an actor, you know? That's been his primary occupation for a few decades and esp. now that nothing more than an act is required of him in the White House.
Did you know the word "gullible" is not in the dictionary?
Your highly childish credulity never ceases to amaze me.
Seriously, when will this fever break? Dems are completely to blame. It’s madness.
“Um, some very wealthy Muscovites highly connected to Putin and the hedge-fund managers who will profit most handsomely off his tax bill. Obviously.”
That sounds an awful lot like collusion. Obviously, that should get investigated.
@Mike Sylwester: I’ve seen that exact same photo on the Internets for years now. I think you’re slut-shaming.
"Count me as one of the insane. "
OK
Blogger M Jordan said...”Seriously, when will this fever break? Dems are completely to blame. It’s madness.”
If 1968 has its say, we’ll need some real physical violence followed by an election to end it.
I’ve seen that exact same photo on the Internets for years now. I think you’re slut-shaming.
Thanks.
I have deleted both posts.
MacedOniAns and MockTurtle: Thank you for putting into words what I have been trying to figure out how to say for the last week. Old school feminism (getting ahead by working harder and earning advancement) is being set back decades by this farce.
DustBunnyQueen brings up another good point. Even if she got everything she wants and the nomination is derailed, she will not get closure from it.
"I have deleted both posts."
Why did you post them?
Not an insignificant detail: Ford's lawyer is a UWLaw grad.
Did UWLaw have a class in feint/dodge/slander as a legal technique?
PPPT: perhaps you could elaborate on the following topics:
1) Tell me more about the greed motive for a 72 year old billionaire that spent his own money to be POTUS. Trump is not motivated by money, he's motivated by accomplishment and ego.
2) Tell me more about how Putin has more money to spend than Soros.
3) Tell me more about how Putin would rather have Trump, who essentially promised to bankrupted their petroleum economy and has done it, instead of Hillary, who managed to work out a deal to sell Uranium to him in exchange for speech and foundation donations.
4) Tell me more about what Obama meant when he said to a Russian diplomate that he would be more flexible after the election.
dreams said...
I don't believe she'll testify, she'll stall for more time, it's all about running out the time. It's all part of the plan.
9/22/18, 2:45 PM
____________________
I know, can you believe that?
@Rt1 Rebel,
It really doesn't pay to engage Ritmo.
It's sort of like pissing into the wind.
Trumpit,
For someone who begs the Althouse community to feel the pain of the injustices visited upon you, you are one bitter heartless piece of shit.
Me, I'm still trying to figure out how he managed to turn up the music to cover her "cries". Did he just happen to have a remote control in his pocket to control the stereo? or did he use his iPhone to do this? (/s).
Kavanaugh will be confirmed. Ford will remain.
"It really doesn't pay to engage Ritmo.
It's sort of like pissing into the wind."
It is actually more like pissing in your pants.
Democrats are always threatening to leave the country if they don't get their way.
But they NEVER leave.
So, in breaking news, the female friend that Ford says could corroborate her story denies any knowledge of the events or of knowing Kavanaugh.
Democrats are always threatening to leave the country if they don't get their way.
But they NEVER leave.
They should all move to California [if they aren't already there, as so many are] and then we can separate California from the Union. Problem solved.
"When Dr. Ford seemed to be motivated by an honest desire for us to know what kind of person Cavanaugh was before nominating him to the Supreme Court, I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Now she increasingly seems to be motivated by revenge. And that is... not a good reason to believe her."
It's good enough for the Hack press.
Btw - The unison leftwing press media chorus about "whataboutism" is just their unified lockstep way to set the terms and those terms are NO BILL CLINTON and NO KEITH ELLISON.
or/ ... shut up, they explained
I've got to admit that if I had to say right now, who is more likely to be telling us what is closer to the truth — no stakes, no burden of proof, just who is more likely — I'd have to say her.
My law partner who is also a law professor and who pretty reliably votes for the lefties has twice told me that she doesn't believe Ford and that she's surprised that anyone does under the circumstances.
Ford didn't go to the same school as Kavanaugh, can't remember when it happened or where...but she somehow remembers his name. She has scrupulously curated her accusation with great care so that Kavanaugh cannot come up with proof that he was at summer camp that week, in the hospital, or on a date with another girl.
I don't believe her in the least. The looselugnut libruls are nasty rectal blisters who would stop at nothing to derail this nomination.
- Krumhorn
The fourth person Ford claimed was at the party—Leland Ingham Keyser, a lifetime friend—has released a statement through her attorney denying any knowledge of the party or ever meeting Kavanaugh.
“Simply put,” Walsh said, “Ms. Keyser does not know Mr. Kavanaugh and she has no recollection of ever being at a party or gathering where he was present, with, or without, Dr. Ford.”
How can anyone take Christine Blasey Ford’s charges against Judge Kavanaugh seriously.
Dickin'Bimbos@Home said...
"Btw - The unison leftwing press media chorus about "whataboutism" is just their unified lockstep way to set the terms and those terms are NO BILL CLINTON and NO KEITH ELLISON."
Hmmmm... But when the rest of us accuse them of hypocrisy, that means that we implicitly accept their bizarre notion that any man who touched a girl's tit when he was 17 is unfit for anything more than collecting their garbage. In short, they get to have it both ways, and we get to have it neither way.
Bob Beckel's ex-wife has turned Ford down.
Vote !
On Saturday night, her lawyer, Howard Walsh, released a statement to CNN and the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Simply put,” Walsh said, “Ms. Keyser does not know Mr. Kavanaugh and she has no recollection of ever being at a party or gathering where he was present, with, or without, Dr. Ford.”
The lawyer acknowledged to CNN that Keyser is a lifelong friend of Ford’s.
Oh Oh.
Senate Judiciary Committee contacts Ford’s friend about party
CNN has learned that the committee has reached out to a longtime friend of Ford named Leland Ingham Keyser.
On Saturday night, her lawyer, Howard Walsh, released a statement to CNN and the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Simply put,” Walsh said, “Ms. Keyser does not know Mr. Kavanaugh and she has no recollection of ever being at a party or gathering where he was present, with, or without, Dr. Ford.”
The lawyer acknowledged to CNN that Keyser is a lifelong friend of Ford’s.Keyser is the latest person alleged to be at the party to say she has no recollection of it.
So among this circle of friends and acquaintances, only one remembers this party: Dr. Ford. No one else does.
"I've got to admit that if I had to say right now, who is more likely to be telling us what is closer to the truth — no stakes, no burden of proof, just who is more likely — I'd have to say her." - Prof. Althouse.
Everyone else must be lying? And by everyone, I mean Leland Ingham Keyser, and Mark Judge, and Patrick J. Smyth, and Brett Kavanaugh? Not one person has backed up her story.
How many women - former girlfriends, class mates, colleagues, friends, family have signed their names to letters testifying to his good character? A preponderance.
And how many have signed letters testifying to Dr. Ford's good character? None that I am aware of.
And let's not forget, Kavanaugh is willing to come to any hearing, without any complex conditions. Whereas Ford is all delay, negotiate, delay some more, negotiate some more. Her accusation is to be accepted without question, and Kavanaugh is assumed guilty, and responsible for proving his innocence. If he's so guilty, and such a horrible person, what, and whom, and for what purpose is she holding back?
She doesn't want to fly? Not a problem, the Judiciary Committee has offered to come to her. But NO!
Why no? Why does she not want to testify? Why does she want to delay? Why does she not want to state her case? This circus has been ongoing since September 13th!
Why are there no witnesses? Why does no one have a memory of this party, but her?
Why did DiFi withhold her letter for six weeks? Why is DiFi STILL withholding the unredacted letter from Senator Grassley?
Why are all of Dr. Ford's lawyers (plural! Who can afford one lawyer, let alone THREE?) connected to "The Resistance"?
I cannot use words to describe bullshit, but I know it when I smell it. And in this case, it wreaks of politically motivated bullshit.
[Trumpit,
For someone who begs the Althouse community to feel the pain of the injustices visited upon you, you are one bitter heartless piece of shit.]
What are you squawking about? You sound like an old crow from Missouri. There is no "Althouse community" just a bunch of right-wing dispicable trolls. I presume you are one of them.
The guy brought his daughters to the hearing, on the first day he was "honored" this way, and the girls immediately had to be hustled out of the room. I imagine his wife has had them at home, ever since, wearing blinders and noise-cancelling headphones.
You guys really don't think kneeling during the anthem is appropriate right now? Crying's okay, right?
Mob mentality is intersting to study, but alarming to witness in person.
What we have is a mob. The mob wants blood. At some point it wont make any difference whos.
Hey, there's a lot of money riding on this gambit. Life altering riches. Like getting on stage with the Reunificatiuon of the Beatles in concert.
However, the "normal" one was drunk at the frat house and, (at worst if at all if she COULD remember), somebody grabbed something, scarring her for life.
Too many theoreticals not enough time in the streets, Professor. I'm channeling Judy Tenuta "it could happen".
Trade your life teaching at a Junior College for the Beachfront in Malibu?
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