Cerin wrote:Those women are his family and friends. I would say their expressions reflect the anguish they are sharing with him in that moment, as he speaks about his ruined reputation, the grief his family has gone through, and the viciousness of the left's attacks on him.
It isn't "the left" attacking him. Any more than it's "the right" enabling sexual assault.
But let's discuss this. Do we really believe that EVERY republican senator thinks that the allegation is entirely baseless and pure politics? Does EVERY democratic senator believe that the allegation is rock solid and Kavanaugh is likely an uncaught sexual predator?
Do we REALLY believe this? Every single one believes what just happens to align with their party? Earnestly believes it?
I sure don't.
So what are our options when it comes to our senators? Some republicans think it's likely to be true, but don't care? Some democrats feel it's likely to be untrue, but are playing politics? Some republicans think it's just democrats throwing a tantrum? Some democrats thinking that republicans have played so dirty this is justified?
What do we really think our senators think in this situation?
Because this is what I see: We had a Republican-imposed deadline to finish this. Yes, they want to get it done before November. That is understandable, but not really justifiable. Just because you want to get something done doesn't justify pushing it through despite several issues - even before these allegations, such as the inability to access a considerable percentage of documents, and then not allowing them to go public. Utterly unprecedented. The American people do deserve to 'see' who is being put on the court.
If you want to claim holding the allegation until the 'last minute' was dirty, what about holding a letter with 65 signatures which 'exonerate' him held util the very next morning? Do you really think they didn't already have that letter? If they did, what prompted them getting a letter with 65 women assuring the senate that Mr Kavanaugh was not a sexual predator prior to any allegation of wrong doing? Was it really prior to ANY allegation? Or only prior to public allegations?
When women say this process tells sexual assault survivors they don't matter, it isn't so much that they didn't have a hearing and listen to Ford, it's the politics of the matter.
We have at this point multiple public allegations. Multiple possible witnesses to speak with. Multiple calls for investigation. We got one hearing with one person. One. No other accusers. No other witnesses. I do not believe this was a good-faith effort on behalf of Republicans to get to the truth. I do not believe they wanted witnesses, as has been stated in this thread, because they did not call them. They didn't talk to any other woman who accused him. Despite having ample names they could have spoken with.
It took one Republican to essentially 'break ranks' to finally force an FBI investigation. Something 'the left' had been asking for for some time. Something even the ABA ended up asking for. Is the ABA part of a vicious leftist conspiracy? Is the right not willing to find the truth? Why is this always coming down along party lines? Do you really not understand why women are saying this is a horrible message being sent to survivors?
In the real world, I expect a good deal of both sides to take both positions, because that is reality. Some Republicans MUST believe her, but choose not to care. Some Democrats MUST believe him, but choose not to care. This is a terrifying thought for both sides of this. Why do we allow our elected officials to be so GD partisan at the expense of the truth?
Believing Ford, as a citizen, is not about partisanship. It's about having listened to both sides, watching this unfold, and finding her far more credible, not just because of what she said, but because Kavanaugh has lied over and over about so many stupid petty things, that how can I possibly believe it when he says he didn't do this?
Devil's Triangle? A quarters game? Give me a break. Boofed, Ralph Club, Renate Alumnus... not one single explanation was believable. If he had just come clean on all of these things then I would be far more likely to believe he was innocent. He was a stupid teenager, trying to look cool to his friends, and this is what stupid teenagers do and boast about. It doesn't mean it happened, it means we were teenage boys. That is believable. But Little Mr. Choir Boy I never drank until I passed out, if I threw up it was cause I have a weak stomach, and yeah, that girl was just a really good friend we danced with? I don't buy any of that for one second.
I really don't see how most rational people can think that those explanations were believable, and thus anything else he said must be taken at face value. I don't see that as partisanship, I see that as critical thinking. If you tell me that makes me part of the vicious attack of the left, then I'll stand on that square. If you insist that he's innocent, then what makes you sure you aren't the one being a blind partisan?