I joined the millions of Americans who were riveted by the hearings yesterday.
Dr. Ford's testimony was emotional and seemed heartfelt. As it went on, especially in the face of the creampuff interrogation by Ms Mitchell and the interval sympathetic encouragement by the Democrat Senators, the feeling grew in me that Judge Kavanaugh's nomination might be sunk.
Then came Judge Kavanaugh, filled with righteous indignation and emotion over what was being done to him, who strenuously and unequivocally, under oath, completely denied all allegations made against him. My impression was that either he was absolutely truthful or a world class liar, on a par with Bill Clinton (couldn't help that one).
What is the observer to decide to resolve this stalemate? Well here's what I think.
Dr Ford was entirely believable, in that she seemed to believe what she said. But there are some major flaws in her case.
She recalled vividly all the details of her traumatic event, including walking past the others to leave the house. I can't fault her for not knowing where she was. She says the party was impromptu. But she doesn't know who took her there or more importantly how she managed to get home since she must have gotten there by car. Such vagaries of memory seem very strange.
She was able to name four of her companions at the party, including her close girl friend with whom she says she went to the party. All of these have given written statements under oath that they have no recollection of the event, including her close friend who Dr. Ford says accompanied her and who later apologized to her about having to truthfully undermine her accusation. The Democrats complain that these persons should be questioned in person, but when you read their statements they are all unequivocal. Dr. Ford herself could give no reasonable explanation.
It was brought out clearly in the hearing that her statement that she was unable to give testimony in private to the Judiciary committee due to fear of flying was clearly a falsehood. She appeared embarrassed by this. She also seemed not to know that the Committee had offered to interview her in California. It gives the impression that at this point of the situation she had become under the control of her handlers.
Judge Kavanaugh's testimony has to be taken somewhat at face value. However he was able to give some corroboration in the form of a calendar which he kept in great detail about his activities. But there is another useful way to judge. By this time numerous of his close high school friends have spoken on national media to testify about his character during the time in question and universally support him. His subsequent conduct since, particularly his behavior toward women, has also been validated by numerous friends, co-workers, students and his public record. The accusations against him are completely inconsistent with this reputation and don't jibe with the normal human experience of consistency of an individual's character.
I think those who come out worst in all of this are the Democrat Senators, particularly Senator Feinstein. It seems obvious that when Dr Ford's complaint came to their attention, that they determined to use the situation to their advantage as a political weapon. Probably the most telling fact is that Senator Feinstein had a lengthy private interview with Judge Kavanaugh and made no inquiry about the accusation even though she and her staff had already arranged legal counsel for Dr Ford. It seems clear that the Democrats, despite their call for further investigation at this late date, have no serious interest in fact finding, or as Senator Lindsey pointed out, they would have done it long ago. In fact they actively worked at avoiding fact finding by preventing Dr. Ford from testifying to the Committee in private after the accusations came to light. It seems impossible to avoid the conclusion that Dr Ford was exposed and used as a political tactic.
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