@snoopydawg

that statement from Kavanaugh. Typical Catholic gobbly-gook.... if you don't have full intercourse, it's NOT SEX! I love the fact that he thinks outing his own sexual prowess, or lack thereof, gets him off the hook for all the incidents he has been accused of. This is suppose to be a man with a brilliant legal mind???????

KAVANAUGH: "I did not have sexual intercourse in high school or for many years thereafter. The girls from the schools I went to and I were friends." pic.twitter.com/uwUZPRD0ag

— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) September 24, 2018

@Centaurea There are a number of private, exclusive prep schools around where I live. This is a generalization, but many of these kids are the children of the elite, being groomed to take the reins of power and make connections. They've had every advantage and expect it as their due. They grow up way too fast, by 15 sex drugs and booze was a given. We know these people, they run for office, run the corporations we work for, make the policies and rules we live by. We, not them, they're exempt. Kavanaugh, Chelsea Clinton are perfect examples. I can see why the Russians could stomach executing the Romanovs, including the children.

Here's what I think:

1. The Dems believe they're going to win back the Senate in the midterm elections, hence the timing, presumably to delay the confirmation vote until after the blue wave arrives. A "September surprise", so to speak. I guess we'll find out who's going to be surprised, come November.

2. Think back a couple of weeks ago. What was starting to make news? Trump ordering the declassification of the fisa documents, which has the potential of making a lot of people very uncomfortable. The Kavanaugh goings-on have been very effective in diverting the public's attention.

3. The prep school folks involved in this drama seem like thoroughly unpleasant people. The whole lot of them: Brett Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, Christine Blasey, and their assorted classmates. A bunch of insipid, privileged brats. From what I can see, many of them probably haven't changed much. Kavanaugh's body language looks like that of a little boy who never grew up.

So to the extent that this situation casts a public spotlight on the further bad behavior of the 1% "elite", I can't complain.

4. I don't know whether Blasey Ford and the other women are telling the truth about what happened. But is it "implausible"? No. Not at all.

Why didn't she report it back then? Most any woman who was alive in 1980 can tell you why. And 100% of the women who did report in 1980 can tell you.

As to this "the witnesses don't remember it happening", can you recall every social gathering you went to 35 years ago, the names of all the people who were there, and describe what was going on in every room of the house for the entire time you were there?

Yeah, me neither.

5. In general, people are starting to question things that we previously didn't. I don't see this as a bad thing for la revolution.

@Centaurea for that gentle reminder that we don't all remember every single second of our lives or with complete and utter infallibility name dates, times, places. Not to mention just how women who DID report were treated back in the day, and in some instances still are treated, like some lying bitch merely out to hurt a "good man."

Personally, I also could do without the constant references to drunken females who "don't remember" while giving what seems to me a complete pass on the drunken frat boy mentality that surely does prevail at these institutions of the 1%. And putting "victim" in quotes, not too cool but hey, I'm just one more overly "distraught" female I guess.

While there are plenty of reasons to question motives out of our slimy ass politicians, treating all or any woman like she's merely a "drunken female who is simply mixed up" does not get us any closer to getting rid of these pukes but only serves to divide and conquer, once again.

Here's what I think:

1. The Dems believe they're going to win back the Senate in the midterm elections, hence the timing, presumably to delay the confirmation vote until after the blue wave arrives. A "September surprise", so to speak. I guess we'll find out who's going to be surprised, come November.

2. Think back a couple of weeks ago. What was starting to make news? Trump ordering the declassification of the fisa documents, which has the potential of making a lot of people very uncomfortable. The Kavanaugh goings-on have been very effective in diverting the public's attention.

3. The prep school folks involved in this drama seem like thoroughly unpleasant people. The whole lot of them: Brett Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, Christine Blasey, and their assorted classmates. A bunch of insipid, privileged brats. From what I can see, many of them probably haven't changed much. Kavanaugh's body language looks like that of a little boy who never grew up.

So to the extent that this situation casts a public spotlight on the further bad behavior of the 1% "elite", I can't complain.

4. I don't know whether Blasey Ford and the other women are telling the truth about what happened. But is it "implausible"? No. Not at all.

Why didn't she report it back then? Most any woman who was alive in 1980 can tell you why. And 100% of the women who did report in 1980 can tell you.

As to this "the witnesses don't remember it happening", can you recall every social gathering you went to 35 years ago, the names of all the people who were there, and describe what was going on in every room of the house for the entire time you were there?

Yeah, me neither.

5. In general, people are starting to question things that we previously didn't. I don't see this as a bad thing for la revolution.

@Nastarana

And, yet another is to trivialize and divert the Me Too phenomenon away from open discussion and description of the daily round of insults and humiliation which women endure in our capitalist paradise.

to trivialize the Me Too movement than by foisting on an unsuspecting public transparently political and highly dubious claims of teen sexual harassment from over three decades ago.

All this creepy, desperate politico-character assassination crap does is piss people off, so that when a credible accuser with provable claims comes forward in the 'real world', she will be far less likely to be respected and believed. Thanks Democrats.

But then again, this whole charade really isn't about protecting real women in real danger. It's about using lurid sexual innuendo to trivialize and divert voters from the real issues facing both men and women that the Dems simply refuse to address.

Aligator.

I have been trying to figure out a way to discuss the same points.

Like any good psy-op, this one has multiple targets. One, clearly, is to hand the Rs a defeat or at least embarrassment right before the midterms.

Another is to avoid having to question Brett the smirking jerk who never saw a Big Deal Important Corporation he didn't love. I doubt the accusations because I suspect it isn't women who turn him on. I think he loves the heady atmosphere of The Almighty Market, deals and success and moving money around and being On the Inside, Where the Big Deals are made. No wonder T-rump loves him. Questioning Brett on matters on finance, banking and industrial policy might provoke the populists, who are already getting out of hand.

And, yet another is to trivialize and divert the Me Too phenomenon away from open discussion and description of the daily round of insults and humiliation which women endure in our capitalist paradise.

@MsDidi You put it so much better than I did.

@AlligatorEd

I am saddened and somewhat disgusted that you attack the women in your post. Great! Now C99 will be a forum for attacking victims in the name of political wittiness. I too am actively in the battle against the neolibs and the 1%. But I'm wondering why you don't recognize that the arrogant and entitled white men like Kavenaugh have always used that privilege to sexually assault and harass women -- and to impede their lives.
I too am a Survivor. This round of bullying by Kavanaugh and his posse on the Senate Judiciary Committee have enraged me all over again and have caused many of us to relive the horrible attacks that we also suffered.
I have participated with other women in speakouts locally where for the first time many of us have described what happened, our unwillingness to report these crimes, and the way our memories of abuse work (or get cloudy). When you see a grizzly bear coming at you (as there recently was in our busy residential area), you tend not to notice the color of the surrounding houses nor of the cars next to you. Your sole focus is on that bear coming toward you. Your fight/flight instinct (the lizard part of the brain -- the part you seem to glory in inhabiting) actually shuts down certain perceptual focii other than those aimed one-pointedly at the potential assailant. Sorry that you are ignorant of so much of the psychology of trauma. Get educated before writing about this again.

This incident -- not only of Kavanaugh's behavior and arrogance -- but of the white Republican men "plowing" his nomination through, reminds us not only of the Anita Hill tragedy (engineered by none other than Joe Biden who is now walking around acting as if it was other members of the committee who shamed her) -- but also of the entitled white men who have physically and emotionally attacked us -- as well as the utter corruption of both major parties.

The cynical position of the Republicans may be to ditch Kavenaugh and cut a deal with a less powerful female candidate to toe their line -- always the prerogative of the 1% and the centurions of male power. The cynical position of the Democrats is to fight -- but not too hard -- in defense of these women who have suffered much more than what they have not been permitted to testify about -- and to hope that the whole process drags on, angers women and increases their votes in the Mid-term.

Just because those of us on the left have come to recognize the bankruptcy of neoliberalism or the cynical use of intersectionality, that can be no excuse for ignoring the very specific ways that the combination of class and male prerogative has always -- and continues -- to cause great suffering to female prey (who are indeed, disproportionately impacted by economic inequality and by the destruction of basic democratic rights). This deadly combination has perpetuated the excesses of the disgusting and dangerous power structure so clearly on display now.

I'm outraged by the intellectual bankruptcy of your ever so snarky article -- as if women who have been raped and assaulted are mere stalkers on behalf of the Democratic party or the neolibs. I am a Survivor. I no longer belong to or support the Democratic party. But I will speak loudly against injustice as it is playing out on the national stage now -- and at how the intersection of class entitlement and male power has been at the center of the consolidation of the 1%. The deadly consequences of those combined forces actually matter much more than your ignorant display of snarky wit at the expense of the women who have dared to speak up.

If you don't get that, then you need to step back from your own sense of privilege -- from the alligator section of your brain -- and rethink why your emphases are so fatuous. You need to study the impact of sexual assault -- on memory and on one's lifelong lack of emotional security. Like Dr. Ford, the vast majority of victims (>60%) have never reported what happened. When I taught classes on women in writing in a large urban university many years back, we learned that more than half of us has been assaulted. And no -- no one would have considered reporting it. We would have been reporting assault to the same judges who had committed the assaults -- and been further victimized for doing that.

When I managed a women's health center, if we received a timely report of rape or assault, we would personally drive the victims to hospitals and police stations in the next county -- where they kept rape kits on hand and were willing to document the immediate evidence of assault. In the large county where we worked, and where many residents lived at poverty levels and with deprivation that you may never have experienced, the hospitals and police routinely dismissed such complaints, making it impossible for victims ever to mount viable legal cases. Clearly you don't get that and don't care about it.

Alternatively, If you do get any of this -- and don't give a damn -- then f*** you! (pun intended)

@MsDidi
I voted in support of your eloquent statement, and I voted in support of Alligator Ed's response to you. Maybe the easiest way to express why a woman like myself would question whether Christine Blasey Ford is telling the truth, or whether she is telling the truth but is being used strategically, or whether she is making a false accusation, is to say that if you believe all survivors of sexual assault should be believed, it seems to me all people acting in good faith should be believed, and that would include those here who see the potential for bad faith on the part of some of the people involved.

Just as many of us can say we believe a lot of elite prep school graduates become part of the power structure of economic and social abuse, many of us can also say we've seen both political parties engage in bad acts, lies, and the publication of false information. An article I read today by Jonathan Turley describes the hypocrisy of both the Democrats and the Republicans, comparing their positions when Bill Clinton was accused, in which their positions were reversed as to whether or not to believe accusers. So both parties are champions of victims and skeptical of accusers whenever it suits their interests.

I think it's possible Christine Blasey Ford is telling the truth and that she decided to speak out now for reasons that are nobody's business but her own. I also think it's possible she's telling the truth but that she chose to do so now because of the Supreme Court crisis. The problem is that in waiting until now, although she apparently talked about it with her husband and her therapist in 2012, she lived with the reality that Kavanaugh was a powerful legal factor for the six years since 2012 and didn't speak out. And that diminishes her credibility to a certain extent. If she does indeed have any connection, family or work related, to the CIA, that also raises doubts about her credibility or her usefulness by powerful interests.

So what I'm trying to say is that believing that all accusers have a right to be heard and respected is not the same as saying all accusers should be believed without question.

@AlligatorEd

I am saddened and somewhat disgusted that you attack the women in your post. Great! Now C99 will be a forum for attacking victims in the name of political wittiness. I too am actively in the battle against the neolibs and the 1%. But I'm wondering why you don't recognize that the arrogant and entitled white men like Kavenaugh have always used that privilege to sexually assault and harass women -- and to impede their lives.
I too am a Survivor. This round of bullying by Kavanaugh and his posse on the Senate Judiciary Committee have enraged me all over again and have caused many of us to relive the horrible attacks that we also suffered.
I have participated with other women in speakouts locally where for the first time many of us have described what happened, our unwillingness to report these crimes, and the way our memories of abuse work (or get cloudy). When you see a grizzly bear coming at you (as there recently was in our busy residential area), you tend not to notice the color of the surrounding houses nor of the cars next to you. Your sole focus is on that bear coming toward you. Your fight/flight instinct (the lizard part of the brain -- the part you seem to glory in inhabiting) actually shuts down certain perceptual focii other than those aimed one-pointedly at the potential assailant. Sorry that you are ignorant of so much of the psychology of trauma. Get educated before writing about this again.

This incident -- not only of Kavanaugh's behavior and arrogance -- but of the white Republican men "plowing" his nomination through, reminds us not only of the Anita Hill tragedy (engineered by none other than Joe Biden who is now walking around acting as if it was other members of the committee who shamed her) -- but also of the entitled white men who have physically and emotionally attacked us -- as well as the utter corruption of both major parties.

The cynical position of the Republicans may be to ditch Kavenaugh and cut a deal with a less powerful female candidate to toe their line -- always the prerogative of the 1% and the centurions of male power. The cynical position of the Democrats is to fight -- but not too hard -- in defense of these women who have suffered much more than what they have not been permitted to testify about -- and to hope that the whole process drags on, angers women and increases their votes in the Mid-term.

Just because those of us on the left have come to recognize the bankruptcy of neoliberalism or the cynical use of intersectionality, that can be no excuse for ignoring the very specific ways that the combination of class and male prerogative has always -- and continues -- to cause great suffering to female prey (who are indeed, disproportionately impacted by economic inequality and by the destruction of basic democratic rights). This deadly combination has perpetuated the excesses of the disgusting and dangerous power structure so clearly on display now.

I'm outraged by the intellectual bankruptcy of your ever so snarky article -- as if women who have been raped and assaulted are mere stalkers on behalf of the Democratic party or the neolibs. I am a Survivor. I no longer belong to or support the Democratic party. But I will speak loudly against injustice as it is playing out on the national stage now -- and at how the intersection of class entitlement and male power has been at the center of the consolidation of the 1%. The deadly consequences of those combined forces actually matter much more than your ignorant display of snarky wit at the expense of the women who have dared to speak up.

If you don't get that, then you need to step back from your own sense of privilege -- from the alligator section of your brain -- and rethink why your emphases are so fatuous. You need to study the impact of sexual assault -- on memory and on one's lifelong lack of emotional security. Like Dr. Ford, the vast majority of victims (>60%) have never reported what happened. When I taught classes on women in writing in a large urban university many years back, we learned that more than half of us has been assaulted. And no -- no one would have considered reporting it. We would have been reporting assault to the same judges who had committed the assaults -- and been further victimized for doing that.

When I managed a women's health center, if we received a timely report of rape or assault, we would personally drive the victims to hospitals and police stations in the next county -- where they kept rape kits on hand and were willing to document the immediate evidence of assault. In the large county where we worked, and where many residents lived at poverty levels and with deprivation that you may never have experienced, the hospitals and police routinely dismissed such complaints, making it impossible for victims ever to mount viable legal cases. Clearly you don't get that and don't care about it.

Alternatively, If you do get any of this -- and don't give a damn -- then f*** you! (pun intended)