1) This vague allegation is being circulated by people other than the woman in question, who has declined to comment. Its substance — categorically denied by Kavanaugh — covers a gray zone ranging from a sexually awkward encounter to an attempted assault when they were both 17...
2) The alleged experience took place ~36 yrs ago. Even if you take it 100% at face value, it might mean that a high school boy didn’t slam on the brakes while drunkenly making out & wanting more in 1982. At worst, it was arguably attempted assault. Again, he denies it totally...
3) Let’s say it’s false. How can a 50-something successfully defend himself against this sort of hazy accusation-by-proxy about his sexual conduct in high school? No matter what he & his allies (including dozens of bipartisan women who knew him in HS) say, it’s impossible...
4) You simply can’t prove a negative. That’s what makes this so tricky. And it’s especially hard to clear your name when so many people are invested in disbelieving you solely because of politics...
5) Let’s say it’s true. If someone is a predator, they likely don’t try something once, then never again. Are there any additional, credible, *specific* claims about BK along these lines? With an accuser who will go on the record with evidence?
6) & isn’t it very possible the intent of “forcing himself on her” (broad term) was perceived quite differently by each party in the moment? It may not have been actionable at the time, even if she’d instantly called the cops. How the hell are we supposed to adjucate that NOW?
7) As for the politics of this, Dems threw the kitchen sink at BK & whiffed. The timing of this is hugely suspect, especially since Feinstein reportedly had this letter 6-8 weeks ago. She never confronted BK with it during open or closed hearings....
8) If she thought it was credible and disqualifying, she should have ‘believed the victim’ and raised it, rather than sitting on it for months & finally passing it off to the FBI, with leaks conveniently dripping out the week before a committee vote. C’mon...
9) Meanwhile, the same people declaring every lie, smear and tendentious attack against Kavanaugh to be a ‘bombshell’ that somehow justifies postponing/defeating/delaying etc are doing the same thing here. It stinks because it’s so transparently rotten...
10) And points in Kavanaugh’s favor as his camp tries to push back vs. this decades-old vapor (letter signed by 65 women, BK’s record of empowering women & being a good dad etc) are being wielded AGAINST him as ‘proof’ of his own desperation or compensation/contrition. It’s nuts.
11) I’m open to evidence, but based on everything we know rn about this (not a lot, frankly), about BK’s decades of public life (quite a lot) & the timing of this ambiguous, indirect accusation, it looks like a very ugly smear & 11th hour ploy from partisans...
12) Unless clear, add’l evidence emerges, this is awful, unfair & obviously designed to cast a shadow over the legitimacy/character of a nominee they can’t beat or stop on the merits. And we wring our hands about good ppl not wanting to subject themselves to public service! Gee.
Alright, I’m done.
