New SCOTUS Judge

[Ampulla of Vater]

It's sad to me that most of y'all can't admit this particular allegation stinks to high heaven. I have looked up to (most of) you, as I learned skepticism here, on this very forum. I sure don't see many skeptics here anymore though.

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

Side note: more weird sexism, but involving one of the women defending Kavanaugh:

Brett Kavanaugh’s page in his high school yearbook offers a glimpse of the teenage years of the man who is now President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee: lots of football, plenty of drinking, parties at the beach. Among the reminiscences about sports and booze is a mysterious entry: “Renate Alumnius.”

The word “Renate” appears at least 14 times in Georgetown Preparatory School’s 1983 yearbook, on individuals’ pages and in a group photo of nine football players, including Judge Kavanaugh, who were described as the “Renate Alumni.” It is a reference to Renate Schroeder, then a student at a nearby Catholic girls’ school.

Two of Judge Kavanaugh’s classmates say the mentions of Renate were part of the football players’ unsubstantiated boasting about their conquests.

“They were very disrespectful, at least verbally, with Renate,” said Sean Hagan, a Georgetown Prep student at the time, referring to Judge Kavanaugh and his teammates. “I can’t express how disgusted I am with them, then and now.”

...

This month, Renate Schroeder Dolphin joined 64 other women who, saying they knew Judge Kavanaugh during their high school years, signed a letter to the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is weighing Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination. The letter stated that “he has behaved honorably and treated women with respect.”

When Ms. Dolphin signed the Sept. 14 letter, she wasn’t aware of the “Renate” yearbook references on the pages of Judge Kavanaugh and his football teammates.

“I learned about these yearbook pages only a few days ago,” Ms. Dolphin said in a statement to The New York Times. “I don’t know what ‘Renate Alumnus’ actually means. I can’t begin to comprehend what goes through the minds of 17-year-old boys who write such things, but the insinuation is horrible, hurtful and simply untrue. I pray their daughters are never treated this way. I will have no further comment.”

Alexandra Walsh, a lawyer for Judge Kavanaugh, said in a statement: “Judge Kavanaugh was friends with Renate Dolphin in high school. He admired her very much then, and he admires her to this day.

“Judge Kavanaugh and Ms. Dolphin attended one high school event together and shared a brief kiss good night following that event,” the statement continued. “They had no other such encounter. The language from Judge Kavanaugh’s high school yearbook refers to the fact that he and Ms. Dolphin attended that one high school event together and nothing else.”

Judge Kavanaugh mentioned Renate Dolphin on his yearbook page, his lawyer said, because of one high school event they attended together “and nothing else.”
Ms. Dolphin said she had never kissed Judge Kavanaugh. “I think Brett must have me confused with someone else, because I never kissed him,” she said through her lawyer.

...

Ms. Dolphin was a subject of that braggadocio, according to Mr. Hagan and another classmate, who requested anonymity because he fears retribution. They said Judge. Kavanaugh and his friends were seeking to memorialize their supposed conquests with the “Renate” yearbook references.

“She should be offended,” Mr. Hagan said of Ms. Dolphin. “I was completely astounded when I saw she signed that letter” on Judge Kavanaugh’s behalf.

Linky.

 

[Belz...]

It's not the FBI's job to investigate.

It's literally in their name.

And why are you avoiding my question?

 

[Stacyhs]

It's sad to me that most of y'all can't admit this particular allegation stinks to high heaven. I have looked up to (most of) you, as I learned skepticism here, on this very forum. I sure don't see many skeptics here anymore though.

You're right. The allegation does stink. But not in the way you would like us to think it stinks.

Does Deborah Ramirez's allegation stink, too?

 

[Meadmaker]

Also, what's the moral here? Don't go to the police if someone victimizes you. Instead, if you keep quiet for thirty years, maybe they'll come before a Congressional confirmation committee, and the FBI will have to investigate accusations that should have been investigated thirty years ago.

And if they don't ever get nominated to high federal office? No big deal. It's not like you ever really wanted that investigation anyway.

I didn't go to the police. I didn't tell my parents. I didn't tell his parents. (We were teenagers.) I don't think I told anyone for at least four years, and I doubt I've ever told more than five people, total, unless you count nearly anonymous postings like this one.

So, what's the moral of the story? It's that not telling people about incidents like this one is pretty normal.

I'm all for investigations. I don't mind speculation on a board like this one. We can all share opinions, even if uninformed opinions, but let's not just stretch for rationalizations. There's no need to come up with some excuse for why she didn't tell anyone. It's perfectly normal not to tell anyone, or not to tell anyone for a long time.

And if I suddenly saw my attacker become a prominent citizen being appointed to an important political position, I might break my long public silence. In the case of this guy, I still know him. We run into each other ever couple of years or so. He isn't the sort that would ever be elected to office, but if he were it would be on a right wing, "family values" sort of campaign style, undoubtedly railing against gay rights. If that were to happen, would I come forward with my story? I very well might, and there would be plenty of people who would say I was making it up and can't prove anything. On the latter point, they would be right.

Now, that's not to say that the passage of 35 years is irrelevant. If you don't tell anyone for 30 years, it's very difficult to say how much of what you are saying is real, and how much is memory that has been altered with time. That happens. And that's not to say that she couldn't possibly be lying. It's just saying that her story is believable. However, her own statements are inadequate evidence. We ought to ask for corroboration in order to accept them.

 

[Meadmaker]

I am incredibly surprised to hear people say that even if the charges against Kavanaugh are false, he ought to step aside. That's real witch hunting territory. The Crucible really is an appropriate reference.

 

[Stacyhs]

I am incredibly surprised to hear people say that even if the charges against Kavanaugh are false, he ought to step aside. That's real witch hunting territory. The Crucible really is an appropriate reference.

I don't think anyone has said he should step aside if the allegations are false, only if they are not proved or disproved. I agree that if they were proved false, he should not step down. But the problem is that his time on the SC would be tainted by these allegations from not one, but two, perhaps 3, women.

 

[Meadmaker]

I don't think anyone has said he should step aside if the allegations are false, only if they are not proved or disproved. I agree that if they were proved false, he should not step down. But the problem is that his time on the SC would be tainted by these allegations from not one, but two, perhaps 3, women.

Kavanaugh knows whether or not they are false. He should not step down if they are false. He should not step down just because he is accused, even if he cannot prove to other people that the accusations are false.

 

[Regnad Kcin]

I'm aware of the statistic. However, the statistic doesn't mean you get a free do-over thirty years later.

Especially do-overs with strategically impeccable partisan timing.

Oy.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

...
Some guy at a bar once told me that a cop told him that most rape accusations are total ********. ...

I'm around a lot of cops and this is a huge problem. They don't believe battered wives or they believe the woman deserved it. Prosecutors brush off rape cases even when there's evidence as being unprovable. If anyone believes she wore that skirt or drank too much so she deserved it, it's a whole lot of cops.

#notallcops

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

It's sad to me that most of y'all can't admit this particular allegation stinks to high heaven. I have looked up to (most of) you, as I learned skepticism here, on this very forum. I sure don't see many skeptics here anymore though.

Cain satire? Please tell me this is satire.

 

[Stacyhs]

Kavanaugh knows whether or not they are false. He should not step down if they are false. He should not step down just because he is accused, even if he cannot prove to other people that the accusations are false.

Not necessarily. From his own and Judge's descriptions of his high school/college years, he was falling down drunk a lot of the time. He may not remember these incidents. That doesn't mean they didn't happen. When you have one woman come forward, that's one thing. But when you have two, maybe 3, it becomes a bit harder to wave them away.

 

[theprestige]

I didn't realize you were a kavanaugh supporter.

There are more things in heaven and earth, BobTheCoward, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

 

[Cain]

It's sad to me that most of y'all can't admit this particular allegation stinks to high heaven. I have looked up to (most of) you, as I learned skepticism here, on this very forum. I sure don't see many skeptics here anymore though.

Ford's claim seems credible, but she could easily be mistaken (or lying). I don't know enough about Ramirez, but the journalists on The New Yorker piece said she's supposed to be credible because she spent six days probing her memory. How does that work? Given the circumstances, something like that will make her less credible. Avenatti's claiming Kavanaugh participated in gang rapes, which sounds the least believable of all.

To his credit, Kavanaugh's claiming he has a calendar from '82 which will help clear his name. There's also talk of a "I was a virgin" defense, but that could be undermined by Buddha's post about this Renate Alum ****. Maybe he'll maintain he just included it so that people would think he wasn't a virgin.

 

[The Big Dog]

we have reached the point where the Resistance is calling out women for being mentioned in an inside reference in a high school yearbook from 1983.

 

[Stacyhs]

Ford's claim seems credible, but she could easily be mistaken (or lying). I don't know enough about Ramirez, but the journalists on The New Yorker piece said she's supposed to be credible because she spent six days probing her memory. How does that work? Given the circumstances, something like that will make her less credible. Avenatti's claiming Kavanaugh participated in gang rapes, which sounds the least believable of all.

To his credit, Kavanaugh's claiming he has a calendar from '82 which will help clear his name. There's also talk of a "I was a virgin" defense, but that could be undermined by Buddha's post about this Renate Alum ****. Maybe he'll maintain he just included it so that people would think he wasn't a virgin.

Ummm...no. Journalists have not claimed she is credible because she thought about it for 6 days.

After six days of carefully assessing her memories and consulting with her attorney, Ramirez said that she felt confident enough of her recollections to say that she remembers Kavanaugh had exposed himself at a drunken dormitory party, thrust his penis in her face, and caused her to touch it without her consent as she pushed him away.

(New Yorker)

How is consulting with a lawyer and thinking about it somehow indicative of not being credible. Thinking about it , imo, makes it more credible.

 

[Frank Newgent]

The truth is I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone, in high school or otherwise.
-Brett Kavanaugh


https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...3f963eea204_story.html?utm_term=.49f6d117abe0

 

[The Big Dog]

Ummm...no. Journalists have not claimed she is credible because she thought about it for 6 days.

(New Yorker)

How is consulting with a lawyer and thinking about it somehow indicative of not being credible. Thinking about it , imo, makes it more credible.

Yes, having a lawyer coach a witness always make it more credible.

 

[thaiboxerken]

It's sad to me that most of y'all can't admit this particular allegation stinks to high heaven. I have looked up to (most of) you, as I learned skepticism here, on this very forum. I sure don't see many skeptics here anymore though.

I agree. This allegation should be investigated.

 

[theprestige]

Yes, having a lawyer coach a witness always make it more credible.

<emoji dickery snipped>

Lawyer coaching a witness is standard and very reasonable practice. It says nothing about the witness's credibility.

Between the bad arguments and the trolling, your body of work does conservatism more harm than good.

I know you think you're fighting the good fight, but mostly you're just beclowning yourself and anyone else who's standing too close. Which is why I try to keep as much distance as I can.