If Blasey-Ford has garbled memories that in any way could have resulted in a mis-identification or false allegation, that is pretty sad for Kavanaugh. On balance I'm inclined to believe her memory was essentially accurate. Several people who could have testified about boorish behavior from Kavanaugh were, alas, unreachable. And that behavior wasn't sexual harrassment, per se; it was the allegation that he wanted clerks who looked like "models," and this advice was given to young women. A Yale prof basically dodged that by being in the hospital, or something. Her husband, also a Yale prof IIRC was supposedly privy to this advice but he also pleaded privacy and let reporters know he would not be available to talk. And the Senate Judiciary Committee obviously was not going to subpoena these people.
So if it didn't happen, I do have some sympathy for Kavanaugh, but I think it's more likely that he doesn't remember, and that he knows he had blackouts where he acted more or less out of character to his normal sober self. It was the quality of his denials that made me think along those lines. "I never sexually assaulted anybody." "I was a virgin in high school." "Renate alumnus just meant we were all friends with her." A spokesman said he kissed Renate; Renate said they never kissed, and she was clearly hurt by the yearbook allegations that helped fuel Lindsey Graham's made-for-TV rant at the committee's dastardly Democratic denizens.
It seems to me there is some unsavory ancient history there and maybe it has no relevance to who he is today. That aspect alone might not have kept him off the court, but his other behavior - his combativeness when asked if he had memory lapses, his appearing on Fox News (and only there) to plead his case and his rant about being a victim of the vengeance-seeking Clintons were all conduct unbecoming to a Supreme Court nominee. He can be conservative, but nakedly partisan? No, not really. Maybe he has/will put that behind him and will make fair and honest rulings when it comes to areas where he has displayed partisanship.
Trump, who went relatively easy on Ford, is bringing out this other allegation that was (supposedly?) rescinded. He doesn't say it was Ford's accusation but he leaves plenty of room to give the impression that Ford recanted. Good enough for the true believers.
