Port Politics Face Off: Kavanaugh

October 1, 2018

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article are not the views of Northport High School, or the Port Press. The articles only represent the opinions of their authors

With the FBI investigation of Brett Kavanaugh coming to a close, and his confirmation hearing drawing nearer, we asked our two political contributors for their opinions on the issue.

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

Face Off: Ford

When Judge Brett Kavanaugh was accused of attempted rape, I thought it would be investigated and handled maturely. I had too much faith.

When Senator Feinstein’s office was made aware of the accusation, it was private and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford did not want the information to come to light. She wanted Senators to know before they voted for or against him, but that was it. Until, presumably a Democratic staffer, leaked the information. Now, to be fair, Dr. Ford did make contact with a reporter. But she made clear she wanted to be anonymous. That’s not what she got. When Dr. Ford’s name was made public, she took a polygraph test which, though not admissible in a court of law, is often used outside of it to determine issues.

It is important to remember Judge Kavanaugh is not on trial. This is his job interview. If you went into your job interview yelling, belligerent, and said the accusation against you was a conspiracy made to get revenge for Secretary Clinton’s loss in 2016, you would not get the job.

Dr. Ford and the other women who have come forward have nothing to gain by doing this even if it may look that way. Talking about your experience being sexually assaulted is humiliating, anxiety inducing, and incredibly difficult. Has it been thirty something years? Yes. Do psychologists say that’s normal? Yes. And think about it this way: Kavanaugh’s mother, at the time of the alleged attack, was the county’s judge. I would not have said anything either.

And let’s not forget our precious calendars! I don’t know about you guys, but when I’m planning on assaulting someone, I write it down. The calendars prove literally nothing. If Kavanaugh was so confident, he should have requested an FBI investigation days ago, instead of dodging the question. Additionally, he has not requested the Senate subpoena Mark Judge, the only other man supposedly in the room. Judge has even written a memoir detailing him and his friends getting outrageously drunk and doing inappropriate things, contrary to what Kavanaugh would have you believe.

Putting aside the assault accusations, Kavanaugh has committed perjury. Under oath he blatantly lied about terms in his yearbook that are known to be sexual terms; he said they had to do with drinking and flatulence. He also claimed that the other witnesses said it never happened when, in fact, they said they did not recall. And Tuesday it came to light that in 1985 Kavanaugh was questioned by police after a bar fight.

The bottom line is this: do we, as a country, distrust women so much that we’d rather put a lying, drunk, frat boy on the Supreme Court of the United States for the rest of his life than listen to women? Multiple women, all confirming the type of man he is. On days like today, I feel our country resisting change and fighting equality the most. Don’t be on the wrong side of history.

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Face Off: Kavanaugh

A potential Senate vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has been delayed one week pending a FBI investigation. In the meantime let’s look back on the accusations against Kavanaugh. The one that has received the most attention was from Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh and his friend Mike Judge of attempting to rape her at a party while they were in high school-notably different high schools. They both testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday and it has left many holes in Ford’s story.

Firstly, in Ford’s therapist notes from 2012 the first time she spoke about the alleged incidents, there is mention of four boys, not two. Ford claims this was a mistake by the therapist. Additionally however the notes never mention Kavanaugh although Ford’s husband claims his name was mentioned (Washington Post Report). Secondly, Ford cannot recount how she got to the party or how she left the party. Thirdly, all four people who Ford claims where at the party where the alleged incident occurred have stated that they have no memories of the party (Business Insider Report). Fourthly, the polygraph test has several major flaws, firstly she only wrote a brief personal statement with her lawyer present then was asked a mere two questions during the polygraph test “Is any part of your statement false?” and “Did you make up any part of your statement?” This would make passing far easier as it was short and never asked for specifics; however, the biggest issues is that the polygraph again contradicts her previous statement in that her personal statement that she testified to being true stated that there were four boys. It should also be noted that polygraphs are so unreliable they are inadmissible in a court of law (Polygraph Report). Fifthly, why is her family strangely silent? While many people from around the country have come out in support including most of her husband’s family her parents and siblings have been silently and chose not to sign a letter of support. Do they not believe her? Whatever reason they have it at least raises questions (SF Gate Report). Lastly, Ford had political reasons to make her accusations, she’s a Democrat and has made donations to ActBlue a nonprofit group dedicated to helping Democratic candidates. Also her decision to not bring forward allegations until Kavanaugh was in the running to be in the Supreme Court is surely a suspicious choice (Fox News Report.)

With all this now common knowledge and the complete lack of hard evidence for Ford’s claims it is hard not to determine that Kavanaugh is innocent. And at this point his confirmation has been derailed without a shred of evidence and if he is ultimately stopped by these claims it will mean a new dark era for American politics. One in which unsubstantiated claims can stop anyone from holding political office. regardless of your view on Kavanaugh’s politics you must agree that his confirmation cannot be defeated by these claims rather it must be on his judicial record that he is defeated.

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    PaulOct 17, 2018 at 10:21 am

    I don’t have to agree with anything other than that Chuck Grassley and Orin Hatch are gross human beings and I can’t wait for their inevitable irrelevancy.

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