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Just want to lay out my opinion on the Brett Kavanaugh controversy. So, as most of you already know, the Supreme Court nominee in question has been accused of attempted rape/sexual assault, from an incident way back into his high school days, when he has 16/17. This has brought into question whether or not his confirmation should be delayed.
Some far right-wing publications have taken it upon themselves to try and smear the accuser's reputation, by claiming that Christine is seeking revenge for a 1996 foreclosure case, and her being an "unhinged" liberal professor, both of which have been debunked as false. And of course this stuff was passed around by Trump supporters (I'm almost certain the r/Donald subreddit went wild over that) I think that this kind of tactic is disgusting. Attempting to deliberately smear the accused in question, to attempt to score political points, is just unbelievably disgraceful behavior. I guess it just further speaks to the extremely divisive political climate we live in today. And it just sucks. And then there are some people attempting to dismiss the behavior in question, as if what's described in the accusation is somehow "normal" for a teenager to do. And that is just absolutely ridiculous. Holding down someone on a bed, and forcibly grinding and groping them, is not "normal" in any sense of the word. That is disgusting behavior, and it's even more disgusting to try to wave it off as something inconsequential. There are also some people that are saying that because he was drunk, it's somehow excusable. And that is also just as ridiculous. Just because you are intoxicated, does not mean you are somehow absolved of any responsibility from your actions. And sexual assault is definitely not something that should be given a little slap on the wrist.
However, with that being said, this is entirely dependent on whether the incident in question actually happened or not. Do I believe that this actually happened? I have no idea, and I'm not going to make any determinations about the matter at the moment. All we have right now is a statement. Now, I know that she took a polygraph test from a former FBI Agent and passed, but that's not definitive proof of anything (obviously). I'm remaining on the fence until this situation becomes clearer. Do I think that this might've been politically motivated? Possibly-- from the Democrats (as I can see the political advantage of doing so now), but maybe not from the accuser herself, as she had wrote the letter back in July. Maybe there's something here unseen that hasn't come to light? And people may see the timing as convenient, which I can understand, but you also have to consider that there are a lot of factors that come into play, in terms of why a lot of sexual assault victims do not come out immediately with their stories (denial, fear of repercussions, shame, etc.) All in all, only time will tell how this goes. Hopefully both Brett and Christine can help clarify this incident in question as much as possible, to give us all a better picture of what went down.
That's about it. eace
Some far right-wing publications have taken it upon themselves to try and smear the accuser's reputation, by claiming that Christine is seeking revenge for a 1996 foreclosure case, and her being an "unhinged" liberal professor, both of which have been debunked as false. And of course this stuff was passed around by Trump supporters (I'm almost certain the r/Donald subreddit went wild over that) I think that this kind of tactic is disgusting. Attempting to deliberately smear the accused in question, to attempt to score political points, is just unbelievably disgraceful behavior. I guess it just further speaks to the extremely divisive political climate we live in today. And it just sucks. And then there are some people attempting to dismiss the behavior in question, as if what's described in the accusation is somehow "normal" for a teenager to do. And that is just absolutely ridiculous. Holding down someone on a bed, and forcibly grinding and groping them, is not "normal" in any sense of the word. That is disgusting behavior, and it's even more disgusting to try to wave it off as something inconsequential. There are also some people that are saying that because he was drunk, it's somehow excusable. And that is also just as ridiculous. Just because you are intoxicated, does not mean you are somehow absolved of any responsibility from your actions. And sexual assault is definitely not something that should be given a little slap on the wrist.
However, with that being said, this is entirely dependent on whether the incident in question actually happened or not. Do I believe that this actually happened? I have no idea, and I'm not going to make any determinations about the matter at the moment. All we have right now is a statement. Now, I know that she took a polygraph test from a former FBI Agent and passed, but that's not definitive proof of anything (obviously). I'm remaining on the fence until this situation becomes clearer. Do I think that this might've been politically motivated? Possibly-- from the Democrats (as I can see the political advantage of doing so now), but maybe not from the accuser herself, as she had wrote the letter back in July. Maybe there's something here unseen that hasn't come to light? And people may see the timing as convenient, which I can understand, but you also have to consider that there are a lot of factors that come into play, in terms of why a lot of sexual assault victims do not come out immediately with their stories (denial, fear of repercussions, shame, etc.) All in all, only time will tell how this goes. Hopefully both Brett and Christine can help clarify this incident in question as much as possible, to give us all a better picture of what went down.
That's about it. eace