Sex, Lies and Science

Sex, Lies And Science

By T.K. McNeil

Well, Brett Kavanaugh has made it to the Supreme Court, in what might prove to be the most controversial appointment since President Hindenburg was pressured into naming a new Chancellor in January of 1933 (hint, the appointee’s surname rhymes with Shmitler). Old ghosts of partisan divisions arose again, each holding to the Party Line. Daily Wire mastermind Ben Shapiro, in characteristic too-much-coffee hyper-speed banter, spent over an hour arguing that the whole thing was a set-up. Sure Ben, and the moon landing was an elaborate hoax (sarcasm detected).

The Left, honestly, was not much better. While saner voices tried to be heard, others were yelling about how appointing Kavanaugh was, essentially, the same as legalizing rape (which no one has or would) and the more extreme end literally calling for riots if Kavanaugh was appointed (the images of burning limousines after Trump’s inauguration still sharp in my mind). Meanwhile officials seemed be flip-flopping like decked salmon and Trump was carrying on his tradition of self-contradictory statements, seeming to forget what he had said merely days before. Let’s all just take a breath for a minute. Deep breath in. Good. And now out.

In my opinion, and according to the evidence, Dr. Ford is likely telling the truth. Not because women never lie, as some seem to imply, but because there is no logical reason to believe that Dr. Ford is lying, most, if not all, of the ‘inconsistencies’ in her testimony being accounted for by neuroscience. There are numerous studies indicating that negative events are remembered more often and with more clarity than positive or neutral ones. Facts such as where a party took place or who was there falling firmly into this last category. I think I’ll listen to the folks in the lab coats with the science degrees over the loudmouth pundits. Any of them. Whatever their origins or the agenda behind them, both things I, for one, make no claims to being privy to, the biggest factor disqualifying Kavanaugh was not the allegations against him. Rape, even attempted rape, is always wrong, not matter the circumstances, who does it or who it happens to. However, so are extra-marital affairs, particularly with those over whom one has power, and inter-party espionage.

Though it was not these things in and of themselves that led Bill Clinton into impeachment proceedings and spurred Ricard Nixon’s resignation from office, the first and only in American history. It was the lying and cover-ups, plus a spot of illegal bombing in Asia in Nixon’s case, that landed them in hot water. I do not hold to the notion that people stay the same over the course of their lives. There is lots of evidence that most people, while they may do foolish, or even criminal, things in their adolescence and early adulthood, have a strong tendency towards moderation by the age of 25. This is mostly due to the fact that the teenage brain is literally different from that of an adult. Most of the time. There is, however, also a condition called arrested development, in which people who should have reach the point of neurological maturity maintain the same mindset, attitudes and processing they had as teenagers. There was, at first, no evidence that this was true of Kavanaugh. Even if the assault took place, which it likely did, it was possible, as has been pointed out by the Right, that Kavanaugh may now be nothing like his teenage self and genuinely regret his previous actions. If nothing else Kavanaugh’s callous downplaying of his obvious alcoholism, fervent denials of credible charges and borderline paranoid outburst under questioning, did him far more harm than good, showing his immense emotional immaturity and Napoleon-grade self-regard. No wonder he and Trump get along so well.

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