ldrews, on 2018-September-21, 11:32, said:
Does it really matter? Even if Ford's accusations are true does that effect Kavenaugh's qualifications for the Supreme Court? Kavenaugh has apparently led an exemplary adult life. And we will probably never know the "truth" of the situation. Seems to me that it is time to move on.
I am willing to discuss this. When I was 17 I had a forced ride in a paddy wagon down to the police station. The cop suggested "Kind of old for this, aren't you son?" I have always regretted that I did not look him up later and let him know that his words actually registered with me. In the other direction, when I was 8 or so I had a babysitter, 12 or so, and not a future Supreme Court nominee, who showed me some fun games to play after bedtime. Of course for this babysitter example 12 isn't 17 and, for the first example, a ruckus in a movie theater is not the same as trying to rape someone.
As I see it, our parents are to make reasonable efforts to keep us in line when we are 12, we are responsible for ourselves when we are 18, 17 is on the cusp. Definitely not a child. At 15 I bought a car, with my money, hitchhiking around until I found the one I wanted, and then hitching back to tell my parents I needed their signature on something. At 17 I told my parents that I had decided to go to college rather than join the navy, the costs were my responsibility. For Kavanaugh, I still think there was a culture of privilege at play here. I broke rules, I never had the idea that the rules did not apply to me. And my parents were not enablers. If parents provide a place for a party involving drinking and perhaps drugs, the clear message is that the rules that applied to kids like me did not apply to the preppie. So some preppies decide some other rules also don't apply to them. Not good. And not surprising. Certainly it happens and more often than once in a blue moon.
Pinning a girl down on a bed and trying to forcefully remove her clothes? And then what we can surely assume comes next? I'm not prepared to write that off. The cop mentioned above had the right idea. At 17, you are responsible for your actions.
I sincerely wish that it had not happened. But it did. That seems pretty close to certain.