posted by QuakerOats
Might the abuse and trauma Ford has endured under the wholly mismanaged and disgraceful tactics employed by Feinstein et.al. exceed that which she may have suffered in ’82?
No way. While I think her story was hijacked and turned into a monstrosity, I do think she was sexually assaulted. Even with the vagueness of the questions in the polygraph, that much appeared to come through, and I'm not sure even the exploitation of such a traumatic event would be as bad as the actual event.
Maybe I'm wrong. I've never experienced it, so I don't have an existential knowledge of that sort of experience, but after having experienced both, I can't imagine her choosing the actual event over someone else exploiting her event for political gain.
posted by gut
Sad part is, the confirmation is only in doubt after questions come up about his "temperament" and drinking....which only came up from his responses to a blatant smear attempt.
Here's the thing about this, too: We HAVE precedent on how he conducts himself professionally. The Bar Association rated him well-qualified in 2003, when he was first nominated as a prospective federal judge. He has spent 12 years as a federal judge, and while he's not been the most liked, his temperament and ability to conduct himself in the court room was never an issue. Moreover, he seems to be fairly averse to legislating from the bench, which is a plus.
He's a fairly partisan judge (he's not alone in that regard), and I find some of his seeming policies highly problematic, but bringing up his temperament or any problem with his drinking is without foundation, based on the last 12 years of him acting as a federal judge, so it blows my mind that people are even trying to use that as ammunition to sway the vote.
