Acton27 comments

After reading the comments, I wonder if anyone who reads Japan Today has really heard the evidence (such as there is) in this matter and can understand what is happening.

For the Japanese readers who want to know what is going on, there is no evidence here, only allegations brought up years after the fact. Such allegations have been traditionally excluded from all evidentiary proceedings, but in recent years, charges of sexual abuse have been permitted many years after the fact. This is because a large majority of them have turned out to be true. But there have been a lot of high profile hoaxes as a result -- the Duke lacrosse team, the UVa rape story that caused Rolling Stone to fold, Tawana Brawley, etc.

The Senate used to have means of keeping unverified allegations out of the proceedings, if only because such testimony was always prejudicial and could never be probative if unverified. The FBI reviewed, for example, the testimony of Anita Hill in the Clarence Thomas proceedings and determined that she was "not credible". But a staffer leaked her story to the media and the media caused there to be very public hearings -- which led to high ratings for the media.

Because of the he-said,she said nature of the Trump presidency, media companies are making a lot of money. CNN's viewership has doubled -- CNN was almost ready to close before Trump and had laid off a lot of staff. MSNBC has doubled its viewership and even Fox is up more than 50%.

So the media is in charge of whether someone like a Dr Ford will be paraded out to tell a story that can never be verified. It serves their purpose, and it serves the purpose of the Democrat Party, who might win (not likely), but even if they don't, the hearings will cast a shadow over the decisions of a Supreme Court justice whose black letter jurisprudence is objectionable to partisans for a "living, breathing Constitution" that can be molded to mandate any idea that a partisan can think of.

In this case, there is no corroborating evidence of the Ford story, In fact, all of her friends have testified it never happened. Kavanaugh's calendar makes it seem unlikely. His demeanor and the evidence of others who know him makes it seem unlikely. While it is clear from her squeaky voice that something happened to Dr Ford that stunted her emotional development (a tell-tale sign among psychologists), projecting it onto a powerful man is a common tactic from a woman whose sense of self-worth has been robbed from her. But it seems unlikely that any evidence will come to support her story, and with all the evidence in favor of Judge Kavanaugh, it seems he will be confirmed by the end of the week.

Trump understands that there is a deal to be had here. It is best to just hammer out a deal. It won't be what Trump wants, it won't be what Abe wants, it won't be what Xi wants. But a deal will be best for all three of their countries. North Korea could destroy any economic gains made by any of these countries (including the US) just by its belligerent talk -- and maybe bellicose action. It is time to end the stupidity of pretending that North Korea is a country worth defending. China can create a better client state if it wants, but having a client state that is working to destroy the United States is not acceptable.