Posted on 09/23/2018 1:59:41 AM PDT by Kaslin
While acknowledging that “people react differently to experiences,” Dr. Loftus also expressed skepticism about the root causes of the “symptoms” - such as PTSD and anxiety issues - Ford claims to have as a result of the assault.
Our talk inevitably circled back to the fact that we just “don’t know” so many things about this case. If we knew, for example, how many of the supporters who knew Judge Kavanaugh from his high school days were from the girl’s school Ford attended, we might discover how well Ford likely knew him as well.
While acknowledging that “people react differently to experiences,” Dr. Loftus also expressed skepticism about the root causes of the “symptoms” - such as PTSD and anxiety issues - Ford claims to have as a result of the assault.
Our talk inevitably circled back to the fact that we just “don’t know” so many things about this case. If we knew, for example, how many of the supporters who knew Judge Kavanaugh from his high school days were from the girl’s school Ford attended, we might discover how well Ford likely knew him as well.
“There is a motive to remember sexual assault because there is a motive to explain your problems and give you a justification and a reason for why you have problems, and that’s one of the reasons that I see happen in a typical recovered memory case,” said Dr. Loftus before reiterating the fact that we don’t entirely know, besides “some kind of marital difficulty,” what brought her into therapy with her husband.
The professor told me about two assaults from her own childhood experience, one of which she held onto for years while instantly telling authorities about the other.
“I had a sexual assault when I was 15 by some boys from a neighboring high school,” she said. “I remember it pretty well but I could not tell you for life of me who they were. I don’t know if any of them went on to be famous.”
(“So, how does she,” she wondered aloud at that point. “He was a nobody back then. How did she know it was him?
“I told, right away,” said Loftus. “Why? I’m not sure exactly.” While she contends the assault when she was 15 was “worse” than what Ford has described so far, Loftus “told right away in my case and actually there was a subsequent - where boys from high school got together and they apologized and it was over.”
Loftus mentioned that it is “certainly” quite common not to tell authorities right away in “child sex abuse cases,” but the “sort of teenage assault kind of thing” Kavauaugh is alleged to have done is “a little less embarrassing than child sex assault.”
“If she ran away and escaped, I don’t know why you don’t tell, in some sense,” said Loftus. “It seems easier to tell than the alter boy molested by the priest.”
Loftus didn’t tell anyone about other abuse until “a few years” after she was married to her then-husband.
While acknowledging that “people react differently to experiences,” Dr. Loftus also expressed skepticism about the root causes of the “symptoms” - such as PTSD and anxiety issues - Ford claims to have as a result of the assault.
Our talk inevitably circled back to the fact that we just “don’t know” so many things about this case. If we knew, for example, how many of the supporters who knew Judge Kavanaugh from his high school days were from the girl’s school Ford attended, we might discover how well Ford likely knew him as well.
Because of my own skepticism on the subject, I inevitably wanted to ask whether Dr. Loftus drew any red flags at encountering the word “psychotherapy” when reading the original Washington Post report.
“Yeah,” she responded, laughing. “Because I still feel that there’s a chance that continued psychotherapy beyond the initial disclosure session could have resulted in what it sometimes does - developing the story, making it more coherent, adding details. But did those details get developed in psychotherapy? And again, we don’t know, and I know she’s a psychology professor and seems to have done a lot of good work in statistics and biostatistics. You can have intelligent, educated people who develop distorted memories. It could happen to any of us.”
Finally, whether through psychotherapy or her own memory over the years, could Ford have somehow “amplified” what happened to her to construct a very real “memory” of something that at the time may have been in actuality more benign - such as a misplaced grope or an awkward kiss?
“It is certainly possible that it wasn’t quite as frightening or as violent as she’s now describing it and as people are now refer to it, as a violent attempted rape,” said Dr. Loftus. “It’s possible that it got more extreme in the course of her thinking about it.”
“In the midst of the MeToo movement I think some people are really reluctant to do anything other than embrace her story,” noted Dr. Loftus. “I’m a Democrat and I’m a pro-choice person, and I’m scared of having him on the Supreme Court, but if he doesn’t get on I want it to be fair.”
“Similar to lie-detector tests.”
A polygraph expert — former FBI, I think — was interviewed on Fox. He said there’s no such thing as a “lie detector”. He said they’re polygraphs and aren’t meant to detect lies necessarily. They just register reactions to verbal stimuli. Lies could be one trigger, but so could several other things.
I thought that was interesting. In true crime situations I’ve noticed that they’re only about 50% accurate when it comes to lies. How many people have been falsely maligned due to faulty polygraphs?
The new method that “reads” people’s voices might be more accurate.
Sorry Kaslin, but what happened with your cutting and pasting? LOL. e.g. “Our talk inevitably circled back to the fact that we just “don’t know” so many things about this case.”
Witness #4 has come forward and denied Ford’s accusation, National Review has #3
Third Named Witness Rejects Kavanaugh’s Accuser’s Allegations
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/third-named-witness-rejects-kavanaughs-accusers-allegations/
I always cut and paste. It would take way to long if I didn’t.
“Doesn’t seem to matter. Didn’t with Crystal Mangum in the Duke Lacrosse scandal. Very sad society no longer reasons. “
She is now in prison, convicted for murdering her boyfriend.
But look what her lies did to those college guys and the left wanted so much to believe her. Maybe Ford will end up the same.
Emotional decision makers don’t care about facts. They only see the facts that support their decision.
It used to be, “I’ll believe it if I see it.”
Now it’s “I can only see it if I believe it.”
I'm guessing that she was in the same classes that 0bama attended at Harvard Law School. Maybe she was the supplier to the Choom Gang? And I don't mean the marijuana...
There is nothing wrong with cutting and pasting... somehow you repeated part of the same section three different times. That made your excerpt confusing.
Not true.
Maybe we wait until some reliable facts come out.
She's not in them.
Bear in mind that much of what we think we know about that comes from highly unreliable anonymous tweets and comments.
I checked for radio host Howie Carr, too. He wasn’t in the yearbooks. Not everybody wants to go through the picture-taking routine.
I checked under maiden name....
It’s possible that she graduated at one of the UNC satellite locations...Greensboro, Wilmington, Asheville....
“Maybe we should wait until some reliable facts come out.”
NO, I repeat, NO reliable facts have come out.
“Recovered memories” that are not corroborated by facts, but are contradicted in every alleged fact, are not reliable facts. We don’t have a date and we don’t have a place, those lack of facts can’t be contradicted. We do have four names of other people at this party, one of whom is a lifetime friend of the accuser. Each of the four denies any such party ever took place.
The proper way to handle a matter like this is to report it to the police. Law enforcement should treat the accuser with respect and confidentiality, confidentiality until and unless probable cause is developed. Law enforcement should determine if there is corroborating evidence, and even try to develop corroborating evidence based on leads in the recovered memory. If there is no corroborating evidence, you don’t subject the accuser and the accused to a trial. You tell the accused that the information provided will be kept on file, whether for this case if it is reopened or for a future case.
Recovered memories have helped solve some cases but they also have sent people to prison who were later proven innocent. They were the hot item for about ten years about thirty years ago. Legislatures lengthened statutes of limitation because of this new tool available to law enforcement. But, troubles developed, and the technique generally became inadmissable, at least without corroboration (see the following link).
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/so-sue-me/201602/how-does-the-law-treat-repressed-memories
If we’re going to speculate about a man based only on recovered memory, we should be able to speculate about those recovered memories. They are the recovered memories of a 15 year girl who was at an alcohol party at somebody else’s home when the parents weren’t home. Those facts are in the allegation itself. Then, in the accuser’s yearbook, are multiple stories of such alcohol parties and of sexual promiscuity.
But, we’re not talking of due process are we?
About the supposed incident, no. And we may never find out what happened or didn't happen.
I was talking about all the "drunken slut" background stuff which seems to be based on some very questionable anonymous sources.
Maybe it's all true. Maybe it isn't. Probably the truth is somewhere in between.
When people cite sources that aren't trustworthy they don't make a convincing case.
x, you may operate on the basis that the truth probably lies somewhere in between. Here’s my operating principle: presumption of innocence. I’m a due process guy.
Regarding whether the accuser was at an alcohol party at a home where the parents were not present when she was age 15, I agree with you, her recovered memory could be a total fabrication.
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