Sunday, September 30, 2018

Memo From Rachel Mitchell Regarding Christine Ford's Allegations

Shown below are images of the memorandum that Rachel Mitchell sent to Republican Senators on September 30, 2018, regarding her analysis of the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford against Brett Kavanaugh.  Notice that Mitchell writes —
"A “he said, she said” case is incredibly difficult to prove.  But this case is even weaker than that.  Dr. Ford identified other witnesses to the event, and those witnesses either refuted her allegations or failed to corroborate them.  For the reasons discussed below, I do not think that a reasonable prosecutor would bring this case based on the evidence before the Committee.  Nor do I believe that this evidence is sufficient to satisfy the preponderance-of-the-evidence standard."
And recall that the "preponderance-of-the-evidence" standard is the weaker standard of proof used in civil trials, versus the "beyond a reasonable doubt", or "to a moral certainty" standard that is used in criminal trials —
     https://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=1586
     https://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=59

In short, there is not enough evidence to even give Christine Ford a civil judgement, never mind justifying a criminal trial against Brett Kavanaugh.


https://www.scribd.com/document/389821761/Mitchell-Memo
Page 1 of the memo from Rachel Mitchell, regarding Christine Ford's allegations against Brett Kavanaugh.

Page 2 of the memo from Rachel Mitchell, regarding Christine Ford's allegations against Brett Kavanaugh.

Page 3 of the memo from Rachel Mitchell, regarding Christine Ford's allegations against Brett Kavanaugh.

Page 4 of the memo from Rachel Mitchell, regarding Christine Ford's allegations against Brett Kavanaugh.

Page 5 of the memo from Rachel Mitchell, regarding Christine Ford's allegations against Brett Kavanaugh.


Here are images of the timeline Rachel Mitchell included in her memo, with the related events from July 6 to September 26, 2018.  Notice that the letter which Christine Blasey Ford wrote detailing her allegations, was delivered to Senator Dianne Feinstein's office on July 30, 2018, and that Feinstein wrote a letter in reply to Ford on July 31, 2018 —

Part of the timeline from the memo from Rachel Mitchell, regarding Christine Ford's allegations against Brett Kavanaugh.
Part of the timeline from the memo from Rachel Mitchell, regarding Christine Ford's allegations against Brett Kavanaugh.


Yes, Social Media Lemmings, Women Lie, Just Like Men

Here are reactions from some Twitter users to the article linked below by Megan Fox, entitled "How to 'Christine Blasey Ford-Proof' Your Son", where Fox had the temerity to write that women lie.  No sane person should be shocked or surprised by this claim — any adult, who has had contact with enough people, has seen people of every race and gender lie.  Lying is a fundamental human behavior — every person has lied to some degree, even if only telling 'white lies' as a kind of coping mechanism (i.e. the common phenomena of denial).  Indeed, this Twitter thread is a display of dishonesty, in that the responses are derogatory, while making no attempt to actually address the content of the article.  If the article is as bad as these comments imply, it should be easy to give specific examples and explanations, which is what an honest person would at least try to do when making a criticism —

https://twitter.com/Popehat/status/1043936130972803072
http://archive.is/AL7bT
Tweet from account 'Popehat' and others mocking an article stating women lie.


As is usually the case, it was difficult to find an intelligent response from Twitter users to the article — the responses in that thread give the impression that these users are so blindly ignorant, or dishonest, that they actually would like others to believe that women are somehow unique, in that they never lie.  Of course, it is possible that many of them did not even read the article — being completely ignorant has no tendency to give Twitter users any restraint or humility.

And note the Twitter user 'Popehat', who wrote the original tweet, is a lawyer — you would certainly think a lawyer would know better regarding the human tendency to lie.  Also notice that 'Popehat' wrote that the article contains "uniformed legal opinions", but, of course, he chose not to name them.  As an attorney, you would think he would want to warn people if some harmful legal advice were given, but it seems it is more appealing to Twitter users to titillate each other, than to have a useful conversation —
    https://pjmedia.com/parenting/how-christine-blasey-ford-proof-your-son/
    http://archive.is/5BMgv
    https://pjmedia.com/columnist/megan-fox/
    https://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/make-no-law/
    http://archive.is/z9GEY

Quoted below is part of the paragraph that may have offended readers the most (again, assuming many of them actually read it), where Megan Fox actually recommends not trusting women in general.  Obviously, you could attack this with respect to personal relationships based on experience, where both men and women can prove that they can be equally trustworthy (and equally dishonest).  But you certainly cannot attack this advice with respect to a Supreme Court nomination hearing, where much of the public is crying out for a woman with inconsistent, and decades old accusations, simply to be believed.  With regard to today's culture, and especially with regard to the current Kavanaugh hearings, this is perfect advice.  Recall that Anita Hill's accusations against Clarence Thomas back in 1991 were never proven, and they did not rely on accurate, decades old memories from high school, as in Ford's case (i.e. Hill's accusations were more credible) —

https://pjmedia.com/parenting/how-christine-blasey-ford-proof-your-son/
http://archive.is/5BMgv
"4. Don't trust women
Sorry to say it, but my sex offends and horrifies me.  Between Stormy Daniels and Ford, women are a disgrace.  Contrary to the saccharine platitude that "women don't lie," women lie all the time.  They lie like crazy.  The younger they are, the more they lie and scheme.  It's probably the rage of hormones and insecurity that contribute to it, but most women lie and scheme. ... "


No one should be trusted by default, but no one is demanding that only men be trusted.  Of course, as is often the case, the hypocrisy surrounding the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings is enormous.  As if anyone would argue as they have for the Kavanaugh case, when confronted by their own accuser — "just believe my accuser, it does not matter what they remember".  And I wonder if the lawyer 'Popehat' follows such advice in court, and simply trusts all women.  The question answers itself.

Here is an article (linked by Fox) with horror stories regarding teenage girls who engaged in lying and harassment.  Again, there is no reason to be surprised by this, since all human beings are capable of the same contemptible behaviors.  Virtue is worthy of great respect precisely because it is rare, which means the majority will not achieve it — i.e. it takes more than not being a criminal to be virtuous —
    https://pjmedia.com/trending/when-every-boy-is-guilty-every-girl-becomes-a-monster
    http://archive.is/5Ykfx

And notice that even if you have the magical belief that women are dramatically superior to men in their level of honesty, and so you believe the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford against Brett Kavanaugh, recall that Brett Kavanaugh has been a U.S. Circuit Judge since 2006, and involved in government since at least 2001, and so Ford somehow decided that it was acceptable for a "sexual predator" to sit as a Circuit Judge, and so did nothing all those years, while such a "sexual predator" was free to do his worst.  That is, if Ford's accusations were actually true, that makes her contemptible for sitting silently while a sexual predator was free to harm other women.

But also notice that Ford has insisted that she told no one at the time.   This means she did not even tell her closest friends to warn them that she had been attacked, for their own protection —
    https://thepoliticalinsider.com/christine-ford-witnesses-confirm-claims/
    http://archive.is/4ZYzW

And here is a bizarre comment from Ford, where she indicates that she believes it is not fair to expect her to remember the details when accusing someone of having committed a crime —

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/09/17/metoo-spurred-christine-blasey-ford-to-open-up-about-alleged-attack-.../
http://archive.is/OTWvn
“I’ve been trying to forget this all my life, and now I’m supposed to remember every little detail,” one of those friends, Jim Gensheimer, recalled Blasey Ford saying that summer day while watching her kids participate in a Junior Lifeguard program. “They’re going to be all over me.”


Sorry Christine, but sane, reasonable people expect you to remember what happened, if your memory is going to be treated as evidence for a crime having been committed.

For those who claim that it takes great courage to come forward, as making the accusations can ruin your life, we can look to Anita Hill as a counterexample, since Hill had several positive outcomes which were a direct result of her accusations against Clarence Thomas back in 1991, even though, again, Hill's accusations were never proven.  Here is Janice Fiamengo's 'The Anita Hill School Of Success' —
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVsIUR80E8c
    https://twitter.com/StudioBrule/status/1043288901639651328
    https://twitter.com/JaniceFiamengo

For those who are too naive to believe that women, just like men, will often lie when it suits them, see —
    http://maxautonomy.blogspot.com/2016/08/lying-about-hillary-clintons-lies.html
    http://maxautonomy.blogspot.com/2016/07/mediamatters-hillary-clintons-shill.html

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/us/emmett-till-lynching-carolyn-bryant-donham.html
    http://archive.is/4va6E

    http://thefederalist.com/2016/11/08/rolling-stones-false-rape-story-will-end-in-the-magazines-demise/
    http://archive.is/0YZVE

    https://twitter.com/SenWarren
    https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris
    https://twitter.com/SenFeinstein
    https://twitter.com/BarbaraBoxer