# The Democratic Sexual Assault Playbook **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 30, 2018, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210 "2018-09-30T11:53:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/61 "2018-10-01T19:11:35Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > I don’t think you are going to get much by the way of reasoned discussion. Everyone has taken extreme positions with nothing in the middle. Either he is innocent as driven snow or was Jack the Ripper on the Chesapeake. A vile lying drunkard or a teetotaller. Oddly, I have not seen hardly any GOP defense of K. Instead they have attacked Ford: she is lying, she isn’t really a psychologist, that isn’t her real name, it was her fault since she should have known better, she was hired by Feinstein, etc. Attacking the victim, rape apology, the Big Lie. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/62 "2018-10-01T19:14:16Z")
Actually, what I asked Shodan, I’d like to invite the OP and others who support their view to comment on: what is the “right,” in your opinion, thing to do with the allegations against Kavanaugh? Not even going to ask about generalities yet. What specific actions, if any, should be taken right now in regards to Kavanaugh, Ford, Feinstein, and anyone else you care to name? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/63 "2018-10-01T19:14:56Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Are you saying there’s good evidence it’s the second? If not, then why are you insisting that it’s the second? I am saying exactly what I did say. There is no good evidence that establishes the first - it is an unsubstantiated allegation. I have nowhere insisted that Dr. Ford manufactured the allegation. I have no way to tell where Dr. Ford got her allegation. Maybe she made it up, maybe it happened exactly as she (sort of) described, maybe she was talked into it by a therapist the way other “recovered memories” have done, maybe she conflated another memory of being sexually assaulted with a memory of Brett Kavanaugh, who knows. Her allegation against Kavanaugh is unsubstantiated. There is nothing to back it up. There is no physical evidence, it cannot be definitely established exactly where or when it happened, none of the other people who were alleged to be there back her up, she made no contemporaneous mention of the fact, nor connected Kavanaugh to the incident until last July, 36 years after the fact. None of which proves it didn’t happen. None of it is good evidence that it did. > [@Leaper](#): > > Therefore, what, then, should be done with the allegations against Kavanaugh? Investigate Dianne Feinstein to find out who on her staff leaked the document in violation of Dr. Ford’s wishes. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/64 "2018-10-01T19:20:10Z")
So to be clear, you would advocate that Ford’s accusation be ignored and not formally investigated in any way directly, correct? Or no? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/65 "2018-10-01T19:25:32Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > There’s no possibility in which an investigation is a bad idea. The possibility that Kavanaugh might not be confirmed makes an investigation a really, really bad idea in the eyes of most Republicans, it appears, including Trump who is doing everything possible to make sure the investigation uncovers nothing. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/66 "2018-10-01T19:33:29Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I have nowhere insisted that Dr. Ford manufactured the allegation. In this post: [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21241755&postcount=53](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21241755&postcount=53) You are asked why you insist “it” is “creating false allegations against someone before they take power”, and you didn’t answer “I don’t insist that”, but rather “Because there is no good evidence” that Ford’s accusation is accurate. If you’re taking that back, then good for you, but when you answer a question that way that’s specifically about why you insist the allegation is false, then it’s reasonable for me to respond as if you insist that the allegation is false. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/67 "2018-10-01T19:49:59Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Just something to clarify - if this kind of thing works, and Kavanaugh is not confirmed based on unsubstantiated allegations, it is not just the Democrats who are going to try it again. The Republicans are going to do it just as hard, the next time a liberal is nominated. > > Recognizing that the sides will flip-flop instantly, and that allegations with exactly the same amount of evidence will instantly become not credible when made against a liberal judge - it will still happen. > > The Democrats do not hold the moral high ground here. They have chosen to take the game to the next level. That’s where it’s going to be played. I would like to believe that Republicans are better than this, but I don’t. They already tried it with Bill Clinton. And there’s some other politician, a Black Dem, who they are attacking with whataboutism as we speak. The Dems very definitely hold the high ground. This is not some Dem play. This is a a creible woman coming out with her complaint. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/68 "2018-10-01T19:54:37Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Alternately? > > Birth Certificate > The Clinton’s murdered Vince Foster > Swiftboat > > The R side invented the politics of personal destruction. Don’t whine if it turns back on them. Secret Muslim. Birtherism. There are hundreds of GOP lies about both Clintons, Pelosi and Obama in the archives of Snopes. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/69 "2018-10-01T19:57:07Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > The allegations against Franken were not at the same level of evidence as they are for Kavanaugh, were they? The evidence vs Franken \*was \*stronger. He did some stupid things to be funny. The\* allegations\* were far weaker. None rose to rape. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/70 "2018-10-01T19:57:29Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Oddly, I have not seen hardly any GOP defense of K. Instead they have attacked Ford: she is lying, she isn’t really a psychologist, that isn’t her real name, it was her fault since she should have known better, she was hired by Feinstein, etc. Attacking the victim, rape apology, the Big Lie. DARVO: Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender. **Deny** for as long as you can. Simply bald-faced lie. **Attack** the person calling you on your behavior. Lying works here, too, but in this case you lie about past sins of the person you’re up against. **Reverse Victim and Offender** to make it seem that the person calling you out is the Bad Guy and you’re the hapless victim in all this. Go all wounded gazelle, feign innocence, and, of course, lie your ass off. [It’s all right there in the Republican Handbook](https://dynamic.uoregon.edu/jjf/defineDARVO.html) which is cleverly hidden as a psychologist’s website about betrayal trauma. The links go into depth about Kavanaugh, however, which is how you know it’s a clever ruse meant to make you think this behavior is somehow pathological. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/71 "2018-10-01T20:33:37Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > There are no doubt some women who are rabidly pro-right or pro-left that they’d be willing to voluntarily go out on a kamikaze false-accusation mission to take down a prominent D or R. How do you know this is, without a doubt, true? You yourself say that ‘such people haven’t appeared yet’, but you are 100% certain that they exist. How do you know this? ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/72 "2018-10-01T20:40:11Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > The problem being, “it” may be “coming forward against someone who committed sexual assault before they take power” or “creating false allegations against someone before they take power”. You seem to insist it’s the second, despite all the reasons given here; please explain why. > > Because there is no good evidence that it’s the first. I think that’s been explained adequately. If you need to know why, that’s why. Wait, so there’s no good evidence that it’s an accurate depiction of events (because such evidence is _extremely_ unlikely to be forthcoming), therefore there’s good evidence that it’s entirely fabricated? There are so many problems with this logic that I don’t even know where to start. 😕 > [@Shodan](#): > > I have nowhere insisted that Dr. Ford manufactured the allegation. You _literally_ just did. So are you walking that back, or did you mistype, or is this a misunderstanding (that somehow has been going on for a few dozen pages of one thread and both pages of this one), or… what? > [@](#): > > she made no contemporaneous mention of the fact, nor connected Kavanaugh to the incident until last July, 36 years after the fact. Err… You do realize that this was _before_ he was the nominee, right? > [@](#): > > Investigate Dianne Feinstein to find out who on her staff leaked the document in violation of Dr. Ford’s wishes. Priorities! Has Dr. Ford asked for this? ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/73 "2018-10-01T20:44:21Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > The Angry Left have developed a pattern in the last 18 years of deciding that any political outcome they don’t like is an illegitimate outcome. Witness the hysterical, unhinged claims – examples of which can be found on these boards – that Bush “stole” the 2000 election from Gore with the help of the Supreme Court. More recently, we have seen claims that Gorsuch’s seat on SCOTUS was “stolen” from Garland. You LEFT OUT brother Jeb. Old “Low energy Jeb” just doesn’t get any respect. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/74 "2018-10-01T20:46:56Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > So to be clear, you would advocate that Ford’s accusation be ignored and not formally investigated in any way directly, correct? Or no? No. But think about it - an anonymous accusation, from someone who does not the matter pursued, who offers no evidence, no corroboration, no witnesses, thirty six years after the fact, and who is not even sure exactly where or when it happened. Ford apparently wanted this anonymous accusation, in and of itself, to be used to torpedo the nomination. So Feinstein, seeing that nothing else was going to work, threw Ford under the bus, violated her wishes by leaking, or allowing to be leaked, Ford’s identity to the press. So then it _was_ investigated, and found out that, surprise surprise, there was no evidence, no corroboration, no witnesses to back it up, and Ford didn’t even mention Kavanaugh’s name until thirty six years after the fact. That’s why outing an anonymous accuser is a bad idea, for both the accuser and the subject of the allegation. It’s not fair to anyone. Certainly not to Ford, and not to Kavanaugh either. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/75 "2018-10-01T20:51:47Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No. But think about it - an anonymous accusation, from someone who does not the matter pursued, who offers no evidence, no corroboration, no witnesses, thirty six years after the fact, and who is not even sure exactly where or when it happened. Ford apparently wanted this anonymous accusation, in and of itself, to be used to torpedo the nomination. So Feinstein, seeing that nothing else was going to work, threw Ford under the bus, violated her wishes by leaking, or allowing to be leaked, Ford’s identity to the press. So then it _was_ investigated, and found out that, surprise surprise, there was no evidence, no corroboration, no witnesses to back it up, and Ford didn’t even mention Kavanaugh’s name until thirty six years after the fact. This is like reading **Shodan** ’s version of World War II: “First, the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor!” ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/76 "2018-10-01T20:57:59Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No. But think about it - an anonymous accusation, from someone who does not the matter pursued, who offers no evidence, no corroboration, no witnesses, thirty six years after the fact, and who is not even sure exactly where or when it happened. Ford apparently wanted this anonymous accusation, in and of itself, to be used to torpedo the nomination. That must be why she tried to get it out there before Kavanaugh was nominated. > **[Christine Blasey Ford’s Explanation of Why She Came Forward When She Did...](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/09/christine-blasey-ford-brett-kavanaugh-hearing-explanation-timing.html)** > > Ford explained why she reached out before Kavanaugh was named as a nominee. I will keep sending you this link until you _read it_. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/77 "2018-10-01T21:18:19Z")
> [@ravenman](#): > > this is like reading **shodan** ’s version of world war ii: “first, the germans bombed pearl harbor!” and it wasn’t over! ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/78 "2018-10-01T22:31:21Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Well, look, I can give you an entirely cynical explanation for why the GOP decided that Clarence Thomas should be tapped to replace Thurgood Marshall; and I can give you an entirely cynical explanation for why they’d want to tap Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Which would you like first? I was talking about choosing Amy Coney Barrett over Brett Kavanaugh. I know that right-wingers have always been disappointed that Anthony Kennedy wasn’t the hard-drinking, womanizing incarnation of savage Celtic id that they expect someone named “Kennedy” to be; but that’s no reason to put a walking caricature of a drunken, woman-groping Irishman on the high court in his place. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/79 "2018-10-01T22:38:38Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > > Well, look, I can give you an entirely cynical explanation for why the GOP decided that Clarence Thomas should be tapped to replace Thurgood Marshall; and I can give you an entirely cynical explanation for why they’d want to tap Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Which would you like first? > > I was talking about choosing Amy Coney Barrett over Brett Kavanaugh. Yes, but my idée fixe is that they chose Kavanaugh over Barrett _now_ because they want to be able to nominate Barrett to replace Ginsburg _then_. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210/80 "2018-10-01T22:40:26Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > It’s not impossible that this is the reason. But the reason that the Democrats in Congress are treating it as credible is because they oppose Kavanaugh on partisan grounds. As I said, if and when allegations with the same level of evidence are made against a liberal nominee, the sides will flip-flop instantly. That’s not something that can be cited, but it is true nonetheless. As someone who hated to see both Anthony Weiner and Al Franken get axed, let me tell you, no, no, it’s not like that. Democrats do not want to alienate the continuum of vocal women of a whole range of ages that they _hope_ are in their base. Maybe it was different in the 1990’s. But that was a generation ago. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-sexual-assault-playbook/822210.md?page=5)