Watch Brett M. Kavanaugh's full opening statement

Those of us who grew up in the 80’s and went to these parties, know what went on. While sexual assault is bad in all cases across all time, many girls were flaunting it and liked the attraction they were getting. Add a lot of alcohol into the mix and there was bad stuff going around on both sides of the fence. No excuse, but trying to take what was acceptable in the 1980’s and then placing it under the microscope of the current MeTo movement is really not fair. People exposing themselves (girls and guys) during drinking games in high school was not that uncommon. They weren’t always drunk when they did it.

[Darrell Post]

“Anyway, while we do not know whether Judge Kavanaugh actually did the things he’s accused of, I believe it is certainly possible and likely probable that he did.”

If I am ever wrongfully accused of something, I hope you are not on the jury that would decide my fate. What credible evidence of guilt has been presented that would lead you to think he probably sexually assaulted a woman? So far in this case, there hasn’t been anything credible.

Darrell, I didn’t say he was guilty. I said it is certainly possible and likely probable that he engaged in this behavior. In other words, I wouldn’t be shocked if these allegations were true.

As someone else posted, this behavior was widespread and, in my experience, prevalent among the ‘star athletes’ who partied in high school. The girls wanted to be around these guys, and they partied with them repeatedly despite the treatment they encountered at these parties.

Ok, what evidence has been presented against Kavanaugh that leads you to think he probably assaulted a woman back in the 1980s?

Surely you would want appeal to something more than ‘this is what athletes did back then.’

I was a High School athlete back in the 1980s. Does that mean it was probable that I assaulted someone too?

There is quite a chasm between possible and probable. Anything is possible but something about all of this prompted you to move to probable. I am just curious as to what it is.

I’m basing my assessment on my experience in high school: the “star athletes” in high school that partied were usually the most drunk and the most active in the sexual assaults. From what I’ve read about and heard from Judge Kavanaugh, he liked to drink heavily and he liked to party on a pretty frequent basis.

Again, I’m not saying he’s guilty of sexual assault. I’m saying that I wouldn’t be shocked if Brett engaged in behavior similar to what I witnessed in high school.

Swap out “star athletes” for, say, “african-americans.” See what the problem with the argument is? It’s simple guilt by association which (see my previous comment) cannot be supported statistically to be meaningful in this context.

[Bert Perry]

Swap out “star athletes” for, say, “african-americans.” See what the problem with the argument is? It’s simple guilt by association which (see my previous comment) cannot be supported statistically to be meaningful in this context.

Bert, I agree that this is not the basis for rendering a guilty verdict. But, I wouldn’t be shocked if these allegations were true. Jocks in high school who liked to drink to excess and party hard were the most likely people, in my experience, to sexually assault girls at those parties.

Tom, given the nature of high school, I am going to have to guess that you were not invited to all the parties—the chess club as well as the football team. What you are saying is that in your own limited experience, the athletes were more likely to commit some degrees of (likely) sexual assault at the athletes’ parties than others, and you’re trying to apply that to Brett Kavanaugh. It is a variant of “blacks are more likely to commit murder than whites, therefore we can conceive it as reasonable that a given black man might be a murderer.”

Um, paging Atticus Finch to help us out with that; it is of course bigotry in both cases. I can point to athletes, fraternities, and even the speech and debate team as likely hotbeds of iniquity, but in no case does that mean a given person has participated.

Bert, I have always indicated that this was based on my experience in high school. I admit my experience is limited. I’m not saying he’s guilty based on my experience, I’m saying it wouldn’t surprise me if he were guilty. That kind of behavior was common.