I don’t claim to be an expert in sex crime procedures or interrogation, but I’ll say that there’s absolutely no way Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is falsely accusing Brett Kavanaugh. To argue that she is would be completely absurd.
It seems like every other day there’s a new report of some higher-up man being accused of sexual assault. At first, #MeToo was empowering. It felt like it was the age of women taking control of their fear. But then it kept happening. Harvey Weinstein turned into Larry Nassar who became Matt Lauer, Bill O’Reilly, Louis C.K. and several congressmen. The reports were never-ending.
With this movement, however, comes danger. The early cases were undeniable because of the sheer number of accusers they had. Now, the number of accusers per accused can be as small as one. When only one person comes forward to accuse someone of assault, it raises the question of whether that one person can be believed. As terrible as that is for survivors, it’s the unfortunate and miserable reality of assault cases.
With that being said, Blasey Ford’s case is the most overtly political any #MeToo case has been. Because of that, she is subject even more to insinuations that she is lying. People argue that she’s falsely accusing Kavanaugh in order to aid the Democratic attempts to postpone his confirmation for after the midterm elections.
Strategically, that’d be a good plan if the only thing at stake were the Supreme Court seat. But it’s not.
The politics of this situation go beyond any government seat. It overflows into the social politics of sexual assault. If Blasey Ford is lying, she may succeed in postponing the confirmation, but she also runs the risk of destroying the credibility of this important social movement. Besides, there’s still the possibility that Democrats won’t take over the Senate in the midterm elections, so the risk of ruining #MeToo for a few extra weeks is extremely dangerous.
The only reason Blasey Ford would have for falsely accusing Kavanaugh is the possibility of several major cases to be overturned following his confirmation. The legalization of abortion and same-sex marriage along with the regulation of campaign finances could all be overturned if Kavanaugh is confirmed. Blasey Ford would have to feel that all of these outweigh the power of the #MeToo movement in order to lie about her assault.
But if Blasey Ford is lying and Kavanaugh ends up getting confirmed anyway, we could end up losing both. And I assume she knows that. Ford is an intelligent woman, and she would know those risks. If she’s lying, she’s risking everything she believes in. If she’s telling the truth, she only risks gaining time, justice and closure. I know which one I’d take out of those options.
Blasey Ford isn’t lying. If she is, then I’m a poor judge of character, but I’m pretty sure I’m not. Let’s not allow another sexually dangerous man into a high-profile office of government. We’ve had enough of that.
 
Cartoon featured by Cassie Talbot