The decline to moral bankruptcy of the GOP

Thank you for trusting us with that.

I’m sorry that happened to you.

Thank you for being willing to share that.

That’s awful, Jeff. Thank you for sharing your story and perspective.

As a therapist who has taken working notes and used them to later generate session notes I can say that errors are always a possibility. In session I try to stay focused on the client which means I don’t sit there staring down at my pad. I jot down occasional key information in a short form without looking down as I write. After the session I will create a session note that includes info from my working notes in addition to other details I have in my fresh memory. I could easily see myself accidentally converting a scribbled “4 boys” which meant 4 boys at the party into 4 boys involved in the assault. Especially if the session was a fraught one, which it almost always is when there’s a first disclosure of sexual assault / abuse. These are moments of real distress and our work in those moments is not to be a court stenographer.

[EDIT] I answered your question when I saw you raised it. As I read more, I see that others offered various answers that I agree with, as well. I suppose that I can offer that I have some experience in this in that I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Clinical Psychology, and I’ve completed several periods of supervised practice as well as my clinical internship. I’ve had clients disclose sexual assault for the very first time, so this is not an unusual occurrence. I’m happy to answer any additional questions anyone else might have.

And Jeff, your sharing was incredibly brave and helps put things into perspective, regardless of what the traumatic memory research can say. Let’s all remember that research is about the preponderance of evidence. Even though the scientific community says that “in general” traumatic memories aren’t always fully accurate, it doesn’t mean that all traumatic memories are inaccurate.

Really sorry to hear, thank you for sharing that though.

Jeff, I am so sorry for that trauma you went through. Thank you for the trust you’ve shown us.

Very sorry to read this as well, Jeff. And mentioned up thread, I had a situation as well and if you ever want to talk it out, I’m here to listen.

Even though it may have been in the distant past, that doesn’t keep your mind from rehashing it, or from it affecting you.

That’s a terrible thing. I’m sorry it happened to you.

WHY DO ACCUSERS WAIT 20 YEARS TO SPEAK UP?!?!

Who among us wouldn’t want threatening phone calls and death threats from strangers?

Also, thanks for sharing JP.

Sorry, Jeff.

And honestly, I don’t understand why we’re still having this discussion in 2018.

Do individual people get falsely accused? Sure. But if there’s anything that history should have taught us by now, it is that there is really no personal benefit to be gained by coming forward with such accusation, and very much to lose. So when people do come forward with such accusations - especially in such a high profile case as this - we need to take them very, very seriously, because the people who do so pay a very high cost - personally and professionally. In a situation like this with such high stakes, nobody makes accusations of this kind for petty revenge or without being very sure of their subject.

If someone applies for a job at Wendy’s and it comes out that he might have sexually assaulted a girl when he was 17 we have no problem with the manager passing on him and hiring someone else.

A lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land, though, there’s no reason to set the bar that high. We can’t hold federal-court judges to that impossible set of standards. I mean, do you think it’s easy to find jurists who haven’t ever been accused of sexual assault?

If someone in their 50s is applying for a job at Wendy’s, a possible sexual assault at 17 is probably the least of their poor life choices.

No need to shit on someone applying for a job. I have more respect for this hypothetical person in their 50s than just about any Republican politician.

Also, given the inevitable collapse of the economy due to deregulation and all the other Trump/GOP shit, I figure there will be a lot of professionals looking for any job in the relatively new future. I remember a guy my father worked with being turned down for jobs at Starbucks & places like that when the economy went to shit last time. This guy was desperately trying to make money for his family, after being let go and “too experienced” for his industry.

Word.

Well said. Doesn’t matter if it’s making a burger at Wendy’s or working at Trader Joe’s, turning up your nose at someone for trying to make a living is crass.

There are a lot of responsible reasons why someone might apply for low-end jobs later in life, and not all of them are bad.

Also, there are a ton of jobs out there that are not customer facing or, you know, putting someone who might not have any respect for women at all, because how much respect can you have if you sexually assault them, in a position where they can actually determine the rights of all women in this country. We might get the same result with some other candidate, but at least it won’t be for that reason.

“Poor life choices.”

Yeah, very consistent with the theory that poverty indicates moral shortcomings.

A lot of us were taught this as children. I certainly was. It’s not easy to break associations that were built into your personal bag of algorithms from childhood.