Kavanaugh’s defense attempt is Bill Clinton’s infidelity denial all over again.
Mindboggling how, after all those years, he could basically use the same text that Clinton tried – in vain – to deny admission by pretending that sex can only be intercourse. Is he trying to hide the truth in plain sight?
Let me go over this 20-minute FOX interview, phrase by phrase.
His wife opens with a shockingly naive statement. She never believed the allegations because they are “not consistent” with who Brett is. But isn’t that the definition of acting out of character?
In the new FOX interview, Judge Kavanaugh says that he wants to defend his integrity. Is this a slip of the tongue, Freudian, revealing something? He obviously should clear his name, not his integrity. Is his goal now to show that his denial is not a lie, rather than that he’s never been an abuser? If so, why? Why insist on being truthful rather than not being a(n attempted) rapist? He is smart enough to know that honest people lie when the truth is too costly for them.
But then, in the next sentence, surprisingly, he uses the word integrity in the second meaning of wholeness. He wants to defend the integrity of himself and his family. Well, that’s so obvious that one wonders why it needs stating.
And throughout the interview, he keeps repeating this, only using the word integrity is its meaning of intactness. Does he have trouble stating that he has integrity and does he so try to get a suggestion of credibility? Why not lie about being honest if one is dishonest? I don’t get it.
He denies his former roommate’s allegations that assaults on women somehow fit him by referring to women who vouch for him being OK. That is no defense at all against accusations of having acted atypically.
Then he goes on and says literally: “I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone. I did not have sexual intercourse, or anything close to sexual intercourse, in high school or for many years thereafter.” What the f*** (pun intended) does sex have to do with sexual assault? Sexual violence is a form of violence, not of sexuality. He’s a prominent judge and he doesn’t know that? Shocking.
So far in the interview, he does more damage than good to his case.
He keeps defending himself against allegations of being a serial rapist while he’s actually accused of sexual assault. These are two different things altogether, as I mentioned prominently in my previous blog post.
He even goes so far as to deny knowledge of student parties where boys and girls seclude themselves to have sex. He had many male and female friends and these friendships were all platonic. I would say that such a denial of sexuality is exactly what contributes to the sex abuse in the Catholic Church. Denial of any loose sexual activity of any students around him sounds fake and unbelievable. This is such a contrast with written records of that time. And when the two conflict, why believe him with his flat baseless denial of anything human? His lawyer should tell him not to testify at all since he comes across as a fake, sanctimonious.
It’s cringe-worthy how he answers almost any question. If there is nothing to hide, should not the FBI investigate? Great question! What better way to clear his name?! He sidesteps the question and says that he is eager swiftly to testify under oath. He’s a judge. He knows that an accused testifying under oath is not the same as an FBI investigation.
The accused, also wanting no witnesses to testify, clearly aims for a he-said-she-said deadlock that he hopes to win “on his honest face.” He probably dreams himself sounding more credible than the outcome of criminal investigation and witness’ testimony. To me, there seems nothing more incriminating than an accused who doesn’t want witness testimony or investigations but rather just to be believed on his word.
The more I listened to him and saw his poker face, the more doubt I got about his lifeless performance. Not once does he burst out in laughter saying “that’s ridiculous.” It’s all a crafted dignified pose he gives us. I already got this notion of him being sincerely untruthful by his similarly stone-faced sincerity front through his (non-)confirmation hearings. How so? (The whole circus has suffered from much too few laughter anyway.)
He’s known for being arch-conservative but he paints himself as just objectively following precedent and law. That doesn’t add up. All the progressives who dread him on the Supreme Court and all the conservatives who love him there, are they removed from reality or is he pulling our leg? I find the latter far more plausible.
He talks like a politician, not a truthful person. He gives (and repeats) the “answers” he wants to provide and ignores most of the questions totally.
He seems to believe that a question not answered is a question not asked or not heard. This ostrich policy doesn’t work, of course. He comes out a liar for ignoring many straightforward questions.
His apparent untruthfulness doesn’t mean he’s guilty of anything. But opposite multiple accusations, he’s not worthy of being believed.
What is most worrisome though, is a judge who is a political animal, toying with and discarding truth, honesty, straightforwardness, soliciting for the US Supreme Court. We already have a con artist for president.
I feel bad for his wife who seems to have no clue about what is going on. Love makes blind – it sure does.
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Of the 15 (!) books he has in mind, the next two are about homosexuality in Judaism and new rabbinics. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2600 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog that also may contain updates to Times of Israel posts, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
He's getting ready to publicize books on: "Free Will, "Judaism and Homosexuality, "His parents in the Holocaust, "Judaism, "A New Torah Translation and "A New Hebrew Grammar, "Co-Counseling, "Vegan Facts, "Immortality, and more. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He agrees that in a post-truth world, that's irrelevant, but then this is for the record. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. His posts are spell, grammar, and style polished by AI, but all written by himself. *
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His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
