No one, after Christine Ford’s testimony, said that it was implausible. Even Tromp one time called it credible. But Brett Kavanaugh’s words are questioned over and over again.
There are now so many holes in his testimony that one wonders why the FBI needs to investigate anything. For an overview, here we go:
- As I mentioned before, tired, at the end of the Senate hearing, he said repeatedly that there were three witnesses who declared that he wasn’t there. Obviously, he should be asked where “there” is because his drinking buddy Mark Judge was there. (How else could he state that Brett wasn’t?!) If he really wasn’t at the party, he would have said: I was not at such a party. But he said: I wasn’t there. This is equal to someone who says that he wasn’t at the crime scene while no one has said yet where the crime took place.
- He never passed out, never could not remember the next day what happened and throwing up was from a weak stomach for food. He may have had too many drinks but wasn’t too much into alcohol, or otherwise, he couldn’t have been so good at sports and studying (and going to church). Many of his drink buddies call that a mischaracterization – under oath. He said that his drinking was not a problem as he was 18 already, which was the age limit. But in fact, he wasn’t yet 18 and the limit was 21! The problem is not that he over-drank as a student but that he now lies about it.
- Boofing is farting, he declared under oath. This, no one on the Internet knew. Everyone knew that that means taking in alcohol through the anus. (From there, it bypasses the detoxicating liver and goes directly into your general circulation – so dangerous.) He did it so badly that he almost died. From fluctuation? He suggests that an editor may have changed his yearbook entry or that he was exaggerating to impress. Sure.
- He played the devil’s triangle. Under oath, he declared that to be a drinking game he played. That, no one ever heard of. The while Internet tells you it is two men having sex at the same time with one woman. (The non-devil’s triangle is one man with two women.) Exactly, what Dr. Ford accuses him of.
- There is a video clip in which himself he blatantly says that it’s a good rule for all involved that what happened in that law school stays in that school. The obvious question is: what did he refer to? Probably not to: staying a virgin, drinking moderately and church going. There is now a call for former classmates to come forward.
- He exploded in anger to the point of tearing at the beginning of his hearing. Not because he got tired but as a deliberate strategy for answering the allegations. There is a big difference between righteous indignation and violent anger. The former doesn’t scare. He will not go anywhere. In other words: he doesn’t take no for an answer. Exactly what he’s accused of. One would want a top judge (any job applicant) with a more contemplative temperament and being less aggressive. Even if he didn’t do what he’s accused of.
- He painted himself as a choirboy which many classmates call a mischaracterization. Especially when drunk, he was reportedly aggressive to boys and sexually violent towards girls.
- He avoided answering many direct questions and resorted then to rattling off memorized accounts. This got across as very dishonest. He even replied to a Senator: I never blacked out – did you? This is awful defendant behavior. (Since the senator happened to be a child of an ex-alcoholic, this was especially painful.)
- He often gave long-winding answers to straight questions. (Compare Ford who often answered “Exactly,” “Precisely,” “Yes.”)
- He attacked the Democrats for plotting a conspiracy against him. This should not be overlooked. This is no logical train of thought. He trashes all the Democrats’ questions at the previous hearings, which is of course an overstatement but also shows that he has no distance or appreciation for their criticalness. Such a polemic person should not be a judge in the country’s the top court. In the previous hearings, he tried to portray himself as politically impartial and just doing his job neutrally. So that was false too. To say (scream) when accused that others did him in is not a denial! And, new proof is in that actually he was plotting!
- He claimed under oath that accusations against him mean that his record and his family’s record has been soiled forever. That is ridiculous. If he gets cleared, the accusations amount to nothing. Only if he fails to clear his name or there would be a cover-up, he would come out damaged. So he admits the accusations here too?
- He yelled that these accusations will haunt the country for decades to come because all good men will get dragged through the mud in the same way. He assumes that all men have skeletons in their cupboards? Let him speak for himself! President Bush was not accused of this. Bernie Sanders neither. Nor VP Pence. Not all people have this battle.
- He lied under oath that he only got into Yale only because of his hard work, that he had no prior relationships there. That was easy to disprove. He grandfather went to Yale. This is no longer lying; this is being a fraud. Applying for the Supreme Court!
- His demeanor was completely different from the one in the FOX interview just days prior. At least one of the two must be false. I suggest: both. In the TV interview he played choirboy, in the Senate interview he played the injured party. They both cover up the truth as he knows it.
- If Kavanaugh would be innocent, he would have insisted on a most thorough FBI investigation to clear his name. If affirmed without such, he’d seem guilty. Yet, he did not insist. What other reason could there be for that but that he knows that that he’s lying?
- From so many of the above points, it’s clear that he was lying under oath repeatedly. Perjury is a serious offense and should disqualify anyone in a job interview for any judicial position.
There are only two options: a cover-up or a disqualification. Any street-wise person and many less clever people see straight through his poses.
Dr. Ford and her co-accusers, Senator Flake and Brett’s classmates who went public all deserve lots of credit. Even if the farce will be with him.
But even if he doesn’t make it to the Supreme Court (as this might point out), the scandal is there that a sitting judge can be almost as untruthful as the current US President. (Almost. As President Trump lies because he doesn’t care about truthfulness. Honesty is for wimps. But Kavanaugh lies constantly to stay ahead of what he perceives as his enemies.)
One gift suggestion for him (and for everyone everywhere):
I got nominated for the Supreme Court
but all I got was this lousy T-shirt
and jail time for perjury.
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. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
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
