OPINION: Indelible in the Hippocampus
“Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter.”
This was Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s answer when Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) asked her what she remembered the most vividly from the alleged assault in the summer of 1982, when Ford says Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her, back when they were in high school.
The idea that Thursday’s hearing was a mission to “get to the truth” of the issue is ridiculous. By now, there can be little doubt that Dr. Ford is telling the truth. The hearing, in the end, went neither the Republican-preferred trial route nor the Democrat-preferred job interview route.
Rachel Mitchell, the prosecutor hired by the Republicans so that they didn’t repeat the poor optics from 1991, when male committee member after male committee member hurled questions at Anita Hill, did little other than confirm the layout of the town Dr. Ford grew up in and that yes, she traveled to D.C. on a plane.