Why do you believe Ford's claims?

[Renae]

I'm puzzled, outside of political partisanship, why one would believe someone who can't tell you:

Where the attack happened
When it happened
How she got there
Why she was there
Who was there
How she got home
Told no one for 30 years
Cannot produce any evidence said incident actually happened
No witness can place her and Kavanaugh at the unknown location

It's just so rife with holes that its unprovable, period. So why believe her? Put aside the politics, why is her detail free story something you can find viable?

 

[TheGoverness]

I don't believe her, nor do I disbelieve her. I just don't know. And I'm gonna remain with that position until further developments. Let's see what the hearing brings to light.

 

[Tanngrisnir]

Does anyone have a plausible theory about why Ford would:
1. Make up a story about being sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh
2. Include in her false story a witness who could contradict her account
3. Request an FBI investigation of her lie, when lying to the FBI is a felony

 

[Anagram]

Does anyone have a plausible theory about why Ford would:
1. Make up a story about being sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh
2. Include in her false story a witness who could contradict her account
3. Request an FBI investigation of her lie, when lying to the FBI is a felony

For the sake of an argument I think it's pretty easy to come up with a plausible theory for each of those.

1. Partisanship. Doesn't want Kavanaugh confirmed.
2. The fact that you're bringing it up as something that bolsters rather than inhibits her credibility gives a plausible reason for her to include it. If including a witness who would contradict her actually strengthens her argument in your eyes and in others, then if she was lying about the whole thing, that would be a great reason to include it.
3. At 30 years, I really don't think there's any risk of that. I really can't see a scenario they could prove she lied to the FBI beyond a reasonable doubt.

Now I'm certainly not saying any of that's what happened. It's also plausible that everything she's said is true. It's plausible that some things she says aren't true, but that she honestly believes them. But at the same time, I don't think there's any evidence we have that would make that not a plausible scenario.

 

[Skeptic Bob]

The more I look into this kind of thing the more common I am learning such memory gaps are not that uncommon for survivors of sexual assault. So none of the things the OP lists would cause me to disbelieve her. Of course it also isn’t enough to go on to BELIEVE her either, so I am undecided, though that could change depending on what else comes out.

But people who keep saying “innocent until proven guilty” need to remember that applies to everyone if they are going to apply it. It is fine to say you think Kavanaugh is innocent by default until proven otherwise, but making false accusations is also a serious thing so we shouldn’t accuse Ford of making false claims without evidence to that effect either. That is if you are going to apply the innocent until PROVEN guilty standard to something that isn’t in a criminal court, which I don’t.

 

[humbolt]

I believe her because I saw Kavanaugh stealing my neighbor's wife's underwear from their clothes line last week. Had to be Kavanaugh. Who else could it have been? Ran away with it over his head. You just can't make this stuff up. And in SW Virginia, of all places...