Christine Blasey Ford and the mysterious case of the missing bathroom

There was a subtle fact to be learned from Christine Blasey Ford's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. No, not merely that she lied about being afraid to fly on airplanes so she could delay the hearing as long as possible. I'm referring to the mysterious incident in the bathroom. Press reports indicated that she claimed that Brett Kavanaugh "corralled" her into an upstairs bedroom. Now we have more detail: that Ms. Ford went to an upstairs bathroom, and when she came out, Kavanaugh dragged her into a bedroom.

My question is, why did Ms. Ford use an upstairs bathroom? Nearly all suburban homes near country clubs in America have bathrooms on the ground floor. Perhaps it was occupied, but Ms. Ford, who clearly remembers going to the bathroom, didn't even mention its existence. If there had been a bathroom on the ground floor, as seems likely, and Ms. Ford could have used it, then there was no reason for her to use a bathroom upstairs. The only reason for Ms. Ford to go upstairs would be to go to a bedroom, with someone at this party. This is what I believe is most likely to have occurred. Ms. Ford went to a house party to meet boys. That's obvious. Ms. Ford claims that everyone else but her was drunk. She has no facts (or witnesses) to support her claim. I think she went there, was drinking, and voluntarily went upstairs with a boy – perhaps Brett Kavanaugh, or perhaps someone else. Then, when they started getting physical, Ms. Ford changed her mind after the fact and got upset, as women sometimes do. I can't prove that this is what happened, but my version of events has as much corroboration as Ms. Ford's version, and it has the benefit of explaining why Ms. Ford went up a flight of stairs to go to "a distant bathroom." Another unanswered question: How did Ms. Ford leave the party? She claimed she had to walk past Brett Kavanaugh to leave. Didn't she remember doing that? Did he try to stop her? She gave no recollection of that at all. You would think she would remember at least that. And she did not remember how she got home, a six- or eight-mile journey. Did someone drive her? Did whoever took her home notice her apparent distress? Ms. Ford, by remembering only one part of the alleged events, conveniently makes her story immune to cross-examination. When it comes to sex, some women are mixed up, like a streetlight that flashes green, then red, then green, then red, in rapid succession. There are women who are genuinely victims of sexual assault, but then there are women who agree to get physical and then regret it later. I believe that this is one of the latter cases. Ms. Ford at times came across like an android, talking about memories imprinted on her hippocampus, unfortunately feeding into the sometimes true stereotype of psychologists being people with their own troubles and hang-ups. If only the questioner had inquired about the "missing bathroom," Ms. Ford's sketchy story might have come apart during her testimony. I say, if her bathroom story does not fit, you must acquit. Ed Straker is the senior editor of the Newsmachete Twitter Feed.