Given the way things are cartwheeling around right now, I wouldn’t put any bets on how this will end. What about you?

Bret: I think the Senate does need to hear from Blasey and Kavanaugh directly, either in public session or behind closed doors. Mark Judge, whom Blasey has identified as the other guy in the room, should testify as well, along with anyone else who was supposedly at the party or with Blasey or Kavanaugh at the time of the alleged assault. I also think the F.B.I. ought to conduct an expedited investigation, recognizing, first, that it can’t drag on forever, and second, that there are limits to what it can be expected to find about a 36-year-old case that went unreported at the time. We are not going to get to a “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard of proof, but we might try to reach the “clear and convincing” evidence standard often used in civil or administrative cases. I’d even settle for the somewhat lower “preponderance of evidence” standard.

Basically, I think Blasey has a right to be heard and have her claims impartially examined. And Kavanaugh is entitled to a presumption of innocence and an opportunity to clear his name.

Gail: As usual you’re being extremely reasonable. And if I was running the committee I would totally follow your directives.

But deep down, this isn’t really about whether Christine Blasey Ford is telling the truth. I suspect most people, including many of the Judiciary Republicans, privately thinks she is. The real issue is whether a respected judge can be held accountable for a drunken sexual assault he made as a teenager.

Or at least that was the issue until a woman from Kavanaugh’s college years spoke up. Bret, I have no idea how many issues — and charges — we’re going to have before this is over. What I do know is that we’re at a marker in the transformation of Western culture — how’s that for a sweeping statement? Powerful men are going down because they failed to realize women were genuinely equal, not only when it comes to getting jobs and promotions, but also when it comes to how they’re treated at work, and even at a party of drunken teenagers.

Bret: Oh, good, we disagree (I think). There are all sorts of important conversations to be had about cultural transformation. And there is every reason to embrace a transformation that moves in the direction of full and meaningful equality for women, as well as vastly greater awareness of sexual harassment and assault, and far less tolerance of it.