Hon. Brett Kavanaugh

The media is engrossed with the Republican Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. The public is not surprisingly divided as to support or nonsupport of this current judge. This situation provided an excellent example of how conflict or psychic conditions are addressed by Homo sapiens. Psychological components such as introjection, identification, identity, emotions, anxiety, defenses, perception come in to play and exposed our biases, and/or differences.

We learned very early in life about the political beliefs of our parents as a result of the mechanisms of introjection and identification. This early learning was not in depth. Cognitive learning or the establishment of formal operations or abstract reasoning, logic, rational evaluation of facts per Piaget or secondary process has yet to be developed. Our parent’s attitudes and their perceived omnipotent knowledge influences the early likelihood of becoming primarily a conservative, liberal, Republican or Democrat. My father was a many times union president and I was named after FDR. My political orientation was clearly established. This political identification becomes part of an identity, as well as a public persona. I might add that this significance has a long-standing emotional component embedded in the limbic system of the brain, notably the hippocampus and the amygdala.

The Hon. Brett Kavanaugh recently testified before a congressional Senate committee made up of Republicans and Democrats regarding his confirmation for the position of an appointment to the Supreme Court. Last week, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified and claimed that she was sexually assaulted some 35 years ago while both she and Kavanaugh were attending high school. She told the judiciary committee that she’s hundred percent positive that Kavanaugh attempted to rape her while he was intoxicated during a house party. The Hon. Brett Kavanaugh denied watching her testimony because he was preparing. Maybe he was rehearsing and likely didn’t not want to confront regrettable past memories by witnessing her testimony.

To Be Continued