Body Language Analysis of Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh Testimonies

I forced myself to watch a good long portion of the Blasey Ford testimony.  What struck me most was the child-like cutesy/mousy demeanour of doctor Ford- the 52-year-old psychology professor accusing Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh of attempted rape more than 3 decades ago- and I guess I'm not the only one who found it extremely odd. Apparently body language experts have weighed in on both her performance, and Kavanaugh's testimony, though not surprisingly there are more of Kavanaugh.

I only found one regarding Ford. Mandy O'Brien of Bombards Body Language put together a fascinating analysis of Ford's body language during her testimony.



Pomonews has a more in depth commentary about the body language issues of Ford.

I didn't see as much of Kavanaugh's testimony as Ford's, but body language expert Patti Wood shared on Refinery29 her analysis of his behaviour focusing on his anger and raw emotions, as most people have.

"His extreme emotions and inability to control his anger, rage, contempt, and tears is revealing," Wood tells Refinery29. "I have analyzed dozens of congressional hearings and I have never seen someone questioned display this broad range of emotions or this intensity." Wood says Kavanaugh used emotions that are known as "cover emotions" in deception detection; anger, "victim tears," and laughter. These emotions can be sincere and he could be showing them because he is innocent, but they can also "cover guilt," she says.

"His tears seem real and they can certainly call forth empathy," she continues. "They can show that he is absolutely innocent, but I have also seen in my work throughout the years that people who are 'caught' sometimes cry because they feel like victims of circumstances. I have additional problem with somebody crying during their congressional testimony. I have seen people eviscerated during congressional testimony. He was not questioned with the same intensity as many have been. He's the first person I've ever seen cry."

Wood, presuming he was there, does begrudgingly admit that he might not have any recollection of the incident if he happened to be drunk, or that if he did do the deed he could have just thought it was horseplay, hence the laughter that Ford claims was indelibly etched into her memory.

But bottom line, and everyone seems to agree, we don't know what the actual truth is. And maybe we never will.

Kavanaugh's "Meany-Face" Means He's Guilty- The Babylon Bee

A friend just turned me on to The Babylon Bee, a conservative version of the on-line satire site The Onion.  He had actually forwarded the article "Trump Supporter Executed Live On Stage At Grammy Awards"- which wouldn't seem that far fetched considering the way things are going these days. There is such palpable hatred toward Donald Trump and his supporters, no doubt the haters would be delighted if they were all executed.

I didn't think it was possible after 8 years under the uber-divisive reign of Barack Obama, but

we have become an even more polarized society since Donald Trump became the POTUS. I blame it on the relentless efforts of the media and everyone on the Left (in concert with some on the Right) to remove Trump from office since his first day as president. Actually it started when he became the Republican presidential nominee and hasn't stopped since. There are things about Trump that bother me, and some things he has done that I take issue with, but for the most part he has done some very good things for this country.

So, I was wondering  how The Babylon Bee would weigh in on the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation, which is just another thing that has severely divided this country. I will share my thoughts on that later, but for the time being The BB is spot on.

"Confirmed: Unpleasant Facial Expressions Now Admissible As Evidence of Guilt".  

WASHINGTON D.C.—The FBI has introduced an advanced new CSI technique for determining whether or not a person is guilty of a crime: pausing a video of the person while making an unpleasant face. “If a person makes a meany-guy-face even for one part of a second, we’ve nailed them,” said FBI director Marlon Quinn. “They are obviously guilty; otherwise, why would they make a meany-face?”

Had to laugh because as I was scrolling through my Facebook feed that's exactly what people were thinking. Hyper critical of his justifiable emotional response and anger. 

Read the rest here.

Confessions of a Closet Republican is back

It's been a long time since I last blogged. Almost 5 years ago I started the journey of taking care of mum after my dad unexpectedly passed away. Although mum was a tad more independent at the beginning, she has become increasingly more dependent. Caregiving takes almost all one's energy, so I just stopped blogging. However, with the upcoming midterms, the world and the world of politics as it is today, I feel compelled to step back in.

I won't be blogging as often as I did when I was in the thick of it, or maybe I will, just depends on how busy I get with mum, but I will be blogging.

Too many important things going on these days. 

Incognito is back!