There are dog whistles. Then there are air horns. Then there’s this Fox News article, which is more akin to a sonic boom when it comes to the “subtlety” of the mud it slings at Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
Ford, who came forward to reveal that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while in high school, surely anticipated a pushback from the right. After all, she saw how Anita Hill was handled when she dared to step forward. Making herself known in this instance is not just something that puts Blasey Ford in the spotlight for the moment, it will color the rest of her life. Fox wants to make sure that the color is that of a deep and ugly bruise.
Fox opens its article, which is headlined “Polygraph exam taken by Kavanaugh accuser Christine Ford comes under scrutiny” by noting that Trump’s most eager undertoadie, Lindsey Graham, has “concerns” about a polygraph test that Blasey Ford took in connection with her statement. It takes exactly one (count ‘em) paragraph for Fox to move from the idea that Graham has “concerns” to this:
Without mentioning any particular instances, one former senior FBI agent said polygraphs would have difficulty detecting deception by sociopaths, psychopaths and committed liars lacking a "conscience."
The specialness of this hard to overstate. With a hop, skip, and a broad jump over all the facts, Fox moves straight from saying there are concerns about Blasey Ford’s polygraph, to stating that “sociopaths, psychopaths and committed liars lacking a ‘conscience’” can beat the polygraph. That’s not an insinuation. That’s an ax to the forehead.
And if you think the article can’t be more infuriating, deceptive, one-sided and simply disgusting … it gets worse.
After all, it’s not as if they don’t have some pity for Dr. Blasey Ford.
Even well-intentioned individuals who have come to believe that their false stories are, in fact, true -- whether because of therapist-induced memories or other causes -- can sometimes pass polygraph tests, former FBI officials and psychology experts told Fox News.
See. She might not be a psychopath. Just sadly delusional. And if by this point you’ve missed the idea that Fox is calling Blasey Ford every name they can think of, there are more ahead. Because Fox then quotes a former FBI officer who talks about how the polygraph isn’t reliable for catching every “drug dealer, gangbanger, and pedophile.” And that’s before he returns to the opening theme.
"Everyone knows polygraph exams can be beaten," Gagliano added. "If someone is a psychopath or a sociopath, if you don't have a conscience, if you don't know right from wrong -- you can beat it."
The truth is that polygraph exams really are worthless. They’re pseudoscience powered more by the assumptions of the interpreter than anything coming from the person taking the test. The idea that they’re used not just as as validation of public statements, but are routinely part of parole and probation hearings across the country needs to end.
Polygraphs are junk. But not half so much as Fox News or reporter Greg Re, who put this big fat smear together.