Grasping at straws

Ongoing efforts by the Democratic members of Congress to derail the approval of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court based on alleged high school behavior some 35 years ago would be laughable, were they not instead grossly irrational. The University of Rochester Medical Center’s research on understanding the teen brain points to why the attempt is so.

The research states: “It doesn’t matter how smart teens are or how well they scored on the SAT or ACT. Good judgment isn’t something they can excel in, at least not yet. The rational part of a teen’s brain isn’t fully developed and won’t be until age 25 or so. In fact, recent research has found that adult and teen brains work differently. Adults think with the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s rational part. This is the part of the brain that responds to situations with good judgment and an awareness of long-term consequences. Teens process information with the amygdala. This is the emotional part. In teens’ brains, the connections between the emotional part of the brain and the decision-making center are still developing — and not necessarily at the same rate.”

If one were to carry this to its logical conclusion, Congress is attempting to derail a teenager from serving on the Supreme Court. Fair enough.

Judge Kavanaugh, however, is not a teenager. He is an adult well past his 25th birthday who has demonstrated use of his prefrontal cortex via his legal and judicial skills. Unable to find any way to derail his appointment, some members of Congress appear to be grasping at straws. Perhaps their amygdala is back in control. SANDRA ROSEN

Oakland