I know this is "unscientific" and not supportable with actual facts, but---

[Atticus]

---haven't we all met someone to whom we took an almost instant dislike? If asked why, we probably couldn't say much more than "I dunno---just SOMETHING---bad vibes!"

THAT was my instant reaction to Alito when I first saw him on TV during his confirmation hearing. "Something" just nearly made the hairs on my neck stand up and said "Watch out! This skeevy sonofabitch is an arrogant phony devoid of empathy!" To this day, a photo of him makes my lip start to curl in disgust.

I have never mentioned this before because I know it sounds like a perfectly ridiculous way to assess a person.

But, there it is.

[OLDMDDEM]

1. Interesting

I felt that way about Thomas and Trump during his first campaign.

[Rebl2]

31. Same here

I have found both to be disgusting scum since the eighties.

[OLDMDDEM]

34. Hmmm

Hmmm. We must be twings as we think alike on this.

[wnylib]

45. I felt that way about Trump long before

he went into politics. Couldn't bear to watch The Apprentice. And before that, I couldn't stand the sight of him in his publicity stunts, the reports on his divorces and infidelity, etc. He just reeked of self centered arrogance.

In NY, Trump tried to run for governor on 2014, but on his terms. He told Republicans that he could give them a win, but they would have to accept him as their candidate without a primary. They turned him down. He went national then instead.

[Samrob]

68. BELIEVE YOUR INSTINCTS WHEN THEY TELL YOU WHO "THEY" ARE THE FIRST TIME!

[Siwsan]

2. I've had that reaction to some people, the first time I meet them.

Can't explain it - just a sense that something is off. Call it bad vibes.

I've also had the feeling develop about people I've known for years. Something changes. Not sure if it is me, or them.

[wnylib]

47. I think there are little things that our senses

pick up without our conscious awareness, such as shifts in body language, a subtle change of tone in the voice or use of words. They sink into our mind so subtley that we can't specifically name them, but we know that something has registered with us.

[smirkymonkey]

60. Yes, I just posted something similar on another thread. It works with me both ways.

Getting positive and negative vibes about people. There are some people that I instantly like and feel really good about. And sometimes I fight the negative vibes I have toward people because I feel like I shouldn't dislike the person without having a good reason, but there is just this visceral reaction that I can't control.

However, almost always invariably I will find out eventually that there is a reason for me to feel the way I do about the person. I have learned to always trust my instincts.

My manager is one of those people. Everyone always talks about what a great guy he is and how nice and friendly he is, but I have known from the start that there is just something phony and deceitful about him and I am getting more evidence all the time that my initial impressions were correct. And I still feel bad about it, because he is so good at hiding behind his persona, but I know there is even more to it than I am currently aware of.

[blm]

3. Kerry and Kennedy filibustered Alito to record for history

that his ideology was too extreme to be seated on the Supreme Court.

[dameatball]

4. Well, I have been to a few car lots in my day, so.....

[woodsprite]

25. Nah! At first I thought the same, but I think he's too arrogant to be lumped with car dealers.

Looking at pictures of him, he always seems to be looking down his nose at whomever he's talking to.

Apologies to anyone who is a decent and honest car dealer or salesman. I've worked in 2 different dealerships/brands - one had me marking up all categories and retyping the window stickers on all incoming cars, the other played funky games with warranties and sales numbers reported to corporate.

My 2nd boss ran a small land-locked lot of a big brand and she'd misreport her sales to get more inventory delivered. They'd only replace what was sold. In the warranty area, she'd report warranties/work with peoples names on them that had never owned that brand of car. I quit because I found warranty paperwork/claims coming through with my parents names/address. That was ballsy considering my parents only ever owned Fords, I lived with them, and they were right around the corner from the dealership. I understand she and her brother learned their "salesmanship techniques" from their daddy, who lost his dealership due to warranty fraud.

[Texin]

30. "Arrogant" is one descriptor. Another is supercilious.

Arrogance with a sneer thrown in.

[Chainfire]

5. We have had a long time, as a species, to learn who to trust and who not to trust quickly

We probably pick up on small details subconsciously. To answer your question directly, I certainly have met people that I wouldn't trust, and did it instantly and without evidence. I have learned to trust my vibes on the subject, because rarely have I badly misjudged someone that I thought was bad. Is it fair to depend on that kind of judgement? Probably not. Usually when my gut feeling has failed me it is because of trusting someone that I should not have.

Just because we don't understand the process doesn't mean it is necessarily ridiculous.

[Ilsa]

6. I suspect "gut" feelings are really clues picked

up by one side of the brain, but are unable to be interpreted and analyzed. Maybe a pause in speech, an inflection, a faint expression, or choice of a single word, etc.

Decades ago, I heard an elderly man from HR give an informal talk in our conference room about sexual harassment. He would use the terms "man" and "men," but always called the women "females." "Female" is more of an adjective that applies to almost all species. I got completely distracted as I pondered whether he disliked women in the workforce, was afraid we didn't like to be called women, or simply wanted to dehumanize women at work by equating us with non-human species.

I would have asked him, but I was in enough trouble at the time and couldn't afford to get canned.

[nature-lover]

7. Happened to me twice. Mr. Creepy guy in PTO and Ted Cruz. Both years ago but profound.

This was before Cruz hit the national TV scene.

[PatSeg]

19. That is why I found it unbelievable

that Cruz was elected to the senate. That guy had "sleaze" written all over him from the get-go and I couldn't begin to imagine what voters saw in him. It is pretty obvious why he is considered the "most hated man in the senate".

So my problem is really what is wrong with the people who don't see what is so obvious to the rest of us?

[nature-lover]

22. Cruz has a preacher-like cadence to his speech that some misconstrue as trustworthy.

[PatSeg]

57. Yes, he certainly does

I find it so patronizing and creepy, but I suppose you're right, some could misconstrue that as "trustworthy". He makes my skin crawl though.

[summer_in_TX]

69. Interestingly, not only did my husband and I take an instant dislike

to Ted Cruz, even our two sons (both conservatives) remarked that there was something wrong with that guy. Gave all four of us the willies.

[happy feet]

8. Not ridiculous

We all have first instincts on people new to us. I agree with your initial instinct.

[deRien]

9. years ago

my husband was leading a pre-marriage class and when he asked couples to break into groups he told them to pick another couple that they either found were attracted to or were repulsed by but not to tell the other couple...

[piddyprints]

10. Trump.

Way back … 70s or 80s, I saw him on a talk show (Oprah?) and couldn’t stand him.

[PatSeg]

14. Yes, the first time I saw him in an interview

I had a pretty instant reaction to him. I couldn't imagine why people gave him so much attention, as he clearly was a self-absorbed phony. He came across as more of a caricature than a real person.

[piddyprints]

33. I heard Oprah call him

"The Donald."

She fed his narcissism. Then she foisted Dr. Phil and Mehmet Oz upon us. I started to wonder if she was working for the GOP all along. While I didn't have the same initial reaction to her, my respect for her has dwindled over the years.

I never watched Trump's reality dumpster fire. Just couldn't do it.

[Rebl2]

37. I think

you are right. She thought she was helping, but actually she was feeding their narcissism.
I think she and her people did not investigate them before she backed them. I watched her show back in the mid eighties and after a couple of years I just didn’t care for it anymore. Just didn’t care for her guests she had on.

[wnylib]

49. I tried watching his "reality" show once.

Couldn't stick it out for the whole show. He was too arrogant and phony and the contestants were too fawning and eager to be "chosen."

[PatSeg]

59. Yes, Oprah turned me off years ago

She is just a narcissist feeding and elevating other narcissists. I don't think it was necessarily political, more a matter of birds of a feather flock together. They all do what is good for them.

No, I never watched Trump's show either. I couldn't understand the appeal.

[Richard D]

11. This could be called...

... Indtince. Perfectly validm

[PatSeg]

12. Yes, clearly Alito would be one

of those people for me. He always looks like he has a lemon in his mouth and I feel like he is looking down on people. I also had an instant dislike for Brett Kavanaugh. Perhaps they remind me of people I've known and their negative personalities are so obvious and not easily disguised.

[Sentath]

27. It still amazes me that Kavanaugh is real

Years and years ago I read a sci-fi book with a particularly insufferable villain. I spent many wasted minutes rolling my eyes at the OTT self justification, obsession, self justification, and self-aggrandizement.

And then years later I watched his confirmation.

Holy Crap did I owe the authors an apology!

And just to make it weirder, they're from that area. They probably dealt with exactly that social grouping.

(that is when i knew for certain that this isn't just a series of bad breaks for the nation, but that something fundamental had been broken for a while. We just seated someone who wouldn't make a believable space opera villain on the supreme court. Yes, i freely admit being real late to the party)

[PatSeg]

58. You're not alone

So many of these people would be considered unbelievable if they showed up in a fictional book or movie. They don't even try to behave like normal, decent people. Everything is so outrageous and in-your-face all the time. Then no matter what they do or say, the republican party forgives it, condones it, or just ignores it completely.

I remember a time when assholes at least put an effort into lying about who they are.

[llmart]

64. First time I saw Kavanaugh on TV and the minute he opened his mouth I couldn't stand him.

That was even before his crying jag about how he likes beer.

[PatSeg]

71. Same here

I didn't see a future Justice. I saw every pathetic entitled jerk that's walked into a bar making unwanted advances on women and getting snarly when they rebuff him. He is an easily recognizable type, but not the type you picture on the Supreme Court.

[llmart]

73. Exactly.

I still remember what I was thinking when the interviews devolved into him talking about how the word "boofing" was really just guys talking about farting. I was like, "Are you kidding me? Is this what our country has become? Questions about a future Supreme Court justice and he's talking about farting?"

[PatSeg]

74. It would be too ridiculous even for satire

Who on earth thought HE was a good choice for a nominee? There are plenty of other somewhat presentable right-wingers they could have chosen.

[canuckledragger]

13. Not entirely unscientific...this might explain a few things.

I am intimately familiar with this kind of thing, coming from my abusive childhood. It was years later a psychologist gave it a name for me.

What Is Hypervigilance?
-----------------------------

Your brain is designed to be aware of potential dangers in your surroundings. It's how early humans survived. Sensing the presence of predators or other threats helped them stay safe. But our brains shouldn't be in this excited state of extra-sensitivity all of the time. This is known as hypervigilance.

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/what-is-hypervigilance

[smirkymonkey]

61. That makes a lot of sense. As someone who grew up with an abusive stepmother, I had to constantly

monitor her mood to know when to stay under the radar or make myself scarce, not that it always worked.

She would even come after me in the middle of the night when I was sleeping (think of the "Mommie Dearest" "no wire hangers" scene) so I even felt like I had to sleep with one eye open and to this day I am still a very light sleeper/insomniac who needs to take medication just to get a decent night's sleep.

So, the point is, I was constantly on alert for when she might be on the rampage and learned to pick up the most subtle shifts in mood and behavior. After a while, you get really good at it.

[canuckledragger]

62. Yup, and when you do it long enough, it becomes ingrained.

And a hard habit to break.

That being said, the feelings it evokes about certain people should be examined, as you might be tuned in to real warning signs, subconsciously recognizing dangerous behaviours that have negatively affected us In the past.

[smirkymonkey]

63. I can spot phony a mile away.

That is one thing I am really good at. She could really turn on the charm for guests, but behind closed doors she was a nightmare.

[canuckledragger]

66. Same thing with my abusive stepfather.

He's the reason I understand what the word Two-faced means.

One for in public, and a completely different abusive one behind closed doors.

I haven't had anything to do with that lot in over a decade, and I'm much better of for it...but I still pay attention to those warning signs.

[smirkymonkey]

67. Yes, you know exactly how it is.

[liberalmuse]

16. Yes, Trump decades ago.

I had such an instant dislike to him when he came on the scene that I turned the channel whenever he came on.

[Bev54]

40. Yep me too and I would not watch any program with him on, I thought

he was phony, dumb and arrogant and could not understand why anyone would even be interested in interviewing him.

[oldsoftie]

17. Matt Gaetz & Michael Avenatti. And I caught hell for not liking Avenatti

The only positive thing I could say about Avenatti was "I guess if you want to hurt trump you get a lawyer who is just like him".
And I always got the "rapist" vibe from Gaetz. Imagine.

[NHvet]

18. Understand completely

I have a similar 6th sense. I tell me wife it's like dogs,.... They know immediately whether you are a "dog person" or not at first sniff. Kinda the same thing.

[markie]

20. good or bad

we all do it...

last year my daughter brought a new man friend home and instantly I didn't like him... make quick comment to daughter but didn't want to be too harsh... months down the road he turned into an abuser (not physically, but) fortunately, I got through to her eventually and she's rid of him but not without a few emotional scars

yes, Alito is one of those people, along with condescending Barrett

[FakeNoose]

21. Yes! Psychic and empathic people have these reactions sometimes

It may seem random or even unfair, when you can't explain the "nope-nope-nope" feeling you have about certain people. But nevertheless the feeling is there and you can't ignore it.

I got in the habit of calling them "lizard people" when I couldn't find a logical (valid) reason for disliking them.

[hamsterjill]

23. Totally agree.

It’s called intuition. He’s a sleeze and he’s warped.

[Samrob]

24. You are correct but you didn't go far enough:

The Trump wing of the GOP are all "arrogant phony devoid of empathy!"

Our biggest fight is getting the media to get honest and true information to those who only watch FOX.

[keithbvadu2]

26. Yes! If folks can fall in love 'at first sight'...

Yes! If folks can fall in love 'at first sight'...

[TeamProg]

28. Alito was an ARROGANT PRICK from the beginning.. probably since he was born.. n/t

[FoxNewsSucks]

29. Yes. Same with my dog

I was talking with someone at work a few months ago. We both have very friendly dogs who love everyone, with the occasional adamant exception.

I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt when it's my own feelings. But we both agreed that if our dogs don't like someone we're gonna assume they're a piece of shit until they prove otherwise.

[dchill]

32. Indeed. He's at once supercilious and aggreived.

Aggrieved at the ignorance with which he's constantly surrounded. Typical asshole.

[KS Toronado]

35. Never in my life have I had an almost instant dislike for anyone.......

however after talking to strangers for 10/15 minutes I have changed my mind.
Guess I'm a slow learner.

[mountain grammy]

36. a favorite law professor I follow

said this when Alito was confirmed.. He's seen as Scalia-lite, but he far worse than Scalia.

[Pepsidog]

38. He is a Phillies fan and was known to go to home games. Would love to see him there now and let him

know what we think of his moronic opinion. Off subject, in the early 80’s I spent a semester at American University and our class ha the opportunity to watch SCOTUS arguments then about 8 of us were invited to meet Justice Blackmun in his chambers. Needless to say he was a class act. He wouldn’t discuss Roe but it was quite an experience visiting a member of SCOTUS in their chambers which was spectacular. Also met with Giuliano when he was #2 or #3 man at DOJ. He quoted statistics about the high percentage of crimes are committed relating to drug sale/use. That prompted me to ask the obvious question why don’t we legalize and regulate the illegal drug trade to which he had no good response.

[Snackshack]

39. Yep.

Alito has always struck me as the kid who was picked on and bullied in grade school and now as an adult is getting his revenge for years of having his lunch money taken and being turned down for prom…

[Atticus]

41. He strikes me as the kid who wore slacks instead of blue jeans, penny loafers instead of Keds

high-tops, rode one of those skinny tired "English racers" instead of a Western Flyer or Schwinn and thought owning a baseball without black tape holding the cover on it meant he made all the rules.

In my school, these kids often seemed to get nosebleeds.

[dalton99a]

42. He was a lying asshole then, and he is a lying asshole now

[Atticus]

48. That smirk on his wife's face dissolved into big crocodile tears when some Senators began

asking poor widdle Sammy sharp questions about his bigoted track record.

Her pathetic sobbing made me ill, but I think it may have picked up a few votes for him. BLE-C-C-CH!

[Captain Zero]

65. So he and Kavanaugh are both Catholic

'CRYER' boys.
Makes sense.

[geardaddy]

43. That face is the definition of Backpfeifengesicht. n/t

[Hotler]

44. Yes. I learn to be aware when that instinct show it's self, it's a good defense mechanism.

I had a black Labrador Retriever that was like that. 99% of the people we would encounter he was all wagging tail and licks. The 1% he would stop about five feet away, he'd lower his head, give a low growl and a ridge of hair down the middle of his back would rise up. He would not let me pass. Ever once and awhile he would go to the front door and do that and there would be no one there.

[ancianita]

46. Yep, there it is. And you were right.

[CaptainTruth]

50. Yep, & I've learned to trust my intuition.

[madamesilverspurs]

51. You aren't alone.

Way back during his confirmation hearings my "uh-oh" alert went off. Everything about him was screaming to keep a safe distance. Suffice it to say that I would not be at all surprised to learn that he is one of those who routinely goes home at the end of the day and takes out his frustrations on his family. Over the years his smirking superior demeanor has done nothing to dispel that impression.


.

[DavidDvorkin]

52. He's one of your Doctor Fells

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_do_not_like_thee,_Doctor_Fell

[3catwoman3]

53. Security expert Gavin deBecker...

…says we should never ignore our gut feelings about someone. Our very survival may depend upon doing so. He wrote a book called The Gift Of Fear.

I saw him a long time ago on an Oprah episode (I know, I know - it was before she went all preachy and woo-woo).

He said women, in particular, are not very good at this because we have been typically socialized since early childhood to always be nice and avoid hurting people’s feelings. The rather chilling example he gave, that has always stuck with me, was this:

A woman is waiting for an elevator. She is by herself. Elevator door opens, and there is a single occupant, a man who sends off vibes that make her uncomfortable. She suppresses the urge to wait for the next elevator, fearing that she will offend this stranger if she doesn’t get in.

De Becker said, “No other mammal on earth would get into a closed metal box with no escape with a creature/being that made them uncomfortable.” (Likely paraphrase, as this was years ago.)

I never did that, but I certainly went on dates that I wished I’d turned down (fortunately, nothing bad ever happened), and I used to speed up in poor visibility driving conditions if the person behind me indicated their displeasure at my decreased speed. Now, I just mutter “Fuck you.”

[lame54]

54. It is now supported by facts

[Retired Engineer Bob]

55. Not political, and not me but...

When I was 15 or 16 our family regularly attended the local Lutheran church. My brother and I were both confirmed there. Everyone in the family liked Pastor John.

At this time Pastor John announced his resignation for health reasons. The new pastor visited the homes of all regular church goers. He ended up visiting with my mom.

When he heard that mom had two sons his face lit up and he became very interested according to my mother. Alarms went off immediately in her mind. We quit the church and never attended another service there. My brother and I were warned to avoid this person.

Less than one year later news got out that the new pastor had been arrested for sexually abusing kids.

Mothers know.

[allegorical oracle]

56. There is something Gosar-ish about Alito. He's kept a mostly low profile until now. nt

[BComplex]

70. I've never been able to look at trump without that same reaction.

Even way before the smarmy tv series where bullying was glorified. You see, I lived across the street from a pedophile for 2 years while I was growing up. I always got that same feeling watching trump as I did from that neighbor. Always. Way before the pedophile party decided to make him their mascot.

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

72. The MAGAt King, and Bush, most notably. I instinctively

trust my intuition, without question. Conservatives have a unique essential stink, kind of like snake piss, and I can smell a fascist before I see 'em.

Trust your gut.