Yesterday, America watched as two people testified to the Senate Judiciary committee about an incident that is alleged to have occurred some 35 years ago. One person answered the questions, gave precise timelines about information as best recollected and stood firm on issue. The other, wept and yelled and attacked the Senators. The later was the candidate.
When Dr. Christine Blasey Ford saw Brett Kavanaugh's name on a short list for the Supreme Court she had a decision to make. That was to tell the story she had only recently disclosed to people close to her and remain safe and anonymous or share her story in the hopes that the man she remembers attempting to rape her in high school doesn't get a life time appointment to the highest court in the land. She chose to tread lightly but move forward. Quietly at first, but when her story was sniffed out by reporters she went public telling of a man who forced her down and only failed to rape her because of his drunken state. That led to yesterday when she was accused by Senators and the nominee of being a part of a Democratic conspiracy to smear Brett Kavanaugh. But here is the thing. She went to her member or Congress BEFORE he was nominated, she told the Washington Post BEFORE he was nominated. There are notes and emails that she has talked about it years ago. This is not a last minute made up story. But yesterday we saw that repeated again and again by the nominee and by temper tantrums like that of Lindsey Graham and others. It is sickening that yesterday it appeared that facts and reality had no place the the Republicans thinking. Calls for independent investigations have been shot down. Calls for witnesses have fallen on deaf ears. Calls for a waiting period so facts can be looked at more closely have been rejected. By lunch time today Senators will have to decide if Judge Kavanaugh becomes Justice Kavanaugh. Not to mention that there are other allegations of sexual misconduct against him that no one has even tried to vet.
But this is the work of a Senate that is so polarized by an incompetent President that the GOP is using to get a far right-wing agenda passed they don't care about issues like nominees lying to Congress, having a weird financial past, or perhaps a drinking problem. They want to simply "plow through". But what is worse is the sentiment that came out from some people as the media explored the issue.
Yesterday I was struck by the number of women posting on social media their own stories of sexual assault. Some when they were as young as 5 years old. Some when they had grown into strong women but in the moment and in the aftermath were unable to tap their strength. I hope it helps change the conversation moving forward but the pit of my stomach was reeling as I read the words of so many some famous and some just not. Lawyers, writers, doctors, waitresses, teachers, police officers, all with similar tales of how they were not believed, that they were told not to raise an issue, that it was embarrassing for the family. Worse were those who blamed them.
CNN, in there continued efforts to find two sides to all issues, interviewed a group of Republican women, one said all 17 year old boys do the kinds of things that were said that Kavanaugh did. I was once a 17 year old boy, who drank, who went to parties, I don't think any of my close friends EVER held a woman down and tried to remove her clothes. If they did I would think many of the people I knew at the time would have been outraged and took matters into their own hands. In another stunning media segment a woman, standing next to her two teenage daughters, said groping is no big deal. Let me help you with this one. Groping another person against their will is not only a big deal it is a crime. Plain and simple. But this woman and so many others want to excuse it.
We saw yesterday a nominee who was being credibly questions about his past drinking habits ask Senators about theirs instead of answer the question. We saw him become unhinged to the point his own wife looked shocked. We saw a candidate say it was a conspiracy created out of revenge from the Clintons. We saw a nominee who is not fit to serve functionally in a moot court, let alone the highest court in the land.
We also saw that there is a still a large number of people in this country, some of whom in positions of power, who don't think women own their own sexuality. That women are there to be pretty, smile and be available for physical contact to men. That they should just swallow and pain they get from being treated poorly by men and that if they speak up that they will be taken down with lies and questions about their own past. This is wrong.
When you go to the polls this November, remember this day. Remember how the party that decided to silence women in a public forum, to attack a woman with a credible story, and who didn't want to look behind the curtain because I can only assume they are afraid of the mirror they might find. Let's find people to lead this country who will seek justice and facts over party. It may be a heavy lift but it is worth it, the country is worth it and woman are truly worth it.
When Dr. Christine Blasey Ford saw Brett Kavanaugh's name on a short list for the Supreme Court she had a decision to make. That was to tell the story she had only recently disclosed to people close to her and remain safe and anonymous or share her story in the hopes that the man she remembers attempting to rape her in high school doesn't get a life time appointment to the highest court in the land. She chose to tread lightly but move forward. Quietly at first, but when her story was sniffed out by reporters she went public telling of a man who forced her down and only failed to rape her because of his drunken state. That led to yesterday when she was accused by Senators and the nominee of being a part of a Democratic conspiracy to smear Brett Kavanaugh. But here is the thing. She went to her member or Congress BEFORE he was nominated, she told the Washington Post BEFORE he was nominated. There are notes and emails that she has talked about it years ago. This is not a last minute made up story. But yesterday we saw that repeated again and again by the nominee and by temper tantrums like that of Lindsey Graham and others. It is sickening that yesterday it appeared that facts and reality had no place the the Republicans thinking. Calls for independent investigations have been shot down. Calls for witnesses have fallen on deaf ears. Calls for a waiting period so facts can be looked at more closely have been rejected. By lunch time today Senators will have to decide if Judge Kavanaugh becomes Justice Kavanaugh. Not to mention that there are other allegations of sexual misconduct against him that no one has even tried to vet.
But this is the work of a Senate that is so polarized by an incompetent President that the GOP is using to get a far right-wing agenda passed they don't care about issues like nominees lying to Congress, having a weird financial past, or perhaps a drinking problem. They want to simply "plow through". But what is worse is the sentiment that came out from some people as the media explored the issue.
Yesterday I was struck by the number of women posting on social media their own stories of sexual assault. Some when they were as young as 5 years old. Some when they had grown into strong women but in the moment and in the aftermath were unable to tap their strength. I hope it helps change the conversation moving forward but the pit of my stomach was reeling as I read the words of so many some famous and some just not. Lawyers, writers, doctors, waitresses, teachers, police officers, all with similar tales of how they were not believed, that they were told not to raise an issue, that it was embarrassing for the family. Worse were those who blamed them.
CNN, in there continued efforts to find two sides to all issues, interviewed a group of Republican women, one said all 17 year old boys do the kinds of things that were said that Kavanaugh did. I was once a 17 year old boy, who drank, who went to parties, I don't think any of my close friends EVER held a woman down and tried to remove her clothes. If they did I would think many of the people I knew at the time would have been outraged and took matters into their own hands. In another stunning media segment a woman, standing next to her two teenage daughters, said groping is no big deal. Let me help you with this one. Groping another person against their will is not only a big deal it is a crime. Plain and simple. But this woman and so many others want to excuse it.
We saw yesterday a nominee who was being credibly questions about his past drinking habits ask Senators about theirs instead of answer the question. We saw him become unhinged to the point his own wife looked shocked. We saw a candidate say it was a conspiracy created out of revenge from the Clintons. We saw a nominee who is not fit to serve functionally in a moot court, let alone the highest court in the land.
We also saw that there is a still a large number of people in this country, some of whom in positions of power, who don't think women own their own sexuality. That women are there to be pretty, smile and be available for physical contact to men. That they should just swallow and pain they get from being treated poorly by men and that if they speak up that they will be taken down with lies and questions about their own past. This is wrong.
When you go to the polls this November, remember this day. Remember how the party that decided to silence women in a public forum, to attack a woman with a credible story, and who didn't want to look behind the curtain because I can only assume they are afraid of the mirror they might find. Let's find people to lead this country who will seek justice and facts over party. It may be a heavy lift but it is worth it, the country is worth it and woman are truly worth it.
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