Supreme Chaos

Before I start to talk about what happened yesterday during the re-opened Judicial Committee hearings, I would like to remind everyone that this is all happening because the Republicans changed the Senate rules two years ago to ram through another justice by getting rid of the filibuster, which essentially required justices to have 60 yea votes to get confirmed. That rule meant that justices typically needed support from both sides in order to get their lifetime appointment. Once that rule was destroyed, we were pretty much guaranteed to get the kind of circus we've had this past week. By taking away any ground for a minority party to stand on, the result was destined to be desperate measures and obstructionism.

As for yesterday, let me start by saying the Dr. Ford was completely believable. She came off as honest, intelligent, and full of integrity. Having been a victim of sexual assault myself, at the age of 12, I know how difficult it is to tell anyone. I didn't reveal it to anybody for 16 years, and then only after I wrote a novel based on those experiences and felt compelled to tell those closet to me. It's still not something I like to talk about, and to see Dr. Ford tell her story to the world, was moving. Those who attack her for not saying anything sooner are simply clueless as to how all of this works in the life of the victim. If nothing else comes of this (which sadly it looks as though nothing else will come of this), I hope she gave others the courage to speak up.

On the other side, I found Judge Kavanaugh to be overly defensive and combative, which in my personal experience are traits of someone who is not telling the truth. He repeatedly side-stepped answering the question of whether or not he would support an FBI investigation, which, as he said over and over, would not provide conclusions, but would allow trained investigators to follow-up on the sworn statements provided by other witnesses. As a judge, I was surprised that he would take a sworn statement at face value, and I strongly doubt he would feel same in his own courtroom. Guess what, Judge, people lie in sworn statements.

Now I agree with those who are saying the actions of someone at the age of 16, 17, or 18 shouldn't define a person's entire life. We've all done things as teenagers that we probably are not proud of. However, in order for others to accept that, the first step is admitting to those things, apologizing for those actions, and only then is forgiveness an option. After yesterday, I'm left believing what Dr. Ford alleges happened actually happened. And had Judge Kavanaugh admitted that it may have happened (even if he didn't recall because of drinking, which he also seems to want to downplay), the conversation would be different. But if you're lying, you are essentially calling her a liar and thereby assaulting her all over again. I believe that a person can change and that he very well could be a different person today, but the act of lying about it tells me that you are not a different man today and that you still don't believe it was wrong, or if it was wrong, somehow you are entitled to those actions and that the experiences of the victims don't count.

I will also say that I think it's shameful the way both parties are politicizing sexual assault for their own gain, either by attacking accusers or by using them as tools. It's not that I don't believe the Democrats are sincere, I think they are. However, the whole way this unfolded showed that they were playing politics with the life of a real person, and that is not right either. But again, I blame the change in the rules for forcing them into that position. The rest of us are left with a government so divided and so mean spirited, that it will do nothing for the American people, only for the base of one party or the other.