Regarding the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing, a commentator stated that both Dr. Blasey Ford and Judge Kavanaugh were credible. He stated that whom you believe depends on whether you're a conservative or a liberal--to an accuracy of 100%!
I find this depressing as well as probably accurate. My attitude from the beginning was a suspicious one--suspicious of my own views. Anyone who knows me knows that I espouse progressive causes; issues that concern me, universal health care, the solvency of Social Security, distress about increasing inequality, etc., are best addressed, to put it mildly, by the Democratic Party. It was clear to me that I opposed the confirmation of the arch-conservative Judge Kavanaugh, from the beginning.
Although my political convictions are strong, I realize that conservatives have strong opinions as well. I also realize, that, being human, I could be wrong. Therefore, as the hearings began, I told myself to suspend judgement until the investigation had been completed; let us be fair.
After listening to Dr. Blasey Ford's testimony, however, I became utterly convinced that she is telling the truth--maybe not how an external camera would have documented the attack, but as the camera behind her eyes would have indelibly recorded the event, and seared it into memory. Some of the details might be (slightly) wrong, but I'm convinced that her story is basically true. If Dr. Ford is lying, her acting skills dwarf those of Meryl Streep. No amateur actor could be that good!
I had become furious, why? I surprised myself with the intensity of my response. Trump, for instance, has made me alternatively feel mad, sad, or resigned--Why had I taken Dr. Ford's testimony so furiously to heart?
I rationalized my reaction as a response to the obvious farce of the hearings--namely, the attempt by Republicans to railroad through the nomination without an adequate investigation of the charges, thus reducing Dr. Blasey Ford to a woman of no importance. This realization might have caused me to furrow my forehead or perhaps to raise my eyebrows--not however to raise my blood pressure. My heart was thumping wildly. Why?
Anger doesn't last. As it abated, I felt tossed between a throat-lumpy what-fools-these-mortals-be evanescent pity and constant, from inner Eumenides, soundings of shame. Again one might ask: why?
The reason is simple--I too had been abused. In Dr. Ford's case, over three decades have passed since the event; in my case, six decades have passed. But as far as each of our brains are concerned, the incidents happened yesterday. The details of what happened to me will die with me; the impact of that event, however, will remain with me until I am no more.
In Dr. Ford's case, as in mine, the scars remain. I hide mine; she would have preferred to keep hers hidden as well. I do not doubt for a moment that civic duty convinced her to tell the American people how those scars came about.
My philosophic stance is not to judge another until one has walked a few mile's in that person's moccasins; after attempting a few steps in Judge Kavanaugh's moccasins, however, I hurriedly took them off. I soon realized that they belonged to a man who had a pattern of being interested in his own gratification at the expense of another. He had viewed his victim as a potential feather to be placed in his privileged cap, completely indifferent to the fact that the feather in question had been plucked from somebody else's wings.
Let's now return to the comment by a journalist that began this blogpost, namely, that support of or opposition to Judge Kavanaugh goes strictly according to Party affiliation. As already mentioned, I am admittedly a progressive; I've tried, however, to see the other side of this issue. Yet it wasn't my imagination that revealed the judge to be a sniveling, belligerent liar during the course of the hearings. Nor was it my imagination that convinced me that Dr. Ford was telling the truth. His evident character flaws should preclude him from receiving a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court. Even if he hadn't done what I'm convinced he had done, his temperament is enough to make one sick to one's stomach without having had a spicy meal, or a few glasses of beer.
I might be wrong is an oft-repeated phrase I tell myself; in this case, however, for so many reasons, I am telling myself something different: stand up for what is right.
Whatever happens, of this I am certain: Judge Kavanaugh should not be admitted to the Supreme Court.
--September 28, 2018
I find this depressing as well as probably accurate. My attitude from the beginning was a suspicious one--suspicious of my own views. Anyone who knows me knows that I espouse progressive causes; issues that concern me, universal health care, the solvency of Social Security, distress about increasing inequality, etc., are best addressed, to put it mildly, by the Democratic Party. It was clear to me that I opposed the confirmation of the arch-conservative Judge Kavanaugh, from the beginning.
Although my political convictions are strong, I realize that conservatives have strong opinions as well. I also realize, that, being human, I could be wrong. Therefore, as the hearings began, I told myself to suspend judgement until the investigation had been completed; let us be fair.
After listening to Dr. Blasey Ford's testimony, however, I became utterly convinced that she is telling the truth--maybe not how an external camera would have documented the attack, but as the camera behind her eyes would have indelibly recorded the event, and seared it into memory. Some of the details might be (slightly) wrong, but I'm convinced that her story is basically true. If Dr. Ford is lying, her acting skills dwarf those of Meryl Streep. No amateur actor could be that good!
I had become furious, why? I surprised myself with the intensity of my response. Trump, for instance, has made me alternatively feel mad, sad, or resigned--Why had I taken Dr. Ford's testimony so furiously to heart?
I rationalized my reaction as a response to the obvious farce of the hearings--namely, the attempt by Republicans to railroad through the nomination without an adequate investigation of the charges, thus reducing Dr. Blasey Ford to a woman of no importance. This realization might have caused me to furrow my forehead or perhaps to raise my eyebrows--not however to raise my blood pressure. My heart was thumping wildly. Why?
Anger doesn't last. As it abated, I felt tossed between a throat-lumpy what-fools-these-mortals-be evanescent pity and constant, from inner Eumenides, soundings of shame. Again one might ask: why?
The reason is simple--I too had been abused. In Dr. Ford's case, over three decades have passed since the event; in my case, six decades have passed. But as far as each of our brains are concerned, the incidents happened yesterday. The details of what happened to me will die with me; the impact of that event, however, will remain with me until I am no more.
In Dr. Ford's case, as in mine, the scars remain. I hide mine; she would have preferred to keep hers hidden as well. I do not doubt for a moment that civic duty convinced her to tell the American people how those scars came about.
My philosophic stance is not to judge another until one has walked a few mile's in that person's moccasins; after attempting a few steps in Judge Kavanaugh's moccasins, however, I hurriedly took them off. I soon realized that they belonged to a man who had a pattern of being interested in his own gratification at the expense of another. He had viewed his victim as a potential feather to be placed in his privileged cap, completely indifferent to the fact that the feather in question had been plucked from somebody else's wings.
Let's now return to the comment by a journalist that began this blogpost, namely, that support of or opposition to Judge Kavanaugh goes strictly according to Party affiliation. As already mentioned, I am admittedly a progressive; I've tried, however, to see the other side of this issue. Yet it wasn't my imagination that revealed the judge to be a sniveling, belligerent liar during the course of the hearings. Nor was it my imagination that convinced me that Dr. Ford was telling the truth. His evident character flaws should preclude him from receiving a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court. Even if he hadn't done what I'm convinced he had done, his temperament is enough to make one sick to one's stomach without having had a spicy meal, or a few glasses of beer.
I might be wrong is an oft-repeated phrase I tell myself; in this case, however, for so many reasons, I am telling myself something different: stand up for what is right.
Whatever happens, of this I am certain: Judge Kavanaugh should not be admitted to the Supreme Court.
--September 28, 2018
No comments:
Post a Comment