The Brett Kavanaugh hearings have shown partisanship in its true demented form. Vicious and unrelenting, the attacks have come from both sides largely unencumbered by the search for truth. Journalistic integrity has been abandoned for the sake of tribalism as both sides retreat to the security of their chosen ranks. Our champions have been chosen and the rallying cry resounds through our social media feeds. Now is the time to declare your belief. Pick a side. Do you stand with Brett Kavanaugh or do you stand with Dr. Christine Blasey Ford?
There isn’t room for nuance or waiting to see more evidence. If you support Brett Kavanaugh you are complicit in sexual assault and structures of abuse. If you support Dr. Christine Blasey Ford you are willing to let an innocent man be forever condemned to infamy. Yet, you must decide right now what is true and which half of the country you are willing to alienate for your truth. The problem is that the only thing we know to be true is that we have no idea if Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. You don’t know. You really don’t. I don’t know. Journalists don’t know. The Senate doesn’t know. It is very likely that the FBI will come to the conclusion that they don’t know. The available evidence, so far, is a large collection of “I don’t remember”, on a sea of he said/she said. Brett Kavanaugh was accused of sexual assault, a heinous crime worthy of being taken one-hundred percent seriously. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford deserved to be heard and to have her allegations taken one-hundred percent seriously. She has been heard and the overwhelming verdict is that people will believe whoever they wanted to believe beforehand. Half the country watched Brett Kavanaugh and saw a guilty entitled man crying about not getting his way while the other half saw an innocent man backed into a corner, rightfully angry and emotional. It was the same man doing the same things. Half the country watched Dr. Ford and saw a liar fumbling to come up with details and relying on others to bail her out while the other half saw a victim who is hurt and afraid and never wanted the spotlight in the first place. It was the same woman doing the same things. We don’t know which version is true. We are not privy to private conversations, interviews, and documents. Everything presented as evidence, whether it be Ford’s claimed fear of flying or Kavanaugh’s affinity for beer, is just noise. These stories are presented by the media and our senators to hide the fact that no one knows what happened and no one wants to get this wrong. Because letting a sexual predator take a seat in the highest court in the land is unthinkable but so is condemning an innocent man to life wrongfully labeled as a sexual predator. The country is in the midst of real progress when it comes to sexual assault. The #MeToo movement has done incredible good to change the culture of power and predation and give women the voice to speak out against the abuse and harassment. I do not pretend to know how it must feel as a woman to watch this whole process. Women have been hushed and shamed and blackmailed and ignored for so many years. That is unforgivable. It is only right that those for whom this issue is so very real would be vocal and passionate in their demand that Dr. Ford be heard and taken seriously. Dr. Ford has been heard. It was messy and partisan and frankly hard to watch, but she was given the platform to speak. She has enjoyed the overwhelming support of the media and the Democratic party. She has been given time for others to come forward and corroborate, and she has been granted an additional FBI investigation. Any sober-minded look at the situation must acknowledge that, while neither pretty nor perfect, she was taken seriously. Still, no one with first-hand knowledge has come forward to corroborate her accusations but rather some have refuted them or claimed no memory of the party she describes. Now, I must reiterate that this in no means proves she isn’t telling the truth, but it does mean we no longer have reason to give her the benefit of the doubt. Continuing to call for the downfall of Brett Kavanaugh puts the #MeToo movement in danger as it will cease to have credibility as a movement of empowerment and justice and will instead be viewed as a political weapon that can be wielded at will. That shift would do irreparable damage to how we as a country deal with sexual assault and to our political system generally. This is all to say: Stop pretending like you know. If you find yourself feeling certain take a minute to consider the opposite situation. Imagine a liberal pro-choice judge was nominated and accused of sexual assault. Honestly imagine it. How much would your stance change? How much would you overlook to get him confirmed or keep him out? Let’s not assume we are unbiased. Let’s not pretend that we didn’t know how we wanted this to shake out long before a single hearing was held. Finally, I suggest two courses of action. The first is forgiveness. Not of Kavanaugh or Ford (because, of course, we don’t know), but of each other. When the dust settles we’ll have friends who fought on both sides. If we are able to genuinely admit that we don’t know, then we will have nothing to justify our anger. Accept the result of the vote however it falls and have faith, one more time, in our democratic republic. The second course of action is prayer. Set aside the news and social media and remember to pray for everyone involved. Pray for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh. Pray for their families. Pray for the senators who have to make this decision. Pray for the journalists who have to cover it. Pray for the citizens of this nation that we will be able to look at each other again. Although we do not know what it is, there is a true story in all of this. Pray that the truth prevail and justice be done.
1 Comment
C
8/26/2021 04:49:41 pm
It's a shame how perhaps one of the most honest articles on the Internet about this issue calls for the least action, with the first action being the only productive one. If prayer actually did anything, we wouldn't have this frenzy in the first place.
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