America in the age of mass media, conventional and social, is witnessing a life or death struggle as to how its constitution will be interpreted for decades to come. Central to that struggle is a reluctant female academic who for close on four decades has being coping with the trauma of what she has alleged was a sexual assault by the presumptive Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh. There is an urgency to the drama being played out in the Senate, as the ringmaster to the production, Mitch McConnell, is fully aware that in two months time he may well not be in a position to dictate the outcome he so fervently desires. He and his highly unlikely partner in this endeavor, President Trump, for differing reasons, have thrown caution to the winds and by their behavior and in their desperation of controlling the Judicial constituent of American power are increasing the odds that they will lose, in the midterm elections, the second component in the American government structure, the legislature.
Whatever the political outcome Christine Blasey Ford’s story will have changed societal attitudes to female sexual abuse forever.
THE MOTIVES OF TRUMP AND MCCONNELL FOR A RAPID JUDICIAL NOMINATION PROCESS
Trump’s motive is survival as his judicial nominee for the Supreme Court has opined that there should be no legal jeopardy for a sitting president. In addition if he cannot deliver what he promised to the Evangelical base the latter can let go of their noses and end their unholy alliance with the serial sinner. The POTUS will then just be left with the fringe that turns up to his Nuremberg style rallies. McConnell’s rationale is more profound - a place in history which he is prepared to go to any lengths to achieve. As witnessed he is prepared to abandon all principles and historical precedent of how the Senate operates to achieve that end, thereby breaking the fragile covenant that has held America’s diverse demographic together for generations. Added to that he is willing to associate and connive with a man he would under normal circumstances not be seen dead with. This in order to go down in posterity as the man who took America back into the dark ages. The Republican Senate leader has every reason to feel aggrieved and angry at his volatile partner who against advice chose Kavanaugh in the first place rather than a contender as conservative but without all that potential baggage and who would have been a lock to confirm.
In fairness to Trump it is not Kavanaugh’s lengthy paper on Presidential legal liability but rather an unforeseen complaint about an alleged attempted rape that occurred over thirty years ago that has upset the applecart. McConnell could argue one supposes that the whole circumstance is exacerbated by having a President who himself has had fifteen similar allegations against him and that magnifies the very #MeToo issues that this happening has brought about.
MCCONNELL’S MODUS OPERANDI
The nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court has resulted in Trump and the Republican Legislators dispensing with any of the niceties, decencies, centuries old customs and conventions that have dominated political discourse in the Senate for close on two and half centuries. Truth be told the disintegration begun nearly three years ago when Republican leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, held up an Obama nomination to the highest court for over a year in the hope that the vacancy would be filled by a Republican President. Then in order to ram through Trump’s judicial nominees McConnell unilaterally dispensed with the filibuster thereby effectively reducing the number of Senators needed to confirm a judge from sixty to fifty. The determined McConnell, backed by his rag bag spineless caucus, with the candidacy of Kavanaugh has come full circle rushing his ratification process at an unprecedented lick Then he withheld over seventy five percent of the judge’s documents relating to his tenure with President George W. Bush and then only produced half of the remainder to the public.
McConnell pressured the aging Chairman of the Judicial Committee, Chuck Grassley, himself an undistinguished veteran of the infamous Anita Hill hearing, “to get on with it”. In the light of McConnell’s precedent of believing the Supreme Court could operate with one less member for over a year the argument now that a one day delay in achieving a full compliment on the court is a deal breaker was bordering on the incredulous.
THE PARTISAN CONTROVERSY RAGES AS TO HOW TO PROCEED WITH THE ALLEGATIONS.
All hell broke lose when Senator Feinstein announced that she had a letter, from an anonymous source, alleging sexual assault perpetrated by Judge Kavanaugh as a teenager. She had the letter in her procession for close on three months and had honored the author’s desire for anonymity by telling no - one, not even her Democratic colleagues. She referred it to the FBI who referred it to the WhiteHouse and both put it in their files. It did not take long for the media to find out the author of the letter was a fifty - one year old academic from California, Christine Blasey Ford.
The Republicans were at sixes and evens as to how to act while the Democrats called for an FBI investigation, consultation with experts as to the legitimacy of her decades old story and time for the issue to be properly researched prior to a hearing. Chairman Grassley and the WhiteHouse emphatically ruled out the FBI and any other witnesses and focussed their attack on Diane Feinstein for springing this bombshell when the Judicial Committee were due for their vote. This tack did not hold because even KellyAnne Conway, Trump’s trusted advisor, claimed that Dr. Ford, deserved to be heard. The focus of the debate then hinged on whether Ford’s lawyers and Grassley’s negotiators could reach agreement as to when, how and under what circumstances the accuser would testify. The back and forth bordered on the ridiculous as to who would speak first, how many cameras there would be as Ford’s representatives tried to create a milieu whereby their terrified client would be least disadvantaged.
The Republican Chairman had a far more complicated task having three constituencies he had to satisfy. Firstly, the base was advising that Ford need to be told that it had to be the Committee’s way or the highway. Several potentially vulnerable Republican Senators wanted the optics to reveal that they were open to the hearing but the problem lay with Ford who was being so picky that it was obvious that she had no intention of appearing publicly. Finally, there was the growing electorate constituency that claimed that Grassley and his other ten white males “just didn’t get it”. Grassley focussed on the middle option and at the end of the day to the private dismay of the Republican establishment he caved on some of Ford’s demands and the hearing would be on. Nevertheless Grassley's current approach falls far short of what the Democrats deem due process.
IN DEFENSE OF KAVANAUGH
The Republican world came out in defense of their man who categorically denied the allegations. Most significantly this was an isolated allegation in a man who had had the highest character commendations. Seventy - five women came onto Fox and gave the prospective juror a character endorsement second to none. Most of those women who declared themselves Republican maintained that the judge was more credible than the accuser. Much of the supporting rationale was aired on the Fox channel and ranged from, to disbelief of the accuser, “boys will be boys”, this happened fifty years ago, no physical harm occurred and the like.
However more damage was done in support of Kavanaugh then the exculpatory statements. The official injunction was not to attack Dr. Ford but that line proved to difficult to hold. Firstly, Senior Judicial Committee Member, Orrin Hatch, fresh from his disastrous showing at the Clarence Thomas hearing nearly three decades ago, claimed that, “Dr. Ford was mixed up”.
The conservative Values Voter Summit, where one speaker claimed that Kavanaugh was being subjected to “political waterboarding”, proved to be the forum where Leader McConnell was to reassure the faithful. He announced to cheers that, “You have watched the fight, watched the tactics, but here’s what I want to tell you. In the very near future Judge Kavanaugh will be on the United States Supreme Court. Don’t get rattled by all of this. We are going to plough right through it and do our job”. In nineteen seconds Maestro McConnell made it quite clear that whatever transpired he had the votes to carry through with the agenda for the ages. In this prediction McConnell was backed up by Vice President Mike Pence.
But the coup de grace was administered by el Presidente who had had for a hundred hours held back from disparaging the alleged victim. He tweeted inter alia, “If the attack on Dr. Ford had been as bad as she said it was charges would have been filed by her or her loving parents”. In a later tweet he added, “Why didn’t the FBI investigate thirty - six years ago”. Trump had finally moved from his attack on Feinstein and earlier tweet “let her testify and TAKE THE VOTE” to slut shaming the victim. This brought out Senator Collins who stated she was “appalled” by the President. More significantly it spontaneously gave rise to the #Why I Didn’t Report” movement. Literally tens of thousands of tragic stories were told by victims reinforcing the rationale and psychodynamics at play when such an assault occurs.
IN SUPPORT OF DR. FORD
Dr. Ford too received character references and thousands of scholars at her former school stated that the toxic culture at the time was as the alleged victim had described it. Her taking a lie detector test impressed the law enforcement types. However although there were no physical witnesses wiling to testify and it was reported that those at the party those many years ago had no recollection of what Dr. Ford had described, professional opinion backed up her experience as being consistent with the trauma she had described. More to the point her story rang true to the thousands of women who had been down the same path, as well as to law enforcement agents and mental health professionals.
The alleged victim who had reportedly moved three thousand miles away from the scene of her trauma to escape it would have to face, it in the harshest glare, the fear that her reputation would be shattered.
WHERE SOCIETY STANDS TODAY ON SEXUAL ABUSE
This cataclysmic event is occurring in an environment where society has been made aware again and again of sexual abuse which historically was not regarded as significant and was as a rule swept under the carpet. The #Why I Didn’t Report movement follows closely on the #MeToo wave and the widening sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. It becomes more and more evident that what was either denied, regarded as trivial or at least not serious, for many victims resulted in profound deleterious consequences. At very least society needs to be made aware of what has transpired to put a stop to it and allow those that are impacted to shamelessly seek help and be healed.
THE POLITICAL OUTCOME OF THIS ALL
It is ironic that President Trump’s dismissive attitude on matters of sexual abuse should receive a public airing with a proxy. The outcome of the hearing will not change what has become before and whatever happens therafter as it has given rise to yet another movement that serves to address problems which he and society have tossed aside. Again regardless of the fallout even if not one mind is changed either way either in the Senate or body politic and Judge Kavanaugh gets elected to the Supreme Court the outcome will be a more energized opposition to the POTUS in the midterms. As the election is a referendum on Trump this can increase the possibility of an even bigger blue wave.
One thing is for sure the Republicans have found themselves on the wrong side of history in this debate on sexual abuse of whatever sort. They will pay the price in this and other elections but their leadership does not seem to mind. In fact they appear to have become resigned to the electoral consequences of their support of all matters Trump and will have thought it worth it if they have a Supreme Court that supports their value system for the next four decades.
If however if Dr. Ford is overwhelmingly believed McConnell will be hard put to achieve his dream.
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