THE AFTERMATH OF THE KAVANAUGH HEARINGS.

Last week the country was riveted by the drama being enacted in the Senate hearing room in Washington DC. The division between the two political parties on the priority placed on sexual attacks on women was starkly demonstrated during the reopened hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Trump nominee to the Supreme Court. The whole circumstance has resulted in a national debate as to whether the prevalent attitude of a society, dominated by men, is callous and uncaring as to the plight of sexual assault victims. 

The designated protagonists of this battle were the prospective Supreme Court Judge, Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser Dr. Blasey Ford. While the Democrats have indicated their opposition to the judge for other reasons, from a body politic point of view if Dr. Kavanaugh’s accusers are ignored and he is appointed to the Supreme Court Bench this would represent a continuation of the tone deafness towards female molestation. At the very least the protesting women need to be convinced that the accusations have been thoroughly investigated.

In spite of the desperate politics of this high stakes battle to definitively decide the judicial policies of the third component of Government for decades, the fact that in the year 2018 the Center of Disease of Control and Prevention reports that one out of three women in America have been subject to sexual assault was front and center in this divisive struggle. This astounding state of affairs was brought into focus by the mesmerizing credible evidence of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford who recounted her demeaning violation, which she alleged, with a “hundred percent certainty”, was at the hands of the prospective jurist to the highest court in the land. With the issue of sexual molestation being front and center in the minds of observers only one of the forty - five male and two of the six of the female Republican Senators, gave a hoot as to the plight and devastation this onslaught had allegedly wreaked on the representative of victims, Dr. Ford. While they paid lip service to her nightmare and its impact their most vocal sympathies, as was President Trump’s, were for “the hell” and “trauma” Dr. Kavanaugh was going through. 

THE HEARING BROUGHT OUT TENS OF THOUSANDS OF VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

 Ironically, it was just two of the tens of thousands of victims of this rape on female society that had spilled out their heart rending stories that convinced Senator Flake to call for a “limited  FBI update” into Judge Kavanaugh’s background check. It has been reliably reported that the scope of that FBI enquiry is being micromanaged by President Trump and the Republican Senators. 

Put another way forty - eight of the fifty - one Republican Senators are indicating by their actions that they are unmoved by the plight of these women. The presumptive evidence for this is that they are going full steam ahead with the flawed and unstable nominee Brett Kavanaugh. In contrast all forty - nine Democratic Senators, seventeen of which are women, are accredited to be on the side of the victims' trauma as articulated by Dr. Ford. 

It remains to be seen whether the actions of Trump and his Republican Party, who are attempting to divert the focus from the epidemic of sexual abuse as articulated by Dr. Ford onto Democratic political maneuvering and collusion with Dr. Ford to bring down Brett Kavanaugh. However, this confrontation is being viewed, regardless of the GOP protestations of foul play and the Democratic view that Kavanaugh is unfit for the prestigious Supreme Court position, as a women’s rights issue. So if Kavanaugh is ultimately chosen the protests will be over his alleged sexual assaults and not on his unsuitability for high office. 

IMPACT OF DECISION ON THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Currently Trump has the lowest recorded support ever by women by any American President. The difference between those that disapprove of him versus those that approve of him is thirty percent. However it is to early to ascertain whether there will be a further slippage of his support in the female demographic as a result of his come hell or high water backing of Kavanaugh. The consensus among the pundits is that he will not lose more votes from women and the controversy will fire up his base in areas where he has the strongest support. The media are running anecdotal stories confirming that even female survivors that are loyal to Trump are still holding firm. The sum total of this is that it decreases the possibility that the Democrats will retake the Senate and increases their chances of winning the House by even greater numbers. 

Incidentally Judge Kavanaugh has the lowest approval rating, (thirty - five percent), of any prospective Supreme Court Judge in American history.

LONG TERM POLITICAL OUTLOOK.

It is inconceivable that this violation of the female demographic’s rights will not have a profound impact in the long term political fortunes of the two parties. All this sad saga has achieved, if nothing else is to cement the Democratic Party as the champion of women and to confirm that the Republican Party is dominated by aging white male dinosaurs. This optic was hammered home in the Senate Judiciary hearings as the all white male Republicans faced a gender balanced Democratic team of four women and six men. As matters stand Democrat women in Congress outnumber their Republican counterparts by seventy - six to twenty - nine. A record number of female candidates, two hundred and fifty - five are standing in the midterms with the Democratic Party maintaining their three to one ratio over the Republicans. 

In 2020 this trend will impact on the Senate as well as the House when not nearly as many overwhelmingly Red states are in the mix. With the radicalization of women, including Republican suburban and College educated women, over issues such as Trump’s unchecked misogyny, the separation of children from their mothers on the border, the belittling of minorities such as the African Americans and Latinos and now the unconditional backing of a candidate credibly accused of multiple infringements of sexual conduct it is hard to imagine a future for the GOP. The more this controversy continues the more the GOP establishes itself on the wrong side of history.

But none of this is any comfort for the millions of sexual attack survivors. 

WHAT OF THE SURVIVORS?

If the unchallenged statistics of the CDC are correct there are millions of survivors out there who have not had any help let alone any justice. In seeking solutions there has to be an acknowledgement that every aggrieved party has different needs. In addition there have to be programs for those already victimized and suggestions as to how to move forward to putting a halt to this epidemic. Even Dr. Ford who had the benefit of counseling, understanding and acceptance that she needed two front doors to her home is still haunted by her experience. Her “coming forward” at great personal cost has brought out much solace for tens of thousands of survivors who have obtained some closure by verbalizing their own experiences. There has also been a two hundred percent increase of reporting to the hotlines devoted to  sexual assaults.

 There also has to be some satisfaction in the guilt finding of Bill Cosby and the charges laid against Harvey Weinstein both of who were involved in an obscene number of attacks. The legal route is available only in certain circumstances and is not the choice anyway, to date, of the overwhelming number of victims. What is needed is a counseling infrastructure to help alleviate the mental torment that lies in the wake of this catastrophe. Also thinking out of the box as to interventions such as opportunities for the perpetrators to acknowledge their misdeeds and help bring closure for the victim if she believes that is what is needed. In addition for those who wish to immediately legally charge the offenders the system has to be less daunting. Hanging around an ER for hours, for example, adds to the trauma. There has to be a more supportive environment to proceed with the appropriate evidence gathering. Education is necessary as to what constitutes consent, for example, and perhaps the whole issue needs education at school. 

AT THE END OF THE DAY.

Should anyone doubt the devastation this violation causes they should read the thousands of stories that have been evoked by this Supreme Court nomination. For starters just get hold of the lists of tweets, #Why I Didn’t Report. 

Whether Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed or not his jeopardy has not ended. If the investigation is a farce there is nothing to stop the Democrats from initiating a real one once they control one of the chambers of Congress. In fact Senator Flake has warned that should the FBI enquiry be a sham the nomination might not survive.

Kavanaugh’s arrogance and aggression will not serve him well in the long run. Humility is what was called for in this situation and if indeed he was guilty or that there was a possibility that this could have occurred as a result of a blackout he might have had, as a professed religious man he should repent.  Bearing in mind his admitted heavy drinking he could have entertained the possibility that this might have been him in his youth that he is now ashamed off. He then could have asked for forgiveness claiming that he has long since changed his “cringe worthy” behavior and heavy drinking patterns. The allegations are after all about forty years old. Had he so done there would have been no need for an FBI investigation. Furthermore he would have done plenty of good by setting an example by attempting to heal fractured psyches. However, Brett Kavanaugh is not that type of a guy. Nor apparently was he then. Had he acted in an appropriate empathetic and apologetic manner the outcome may or may not have been any different but he would have helped heal a divided nation that has become even more divided as a result of his subsequent unhinged, unseemly, undignified and boorish conduct. 

Senator McConnell has indicated that the FBI investigation is irrelevant and he is going ahead with the vote regardless of the outcome. As he sees his opportunity to go down as the politician who defined American Constitutional history he has become as reckless as his partner in this mission, President Trump.