It happened twice.
The first was a dinner party, where the host texted and said we’d be in “mixed company” so hopefully the Kavanaugh decision didn’t come up.
I told her I didn’t care about Kavanaugh. She guffawed, dismayed at my ambivalence, and asked me to bring seltzer and she’d see me Friday. The topic came up, and I shocked everyone by saying I didn’t care about Kavanaugh, I only cared about midterms. Did not go over well with some, ignored by others.
The second was hiking with a friend.
“I can’t believe this Kavanaugh bullshit, can you?”
She was anxious to talk out the frustration of yet another predator in a government role, this one a lifetime appointment.
“I’m not thinking about Kavanaugh much,” I confessed. “Nothing we can do about it anyway.”
Since I’m usually the cage rattler, the fire poker, the mouth in the room not able to let sleeping predators lie, Lisa stopped in her tracks, grabbing my shirt, and said:
“IT’S A LIFETIME APPOINTMENT, Kate – and he clearly assaulted that woman!”
Yeah, I know. But midterms. I only care about midterms.
For the record, I believe them both. Sadly.
I think Kavanaugh assaulted that girl – without a doubt – and I also think Kavanaugh doesn’t remember doing it, so his rebuttal of events is, in his opinion, true.
I also think even if he does recall – even a tiny bit something going down at a somewhat fuzzy high school drunken party – he certainly doesn’t consider his action assault. Which is disgusting and typical and not at all surprising to anyone of a certain age and gender, but should be.
Whatever happens with Kavanaugh happens, and my point is it’s going to happen again when the ever-ready Ruth Bader Ginsberg battery final runs out. Which doesn’t seem possible, but is sadly probable, even for this superwoman. (If you haven’t seen the documentary RBG,do so now!) Then we’ll get another Trump-esque appointee, and we’ll be at this all over again. And again.
UNLESS, of course, midterms elect pro-women representatives and senators, pro-everything that really makes America great, and then suddenly, POTUS can nominate whomever he wants, but without the support of Congress, the nominee will wither on the judicial vine.
ELECTION DAY IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY ONE SUPREME COURT NOMINEE
Kavanaugh is one judge, and Trump’s influence can stop here, or continue on to the next appointee. And the next. And the next.
But there is hope.
Election Day November 6 could very well be a congressional shake-up, if the people come out to vote and Trump-minded reps are sent packing, and common sense returns.
Election Day is the only day that matters.
If as a country we rise up and say, nope, not on our watch, then checks and balances will be restored until Mueller does his job, or we do ours in 2020.
And if the balance remains the same, due to electorate apathy or the will of the people to support the current administration, then well, we get what we vote for, and the will of the people will prevail, and those of disagree will forever wonder when our country stopped being our country.
We’ll know better November 6th whether Kavanaugh is a symptom of a diseased administration, or the beginning of the end of what used to be the land of the free and home of the brave.
Great article! You hit the nail on the head, VOTE!!!
Spot on, on all counts. And I will continue to watch the potential unraveling of SCOTUS.
The curiosity in me is more focused on what will Chief Justice Roberts do to moderate the court as he did on health care and what his super sized ego will want written in history of his tenure.
Then I say pack the court with 13 justices, and only pick women. 7 women and 6 men.
Assuming the 3 branches ever go blue.
I agree with you that I believe them both.
But where we disagree is that you can only believe that Kavanaugh could “misremember” the situation because he was drunk (and he is conservative). You don’t allow for the possibility that she may have been in the same state. Think back 36 years ago to your HS day parties. Lots of details may be fuzzy. To be truly fair to the situation, you have to consider that she may not recall clearly either. In 30 years from now, do you want your son Boy to be pre-judged just because he’s male?
And yes, voting is the only way to ensure your candidate can make the nominations.
More than not wanting my son pre-judged, I want to make sure his decisions and actions are always not to assault. And thinking back to my high school days, I know those parties. I know those guys. I was that girl. Too many of us were, and that’s the why the outrage. Thanks for writing.