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MORE CHATTER THAT DOESN'T MATTER

I am a victim of the Kavenaugh dilemma.  I sat glued to the television set (and I am not a TV aficionado) during the recent hearings.  I was mesmerized by Judge Kavanaugh’s in depth answers to the questions of legal precedent, his   knowledge of the law and his communication skills in expressing that knowledge in a clear, concise and distinct manner that even I could understand.  I  saw for the first time that the decision of a Judge is not (or should not be) his decision but his ability to understand the words of the law, the interpretations of others in similar cases, and after careful analysis, render a decision in the case before him on the basis of existing law, analysis, review and with the insight of precedent.  

Perhaps I am naive but it seems to me that our laws,  and the challenges they address, might be compared to the framework of a great building. Our Constitution is the foundation on which a framework of legal decisions either strengthens and enhances its strength to withstand society's  earthquakes and tsunamis of time or falls as rubble into the abyss.  I have watched (perhaps not always with the same intensity) many inquiries in the Senate nomination process from glimmers of the Bork nomination, the Clarence Thomas spectacle and more recently that  of  Justices Roberts, Alito, Kaden, Sodermeyer and Gorsuch.  They were at the mercy of men and women (many of whom were obviously inferior intellectually, morally and judicially)  who would, in their advise and consent role,  influence, if not determine,  their fate.  I have been awed by an awareness that those Judicial nominees represent the best of our country’s thoughtful and intellectual giants .  While I have been impressed and overwhelmed with the extent of wisdom, knowledge and intellect that each articulated, none impressed me more than Judge Kavanaugh.

If politics is a validating factor in the Judicial process we have invalidated the process.   Politics were exercised when we voted for the President whose responsibility it is to appoint our Judges. That is a responsibility that we are affixing  when we vote for a President.  Representatives are appointed by the ranking member of each party in the Congress to serve on a committee to advise and consent to those Presidential appointments. When politics becomes more important than merit in a judicial review, the process is compromised, in my view.  Politics restrains our liberty by depriving us of the assurance that our laws will be judged in an enlightened, fair,  unbiased manner unstained by preconceived political views.

 

In the case of Judge Kavanaugh,  we have not only permitted politics to disgrace that liberty,  we are engaged in ruining a lifetime of achievement,  discounting a great intellect and destroying a man and his family because, as a youth, it is alleged that he engaged in youthful, immature acts of sexual misconduct that are both unproven and uncorroborated.  Furthermore, in what I truly believes has been a partisan effort to thwart this nomination by the Democratic party, two people’s lives and that of their family have been inexcusably forever  affected.  Does our stupidity have no bounds?

I want to make it clear. As President Trump has said, and I think we all agree, (perhaps even the Trump haters who have made this nomination process so obscene) Dr. Ford’s testimony was heart wrenching and credible.  Judge Kavanaugh’s  testimony was just as riveting and soul searching.  I cried with heartfelt sympathy and compassion for both.  I personally (like I believe a large percentage of women in our country today) also suffered sexual misconduct.  I understand her agony.  However, I look back on those years when young boys had more arms and legs than a centipede and thank goodness I escaped the humility of permitting satisfaction to their raging hormones. I hold those boys no ill will today and in fact, enjoy visiting with them and their family on my infrequent visits to my home town. They were guilty of engaging in acts that could ruin their life by today’s “me too” outcry.  Yes – there was and is a problem. However, any model that  might actually be an instrument in our effort to provide guidelines for awareness, respect, moral values and behavior continues its downhill decline and  is deemed offensive in both political correctness and secularism.

 If Judge Kavanaugh is innocent as he claims, should he pay the price for Dr. Ford’s years of anguish?  Isn’t that what we will be saying if the charges cannot be substantiated and Judge Kavanaugh is denied this appointment for which he is uniquely qualified?  What about “Innocent until proven guilty”? Could Dr. Ford have relived a very bad dream so long that she now believes it happened and her dislike for Judge Kavanaugh, the President and the party that spearheaded his nomination, now be the face to which she has affixed to the perpetrator in that dream?

 

I welcome this last effort by the President to conclusively seek verification that Judge Kavanaugh did or did not engage in the alleged acts. But in fact, I do question whether we as a nation should deprive ourselves of the benefits of a great mind because of the acts of an errant teenager who has  proven himself to be a model citizen,  husband,  father  and exceptional in intellectual  and Judicial prudence on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations amid political misrepresentation and attitudes?

Let us not, in our rush to Judgment, further diminish the promises guaranteed under our Constitution. We should all hold sacred our one great liberty under the Constitution.

INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY.

THE JUDGE KAVANAUGH DILEMA

I do not understand what is happening in this country! I am 85 years old. I grew up in a rural religious community and later moved to a nearby small town.  My friends were the same from early childhood until I left home after graduation from High School. From the age of 10, keeping the boys at bay and keeping them in their place was part of the development scene.  I personally underwent an incident similar to what is alleged against Judge Kavanaugh in our High School gym and fellow students intervened.  No teacher knew and the boy remained a good friend throughout his life and was an upstanding citizen in the community, accepted for his gay life choice.  There were other students who observed the incident and not one would remember it today.  

This incident was not sexual but nevertheless, by today’s standards, the boy (about 16 at the time) and I would have undergone severe and traumatizing scrutiny and his life (and perhaps mine) could have been forever blemished in the community.   I remember the incident today because of all the claims, outcry and accusations and wonder   “why” the fuss. Rape is wrong and must be acknowledged. Sexual harassment in the workplace must be managed and needs to be dealt with but in my opinion too many women are using irresponsible acts of immaturity, disrespect and abuse as reasons to label otherwise good citizens.  Questionable conduct must be confronted.  As a former employee in the entertainment industry (CBS to be precise) I learned this lesson first hand.    

I had forgotten my childhood incident but as women come forth with their accusations and claims of trauma I remembered it and that caused me to question their motives. Are we putting too much emphasis on  "me too" memories  by trying to legislate morality and not enough on teaching our children rules, respect and the dos and don’ts of life? The Me Too crowd wants to make an issue of things that happened in a bygone era, much of which was either consensual or a matter for rejection.  

In my youth, keeping hormone active boys in their place was dating 101.  As I think back, I recall at least 10 events that I personally experienced that involved questionable and possibly illegal behavior by today’s standards.  To have pursued an action against those young men would have ruined their life and certainly created a drama that would have left me forever marred.  I had brothers and I understood the problems of young men at that age.   Those young men who made inappropriate sexual advances grew up, married, had families and became pillars of society.   Was I a target? Was I to blame?  I was neither pretty nor flirty and I did not wear attire that was suggestive so go figure!  I took solace that others had similar problems so I don’t think I was any different.

When I grew up, girls who succumbed to the sexual advances of hormone active young men were known labeled and had a reputation for promiscuity.  Just for the record, I was a virgin when I married my husband 67 years ago this October 7 and I have never had sex with any man other than my husband. In spite of many questionable acts of behavior directed at me in my youth, I suffered no shattered mental drama, no fear of men and certainly, no ill will toward any boys who acted inappropriately during my youth.  Yes, there were instances of questionable conduct and even inappropriate conduct but I acted appropriately as I was taught by my parents and my older brothers.

If anything untoward happened in Judge Cavanaugh’s youth,   he has proven himself to be a good citizen and responsible member of society.  I am heart sick that any man who has suffered through childhood development in a different era when sexual guidelines were not yet developed can now in later years be ostracized by society because of youthful over active hormones! (Guidelines that are nothing more than use  a condom, take a birth control pill or just  say yes and if there is pregnancy, get an abortion).

I would like for every member of the Committee to be quizzed on what they did on their dates in their youth.  How many  can actually say that they neither engaged in nor were subjected to some degree of inappropriate  sexual advances in their youth and did any of those advances occur when either party was under the age of 18? 

Come on America – get real.  How can we ever have great romantic literature if we take sex out of romance?