Saturday, October 6, 2018

A Lifetime Appointment


“’If you still doubt her truthfulness, call her back, question her again. I am sure she would not object.’ ‘I – that – not –‘blustered Fudge, fiddling with the papers before him. ‘It’s – I want this over with today, Dumbledore!’ ‘But naturally, you would not care how many times you heard from a witness, if the alternative was a serious miscarriage of justice,’ said Dumbledore.” – J.K. Rowling

I am so angry.

But worse, I am so disappointed.

We have been asked time and time again to put our faith in a system that is broken, a system that favors only those who have already been grandfathered in. And who is that? Who are those favorites upon whom “fortune” smiles? The cohorts. The comrades. The fellow men who get away with saying what they please and acting how they please, all while giving a knowing smirk and secret wink to the fellow members of their club.

There were two possible scenarios here.

In scenario #1, Dr. Ford, Ms. Ramirez, and Ms. Swetnick are liars and Judge Kavanaugh was viciously maligned during what should have been the most exciting point of his career: a Supreme Court nomination. In this scenario, while hearing the lies told against him, Judge Kavanaugh lost his temper. Was this a display of righteous indignation at being falsely accused? Righteous indignation would have been more than understandable for a falsely accused man.

In scenario #2, Dr. Ford, Ms. Ramirez, and Ms. Swetnick are victims of sexual assault at the hands of Judge Kavanaugh, bringing these revelations to light before he can taint the highest court in the land with his depravity. In this scenario, Judge Kavanaugh lost his temper not in a pique of indignation, but in a full-blown temper tantrum because he had been caught out on the cusp of his achievement. A temper tantrum often results from being a victim of justice.

So which scenario is true?

There are some who say it doesn’t matter, that it was 35 years ago and what a person does at 17 doesn’t mean anything when they “grow up”. If this is true, then why do we sentence some 17 year olds to life in prison? Why must some 17 year olds register as sex offenders for life? It is because the choices people make will follow them through life.

Judge Kavanaugh’s demeanor during and reaction to questions leaves some heavy questions about his temperament. How able will he be to leave emotions out of the courtroom? Certainly, people are going to try to push his buttons, and from what we saw, it didn’t look that hard. He was not master and commander in there. He was a pissy little boy who was mad because someone was threatening to take away his toy. His were not the sophisticated rebuttals of an educated lawyer. It was a red-faced, spit-talking diatribe from a man who has never had to be a victim of anything in his life. And he did not like the way it tasted.

Make no mistake: his privilege shielded him in this. I know people are tired of that word. But consider this: did Dr. Ford have the privilege of losing her temper? Did she have the luxury of crying to release her emotions? No, she did not. Any semblance of credibility would have been destroyed. But Judge Kavanaugh cried. He yelled. He lost his temper on national television, and it was perfectly fine. He was not discounted. He was listened to.

It didn’t matter that his classmates came forward and said he lied under oath about his drinking. They were waved off as inessential. Because Judge Kavanaugh is in the club, and the women are not.

It was difficult for me, as a rape survivor, to watch them grill Dr. Ford. I can understand the holes in her memory. There are parts you don’t remember because the trauma itself is so large that it blots out smaller, less important details. While you may remember with disturbing clarity the attack itself, other things are gone. I don’t remember how I got home that night. I know I drove because my car was in the garage and my keys were in my purse. But I don’t remember it. I wouldn’t be able to swear to it under oath. I get it, Dr. Ford. So many of us get it.

At least Justice Thomas and the newly minted Justice Kavanaugh will have a lot to talk about in the cloakroom.

Saturday, February 17, 2018

Crying for the Winds of Change


“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw

Want a factual argument? Here's one.

A Continental Solider would have been outfitted to fight by the government (he also would have taken guns from the British along the way). However, a militiaman would not. He would have been told what to bring, such as his own rifle, thus "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." James Madison knew how important it was to fend off tyranny, to always have those militiamen at the ready, so this amendment made it into the Constitution.

However, We The People know the Constitution is a fluid document. How else did all those amendments get added after the original document was ratified in 1788? People of color can vote (the founding fathers said African-American men couldn't, and that law stood until 1870, and African-American women couldn't until 1920). Women can vote (those same founding fathers said women couldn't, and no woman could vote until 1920). We don't have to pay a poll tax to vote (there was a charge to vote until 1964). The VP can take over presidential duties in case of emergency (the founding fathers never foresaw an instance to set this up; maybe they didn't see everything coming. The VP couldn't officially do this until 1965). These were not always laws. They were added after ratification.

Wait.

Did you hear that?

The Constitution can. be. changed.

Article V of the Constitution even allows this. The Constitution itself allows for change. Congress proposes an amendment. If it passes with a 2/3 majority in the House and in the Senate, it then goes to the individual states. It takes 3/4 (38 out of 50) of the states to ratify the amendment. As soon as they do, it's done. Changed. (please understand this is an incredibly simplified version of the process.)

Do you know what this means? This means that if we find our society has outpaced the original laws that were written 230 years ago, we can do something about them. Just as we have protected people of color. Just as we have protected women. Just as we have protected our voting process. Just as we have ensured the successful continuation of governance if our President should fall. It's time we look to protect the rest of society as well.