The last two days I have been following along with the public hearings going on in Washington. What an intense 24hrs!
I was so moved by the testimony of Dr. Ford. How hard it must have been for her to come forward and to tell her story in public like that. I couldn't take my eyes off of the live stream that I was watching. I thought she was very credible and I came away from watching her testimony with one thought - 'I believe her.'
I watched the testimony of Judge Kavanaugh and I was left with a bad taste in my mouth. I don't know if he was the one who assaulted Dr. Ford. I think he probably was -- but I don't know if that will ever be proven. I do think he lied several times while he was being questioned and I thought he completely lacked the temperament to be applying for a promotion to the highest court in the country.
I'm a little younger than Brett Kavanaugh but I remember the early 90s when I was in high school. We drank too much. I drank sometimes to the point of, "ralphing". I didn't have a weak stomach. I was intoxicated. We had house parties on and small gatherings on the weekend's and sometimes during the week too. Someone's parents were almost always out of town. I sometimes passed out at these parties and so did others. I didn't sexually assault anyone but I know many times in high school my friends and I were rude and crude, made fun of people, and I'm sure hurt a lot of people's feelings. I regret a lot of this behavior. I had a great time in high school. I had good friends and we had a lot of fun. But we did a lot of things that were stupid and reckless and embarrassing to look back on. I think we all look back on high school and to times in general when we were younger and cringe at some of our stupid behavior. I remember myself and others boasting about sexual conquests that never happened -- and some that did. We never thought about how that would affect the person we were talking about, how that must have made them feel, or the reputation those people got because of our boasting, whether it was deserved or not. We were terrified of being ridiculed by our male peers, terrified of being the last one in high school who was still a virgin - not a 'real man'.
Judge Kavanaugh and his friends boasted about being 'Renate Alumnius's' in their yearbook. He said this was posted in their yearbook pages as a tribute to this girl who was their friend. I highly doubt it. This doesn't even pass the laugh test. He said he never drank to the point of blacking out or passing out and the references in his yearbook to 'ralphing' had to do with his weak stomach. Really? Countless schoolmates have now come forward and are coming forward to dispute this.
These blatant lies made me question the Judge's character. He made himself out to be a choir boy in his testimony and not only lied but also betrayed this portrait he was painting of himself with his behavior and demeanor during his testimony.
I don't often get political on this page. I woke up this morning feeling compelled to share these thoughts, though. It's a dark time in the world right now. I watched the Michael Moore movie Fahrenheit 11/9 last night. It's compelling. He paints a picture of two potential outcomes as we move forward and tells both stories very well.
1. We can all wake up and get more involved, vote, run for office, unionize, demand better wages and benefits, and be the change we want to see in this country and in the world -- or...
2. We can watch from the sidelines as our democracy crumbles.
100 million people who were eligible to vote didn't vote in the election 2 yrs ago. That is an incredible statistic. 100 million! That actually makes me angry.
I felt a little sick to my stomach as I watched the Senate Judiciary committee vote yesterday. I kept thinking, 'why not just open up an FBI investigation? If I was this guy and I was innocent -- I would want to clear my name.' The truth seemed clear to me and I was shocked at what I was watching. I felt so helpless and so disgusted with politics.
It was later on yesterday that I heard that Senator Flake had spent the whole night awake wrestling with his conscience and decided he couldn't go ahead with a confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh without an FBI investigation. Okay. There is someone who saw what I saw during the hearing. Okay. Let's see what the FBI finds. Let's get all the answers. If it is going to be this guy on the court then let's have a thorough investigation and look at all the facts. And why does it have to be this guy on the court, anyway? Isn't this cloud of suspicion hanging over him enough to disqualify him and his nomination?
I don't know what the outcome is going to be in a week but I know that we need to get more actively involved in our democracy. 100 million people didn't vote in the last election? Come on, people! That's pathetic. Democracy works when everyone plays there part. We have to get more involved. Please, commit to yourself RIGHT NOW to vote this November. If you are not registered to vote - DO IT NOW! Get registered. It will take some time if you are not already registered. Put a little effort in and focus on this. This could be the most important election of our lifetime. It's a slippery slope and this has been a rocky two years. What are you waiting for before you get involved? What has to happen before you stand up and say, 'that's not right.'
My hope is that these past two years are a wake up call for all of us. It is not the time to bury our heads in the sand. Stand up. Get off your butt. Take some action. And let's move this country and this world forward where we all know it needs to go.
Thank you for letting me share my thoughts and getting this off my mind.
