Shortly, Dr. Blasey Ford will begin her testimony. For me, and perhaps for you, the past few weeks listening to this administration and this Congress have painfully reinforced the ways they seek to discredit and demean women.
I know that as many of you have shared your stories of assault, and as you have supported your friends and family members who have come forward, you have experienced doubt and disdain. Thank you for speaking out and for supporting others.
We know that women’s claims of assault are too often dismissed, yet we also see men thanked for coming forward when speaking of their abuse by priests (for example). We need to thank the courageous women — and men — all over our country who are coming forth now and sharing their histories of abuse, and we need to commit to doing whatever we can to stop this violence.
We also see the ‘leaders’ on the Judiciary Committee delegating what can only be called an interrogation of Dr. Blasey Ford to, as Mitch McConnell says, ‘a female assistant’. Are they protecting her, sensitive to her trauma and that experienced in the past by Anita Hill? No, they are protecting their seats, because they don’t want to look like they are attacking the victim. Despicable.
This is not acceptable. Nor is Brett Kavenaugh acceptable as a Supreme Court Justice. He is not fit to serve on any bench, in my opinion. And yes, we are all innocent until proven guilty, but this is also about the character of someone who will serve on the Supreme Court for a lifetime.
The claims — from the initial and brave disclosure by Dr. Blasey Ford, to the statement by his freshman college roommate about his excessive drinking— to the new revelations coming out with more frequency as women weigh the importance of sharing their stories with the pain of exposing themselves and their families to the aggressive attacks that Dr. Ford is experiencing — are alarming.
My heart goes out to all of you who are suffering as a result of abuse you or your loved ones experienced. May this be a new era of accountability for those who abuse and assault women and children — and anyone. The statistics are alarming, and the impact is lifelong for the victims.
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