I doubt I can say anything new or add to what we already know or believe about Kavanaugh v. Blasey-Ford. But what has happened is concerning on so many levels. As a man, you worry about being viewed as 'tone-deaf' to women's needs or being hurtful of victims. As a woman, you will be questioned if you're not lined up behind the accuser simply because 'you know' what it's like. As a citizen, you worry about the clown show in Washington and the damage it is causing to the standards we have.
Living in the NYC region, I see and hear things the rest of the country has to hear (media center) but doesn't really want to. I get it in double-barreled doses, though. NYC really is a bubble of tremendous proportions. A friend of mine, today, told me he doesn't think Kavanaugh is fit for the Supreme Court, but not because of yesterday. He felt the Fox interview was weak and showed someone without great knowledge or understanding. Then he added, "His emotional outburst yesterday showed me someone who can't control his temperament." Basically, yes, it was about yesterday. Kavanaugh's background puts his other concerns to rest, but this is Progressive Central - the People's Republic of New York is taking shape.
Let's address the outburst. Kavanaugh's reaction was understandable. If I was held accountable for all the stupid things I did when I was 15, I think I'd probably go nuts. If I was being held accountable for something I know didn't happen, I'd be angry and ready to take on the world. Damn right I'd be pissed. The media is judging him poorly because of his emotions. His identity is now being carefully packaged as a person unable to control his anger. I think having to discuss my 15 year old farting would, on its own, piss me off.
My friend said "this appointment is bigger than yesterday." Yes it was. Now it's not. Now it is about yesterday. The Democrats chose a battlefield, spent two weeks preparing that field with full media support, failing to expect what happened. They expected the Republicans to cut and run. For once, the Republicans fought back. From my perspective, and I was never a huge Kavanaugh fan, I shifted my views. I thought he was barely an OK choice originally. Good background, solid credentials, but weak in areas that matter to me. The Democratic strategy made me realize he was an excellent choice. It wasn't about yesterday until it was. It certainly changed my view on his desirability, and I was sold. His identity is one of candid and thoughtful forebearance. Anger plays a role at the right time. But Kavanaugh never attacked his accuser. He showed sympathy and concern. He lashed out at the politics of identity utilized to smear him.
I feel bad for his accuser. I believe she was assaulted. I don't believe it was Kavanaugh. Based on her inability to give dates, detail, good location, her overall approach indicated that she sought to purge her memory of every detail. She did a good job of purging. So much so even her best friends couldn't help her jog her memory. The one thing she was sure of was that it was Kavanaugh. Nobody else could help her remember anything else, but of this single item she was absolutely sure?
The assault may have been real, and clearly was traumatic. She fought it off, and fought off her memories. Then she allowed herself to be abused by the Democrats. She may not see it that way. I do. Sure, now she's a media darling. She'll get a movie of the week and a book deal. Her GoFundMe pages have raised plenty to cover her travel and 'security' costs. Hollywood will trot her out from time to time. She'll hang out with celebrities. I really don't think, as her supporters claim, that her life is going to be a mess. It seems to me it was a bit of a mess before. My best guess says that she may feel abused today. She should. She let the Democrats use her for their own purposes. They didn't really care for her, all they cared about is what her presence could do for them in delaying this. Her identity suited their needs, so they used it. If she's feeling bad about it all today, she can thank the Democrats.
This is what happens when you tie your identity to politics, isn't it? I don't march or get overly involved in political activities. I'm not going to have my identity so closely tied to power or ideology that when it runs amok - as it always does - it causes me to suffer. She chose to use her pain for a political purpose, a very SPECIFIC political purpose. If the results aren't what you want or expect, there will be pain involved. More than you had before, and it may be deeper and more extensive. Politicians won't prepare you for that part as they use you.
Why someone would want to endure the pain she went through simply to destroy another person's reputation is beyond me. Some people call it brave. If I felt she was advancing womens' causes, or the cause of women who'd been assaulted, I'd call her brave. I don't think she did. I believe she did damage to those causes, and she also damaged the process of approval for the Supreme Court. True believers will march and protest in her name for some time to come. All that is based on is emotion. No facts. No evidence, no care for the inability to tie truth of any kind to her vague remembrances. Identity Politics don't require facts. Just emotion and alignment. Are you with our identity or against our identity? There can be no in-between with Identity Politics. If you're a woman you must support women unquestionably, otherwise you're manipulated or abused. If you're manipulated or abused, then you're worthy of additional abuse which the Identity Politics require be disbursed.
This may be a watershed moment in Identity Politics. This was a great example of how identity has been weaponized for political gain. Don't think this is the end of Identity Politics, though. The Democrats need identity to survive. Mao's Cultural Revolution relied on hearsay and Identity, and was implemented shortly after the Great Leap Forward had failed to propel the nation forward economically. The Democrats are failing massively. They are launching their own Cultural Revolution. I've warned friends of mine who are sympathetic to the 'cause' to be careful. Movements like this eat their young.
