Now that the nomination is through the Senate Judiciary Committee, let’s look back a moment at the allegations themselves and how they were being made. For context we’re talking about an allegation that is not provable. Despite Ford’s assertion that she is 100% certain it was Kavanaugh who attacked her, it is still nothing but an assertion. No evidence exists. No evidence is possible.
But to those who were decrying Kavanaugh’s emotional state during his rebuttal, I’ve got to wonder if you’ve ever had to push back against false accusations. I have. Not of sexual misconduct, mind you, but of a more… frustrating nature, against which defending yourself is utterly impossible.
During my junior year of high school, there were various rumors floating about various people. I never really heard of any except one, but one aspect of these rumors did hit my ears: I had allegedly been the one making them. Some context first. My junior year of high school, I was the new kid on the block, so to speak. I’d just moved to Fairfield, Iowa, and was an unknown to everyone. There was one young woman who introduced herself to me on the first day, and I was introduced into her circle of friends.
A few weeks later was when things turned south as she accused me of spreading a rumor that we were sleeping together. Mind you, at this time I hadn’t yet turned 16. Over the next several weeks, more rumors emerged, and I was tagged as the one spreading them. One of them turned into a threat to my life. I lost friends, hanging out with a small group of outcasts at lunch, and otherwise kept to myself.
One afternoon in, I want to say, March, the guy who had threatened to kill me drove up next to me as I was walking home. I’d heard a rumor was going around, and that I was allegedly spreading it, that I’d slept with this guy’s girlfriend. His girlfriend was in the passenger seat, he rolled down the passenger side window and yelled at me something along the lines of “I’m still going to kill you. Don’t think I forgot.” I didn’t respond to him. He drove off and I continued walking home.
Here’s an idea of where I was mentally: nowhere. The rumors and accusations I’d been spreading them had taken such a toll on my psyche that I just didn’t care anymore. To the point where I attempted suicide by riding my bike into traffic at an intersection across US-34, the main road in Fairfield, to end the torment.
Despite any attempt, there was no way I could clear my name. No way I could set the record straight. The student body was pretty much against me because I was the new kid in town. They had no reason to believe me and every reason to believe those they’d known for years.
Somehow most of that situation cleared up my senior year, and it was a hell of a lot more peaceful compared to my junior year. But that still doesn’t erase the anguish I experienced. I don’t think I ever filled my parents in on what was going on either. So to my mother, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry, and hopefully this helps explain some of the difficulties I’ve caused during that year.
Now let’s take the allegations against Kavanaugh. I’ve written previously how feminism has elevated claims of rape to be beyond reproach, to where the claim is to be believed without question. Allegation = conviction. No wavering, or you’re a sexist, rape apologist, and possibly a rapist yourself. So how can you defend yourself against an allegation when everyone has already presumed you’re guilty?
The frustration of such an attempt is what Kavanaugh displayed at the Senate hearing on Thursday. I could feel his pain. Because I know his pain. Because I’ve experienced his pain. A lot of people have not.
Which is why I put forward a thought experiment to a friend of mine yesterday. With the hope of putting into her what he was going through. For context, the friend has two daughters. One is about 21, the other is 12. And while I originally used her daughter’s names, I’ve changed them here:
Let’s fast forward about 10 years.
Lianna, your oldest, starts publicly stating all kinds of allegations against you, allegations she’s somehow become convinced must be true. Stating that you were neglectful and abusive as a mother. Everyone sides with her and against you. These are allegations that not only have not been demonstrated to be true, but can never be shown to be true. Regardless, you start losing friends, and everyone starts wondering if the same has also been happening to Hannah.
You, Hannah, and your husband state the allegations are, without doubt, false. Yet it’s becoming clear that, regardless of how much you try to defend yourself, everyone has sided with Lianna and against you. They’ve believed her because she “knows” the allegations are true, despite never proving them and never being able to prove them.
The more you try to defend yourself against them, the more irate you become. Everyone now starts taking your anger and emotions at the accusations as additional evidence the allegations are true, because if you’re becoming that angry and emotional now, how angry were you getting when you were raising Lianna and Hannah? Clearly that anger means the allegations have merit, meaning you were an abusive mother.
Again all of this despite the fact that not a lick of evidence has been produced *demonstrating* the allegations. All that exists are assertions. You know they’re false. Hannah and your husband know they are false. Yet, again, most everyone who hears of the allegations sides with Lianna and against you.
Again, to emphasize, I’m not saying this will happen. It’s a purely hypothetical scenario to outline the incredulousness of what’s happening with Judge Kavanaugh, though this happens to other men as well. But hopefully it’ll give you a little insight into how Kavanaugh was responding to these allegations during his testimony yesterday.
The disgusting responses Democrats have had to Kavanaugh are rather telling. First they say “Wow, these allegations are egregious and ‘credible’. Clearly he is not suited for the Supreme Court.” And now it’s “Wow, look at how angry and emotional he’s getting. Clearly he is not suited for the Supreme Court”.
Hopefully in reading this, you’ll understand a little why he got emotional and angry at the Senate Judiciary Committee.
