10:18:32 am on
Sunday 08 Dec 2024

Kavanaugh and Abuse
Matt Seinberg

I will state upfront that what I write are my own opinions and feelings and not endorsed by any website, except this one.


Never would I vote for the GOP.

I am a lifelong Democrat. I wouldn't vote for a Republican even if there were no alternative. I've never thought of voting for the GOP; considered it or gave it a full thought. I truly believe the Republicans, of last one hundred years, do the bidding of the business community, in America, not the people.

My idea is not new, of course. Following the death of President Warren G Harding, in 1923, Calvin Coolidge rose from vice-president to president. His ostensible slogan was “After all, the chief business of the American people is business. They are profoundly concerned with producing, buying, selling, investing and prospering in the world.” Coolidge, who wisely declined the GOP nomination in 1928, got the modern ball of greed rolling.

During the presidential campaign of 1928, Herbert Hoover summed up the GOP platform well. There’ll be “a chicken in every pot,” he said, “and a car in every garage.” Business will be good, he prophesied; jobs will pay well and all will be good in America. For ninety years, that idea has grown like topsy.

American business, today, pummels the middle class, in so many ways. Especially hard hit are those women and men yet to turn forty-five years old. It’s not funny, how much abuse they absorb.

When times are good, the middle class mounts a treadmill to oblivion, as radio comedian, Fred Allen, was wont to say. When times are bad, the middle class pays the price, as politicians rig the tax code so the upper class, that’s the one-percenters so famous during the Romney president campaign, pay fewer taxes. If you’re middle class, there’s almost no way to come out ahead.

President (sic) Trump pushes an agenda that is intentionally the complete opposite of President Obama. Whatever Obama did, Trump wants to reverse or remove, no matter whom he harms; he holds children in cages, for example. The roasting, of Donald Trump, by President Obama, at the 2011 White House Correspondents diner, set the Trump revenge agenda in motion.

When Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh, my first thought was about Roe vs Wade, the landmark case regarding a woman's right to choose. Would Kavanaugh oppose that law, of course he would. He would surely be the deciding vote to strike down Roe.

Kavanaugh, of course, denied his position on Roe, indicating he thought it was the law of the land. Then, his previous comments floated to the service. Those comments showed he clearly leaned against affirming Roe vs Wade and that’s scary.

Nothing is as scary as the allegations that Kavanaugh tried to rape Dr Christine Blasey Ford, at a party. This happened when both were teenagers. He was in a high school senior. She was a sophomore in high school. Kavanaugh was seventeen, at the time; Dr Ford was fifteen years old.


Can the leopard change its spots, the tiger its strips?

I believe that people can't and don't change their beliefs regarding what is right. If Kavanaugh was an abuser in his teens, he's most likely still an abuser, of some sort. That two other women, Julie Swetnick and Deborah Ramirez, have come forward with more allegations is telling of how he acted in his late teen and early twenties.

There is no doubt, in my mind, that more women will come forward. Kavanaugh seems no choirboy, as he wishes us to believe. More stories that are sordid will almost surely appear. Some may even be of a more recent vintage. Leopards don't change their spots and tigers don't change their stripes.

Look at what happened with Bill Cosby. One woman came forward with her story of drugging and raping. Then many more, roughly sixty, in all, came forward with their stories. Cosby is now serving 3-to-10 years in prison for his sordid behaviour, although this story does not seem over, yet.

Judges are supposed to be neutral parties, of the highest integrity and dignity. They maintain calm in their courtrooms. After seeing Kavanagh go ape-poop, waving his hands and snorting, having the gall to question the senators, can anyone believe that he is fit to be a Supreme Court Judge? Did you notice the look in the eyes of his wife, Ashley?

I also believe that any women should be against this man, not only because of his alleged actions as a high school and college student, but because he showed his true colors during the hearing. Yelling, crying and histrionics are not the makeup of a Supreme Court Judge.

In Kavanaugh, Trump picked a man like himself, someone who has no respect for women and believes he can dazzle an audience with nonsense. For Trump, Kavanaugh is eventual protection against a subpoena, criminal charges or deposition while in office. The American public won't let the Senate get away with this travesty.

Marcy, my wife, and I were talking of debacle. She actually believes Kavanaugh didn't do anything and that Dr Ford is lying. I was flabbergasted. I asked how she could think that. She didn't offer up anything other than she believes he didn't do anything and what difference does it matter since it was so long ago.

I told her that any woman should be ashamed to say anything like that. It's like saying she didn't believe that Trump didn't grab any pussies. If he did, he claims, it was with permission.

Two women, passionate and articulate, accosted Arizona Senator Jeff Flake as he entered an elevator to return to the Senate hearing. They urged him not to vote for Kavanaugh and he listened. The nation probably let out a collective cheer and sigh of relief.

Flake probably wondered what John McCain, his former senate mate, might do. Thank goodness Flake insisted the Senate vote be postponed a week to give the FBI a chance to develop its background check into Kavanaugh, given these allegations. Early reports are that the FBI will interview Julie Swetnick and Deborah Ramirez as well as Dr Ford.


The FBI report may open shut eyes wide.

It will be interesting to see what the FBI turns up, especially if it's from a more recent time. I can only hope that more women are emboldened to come forward and tell their horror stories of abuse by Kavanaugh. At a minimum, Kavanaugh does seem temperamentally suited for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States of America.

Matt Seinberg lives on Long Island, a few minutes east of New York City. He looks at everything around him and notices much. Somewhat less cynical than dyed in the wool New Yorkers, Seinberg believes those who don't see what he does like reading about what he sees and what it means to him. Seinberg columns revel in the silly little things of life and laughter as well as much well-directed anger at inept, foolish public officials. Mostly, Seinberg writes for those who laugh easily at their own foibles as well as those of others.

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