Politics, not jurisprudence

Dianna Anderson, writing for Dame, explains the tortured denials that Brett Kavanaugh made at Thursday’s hearing. It all has to do with the definition of sexual purity in the Catholic and Evangelical traditions. A person is still considered a virgin of the man part didn’t go into the woman part. So if a man traumatizes the woman but doesn’t actually do that, then nothing happened. Never mind that the woman was and remains traumatized.

Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post notes that between the accusations that Kavanaugh made that the Democrats rigged this embarrassment and the determination that GOP has to “plow right through this … many Americans may always suspect the Court’s decisions are motivated by politics and not jurisprudence.” The Supreme Court is another victim of an awful day.

In a Twitter thread Abigail Disney says she has also experience sexual assault. She was very uncomfortable watching Kavanaugh testify because he acted just like her angry, alcoholic father. Her father could be sweet and gentle. But his rage, usually over some aspect of status and entitlement, was terrifying. These were the same things that enraged Kavanaugh.

In a tweet, Melissa McEwan of Shakesville quotes the New Yorker.

It should be as plain as day that what we witnessed was the patriarchy testing how far its politics of resentment can go. And there is no limit.

In a blog post McEwan talks about how GOP men do not value women. She quotes Senator Kirsten Gillibrand:

Any senator who votes to confirm Judge Kavanaugh after Dr. Ford's testimony is telling our country exactly this: The experiences of women don't matter. Their trauma doesn't matter. Their stories and their voices don't matter.

McEwan adds:

That is correct. And that is not incidental. It is entirely the point.

Commenter LSM adds:

So, this little theatrical stunt was entirely performative. They made a show of listening to Dr. Ford - of letting her eviscerate herself, and giving more than half the American populace a week full of rage-fueled, PTSD memories (thanks for that, guys, by the way) and then just went ahead with their business as if she was just an irritating disruption.

A fruit fly to be flicked away, while the grown-ups got on with the REAL BUSINESS at hand.

They did it on purpose.