Take a look at the scene above. There is a inherent falseness to it. Do you see it?
There are six Republican women in the Senate. Lisa Murkowski (AK), Susan Collins (ME), Deb Fischer (NE), Shelley Moore Capito (WV) and Joni Ernst (IA). There are 45 male Republican senators. Don’t worry, I won’t name them. We’ll get to them one by one, when they’re up for re-election.
Somehow, half the female Republican senators ended up in that frame.
This was not a coincidence. The seats Capito and Hyde-Smith are occupying are not where they normally sit in the Senate. It was stage managed.
What we need to discuss is why these women were such willing warriors in this effort. I went back and listened to Collins’ speech again. Yes, I subjected myself to that torture willingly. As many have pointed out, there’s a lot of delusion baked into it. But, I would say there is even more deception. In her speech, Collins sought to deceive Americans in multiple ways. The entire production was a ruse to distract the media by creating the dramatic moment they love. In fact, Collins made her mind up weeks ago. Her speech, and the secrecy around her vote, were created so she could be the final public face for Kavanaugh’s confirmation. That was the first deception.
Collins also sought to deceive us about Dr. Ford. She said she believe Dr. Ford, but also believes Dr. Ford had a case of the mistaken identities. The not so subtle suggestion is that traumatized women have troubled memories that cannot be relied upon. She also sought to deceive about the witnesses Dr. Ford named, claiming they refuted her account when they all said they could not remember such a gathering. She sought to deceive us about Kavanaugh’s views on Roe v. Wade. Feinstein immediately countered on Twitter, saying Kavanaugh had refused to say Roe v. Wade was settled law. Collins also tried to deceive us about the other allegations against Kavanaugh, ably delivering performative outrage. She was outraged, outraged about the allegations against Kavanaugh which she believed to be false. All of them she claimed, were false. A dozen people who testified to his behavior in high school and college Collins sought to tell us, were all liars. She never spoke to one of them. She heard Dr. Ford’s testimony and saw it, as we did. But she did not speak with Deborah Ramirez, or Julie Swetnick, or any of Kavanaugh’s high school and college friends. But she pronounced them liars. The same Susan Collins who summarily called for Al Franken to resign.
If Lindsey Graham was the face of male Republican performative outrage, Susan Collins was the vehicle Republicans used to package the same performative outrage in a form more palatable to women. Both Bush 42 and Bush 44 lobbied Collins heavily for Kavanaugh.
It is worth asking why Susan Collins became a willing warrior for Kavanaugh. We need to understand that, if we are to counter it.
The answer is identity, and class. The three women in the staged deception above all identified closely with the white country club patriarchal class. I’ll say it again, white, country club, partriarchical class. Yes, class is identity. Yes, patriarchy is identity. Yes, country clubs are identity. Whiteness is, of course identity. Simultaneously, whiteness is a class indicator. As is patriarchy. And you can bet your last dollar that country clubs are class markers.
So Capito, Collins, Hyde-Smith, and 50 out of 51 Republican Senators voted for Brett Kavanaugh because they saw him as one of their own. Brett Kavanaugh is a white, country club bully who will cement patriarchy. That is why he was protected by 5 out of 6 Republican women from the consequences of his lies to the Senate. That is why they chose to shield him from the consequences of the sexual assaults he is likely to have committed as a young man and continues to lie about. They knew he was an aggressive bully. They saw that clearly in the hearings when he lashed out at Klobuchar. They knew he was a belligerent bully. They saw that clearly in the hearings too.
But he was a white, country club bully who would defend the patriarchy. Those are the interests they support. So they supported him.
They knew full well the signal they were sending with their support. It was a message to their sisters. If you stand in the way of the country club patriarchy, we will vote for shattering your bodies and traumatizing your minds. If you’re someone like Dr. Ford, we will protect your abuser. And we’ll do our best to convince the world that you’re insane.
If anything, the message to poor sisters was even more stark: erasure. They heard out Dr. Ford’s allegations, partly because she was the daughter of a man in good standing at the country club.
They did not hear out Deborah Ramirez’s allegations. Deborah Ramirez’s family are not members at the country club. Deborah Ramirez is brown, and her family were working class. She does not belong in the country club. The message to the Deborah Ramirez’s of the world is this, if a member of the country club set does assault you, it isn’t even worth talking about. Your story will be erased, at least on the floor of the senate, which we control.
In some ways, Julie Swetnick’s treatment is worse. She is white, but she went to a public school and a state university. Julie Swetnick was erased completely. Republican senators actively derided her allegations. Lindsey Graham used the term trailer trash, perhaps to refer to all three accusers, but certainly for Swetnick. One of Kavanaugh’s female friends made this very clear to a right-wing “news” site. This woman claimed she did not know a single person from Gaithersburg high school and that they “never socialized with them”. They all pretended as if rich, country club boys have never wielded their wealth as a tool to impress and exploit women from poorer backgrounds. What about the country club bully who might have undercut their story, Kavanaugh’s best friend Mark Judge? He was locked up, far from prying eyes, for the duration. You can almost hear them: why, our boys would never do such a thing. With a girl from Gaithersburgh? Never. Why, our fine country club president who routinely hits on porn-stars would never nominate a judge like that.
Message received, loud and clear.
Swetnick’s allegations were the most graphic, and clearly the biggest threat. She also had some corroboration. Elizabeth Rasor, Mark Judge’s girlfriend related a hearsay confession Kavanaugh made. There were other supporting witnesses. Wariness towards Avenatti and the graphic nature of the allegations led Democrats to tread softly with Swetnick’s allegations. Not so with Republicans, who dug deep in the muck to discredit Swetnick. Her story was erased by the Republicans, because of her class.
So, the willing warriors in the Republican party, the women and men who will collectively elevate Kavanaugh to the supreme court later today, they did it because they wanted to protect the country club patriarchy they represent.
It’s important to know and recognize this. We need this knowledge and recognition in the fights to come.
Two more things.
First, Joe Manchin, a Democrat, voted for Kavanaugh. When he looked at Kavanaugh, he too saw a country club bully who’d protect patriarchy. And Manchin chose to protect that system. West Virginia is one of the poorest states in the country, and Joe Manchin is a very talented politician. Manchin could make a class-based case for a vote against Kavanaugh. He chose not to, because that’s not who he is, or ever will be. The two independents in the Senate, Bernie Sanders and Angus King, voted against Kavanaugh. They voted against the country club patriarchy. So, if you ever feel the urge to complain about Bernie being an independent, take a seat. In fact, take several seats.
Second, Lisa Murkowski. Yes, she’ll vote present as a courtesy to Steve Daines so he doesn’t have to fly back the day of his daughter’s wedding. But I don’t fault her for that. She is effectively a No cancelling Danies’ Yes. It means Kavanaugh will be confirmed 50-48. No Supreme court justice in the modern era has been confirmed with fewer votes. Joe Manchin could make the tally 49-49 and force Pence to cast the deciding vote, but that is unlikely to happen.
Lisa Murkowski did the right thing. She did it because she chose not to identify with the country club bullies who Brett Kavanaugh represents. She chose to identify with her constituents, including the Native American women who supported her election. Her speech was neither stage-managed, nor was it a deceptive.
There are several Senate races that are worthy of attention. The toss-ups are Bill Nelson (FL), Joe Donnelly (IN), Claire McCaskill (MO), Heidi Heitkamp (ND), Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), Jacky Rosen (NV), Phil Bredesen (TN), Beto O’Rourke (TX), Jon Tester (MT). Find the candidate that speaks to you and volunteer or donate. PS. There’s an off-chance that Jane Raybould (NE) and Mike Espy (MS) may also end up being competitive. Raybould is running against Deb Fischer, one of the five women who will vote for Kavanaugh. There are three very, very long shots as well David Baria (MS), Jenny Wilson (UT), Gary Trauner (WY). Wyoming is considered safe Republican, and we’re unlikely to win there. But it’s so small, we should still compete there. In 2014, Mike Enzi won with 121,554 votes. Yes, you read that right, less that 125,000 votes won a US Senate seat.
If you want to donate to all 14 of these Senate candidates, use this form.
They are worthy of attention because we need a 50 state strategy. But more importantly, we need to show people in those states who’re also victims of Republican country club bullies that we will fight for them.
— @subirgrewal