Distant memories are not irrelevant to the facts of memory. I once had a bat get caught in my hair while leaving a cave when I was very young (63-64 years ago). It was terrifying at the time, something I remember now. It was many years after the event that I remembered it. As the memories returned (when I was in another cave), I recalled details including my dad carrying my sister and the cave guide carrying me out. I asked my parents about it and they verified my memories. Think back on your own experiences (both good & bad) that you still remember.
Having a bat caught in one’s hair as a small child is far less terrifying than sexual assault. No one told me it was my fault. No one condemned me for not talking about it for decades. Not one person I told claimed I was making up the story. I was never accused for telling about my experience for political gains. No one questioned what I was wearing when attacked. I wasn’t trapped in the cave or held down helplessly by the bat.
I wasn’t surrounded by people publicly ridiculing me for accusing the bat for the attack.
Yes, this is a simplistic comparison.
No one has condemned boys who were abused by priests and supported the perpetrators. Why is that any different? Many, fortunately, have finally stepped forward and told of long ago abuses and were often “he said, he said” incidents, but most of the abused prevailed.
Sexual abuses rarely occur with multiple witnesses. The consequences for females who take the bold step of revealing sexual abuse are often tragic. They take that step to help them with their own healing, and often to help eliminate the excuses of “uncontrolled male passion,” “boys will be boys,” “she asked for it,” and so many others.
We ALL must renounce those excuses and make sure NO other women are driven out of their own homes to protect their children, have to hire security guards, and are accused of coming forward for political purposes. Look what happened to Anita Hill almost two decades ago. She gained absolutely nothing for testifying against Clarence Thomas. Instead, he was “awarded” with a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court.
“Me, too!” has been a powerful message—until now when it involves a political appointment that Republicans are hell-bent on getting Kavanaugh confirmed before the House (and hopefully, the Senate too) take control in 2018.
The GOP conveniently ignore the fact that Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland (a man who was well-respected by both parties) was held from March 16, 2016 & expired on Jan. 3, 2017, the end of the 114th Congress—293 days, the longest nomination process in the history of Supreme Court nominations.
Regardless of tRump’s lie that investigating is not the job of the FBI, committee members should make sure the FBI (Federal Bureau of INVESTIGATION) is allowed to investigate both the accused and the accusers’ assertions, as well as other witnesses, of either the attack itself or what they were told at the time, and make them a part of Kavanaugh’s file, no matter what is determined. All who have pertinent information should be subpoenaed and their testimony investigated before the two involved individuals give their own testimony.
Not doing so is like a police department handing over only the statements of the murderer and the murdered to a District Attorney with no investigative material. He/she does not have enough information to determine how to proceed.