I Don't Care If He Was Only A High Schooler

I don't care if he was 'only' in high school.

I don't care if this has 'broken up' his family.

I don't care if he was being 'real and authentic' through this entire hearing.

Senator Brett Kavanaugh should be had his nomination taken away. But did the panel of senators on the committee think that? Of course not- the hearing was biased in the first place. Both him and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford were talking to a majority group of old white wealthy men. Between Senator Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford, who do you think they were more inclined to listen to?

But that's not an important part of this whole hearing. The day of the hearing, one of my professors was wondering whether or not Senator Kavanaugh should be punished now for something he did in high school.

My answer to her question is yes, he should be. He deserves to be. Our lawmakers always point out that pinning crimes of sexual assault ruins the 'careers and futures of our boys'. But what about the victims? Those boys may have had their future on the line, but the victims? It's already too late for them- they've already had their peace and the sanctity of their own bodies STOLEN from them from the moment it happened. There shouldn't be any contestation between the two. A future can be marred, but it can also be redeemed if work is put in (AKA genuine remorse- not that sexual predators like Senator Brett Kavanaugh or Brock Turner look interested in doing that). Peace of mind? Emotional sanctity? That can take forever to recover- there's no set time limit.

And even more so, those 'boys' had a choice. The victims did not.

But if today has shown us anything, our government doesn't think that. Apparently, they care more about Senator Kavanaugh's career than the emotional well-being of not just Dr. Ford's but of the other two women who spoke out as well.

And don't even get me started on how the Republican party questioned Dr. Ford. So what if they used another woman to question her? It doesn't change the fact that the questions they were asking were entirely inappropriate. I mean, I'm pretty sure if someone is getting sexually assaulted they're not going to remember for example, what kind of music was playing in the background at the time. Or if they were on any medication.

Also, why was the prosecutor even asking why it took Dr. Ford so long to speak up? No matter the variation in the experiences, sexual assault is traumatizing in and of itself. Why don't they speak up? Shame. Fear. Not just against themselves but from the people around them.

So maybe I'm coming off as extreme for thinking Senator Kavanaugh should be convicted for something he did in high school. Obviously, he hasn't shown any remorse for that so who's to say he's grown as a person? He was shouting and crying in this hearing like a five-year-old.

That's not the man, much less the boy I want deciding my future.