If you haven't heard, Brett Kavanaugh was recently sworn in as the 114th Supreme Court Justice and I have never been more disappointed in our Government in my life. For an eighteen year old girl, I have a higher interest in politics than most of my peers and I like to keep up with what is happening in our country. The main reason I do this is not only because I eventually would like to work for the national government after I am done teaching, but because the laws and policies put into action will not only affect my life, but also my future children and grandchildren's lives.
Politics have been skewed and shady ever since George Washington left office back in 1797 but in recent events they have gotten much worse, to the point where I have almost lost hope in our current political system. The most recent event that has angered me beyond belief is Brett Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh's consideration for former justice Anthony Kennedy position was controversial for many reasons. One of the minor ones being Kavanaugh has an extremely conservative agenda (surprise, look who appointed him) and replaced Kennedy, who was a swing voter in most decisions. This means now, the Court will have a conservative majority with five out of nine justices aligning with the Republican party.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to bash on conservatives- I myself align with an Independent political party (as good old George Washington would have wanted us to), but I am here to bash on people who think that it's okay to have someone who has been accused of sexual assault and acted like a child in a Senate hearing to be a justice for the rest of his life.
Yup, you heard it! The United States Constitution says that Supreme Court Justices are to serve in "periods of good behavior", which has been interpreted to mean for life. To lose this position, you must die, retire, or be impeached. Don't get that twisted either, impeaching only means to bring charges against someone and they only are removed if found guilty. Now tell me, does sexually assaulting and screaming at Senators in a hearing sound like good behavior to you, or do we have different definitions?
The most sickening fact is that Kavanaugh isn't the only justice on the bench who has been accused of sexual assault! Claren Thomas, who was appointed in 1991 was accused of sexually harassing Anita Hill, who had worked alongside him in a government position. Similar to Dr. Ford, Hill had an FBI investigation that lasted three whole days on her allegations and they had found that there wasn't enough evidence to delay Thomas' nomination- so now he's in a position of power for the rest of his life. But let's get back to Kavanaugh, because we would hope that the National Government had learned from their first mistake with Thomas.
Kavanaugh's trial, if you didn't watch, looked like a five year old boy trying to get out of time-out even though he knows he is guilty for what he's done. He talked on and on about his love for beer and how these accusations of rape destroyed his life. Speaking of beer and the consumption of alcohol, people who binge drink, or consumer more than the standard amount of alcohol in an inappropriate amount of time are more likely to have a blackout. The main group of people who binge drink are college students. Guess what Kavanaugh was when the incident took place? If you guessed a college student, you're absolutely right! Guess what else Kavanaugh said? That he had never blacked out in his life, when over 50% of people who binge drink have experienced at least one blackout in their lives. Now, with a guy that can only talk about beer and has his yearbook allllll about consuming alcohol, it's hard to believe that he has never once had a night he didn't remember.
Regarding his superlatives, what he said the meanings behind his quotes were didn't exactly add up with what Urban Dictionary, a website that gives definitions of slang terms, had to say. For example, the "Devil's Triangle" was brought up in Kavanaugh's yearbook and he described it to be a drinking game. However, a user posted on Urban Dictionary in 2008 that the "Devil's Triangle" is a term referred to when talking about a threesome between two men and a woman, where the men must not make eye contact so their sexuality is not in question. It's hard to trust what he has to say when this, along with other terms that are actually related to sexual interaction with women are in his yearbook, but apparently don't have anything to do with women, just drinking.
Regardless on whether or not he is guilty, he made it onto the Supreme Court, and some of the reaction from right leaning people is disgusting. One of these being our President! Donald Trump openly mocked Dr. Ford and her allegations on a completely false basis, saying she did not know where any of the events took place and was too drunk to remember any details. That makes me wonder if Trump even watched her testimony, for she was able to say when, where and what happened to her the night she was assaulted. It draws the question-- when are we going to stop shaming the victim for being raped and teach men not to rape?
Every Kavanaugh supporter wants to pull the "Why didn't she come forward when it happened?" card. Why didn't she? Maybe because only 0.6% of every 1,000 rapists ever see jail time. 99.4% of men who sexually violate women go free. Women don't report out of fear. Women don't report because those who do get jail time get let out earlier than their sentence entails. Brock Turner, the Stanford swimmer who raped a girl behind a dumpster-- and was physically caught by two witnesses, only served three months of his sentence for his crime. Do you see why women don't come forward now? Do you see why they prefer to keep quiet, instead of being asked what they were wearing, how much they had to drink, and if they were asking for it? Nobody asks for it. No item of clothing justifies the violent actions. Consent is needed no matter how much alcohol is consumed. If you don't hear a yes, then it's a no.
Hopefully, we can get justice for the women out there that truthfully have been assaulted and put down relentlessly by the media for simply wanting attention. Hopefully, one day we can trust in our Government to appoint people to office that aren't sexual predators. Until that day, we can just hope and pray for future generations.
