Living, Learning, and Timelines
If you’re reading this, by the time you’ve read this, more will be known about whether Judge Brett Kavanaugh will hold the lifetime Supreme Court seat many people believe should already be occupied by Judge Merrick Garland.Politics involved in the looming 2016 election trumped President Obama’s right to choose a successor for Antonin Scalia and, in his opening remarks at the Senate hearing about Judge Kavanaugh, Ted Cruz seemed to want the 2016 election to override the Democrats’ right to question Trump’s nominee. Cruz stated that, when the American people voted for Donald Trump, they also voted for his full- transparency, pre-released list of SCOTUS candidates.
Memory fails us all at times.
On May 16, 2016, Fox News’ political website announced aspiring GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s list of 11 Supreme Court candidates. Fox News stated, “The eight men and three women on the list are all white. Trump’s list is also notable for the names that don’t appear. It omits two of the biggest stars in the conservative legal world, Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the federal appeals court in Washington, and former Bush administration Solicitor General Paul Clement.”
Further, despite Ted Cruz’s inference, the American people did not pre-approve the actual names on Donald Trump’s 2016 pre-election SCOTUS list because, on November 8, 2016, although Donald Trump received 306 Electoral College votes while Hillary Clinton received 270, 48% of the people voted for Clinton while 45.9% of the people voted for Donald Trump. Mrs. Clinton received 2,868,519 more votes than Mr. Trump.
Both backtracking and jumping ahead in this timeline, it was on July 3, 2018, that the Associated Press reported that “Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge and Amul Thapar were each given 45-minute interviews with the President on Monday” (July 2, 2018).
On July 10, 2018, President Donald Trump announced that Judge Brett Kavanaugh was his pick for the US Supreme Court.
And, it was in 1215 that King John of England was forced by rebellious barons to sign the Magna Carta. My first thought is often that the Magna Carta was signed in 1066. 1066 is the date the Normans invaded England. When I watch “Jeopardy,” I always get that wrong.
Anyway, twenty seven years ago, I participated in a rebellion.
In 1991, on the advice of a therapist, I attended a week-long program geared toward co-dependents. I was placed in a group with abuse victims, some of whom were sexual abuse victims and I let the group know that I didn’t relate to them, which I am certain endeared me to them. The program had rules: no media and no aerobic exercise. We were there to feel our feelings and “sit” with our emotions. Leisurely paced walks were allowed but only if three or more people walked together.
The rebellion happened mid-week. After dinner, several of us, during our permitted leisurely group walk, walked to the parking lot where one of us, I don’t remember who, turned on the power to his/her car radio so we could find out how Clarence Thomas’ confirmation hearings were going. It’s kind of a blur, although I believe I remember one of our group, an intense older man from the Pacific NW, criticized both Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill. I didn’t know what I knew or thought about Anita Hill. I remember feeling disconnected, one of the reasons I first sought therapy. I remember the parking lot was dark. One car had license plates displaying white mountains on a green background. I believe I asked about the plates and the man from the NW laughed at me and said something to the effect, “do you think I drove here for this?”
Memory can be a blur, particularly a memory of an assault because most assaults surprise the victim. Some recovered memories start out as a feeling that slowly connects to someone or something, without much detail, and lacking chronology. One of my therapists suggested I put together a memory timeline. At the time, I wondered why I should, could or would do such an exercise when I remembered nothing significant enough to write about. Back in 1991, I never imagined that I would discover I had a brain injury or that I would spend as much time as I do today, reading about trauma, brain function, memory loss and neurogenesis because I now accept that those issues are my issues. Things and people change and not necessarily in that order.
Christine Blasey Ford, who maintains Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, at age 17 assaulted her when she was 15, has a Ph.D. in Psychology. The Washington Post reports that Dr. Ford’s research focuses on trauma, memory and resilience.
(I sometimes cringe at the word “resilience.” Resilience, like smiling, can become forced and out of sync with one’s present experience. My experience is that you heal when you heal, and some wounds never heal.)
Many people wonder why Dr. Ford didn’t come forward sooner. Maybe the 15- year- old Christine Blasey knew that her name would be dragged through the mud, while today, citizen Dr. Christine Blasey Ford feels she must speak out because a lifetime seat on the highest court in the land might go to someone who might intrinsically value male over female. By the time anyone reads this, Dr. Ford will have spoken for herself.
We live and learn.
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