Kavanaugh Confirmed: Is This How It's Supposed To Be?
Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to be the Supreme Court justice, but is anyone surprised?
Watching Judge Brett Kavanaugh on the stand has been one of the most titillating current events I've seen in a while. Observing the sheer ignorance of people has been shocking. But in the end, I can't say I'm shocked at the outcome of his confirmation vote.
If you haven't been keeping up with the news, here's an overview. The Supreme Court justice nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, was being accused of sexual assault when he was in college. Many people tried to argue that "he was young" or "it was college." Frankly, you can't justify that behavior. And if we are making it acceptable that a Supreme Court justice can be like any cruddy college kid, then we need to reevaluate who we want in ourSupreme Court.
Saturday Night Live did a cold open, parodying the trial of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, and it is so accurate and hysterical that it's a little disconcerting. So, if you want to know how the trial went, I can't recommend this skit enough.
In the end, Kavanaugh was confirmed to be the Supreme Court justice after a painfully close vote of 50:48. And because of the way politics work, opposers of Kavanaugh are being painted as mobs trying to destroy someone's life, and supporters are seen as ignorant people blindly praising someone because they hold the same ideals. Again, I'm not surprised.
Rather than looking at Kavanaugh and the allegations against him specifically, I took into consideration the world around him and how it would potentially shape the outcome of his confirmation. Naturally, the first thing I look at is the president.
President Trump himself has faced several sexual harassment allegations, most of which can easily be found on YouTube. Without even looking at the number of sexual harassment allegations towards him, what is almost more striking is how he treats them.
Like the time he mocked the #MeToo movement.
Like the time he attacked the allegations against Kavanaugh.
Like the time he mocked his own accusers for being too scared to come forward.
Like the time he threatened to sue everyone who accused him of sexual harassment or assault because of the fake allegations (even though there are videos of Trump talking about his unwanted advances).
If this is the standard, if this is the icon of the American people, if this is whom we trust to appoint the Supreme Court justice, did we expect Kavanaugh not to be confirmed in this culture of dismissing and not talking about sexual harassment and assault?
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to matter how many people come forward or how many celebrities stand up as beacons against sexual assault if we can't make our own lawmakers and executors truly talk about the problem, nothing will really change. However, these are the first steps. Now, it's up to the American people to campaign to their legislators to make true change.
PSA: the midterm elections are coming up soon, register to vote and make your voice heard!
