Judge Brett Kavanaugh, a brilliant and good man.
I've been pondering the action going on in the Senate the last few days regarding Judge Brett Kavanaugh and his nomination to the Supreme Court. I take great issue with what is happening and the way it has been unfolding but, at the same time, I don't want this to be a political commentary, I want it to deal with what is just and right. So, I've decided to address it from the perspective of what if I were undergoing the same stress as this good man under my own circumstances. I think it's important to discuss since the impact has the potential to create horrible precedents for law and order in the future and the possibility for anyone to get fair treatment regarding something so important as a confirmed appointment to the United States Supreme Court. Therefore, I will discuss the matter like it is a dream, my own dream, a dream that unfolds as a nightmare.
*******************
I had a dream. I was living my life as I always did, working hard, holding down a good job which required upstanding moral and social values and for which I had been recognized as being fair, reasonable and compassionate in the things I was doing. I worked in an important management position with a large company that had a stellar reputation. I was respected in my community, was reasonably well known in the community and had no background blemishes on my record. In fact, from my earlier military service days I held a Top Secret security clearance which, if you understand the military, requires some pretty stringent investigations to be passed successfully. I was also active in my church, a Sunday school teacher and got along with neighbors and associates in a very positive way.
One morning as I came into work, my supervisor, a very senior management official called me into his office. Normally a very light-hearted and cheerful man, he looked serious and grave. He asked me to sit, then began his words.
"Jim," he began , "It's come to our corporate attention that a woman who claims she went to high school with you has submitted a claim that you behaved inappropriately with her back in your school days. Apparently, you will be served with a notice by a court officer, but I wanted you to know because our corporate headquarters has been advised and they are very, very concerned. As you know, they expect all off us, past, present and future, to be clear as a whistle, reputation wise, and if this can't be resolved quietly and off the record l will have no option but to dismiss you. See if you can't work this out and get back with me."
I was in shock. There were no offers of help, no indication that he knew this must be false and he dismissed me like I was a homeless man asking him to be a corporate officer. l took the day off, went home to await the letter and called my wife who was at a meeting. She gave me total support and said she'd come home as soon as she could.
In the mail was a letter from a law office back in Virginia. My hands shook as I opened it because I was so upset and, yes, angry. In the letter was a vague complaint, filed by a woman who I didn't know claiming that back in 1967 in high school in Richmond I had groped her inappropriately at a party at a student's home. I read it again, realizing that not only was I not in high school in 1967 but I never attended school in Richmond. I called the law office, explained the situation to a legal assistant who put me in touch with an attorney. She listened, then said in a matter-of -fact fashion that my response needed to be in writing, to which I replied it would once I was provided the details of when, where and exactly what I was being accused of. She abruptly hung up the phone but only after saying that I had seven business days to file a response, even though I didn't know what I supposedly had done.
I was lying there in my dream wondering what I should do next and how could I deal with something so unreal, so untrue and so evil. Luckily for me, I awoke from the dream and there next to me was my loving wife and partner in life, smiling at me as she asked what the bad dream was all about.
****************
Back to reality and you probably are thinking, well, something like that can't happen in the real world. And I think of Judge Kavanaugh, a man who has been vetted by the FBI on six different occasions, a man of stellar reputation and one who was put through a completely repugnant Senate confirmation hearing complete with vile remarks from Senators and obnoxious and foul protesters who should have been cleared from the room. He also met for two long meetings with the person who waited until the eleventh hour to put forth a complaint when it should have been clearly discussed during the entire preceding process. And now we are learning that the complaining party doesn't even want to come forward with her story in front of the Senate, with her attorney saying she has no responsibility to come forth with her charges because it is up to the judge to prove his innocence.
America, if this is what we've come to in the seat of power of the United States of America, we don't have to worry about our democratic republican government being destroyed for tyranny has already taken hold. We are a government of laws, not men, and when mortal men are given unfettered ability to overrule law, the nation is dead. I pray that someone in authority in Washington speaks up and addresses this situation for just what it is. And think about this from your own life and answer this question. What would you do and how would you feel if this was happening to you?
*******************
I had a dream. I was living my life as I always did, working hard, holding down a good job which required upstanding moral and social values and for which I had been recognized as being fair, reasonable and compassionate in the things I was doing. I worked in an important management position with a large company that had a stellar reputation. I was respected in my community, was reasonably well known in the community and had no background blemishes on my record. In fact, from my earlier military service days I held a Top Secret security clearance which, if you understand the military, requires some pretty stringent investigations to be passed successfully. I was also active in my church, a Sunday school teacher and got along with neighbors and associates in a very positive way.
One morning as I came into work, my supervisor, a very senior management official called me into his office. Normally a very light-hearted and cheerful man, he looked serious and grave. He asked me to sit, then began his words.
"Jim," he began , "It's come to our corporate attention that a woman who claims she went to high school with you has submitted a claim that you behaved inappropriately with her back in your school days. Apparently, you will be served with a notice by a court officer, but I wanted you to know because our corporate headquarters has been advised and they are very, very concerned. As you know, they expect all off us, past, present and future, to be clear as a whistle, reputation wise, and if this can't be resolved quietly and off the record l will have no option but to dismiss you. See if you can't work this out and get back with me."
I was in shock. There were no offers of help, no indication that he knew this must be false and he dismissed me like I was a homeless man asking him to be a corporate officer. l took the day off, went home to await the letter and called my wife who was at a meeting. She gave me total support and said she'd come home as soon as she could.
In the mail was a letter from a law office back in Virginia. My hands shook as I opened it because I was so upset and, yes, angry. In the letter was a vague complaint, filed by a woman who I didn't know claiming that back in 1967 in high school in Richmond I had groped her inappropriately at a party at a student's home. I read it again, realizing that not only was I not in high school in 1967 but I never attended school in Richmond. I called the law office, explained the situation to a legal assistant who put me in touch with an attorney. She listened, then said in a matter-of -fact fashion that my response needed to be in writing, to which I replied it would once I was provided the details of when, where and exactly what I was being accused of. She abruptly hung up the phone but only after saying that I had seven business days to file a response, even though I didn't know what I supposedly had done.
I was lying there in my dream wondering what I should do next and how could I deal with something so unreal, so untrue and so evil. Luckily for me, I awoke from the dream and there next to me was my loving wife and partner in life, smiling at me as she asked what the bad dream was all about.
****************
Back to reality and you probably are thinking, well, something like that can't happen in the real world. And I think of Judge Kavanaugh, a man who has been vetted by the FBI on six different occasions, a man of stellar reputation and one who was put through a completely repugnant Senate confirmation hearing complete with vile remarks from Senators and obnoxious and foul protesters who should have been cleared from the room. He also met for two long meetings with the person who waited until the eleventh hour to put forth a complaint when it should have been clearly discussed during the entire preceding process. And now we are learning that the complaining party doesn't even want to come forward with her story in front of the Senate, with her attorney saying she has no responsibility to come forth with her charges because it is up to the judge to prove his innocence.
America, if this is what we've come to in the seat of power of the United States of America, we don't have to worry about our democratic republican government being destroyed for tyranny has already taken hold. We are a government of laws, not men, and when mortal men are given unfettered ability to overrule law, the nation is dead. I pray that someone in authority in Washington speaks up and addresses this situation for just what it is. And think about this from your own life and answer this question. What would you do and how would you feel if this was happening to you?
RSS Feed