He Said/She Said

Or rather…
She faces an intense grilling about her character, her life, how she let something like this happen, what she wore, where she was, why she was there…
And, he says it never happened. I wasn’t there. I don’t know this woman.

Of course, I am making assumptions about what happened.
She could be making it up.
Or, as Senator Hatch has already decided even without meeting her or hearing her or knowing anything about her, she may be mistaken.
But…
I do know something about abuse and misconduct.
I know how deep it gets buried.
I have heard victims speak about the shame and the self blame.
I have seen in their face and have heard in their voice how much it hurt and still hurts.
And how much damage it has done.
And, I can’t imagine what it might be like to share all this and more under the glare and judgement of the national stage.

What I find myself wondering about today is this.
Again, I am assuming something happened.
(And, yes I know what they say about assume.)
What if, from the very beginning, Judge Kavanaugh had said…
It may have happened.
If it did, I am sorry.
When I was in high school I acted foolishly.
I partied too much.
I drank too much.
I lived up to the stereotypes that, now, I know are wrong.
I would never want anything like this to happen to my daughters.
I would never want a young man or a man of any age to treat my daughters like this.

I wonder…
If he had said something like this from the beginning would our conversation now be different?
But, he didn’t.
Most men don’t.
What happened 30+ years ago matters.
And, was wrong and should never be tolerated.
But, if something did happen.
Whether it comes out in the hearing, if there is one.
Or, if it comes out in the news.
The lying about it
Happened yesterday.