REVIVING OPHELIA, Christine Blasey Ford, and what most women know

In 1994 Mary Pipher's book Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls was published. On the New York Times bestseller list for three years, it is still selling well almost 25 years later. It's an excellent book, and painfully relevant to today's news.

In less than an hour the Senate Judiciary Committee will start questioning Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford. Whatever they determine and however they vote, I am convinced that any woman who thinks Dr. Ford's story could not possibly be true has lived a sheltered life indeed.

Actually, I lived an incredibly sheltered life myself, and yet something similar - though considerably milder - happened to me when I was 11 and the boy was 12. During the school day. In the teacher's office. When class was in session, but kids were working on projects and the teacher was distracted. And that was in the bucolic 1950s. By the way, I never told my parents, and I'm feeling really conflicted about mentioning it here, nearly 60 years later.

Most women know that these things happen.

Here's a story from Reviving Ophelia about a 15-year-old girl who was assaulted by a classmate in 1993. Her assault was worse than Dr. Ford's, but look at the parallels:

"She'd been invited to a party by a girl in her algebra class whose parents were out of town. The girl was supposed to stay with a friend, but she had worked out a way to be home. The kids could use her parents' hot tub and stereo system.

"Cassie didn't get invited to many parties, so she accepted the invitation. She planned to leave if things got out of control. She told her mother the truth about her plans, except she didn't mention that the parents were gone....

"The party was okay at first--lots of loud music and sick jokes but Cassie was glad to be at a party. A guy from her lunch period asked her to dance. A cheerleader she barely knew asked her to go to the movies that weekend. But by eleven she wanted to go home. The house was packed with crashers and everyone was drinking. Some kids were throwing up, others were having sex or getting rowdy. One boy had knocked a lamp off a desk and another had kicked a hole through a wall.

"Cassie slipped away to the upstairs bedroom for her coat. She didn't notice that a guy followed her into the room. He knew her name and asked for a kiss. She shook her head no and searched for her coat in the pile on the bed. He crept up behind her and put his hands under her shirt. She told him to quit and tried to push him away. Then things happened very fast. He grabbed her and called her a bitch. She struggled to break free, but he pinned her down and covered her mouth. She tried to fight but was not strong or aggressive enough. He was muscular and too drunk to feel pain when she flailed at him. Nobody downstairs heard anything over the music. In ten minutes it was over."

Cassie, unlike Dr. Ford, told her parents, who called the police. Here's why she might have wished she hadn't.

"The guy who sexually assaulted her had been suspended from the track team pending his trial. His friends were furious at her for getting him in trouble. Other kids thought she led him on, that she had asked for it by being at that party."

If you've ever been a high school girl, you know that rejection by your peers can be the unkindest cut of all.

Maybe you believe Judge Kavanaugh, or maybe you think he's lying, or maybe you think he was too drunk to know what he did. Maybe you believe Dr. Ford, or maybe you think she's lying, or maybe you think it was someone else who assaulted her.

But don't ever say the event couldn't have happened just as Dr. Ford describes it. It could have. Similar events often did. And very likely still do.

One way you can (maybe) help keep Brett Kavanaugh off the Supreme Court

[Collins & Kavanaugh, 8/21/2018]

Have you been keeping up with the campaign to persuade Maine Senator Susan Collins to vote against confirming Brett Kavanaugh? You pledge whatever amount you please--$20.20 is suggested--which will fund her Democratic opponent in 2020 if she votes for confirmation. If she votes against confirmation, you will be charged nothing at all.

I'd heard about the campaign, but I was startled this morning when I learned how much has been raised. Less than a month ago, the organizers were talking about kick-starting an opponent's campaign with, say, $50,000. Last I looked, over $700,000 had been pledged. You can check current totals, read about why a lot of people in Maine oppose BK's nomination, and make your own pledge, if you like, at Crowdpac.

A few things to add, in case you think this is a wonderful or a terrible idea:

• Remember that she's not up for re-election this year. In 2020 she'll be almost 68. Maybe she won't care if she doesn't get to stay in the Senate until she's 74, who knows? If she does care, maybe she'll think that however much this campaign brings in is a drop in the bucket compared to the more than $6 million she raised to get elected in 2014. Or maybe she'll be so offended by all this pressure that she'll vote for confirmation just to show her independence.
• On the other hand, this may worry her. She might not want a Democrat to win her seat. If you're a Republican, you might not want that either. But if you're a Democrat, you might think it's a great idea.
• The media gives a lot of attention to the future of Roe v. Wade. BK might well cast the vote that would reverse that decision. If you think women should choose for themselves, you're no doubt hoping Collins will vote against BK. If you are opposed to legal abortion, you might want BK to be confirmed. 
• On the other hand, you might realize that BK's nomination is about a lot more than abortion.There are other important reasons to hope BK is not confirmed. Today's New York Times editorial,  "Confirmed: Brett Kavanaugh Can't Be Trusted," gives quite a few. Be sure to scroll past the "Related: More on Brett Kavanaugh" interruption and read the latter half of the article, where several serious concerns are raised. Most damning, in my opinion, is this: "He misstates facts under oath, and Republicans cover for him by making it hard, if not impossible, to get the documents proving it."
• Susan Collins's vote could make the difference. 

A man who can't be trusted is not a man I want on the Supreme Court, even if he's a really nice guy. Especially since he'd often have the tie-breaking vote. There are already enough people in Washington, DC, who can't be trusted. We don't need their accomplices on the Supreme Court; we need justices who will hold them accountable. That's what separation of powers is all about. And that's why I contributed to the Crowdpac campaign today.

Click this link to make your provisional contribution.

America's Would-Be Sun King

[Louis XIV. Check out amusing parodies
of this painting here and here.]

"Is it treason? ... It's treason," the president said at the Montana rally last night.

He was talking about the New York Times op-ed piece in which an unnamed White House insider criticized the president for his amorality, the basis for at least a dozen other of his listed failings. If you've only read about the op-ed, but haven't read the actual article, you really need to read it now. It's short. And if you're a Republican, never fear: so is the writer of the op-ed piece.

Interestingly, treason is specifically defined in the Constitution, Article III, Section 3:

Treason against the United States, 

shall consist only in levying War against them, 

or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. 

Criticizing the president is not treason. The president is not the United States. France's King Louis XIV may have said "L'État, c'est moi" (I am the state), but divine right kingship, at least so far, has not been popular here. As a New York Times editorial reminds us, "Twenty months into the job, Mr. Trump has yet to grasp that the highest law of this land is the Constitution, not whoever occupies the Oval Office at any given moment."

In fact, this president seems to be waging war on the Constitution, not preserving, protecting, and defending it as he solemnly swore to do when he took the oath of office (which you can read, if you like: it's in the Constitution, Article II, Section 1). He seems particularly upset with the First Amendment.

"There oughta be a law," he frequently grumbles - not only against people who criticize him, but also against newspapers that publish stories he doesn't like, protesters who oppose him, and religious groups he doesn't like. The First Amendment explicitly disagrees:

Congress shall make no law 

respecting an establishment of religion, 

or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; 

or abridging the freedom of speech, 

or of the press; 

or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, 

and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Christian Trump supporters would be wise to consider that a president who attacks every clause in the First Amendment is not protecting freedom of religion, even if he helps some Christians achieve their current pet goals. Evangelicals' "dream president" (according to Jerry Falwell, Jr.) may well turn out to be their worst nightmare.

The First Amendment protects the nation against tyrants. It may seem nice to have a would-be tyrant on your side right now, but beware. White evangelicals are in serious decline - from 23% to 15% of the population in just 11 years. With a weakened First Amendment, a future tyrant  (or even this one) could easily turn on you.