{"id":28807,"date":"2018-09-28T00:01:26","date_gmt":"2018-09-28T07:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/?p=28807"},"modified":"2018-09-28T00:01:26","modified_gmt":"2018-09-28T07:01:26","slug":"christine-blasey-ford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/christine-blasey-ford\/","title":{"rendered":"Watching Christine Blasey Ford — And Brett Kavanaugh — With a Husband I Can Count On"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Christine<\/a>
Christine Blasey Ford testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, on our TV yesterday morning. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Barbara Falconer Newhall<\/em><\/p>\n

Twenty-seven years ago Jon and I were glued to the radio on our way to Yosemite, listening to the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n

Yesterday we were glued to our television set. This time it was Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh who were testifying<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And at the end of the day, Thursday, Jon and I were as demoralized as we were on the day so long ago when it became clear that Clarence Thomas’s nomination would be confirmed by the Senate, and a powerful man who was clearly guilty of sexual harassment would be sitting on the highest court in the land.<\/p>\n

And there he sits, 27 years later.<\/p>\n

I’ve already stated my objections to Brett Kavanaugh. I believe he bullied a pregnant teen<\/a> last year when he denied her timely access to an abortion. I also object to him on the grounds that he is<\/p>\n

\"Brett<\/a>
Brett Kavanaugh testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, on our TV yesterday afternoon. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

likely to hand down decisions that will threaten the environment, subvert voting rights, erode government’s power to regulate big money interests, and deny women the right to be in charge of their own bodies.<\/p>\n

I’m married to a great guy. He was as outraged as I was at the outcome of the Clarence Thomas Senate hearings back in 1991. And he was as outraged as I was yesterday as we watched Republican Senators proceed to ramrod through Kavanaugh’s confirmation.<\/p>\n

Check out the story I wrote about the Hill-Thomas hearings back in 1991, when I was a columnist at the Oakland Tribune, our kids were small, and I had a husband I could count on.<\/p>\n

Find it at\u00a0“Office Romance in the #MeToo Era — Is It Worth the Risk?”<\/a><\/p>\n

The Confirmation Hearings — The Morning After<\/strong><\/h5>\n

NOTE: I wrote the post above before I went to bed on Thursday, the day of\u00a0 the Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh hearings, and I scheduled it to be posted on Friday. It’s now 1:30 p.m. PST Friday as I write. and I’m still in my pajamas. Couldn’t tear myself away from the little TV in our kitchen to brush my teeth and put on some clothes.<\/p>\n

\"Barbara
Jeff Flake stuck in an elevator and facing women protesting his support for Kavanaugh. News junkie Barbara Newhall still in her PJs following the action on TV. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Things are looking better for the future of\u00a0 comity and cooperation in the Judiciary Committee, and maybe even in the Senate, and maybe even in Washington, D.C., because the heroic Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona (channeling John McCain?) has forced the issue.<\/p>\n

Right now, thanks to Flake, it looks like an FBI investigation of Brett Kavanaugh’s beery past will take place. Hopefully the seasoned investigators at the FBI will be able to get to the bottom of the many allegations against Kavanaugh.<\/p>\n

My thoughts — Kavanaugh’s bullying performance in the Committee yesterday was consistent with the behavior Ford describes from 1982. Did it show him to be guilty? Maybe. Did it show him to be unqualified for the Supreme Court? Definitely.<\/p>\n

Can the FBI come up with evidence demonstrating Kavanaugh’s guilt (or exonerating him completely) in seven short days? Let’s hope so.<\/p>\n

FOLLOW UP: Jeff Flake was not such a big hero after all. It didn’t take much — a flimsy FBI investigation — to give him enough cover to confirm Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination. Now Kavanaugh has been sworn in and I’m sad, sad, sad.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"Brett<\/a><\/p>\n

Christine Blasey Ford vs. Brett Kavanaugh: Jon and I are as demoralized as we were 27 years ago during the Hill-Thomas hearings. Read more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[42,2071,2107,2123,2072,2115,2124,2111],"class_list":["post-28807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-case-of-the-human-condition","tag-metoo","tag-anita-hill","tag-brett-kavanaugh","tag-christine-blasey-ford","tag-clarence-thomas","tag-scotus","tag-senate-judiciary-committee","tag-supreme-court-nominee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28807\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}