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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMediocre White Man Falls Apart and Is Promptly Put Back Together
https://www.thecut.com/2018/09/brett-kavanaugh-barely-had-to-try-at-supreme-court-hearing.htmlImagine a woman accused of a crime shows up for a Senate hearing and mostly cries and shouts about how persecuted she feels. Imagine she loses her temper several times during her opening statement, and refuses to answer yes or no questions. Imagine she evades follow-up questions by talking about how often she went to her friends houses and how good her grades were in high school and college. Now, imagine that a black man is accused of a crime, but when hes asked if hed like there to be a further investigation to clear his name, he stammers, Im innocent! and They sprung it on me! Imagine this man repeatedly states that he liked beer when he was younger, and he still likes beer. Do you like beer? he interrupts one senators question to ask. Imagine he admits to drinking to excess, but claims to have had a clear memory of every single thing he did while he was drinking.
A woman who conducted herself in that manner couldnt get an assistant-manager job at Forever21, let alone on the Supreme Court. A black man who behaved that way would be dragged out of the room, or worse much, much worse. The real insult of Thursdays Kavanaugh hearings was the contrast between Dr. Christine Blasey Fords calm, respectful, endlessly helpful testimony and Kavanaughs absolute master class in white-male privilege. Here was the accused, called to vouch for his character. We shouldve seen a solemn, cautious man indicating, with his words and his demeanor, that he takes both the accusations lodged against him and his future role as a Supreme Court Justice seriously enough that hes more than willing to submit himself to the process at hand without becoming temperamental or defensive.
Instead, what we witnessed was a man who clearly believed that he could rage, cry, joke about beer, and parade his familys suffering before our eyes with impunity. He believed that getting into Yale Law School somehow meant that he wasnt capable of sexual assault. The people who get into Yale are the good people, he meant. He didnt even deign to argue that point. He just assumed that we were all on the same page. He assumed that wed think his demeanor was casual and likable, that drinking too much only made him relatable, that yelling only meant that he had clearly been wronged, that crying meant that he was in pain and someone should pay for that. He assumed that we would join him in feeling that someone should be held accountable for bringing a man like himself so low.
GOP senators interrupted the Kavanaugh hearings repeatedly to proclaim them a disgrace. But the real disgrace here is that Brett Kavanaugh is living on an utterly different planet than most of the citizens of the United States. Kavanaughs alternately blundering, messy, enraged, arrogant performance gave us a close-up look at what white fragility and entitlement look like: Even when youre accused of a serious crime, youre the one whos being persecuted. Even when a credible witness has identified you, onlookers should be content in the knowledge that you did regular football workouts and even had some friends who were women. (Friends with women?! Who would befriend them? What a guy!) Even when youre asked about your callous remarks about a womans sexual history with you in a yearbook, you accuse the questioner of dragging your friends name through the mud. Once again, as with Trump, its not about what this man actually did or didnt do. Its about the heartless mob who would dare to drag such things into the light of day, for all to see.
The unspoken shared belief Kavanaugh was working with was that its a white mans God-given right to do whatever he wants behind closed doors. The fact that anyone would call you to the carpet is the biggest crime of all. So of course you never have to express regret over being a cad or a sloppy drunk. Of course you never have to own up to your obvious lies at your previous hearing. Of course you never have address your character or temperament in any meaningful way beyond your achievements. You never have to do more than swear to your God, a white man in the sky, when the white man in front of you asks you to do so. You just know that if the world witnesses the two of you, swearing to your white man God together, theyll say to themselves once and for all, Oh, these are the good ones. These are the ones who love God and get good grades and go to good schools. Innocence and guilt are beside the point, ultimately. Are you willing to play this part? Senator Kennedy essentially asked. Yes I can play this part shamelessly, with impunity, for decades to come, Kavanaugh answered.
-snip-
A woman who conducted herself in that manner couldnt get an assistant-manager job at Forever21, let alone on the Supreme Court. A black man who behaved that way would be dragged out of the room, or worse much, much worse. The real insult of Thursdays Kavanaugh hearings was the contrast between Dr. Christine Blasey Fords calm, respectful, endlessly helpful testimony and Kavanaughs absolute master class in white-male privilege. Here was the accused, called to vouch for his character. We shouldve seen a solemn, cautious man indicating, with his words and his demeanor, that he takes both the accusations lodged against him and his future role as a Supreme Court Justice seriously enough that hes more than willing to submit himself to the process at hand without becoming temperamental or defensive.
Instead, what we witnessed was a man who clearly believed that he could rage, cry, joke about beer, and parade his familys suffering before our eyes with impunity. He believed that getting into Yale Law School somehow meant that he wasnt capable of sexual assault. The people who get into Yale are the good people, he meant. He didnt even deign to argue that point. He just assumed that we were all on the same page. He assumed that wed think his demeanor was casual and likable, that drinking too much only made him relatable, that yelling only meant that he had clearly been wronged, that crying meant that he was in pain and someone should pay for that. He assumed that we would join him in feeling that someone should be held accountable for bringing a man like himself so low.
GOP senators interrupted the Kavanaugh hearings repeatedly to proclaim them a disgrace. But the real disgrace here is that Brett Kavanaugh is living on an utterly different planet than most of the citizens of the United States. Kavanaughs alternately blundering, messy, enraged, arrogant performance gave us a close-up look at what white fragility and entitlement look like: Even when youre accused of a serious crime, youre the one whos being persecuted. Even when a credible witness has identified you, onlookers should be content in the knowledge that you did regular football workouts and even had some friends who were women. (Friends with women?! Who would befriend them? What a guy!) Even when youre asked about your callous remarks about a womans sexual history with you in a yearbook, you accuse the questioner of dragging your friends name through the mud. Once again, as with Trump, its not about what this man actually did or didnt do. Its about the heartless mob who would dare to drag such things into the light of day, for all to see.
The unspoken shared belief Kavanaugh was working with was that its a white mans God-given right to do whatever he wants behind closed doors. The fact that anyone would call you to the carpet is the biggest crime of all. So of course you never have to express regret over being a cad or a sloppy drunk. Of course you never have to own up to your obvious lies at your previous hearing. Of course you never have address your character or temperament in any meaningful way beyond your achievements. You never have to do more than swear to your God, a white man in the sky, when the white man in front of you asks you to do so. You just know that if the world witnesses the two of you, swearing to your white man God together, theyll say to themselves once and for all, Oh, these are the good ones. These are the ones who love God and get good grades and go to good schools. Innocence and guilt are beside the point, ultimately. Are you willing to play this part? Senator Kennedy essentially asked. Yes I can play this part shamelessly, with impunity, for decades to come, Kavanaugh answered.
-snip-
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Mediocre White Man Falls Apart and Is Promptly Put Back Together (Original Post)
highplainsdem
Sep 2018
OP
FM123
(10,053 posts)1. Exactly!
Imagine if a woman came in for a job interview (anywhere) and sobbed and yelled and kept saying how much she likes beer.