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If you’re like the millions of Americans, myself included, who tuned in to the radio or television to hear the testimonies of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, you heard the then Supreme Court Justice nominee give an angry, tearful rant about his innocence and the fact that he was a victim of a vast political conspiracy.
There is different speech you didn’t hear, and will never hear.
It’s the speech that happened on an offshoot of our space-time continuum, in which Brett Kavanaugh, longtime judge, showed wisdom, courage, and strength of character—the same traits that led people to nominate him to such a high office in the first place.
I was fortunate to have heard from inhabitants of that other universe. Their account of Kavanaugh’s famous speech goes something like this:
“Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee:
“I’ve been struggling with the claims made by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, and with knowing how to answer to accusations I strongly feel I am innocent of. Hearing her claims gave me incredible insight into the experience of so many men and women who have stood before me, pleading their cases against all the odds. It may come as a surprise to you but I have never suffered anything like this before. As a white man, I’ve been given the benefit of the doubt more times than I can count. So all this came as a terrible shock to me and my family. After my long and distinguished career in law, nobody could have expected an incident like this to come up from my teen years and block my ability to rise to the nation’s highest court, my highest dream. But that’s the reality I am facing today.
“For the sake of my family, for the sake of our country, I think it best that I announce my withdrawal and step down from this process. I believe in the neutrality of this office, and I am sorely disappointed to see what a political circus these hearings have become. I will not dishonor you all with my theories about how or why that occurred. Besides, I would prefer to focus on the individual who, like me, has put a great deal on the line to be here today.
“Dr. Ford, I remember going to a lot of parties but I don’t remember doing any of those things to you. But it was thirty-six years ago. And I was still a kid. It is possible that an event—which has been seared into your memory—could have been forgotten by mine. I wish I could give you a more detailed apology but the truth is I have no memory of ever having hurt you, and therefore I presume myself innocent. Could anyone else, in my shoes, do otherwise than to presume himself innocent of a crime he does not remember ever committing? I would beg everyone hearing this to keep in mind that our constitution guarantees that a person should always be presumed innocent until proven guilty, and Dr. Ford’s testimony is not in itself enough evidence to convict me. I only wish it were. I wish I could put an end to this whole debacle. Whether that end comes in shame or with vindication no longer matters to me. I’m just concerned about the people who are being hurt by this. One of those people is Dr. Ford. Then there are Dr. Ford’s family members and, sadly, my own family and friends.
“If it is possible to imagine a worse scenario than the traumatic experiences recounted by Dr. Ford today, I would like to ask everyone here to reflect a moment on the potential danger of my confirmation to the Supreme Court in light of all this controversy. You could make this a political fight, win, confirm me, and I could serve my country willingly. But then what would happen? Would the people I serve ever be able to trust my neutrality, my judgment, my judicial restraint, my wisdom? No. We would all be letting the American people down, and turning the Supreme Court into something it was never supposed to be: a political pawn.
“Therefore, I humbly thank you for bestowing upon me the great honor of considering me for this high office. I have tried to live my entire adult life as a judge deserving of such an honor, but like so many people I cannot pretend to have had a life completely free of drinking or other moments of weakness. I am human. But perhaps there is another individual out there who will be more deserving of so high an honor. Perhaps another person will climb to this office with the full support of both parties in the House and Senate, like so many Supreme Court justices before us. Let us preserve the neutrality of that branch of government by finding someone whom all parties can agree is worthy.
“I am honored that, of the many thousands of judges in our nation, you chose me. I will never forget the faith that so many of you have shown in me. Please keep that faith by allowing me, my family, Dr. Ford and her family, to recover from this whole episode in peace. Please allow all of us—including Dr. Ford—to return to living our lives in peace.
“Thank you, and may you have a successful search for our next justice on the Supreme Court.”
My sources from the alternate universe tell me there were many tears in that room, but they were not Kavanaugh’s tears. They were the tears of the many senators who had supported him and who still believed in his fitness for the court. He will not be forgotten, they say, but they appreciate his sacrifice for the good of the nation. And other justices have been found and are on their way towards nomination and confirmation. Trust has been restored, they tell me. Seeing this accused man gracefully step down and respect his accuser’s story was a beautiful affirmation of exactly the kind of character people want in a Supreme Court justice. Brett Kavanaugh may not be sitting on the Supreme Court in that alternate universe, but he has, in his own way, helped to define what the future Court will be. And it is a positive future.
As for Kavanaugh, it is believed that, after all this blows over and he is allowed to return to his former career, he will enjoy a bright future of his own. He has shown himself to be wise and compassionate, and continues to have many friends and allies in powerful places. He will land on his feet. He may even be invited once again to the post he so dearly coveted. After all, who wouldn’t want a judge with such deep personal convictions, tested by so many trials? Paradoxically, his wise decision to withdraw has made him only the more desired for the job.
That is what the lucky alternate universe inhabitants say.
I wish I could join them and see it for myself. But I am stuck in this universe, where women have lost yet another fragile strand of hope. It frayed and broke under the realization that nobody in this government, in this universe, cares what women say, or what women suffer. Because in this universe, there is no such hero as the one who brought the alternate universe’s senate to tears. In this universe, yet another insensitive white man has just been handed lifelong power to affect women’s lives.
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