Now that the Kavanaugh confirmation for the Supreme Court is over, liberals tell us that it is not over. They insist that because he was not legitimately approved, neither he nor his decisions will ever be legitimate. He will forever be tainted by the charges leveled against him by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
But is this true? Is this what occurred with Justice Clarence Thomas? Are ordinary citizens continually questioning decisions where Thomas was the swing vote? The answer, if we are honest, is No. Only when extraneous political issues arise do people recall the circumstances of his confirmation.
If anything, it was the reputation of his accuser, Anita Hill, which was tainted. She pretty much slipped from view and is not called back to memory—except to provide context for situations such as the Kavanaugh affair.
Today I wish to suggest that if anyone (besides a raft of Democrat Senators) will be tainted by the recent confirmation circus, it is Ford. Heretofore almost everyone has been extremely solicitous of her feelings. No one on either side of the political aisle has wanted to be accused of insensitivity.
I, however, am about to be extremely insensitive. I will not hold back from asking embarrassing questions. I will not refrain from following awkward implications. Others may have treated Ford like a tender flower that would wilt under the slightest pressure: I will not.
To begin with, I am a college professor. Ford is also a college professor. Had she behaved in a college committee the way she did in front of the senate’s Judiciary Committee, I would have been deeply offended. In fact, I would have been outraged by the effrontery of her puerile comportment.
Before Ford appeared in Washington, we were told that, as a private citizen, she was not accustomed to the public limelight. She would therefore need special accommodations lest she be intimidated by the spectacle. These modifications were duly provided.
Nonetheless, I was puzzled. Why would she be intimidated by appearing on a public stage? This is what college professors do for a living. We always have audiences before which we perform and that judge our presentations. Indeed, many of us revel in the theatricalics of teaching. I, for one, am a shameless ham.
Anyway, once she arrived on the congressional set, I was taken aback by her presentation of self. This was not a fifty-year-old woman. This was not a full professor at an American College. What I heard—and saw—was a little girl. The once vulnerable fifteen year old had returned with her tiny little voice and helpless body posture.
There was no assertiveness in her deportment. There was no looking her questioners in the eye. It was all averted gazes and I can’t remember what happened two weeks ago, although I am one hundred percent certain of what took place thirty-five years ago.
Here is what drove me crazy. As a professor, I know how Ford’s little girl act would play in a college classroom. No professor could survive a single hour of such nonsense. Students test their teachers. They always ask tough questions and challenge evasive answers. Then they make life miserable for those who fail.
The Ford we saw on television cannot possibly be the Ford who lasted many years in the academic arena. Her whimpering defenselessness had obviously been intentionally staged. It was plainly meant to elicit sympathy and ward off difficult questions. Surrounded, as she was, by a bodyguard of Democratic politicians, the tactic largely succeeded.
For me, on the other hand, her campy playacting undermined her credibility. It reduced her testimony to a sham. Even so, I don’t understand her motives. She may actually have false memories of what happed back when. As a former clinician, I know that bogus recollections are remarkably common.
My chief concern, however, is not with her, but with those manipulating her. They were not interested in the truth. They did not want us to make an accurate assessment of Ford’s accusations. Their goal was political advantage and nothing more.
But my other concern is with the general public. How could so many otherwise reasonable people have listened to Ford and not been skeptical? Have we, as a nation, decided that it makes no sense to function as grown-ups? Do we no longer judge authenticity, but simply take people at face value?
If so, we are in worse trouble than our present cultural impasse. If we have become a country of uncritical children who are easily swayed by amateur dramatics, heaven help us. What is the next load of –-- that the political demagogues plan to dump on our doorstep?
Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Kennesaw State University
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