Sen. Hirono Should Step Up for Justice
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
As a woman and as an American, I’m dismayed by the message Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) delivered this week telling “men of this country and the men in this committee” to “just shut up and step up” to the allegation of sexual assault from 36 years ago against Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Let’s be clear, these allegations are just that — allegations. They are not facts backed up by evidence, and they are unsubstantiated by eyewitnesses. Judge Kavanaugh, under oath, has categorically denied the claims. And yet, Sen. Hirono has served as judge and jury in condemning not only Judge Kavanaugh, but all men as complicit in the process.
Make no mistake, this is a form of sexism of an insidious nature. In her rush to condemn, Sen. Hirono is exploiting the sexes, advocating a culture that favors, without questions, the accuser over the accused (even when wrongly accused). Her misguided view lacks any standard of justice. She is making a mockery of the judicial system and the oath she took to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States that expresslyprotects due process.
We should fear for our children — girls and boys — and the message this sends. What exactly is the purpose of Sen. Hirono asking men to “shut up and step up”? Truth? Justice? Hardly. Ironically, truth is exactly what the 11 Republican “old white men” on the Senate Judiciary Committee are trying to seek. Since learning of these 11thhour allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, which Sen. Hirono’s own colleague, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California), concealed for months, the Senate Judiciary Committee has set out to investigate these claims, as is their obligation under Senate rules. Chairman Chuck Grassley has offered any way possible for this accuser, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, to be interviewed and/or to testify in public or private. This offer has so far gone unaccepted (but he continues graciously to maintain the offer open).
Senate Democrats are looking more and more complicit in colluding with her handlers to set the terms and conditions under which her testimony might be heard to further their ultimate objective of delaying the nomination until after the election and ultimately derailing it altogether.
Make no mistake, too many women have faced sexual assault without the confidence of due process to come forward. But Sen. Hirono’s rant, essentially condemning the male race as abusers first, disregards the very standards of justice that underpin civility and our freedom. Yes, the #MeToo era has merit, but not at the expense and erosion of the foundations of our democracy. Sen. Hirono should step up for justice, for women and for men, and perform her duty to uphold the Constitution that she swore under oath to defend.
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That is the fatal flaw with the social justice narrative, that only results count to remedy grievance. There is no search for truth just a wrong to fix a wrong.
"As a woman and as an American, I’m dismayed by the message Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) delivered this week telling “men of this country and the men in this committee” to “just shut up and step up” to the allegation of sexual assault from 36 years ago against Judge Brett Kavanaugh."
Well, if you're so dismayed by her message, maybe you should have fucking stepped up already and addressed the HUGE disparity we've had for CENTURIES where the male is believed and the woman is most often dismissed as too "emotional", "frail" or not as "trustworthy" as the males around her. If Mazies message is too harsh for your sensitive wittle ears, maybe you can show her how equal the sexes really are in America with some statistics. Maybe start with male vs female pay which of course is equal, right? Maybe you can start with males vs females in our legislative branch? They make up half of our population, why are they not half of our legislature? Why hasn't there been a female President yet? Are there none that have been worthy of that position? Or is it that men are just so much better at it?
Yes, these "allegations" are just that, unproven allegations. But they are as reliable as any other Americans testimony whether male or female. When Kevin Spacey was accused, with the same amount of proof as the accuser of Brett Kavanaugh, he lost his job as a fake President. Now we are considering giving a lifetime judicial appointment to a person who has been credibly accused of attempted rape to our highest court and anyone who doesn't take the accusation seriously is just a partisan piece of shit who just wants Kavanaugh confirmed for the slight chance he'll push his Christian beliefs into supreme court rulings contrary to the constitution. Those kinds of pieces of shit don't deserve to call themselves patriotic Americans.
The problem you have is you say you believe her based ONLY on an anonymous letter written 36 years after the fact where, even in her letter, she does not recall the place, the year, the time, who was there, etc.
I don't think anyone has said they do not want to hear her. Hell the Senate judiciary is bending over backwards to accommodate almost every condition she wants, even going to delay the hearing five times.
Kavanaugh says...I didn't do it and you say...YOU LIE!!!
All emotion...no facts.
Where in my comment do I say "You lie!"?
All I suggest is that if, for the last 6,000 years of recorded history, men's word has been given at a minimum twice the weight of a woman's, then doing the reverse for a while can't do any more harm than has already been done.
Sure, you can say "What's done is done, what's in the past is in the past, now we need to make sure we apply proper justice and seek definitive proof before burning a "man" at the proverbial stake" "Two wrongs don't make a right you know..."
And it's true, two wrongs don't make a right, but the way women have been fucked over for the last several thousand years I think they are entitled to be believed whatever the consequences. Now, I don't condone anyone lying, I think every woman should tell the truth about how they've been treated, and that we as a society, in general, believe them unless facts refute their and their friends/witnesses testimonies.
What have men relied on throughout history to have society believe their side of the story and not the woman? Emotion, and the fact they could control the facts, that's what a patriarchy does. You believe what they tell you to believe because that's the way it is and that's the way it shall always be, or so patriarchs will tell you. I'm just suggesting patriarchies are just as worthless as any other type of government that puts all the power in unchecked hands because of some random bias like gender, gender identity, race, height, weight, faith or the lack thereof.
So let's recap what we have here...
On one hand.....One woman makes a claim through an anonymous letter to a Congresswoman then to a Senator. That Senator outs her and the games begin. The claimant says through her "therapist" there were 4 boys in the room but in her letter, she states 2. Within hours of being outed, the claimant has 2 far left wing "lawyers" come out to be her mouthpiece. We have not seen the original letter, we have not seen any video of this claimant in public, with the exception of a grainy picture and another of her holding a "not my President" poster board. She claims she is afraid of flying and wants to drive across country, but there are reports that she is already on the east coast. The demands for her to testify change hour to hour.
The Senate committee has interviewed as many as 6 so called witnesses, where all of them deny any of the claimants claims are true, and one woman who posed on social media that she heard about the party shortly after it happened, then deleted that post when it was whispered to her that, in the claimants original letter, she said that she did not say anything to anyone until at least 2012, 30 years later. That same woman then posted that what she did served her purpose.
On the other hand....Judge Kavanaugh states that he was not at any party the claimant says and that there is no way he did what she is alleging......
But Senator Hirono believes the accuser.
No....not a political stunt at all. s/
But if someone accused her of wrongdoing, she'd deny the accusation, attack her accuser's credibility, refuse to resign and demand the full benefits of due process before being subjected to punishment. Just like anyone would.
There's no doubt that a guilty perp or an innocent party would both deny the allegations, but that's not the issue. The real question is why are conservatives in general still engaged in a pattern of discrediting, trivializing, demonizing, bullying and slut-shaming the victims of sexual assault a mere 27 years after a misogynist and sexual harasser was confirmed to SCOTUS?
And why don't conservatives understand the consequences of failing to fully and properly investigate the allegations?
Hill almost certainly perjured herself at the hearing, or revealed herself to be an idiot. Besides changing the allegations of what Thomas did over the course of a week, her excuses for why she kept following Thomas from job to job would be tough to believe from a high school dropout, let alone a lawyer with an ivy league education.
The left doesn't like to talk about that.
I find Hill's claims not only far more credible than Thomas' denials but there were several other sexual harassment victims who the committee refused to hear, including Angela Wright, Sukari Hardnett and Moira Smith . There were also quite a few people who corroborated Hill's claims including Thomas' friend Kaye Savage and Marguerite Donnelly and her husband. Even Thomas' aide Mike Middleton substantiated parts of Hill's claims, as did Thomas' friends when he was at Yale.
The bigger question is why haven't conservatives evolved at all on this issue in the intervening 27 years? You don't have to believe the claims made by a victim but the conservative's habit of discrediting, trivializing, demonizing, bullying and slut-shaming the victims of sexual assault hasn't changed one bit.
Did you know you are repeating a LIE? And whether you understand it or not, women go through these harassments throughout their lives to varying degrees. If you read about Kavanaugh's college days, its clear this behavior would be common, his friend wrote a damn book on it and plenty of things are public. Things are judged different today than they were even last year (let alone decades ago) and women have finally had enough. Not our fault if men still don't get it. My generation didn't do enough in the past, but now the damn has burst and you won't be putting that water back. If we weren't personally impacted we know plenty of women who were. The senate better watch themselves. I think more women are about to be elected. And being in a currently red district, we are primed to flip, for the first time in like, forever. For a young woman.
I honestly don't know what you're talking about unless those are your words for being reasonably skeptical of one woman's hole-filled story.
What would you have them investigate beyond what they are already doing? The accuser has named multiple witnesses and every one of them has submitted a statement to the committee saying they don't remember or categorically deny the events she alleges. Not one person has been able to corroborate her story. There are no more alleged witnesses and no physical evidence is available. All that's left is to hear her testimony and allow the accused to respond.
The FBI should do what they do best - interview the parties under penalty of law and perform an investigation to find any corroborating evidence or supporting statements from other classmates.
Now that more of Kavanaugh's victims are coming forward they'll either need to do that or withdraw his nomination. Even then Kavanaugh is screwed if he wants to keep his current job on the federal bench.
Looks like the nation was spared another conservative perv.
My understanding is that statements have been submitted to the Senate committee. I would expect that those statements would include a signature declaring that the contents are true under penalty of perjury. I don't know that for sure, but they wouldn't have any value otherwise.
Like what after 35 years? A rumpled bedspread? His fingerprints on her face? I wouldn't count on Instagram being any help.
Again, like what? The people she claims as eye witnesses deny her statements. Anything else would be hearsay. Anyone who claimed that they heard her talk about it at the time would make a liar of her because she claims that the first time she told anyone was in therapy in 2012.
I would dispute the assertion that any of them were "victims." They voluntarily got hammered at parties that they knew going in would be raunchy and 35 years later we're supposed to be horrified that something sexually rude happened? Sorry, but even if we take the accusations as true (and I said this days ago about Blasey-Ford), I don't believe for a second that they ever felt victimized until the day before yesterday or thereabouts when they had a chance to get famous.
I also don't believe that all the people commenting and clutching their pearls have no clue what happens at college parties. I don't yet have a reason to believe that he actually forced himself on anyone in a genuine assault or rape. The stuff I see reported is the common stuff of playful drunk teens.
To be clear, I'm not suggesting all high school or college kids engage in this crap. And I don't personally condone it. I myself went to parties and got really drunk but never quite engaged in this kind of sexual play. But my eyes are open. I know this stuff happens. And if these parties were as notorious as they claim, then these girls went to these parties seeking out exactly what they got. I do not feel the least bit bad for them.
He should lose it if he did in fact lie during confirmation.
Not getting confirmed isn't punishment.
Of course it is. Because absent this charge, he would be approved without questioned. Furthermore, he is still a sitting judge on the 1st (D.C.) Circuit. Do you really think he can be declared to be a sexual predator and keep that job?
Only because of partisanship. There were other instances of him lying to the Senate. For example, his denial that he didn't knowingly use information stolen from Democrats emails.
It doesn't bother you that he lied? He shouldn't be sitting on any court.
You simply can't prove that. Not even the Senate thinks that.
I sure can prove it. His definitions of boof and devils triangle are demonstrably wrong. He clearly forwarded stolen democratic emails that contained clear indicators that it was not obtained legitimately.
The whole of senate does not agree with you. Several senators have stated he lied.
E.A So only one side uses " lies " as tools of the trade?
I didn't say that now did I?
Nope I did not.
E.A Ok Help me out here then..
Who if any , used lies for what purpose and what is the " Greater Good "?
Wafting?
LOL Meant to type Waiting, but wafting is more apropos!
The greater good is to not have a liar on the supreme court. Especially one who half the country does not want to see on the SCOTUS.
E.A ok so now you did use " Liar " we are in agreement to that!
So tell me what about the Rights of the " Other 50% "?
And then::
Please show me when the " Judge " lied about Not Knowing Ford?
E.A All my Studies of the Election reports of the US of A, Show that No one was ever elected that was liked by more then about 32% of the Populace, if any have a different report I would love a Link to it!!
IE: The Person Put forth by either party almost never is unanimous, so that is less then 50% of the Parties supporters.
No Party has Ever Won with say more then 52% of the Vote , so the Question to be asked is what % of the Citizens VOTE, so see the ?
Did he claim he didn't know her? I haven't heard that, so I can't confirm or deny that he lied about that.
That is not true when it comes to confirm and consent Many justices have been confirmed by the whole Senate.
E.A My Bad, I thought you said you watched the hearings, I have I am sure you can get the Recordings in many Sites, please watch them and let us know, many thanks!
HINT: The Last Two Hours of the Judges response will do I would think!
E.A Please IN Context!
I am talking about Elections for President, not Judges!
But I am willing to Discuss Judges if that is your wish!
E.A The Part I read that made me think you did watch it
" I take it you didn't watch the hearing yesterday. Google kavanaughs lies during confirmation. "
E.A According to the " We The People " Document that is the way for it.
According to that " Good Book " there is a different way!
and Most " Tribal Peoples " Practise that way!
According to the " Evolutionist " it is Survival of the Fittest!
I did watch the vast majority of the hearing. I did not see the end.
I don't think we know that for sure. There was already some softening of support for kavanaugh.
I don't think one who has lied under oath should be allowed to remain a judge. Perjury is a felony.
E.A SO now that you have you seen the part where he said he Never met her? so we have a retraction now?
She's a menace to the Constitution.
She said today she thinks Kavanaugh's guilty because he's a conservative.
She unfit to serve on a jury for shoplifting, let alone act as a US Senator.
What part of Hirono's comments do you disagree with? Her accurate claim that men comprise the vast majority of sexual assailants or her demand for an FBI investigation?
The article doesn't actually say what part of Hirono's comments she disagreed with. I suspect you didn't even bother to listen to her comments but are just reading about it from a nutty right wing Christian hate group like "Concerned Women For America".......an anti-LGBT hate group which hates gays so much that they even opposed the Violence Against Women Act because it gave LGBT folks some protection from domestic violence. They're bigoted and superstitious loons and it's rather amusing that you seeded them given the context of rape and sexual assault.
Oh boy, that won't go far. Women today are rejecting that. They don't like the way the old men in power wield power over the most private personal decisions, from politicians to religions to employers, all have more more input in certain decisions pertaining to women only. They don't accept that old adage 'boys will be boys'. I'm so proud of them. It took longer than I expected, but they are stepping up like champions. Even a conservative woman can't shine that misogynistic gop turd.
LOL. Perhaps you can explain why they oppose the Violence Against Women Act? Here are a few hints to get you started:
They certainly revealed themselves to be a bunch of dumb bigots who run an anti-LGBT hate group.
Moreover they proved that they don't actually give a crap about the safety of women or any victims of domestic violence or sexual assaults. What's far more important to them is their hatred of LGBT folks. Good thing they've lost on each and every one of their issues.
And there it is. You believe women who came out against Clinton, but refuse to give the women who reported abuse by Trump and now 3 with accusations toward Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh and other Republcans suggested that Ford is either lying or confused.
What is the difference between her accusations and those who accused Clinton?
It's makes them anti-constitution and unamerican.
I do. I don't support Ellison and never have. I don't see any reason to highlight his religion though. We don't generally refer to political leaders by prefacing their name with their religion.
It's kind of weird to do that don't you think? Probably not, that article you linked is quite biased.
Where did I call them a hate group? I didn't. They aren't exactly supportive of constitutional rights being extended to them.
I do not and would not ever participate in their brand of feminism. They speak out against rights of others.
Screw them and their rhetoric.
Hirono's mentor, Senator Daniel Inoyue, was accused of sexually assaulting and intimidating numerous women. Hirono stayed loyal to him.
Perhaps she should make amends to the victims she ignored before accusing others of crimes merely because they are Conservatives.