Keeping American Women Passive: Limit the Debate
Noam Chomsky once said, “The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum,” and that is precisely what has been going on in recent weeks during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings in Washington DC. And that is exactly why I am going to ask you to read this entire article once you start. If you only read a part of this you’ll miss the complete message.
The conversation about Kavanaugh has been lively and heated. At times it has appeared that truth was being sought. The sad reality is that truth and justice have once again been set aside for bread and circus. The ancient Romans knew how to pacify an angry populace with gladiators, blood, violence, and epic battles. In the modern age we’ve become more civilized. We do it with politicians, scandals, sex and economic upheaval.
Instead of a true and lively debate over whether the man should be approved as the next Supreme Court Justice of the United States, the implications of which will last decades, we have moved to a heated debate over whether or not he attempted to rape a young fifteen-year-old girl when he was in high school. Perhaps he did, perhaps he didn’t, but should that be the only factor on his competency and benefit to our nation?
Instead of a full scale debate, and discussion, for a man that will be put in one of the most powerful positions in the world we have been limited to an emotional show of anger, accusation, and blame. We’ve had our circus to distract us from truth. We’ve had our show to focus our anger, and we’ve once again divided the nation amongst party, and gender, lines so those that are in power need not fear a populace that’s united in purpose. Guess what? It worked again.
YOUNG WOMEN ARE LISTENING
I am going to paraphrase something I heard today, “Young women across the country and listening to their parents, and leaders of their nation, defend Brett Kavanaugh and realizing that if they are assaulted, not even their parents will believe them.” Let that sink in.
Young women, and young men, are getting a small glimpse of what every sexual assault victim, that has had the bravery to stand up and name their attacker, has had to deal with the American justice system. The woman that accused Brett Kavanaugh (note that I am still respecting her request to remain un-named) was forced to sit in front of 21 angry senators (mostly men) and relive her attack for hours. She had her memory questioned, her history of mental health brought into question, and even her reputation put to the test. Her family was threatened and forced to move to a temporary location and her motivations vilified. In many ways, she was mentally raped by the very men and women that are supposed to put laws into place to make our world better, and safer, for all.
We have effectively taught a new generation that rape is a crime that has no repercussions and the best defense against accusations is a strong offense against the victim in question. I have even written about the process, it has a name. It’s a strategy used by defense attorneys for decades. It’s called “DARVO”: Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender. It works in Rape cases almost every time simply because there are normally only two people that know the truth, the victim and the perpetrator. Brett Kavanaugh is a judge, the Senators are mostly lawyers. They all know DARVO like the back of their hands. Look how it played out, Kavanaugh denied the accusation, he attacked the woman’s memory angrily and with outrage, and then played the victim. It worked perfectly, and America loved the show.
WAS KAVANAUGH GUILTY?
Was Brett Kavanaugh guilty of attempted rape way back in the eighties? I have no idea, but I would stipulate that it doesn’t matter. It wasn’t the point to the circus we witnessed. What Americans, and women across our nation, watched was a respected, intelligent, powerful woman in her own right, given a platform to air her story, her truth, in the most important courtroom in our land and be denied an equal voice in the he said/she said battle. Once again, in a crime that seldom has witnesses, a woman has been told that the man in question is more credible, honorable, and trustworthy than her. Once again a woman has been told, “You have no proof so you must be wrong.” Once again a woman has been told, “You don’t matter to society as much as the man you are accusing.”
A SAD DAY FOR #METOO
The #MeToo, and the #WhyIdidntReport, movements have been dealt a blow by the highest officials in our land. If you are a woman, or like me a husband and father of daughters, I hope you add this into your equation when it comes time to vote. Our “leaders” are only in office because we put them there. They aren’t our leaders because they are different, or special, they are in office because they are a reflection of our voting populace. When we look at them, we look into a mirror of our nation’s identity. I, for one, look in the mirror and want to see someone staring back I can be proud of and right now… I’m not proud.