So...Kavanaugh

So he's been sworn in -- we all knew he would be eventually -- and the fight is over.  For now.

I have been glued to the TV since this all started and by the time the FBI report came back--after a whole day and a half of investigating, when it was blatantly obvious that they just OKd the "investigation" to pat women on the head and say "there, there, don't worry your pretty little head about it.  We'll take care of it."  They were only allowed to interview...what was it? 4? 6? people and the dozens who lined up to corroborate the stories of his drinking and sexual habits were ignored...and then the senators smirked and said there was no corroboration, so she must have been wrong.  

And then Trump, the bastard, went in front of thousands of people and made fun of Dr. Ford...remembering that the one thing that has haunted her all these years was the laughter of the two guys who attacked her. I was about at the exploding point.

I finally decided that it was going to happen, and I just didn't want to hear that voice from #45 one more time, I didn't want to hear the arguments in the full Senate, I didn't want to hear the excuses of the marginal Republicans we all held out hope would find balls and vote against him and I just couldn't bear to watch him approved.  Even Senator Collins, who I always thought was the one free thinker, drank the kool aid and talked about "no corroboration."  Nobody addressed the lies he told under oath.  They didn't even listen to Justice Kennedy, whom he replaces, who started out in favor of Kavanaugh and then recanted and said he didn't feel he should sit on the court.

So I turned the TV off.  And I limited Facebook.  I read two books, including one by my friend Alec Clayton, "This is Me, Debbi, David," which was very good and which I read almost in one sitting.

I also started a book which Caroline recommended, "Humans: a Brief History of How We Fu*ked It All Up," which is a fascinating book, in the style of one of my favorite authors, Bill Bryson, which talks about how our whole history of made up of mistakes we have made.

Lucy, for example, who was discovered in 1974 and is believed to be the first hominim species would never have been discovered if she hadn't fallen out of a tree.  The first official fu*k up.

It's a hopeful thing to think about, as we contemplate the disaster that is happening to our country, our ideals, and all the things we have worked so hard to achieve over the years, destroyed by a man who wants to be "president for life."

For many years, I have wondered how the good people of Germany could have sat by and let Hitler come to power, and now I see it happening in our own country--so I know the helplessness they must have felt, and the apathy they may have developed when they realized there was nothing they could do to stop him.

Vote, they say.  Yeah.  But that's every two years and if things go badly in November it will be 2020 before we get a chance again.  In the meantime, #45, who is brilliant at working a crowd, continues his policy of dividing this country into us and them and giving his base the red meat they long for.

But as for Justice Kavanaugh (the skin crawls) this is how I've been thinking.

I believe her.  As everyone said, she was very credible.  I also believe he desperately does not want to remember which is why, against the law, by the way, contacted potential witnesses and to get them to back up his story.

OK.  Let's say it happened.  And it was horrible.  And it should have been reported, but women are reluctant to report sexual assaults.  And even if you use the horrible excuse that "boys will be boys," which I think is a TERRIBLE message to send to our sons, and an even more terrible--not to say dangerous--message to send to our daughters, he seems to have lived a blameless life for several decades, so is youthful indiscretion enough to ruin his life.  Is there no allowing for cleaning up your act and going forward?  Are recovering alcoholics never to be considered reputable members of society?

So as horrendous as the accusations are, what has bothered me throughout this are the lies he has told.  We know that lying under oath is a crime.  Yet nobody has called him on his lies. 

That combined with his demeanor when confronted with the charges just shows that he does not have the temperament to be sit on what has been the most respected body in the country.  Who would approve someone who THREATENS half of the committee questioning him ("Just remember, what goes around comes around.")

But now the Supreme Court has two men accused of sexual assault, proving that sexual misconduct is no big thing in this country any more.  God forbid any woman should come forward with any sexual case again.  And I am sinking into depressive apathy. Yeah I'll vote and all the polls predicting a blue wave will be wrong and nothing will change and #45 will have two years to rev up his base to a adoring frenzy and he'll be on his way to being "president for life" like his buddy Kim Jong Un.

I probably should watch what I write here because rumor has it (not confirmed by anybody) that Trump wants to compile a list of anybody who has expressed anti-Trump sentiments on Facebook.  The fact that I could even consider this as true tells you where our country is now.

My poor grandchildren.