Thread by @ChesterAArthur0

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine…

Sometimes I get caught up in a big moment and I later realize I was completely ignoring a huge part of it. I'm doing it with Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's allegations against Kavanaugh. I've been ignoring the fact that Dr. Ford is an actual person.

There have been a lot of women with histories of sexual abuse in my life. There are a lot of them in every man's life but the truth is most men do not want to hear about it. It's a difficult subject to process emotionally for us and it's too easy to put our heads in the sand.

I'm a pretty good listener. If you listen to women you will hear stories of really shitty guys over and over and over. Sexual harassment, assault, rape, stalking, physical and mental abuse. At least half of every woman I've ever known has dealt with one of those.

Dr. Ford dealt with that, allegedly from a political figure I deeply dislike. She became public and out came the instant, hateful and dangerous bile like it always does for these women. I immediately went into attack mode, not really for Dr. Ford, for all the women I've known.

The problem with that is Dr. Ford is not all the women in my life who have been victims of shitty men, she is one woman who was the victim of one man. What's more she isn't just a victim, she is a woman with an entire life history. A career. A family. Her own path.

Three decades ago Kavanaugh allegedly stole a part of her life that you can never get back. That part that trusts completely. The part that feels completely safe.
She moved on. She got her degree in psychology. Got married. Got her masters degree...

Had some kids. Another masters in epidemiology (it's ok if you have to Google it). A doctorate in educational psychology. Became a teacher for Stanford. Got a side gig as a pharmaceutical consultant. Wrote some scientific papers. Wrote a book...

This lady was living her life.

Can I throw in a nerd aside here?

She teaches clinical trial design and data analysis.
She worked with FDA statisticians.
She coauthored a book with a biostatistics professor.

Dr. Ford seems pretty fucking awesome.

Back to the plot.

Here is a woman who didn't fall victim to any of the traps sexual abuse can lead to. She pushed forward and put together as good a life as almost anyone gets.

Then her alleged attacker shows up on every single news outlet in America.

She had to have known this was a possibility for two years now. He was on Trumps list. She has lived two years with him in the back of her head trying to figure out what to do if it happened.
- Stay silent - her damn near perfect life goes on.
- Speak out - her world explodes.

Another thing almost all women I've ever talked to know, if you speak up when a man does this to you it's not only the man who's punished.

Were you drinking?
How tight were those pants?
Did you say anything flirty?
Is it an ex boyfriend?
Witnesses?
Few to many past sex partners?

Now lets multiply those normal bullshit hoops a victim has to go through and multiply it by the highest level of politics in the most divisive time in modern history.

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is right now, at this very moment, staring right into that cloud of chaos.

This isn't a career politician or a Democratic operative. This is a woman who moved her children from their home out of fear for their safety after being doxed. Who has the right wing media goliath whispering her name into every unhinged MAGA / Qanon anti-deep state gun nut.

"Why doesn't she just testify if she's telling the truth?"

Not a single person asking that question if faced with the complete life shattering decision Dr. Ford has already made would have been brave enough to do what she did.
The honest truth, I dont know if I would be.

I hope she does testify Monday. I hope she walks in and smacks the shit out of any Republican (or Democrat) that has the nerve to act like this is a distraction.

If she chooses not to, she's already a hero. She's already one of the people I will teach my daughter about.

#IBelieveHer