'....The Senate adopted the modern university’s doctrine of self-censorship, no-go zones, and safe spaces.
Given issues of gender and the university concept that accusations of sexual assault inherently are exempt from constitutional protections of due process, Ford was more or less excused from normally tough cross-examination.
In her testimony, Ford never explained why, despite her self-professed fear of flying, she has been a frequent flyer on business and leisure trips.
Ford’s privacy and medical status were understandably to be respected and off-limits. Yet Ford suggested that her friend, Leland Ingham Keyser, was suffering from “significant health challenges” after Keyser did not corroborate Ford’s allegations.
Ford was never really asked why her narratives concerning the number of witnesses to the alleged assault and their genders were not compatible. Her accounts of the location and time of the alleged assault were either inconsistent or nonexistent.
In contrast, Kavanagh was grilled on everything from his high-school yearbook to a made-up accusation that he once committed sexual assault on a docked boat in Newport, R.I.
Swarming and shouting down those who hold different views in order to shame and intimidate them is part and parcel of the modern university. Now, we are seeing such campus street theater in Congress. During a break in the hearings, female protesters cornered Senator Jeff Flake (R., Ariz.) in an elevator and screamed in his face.
The psychodrama worked — just as it usually does on campus. A shaken and flushed Flake soon backed down from his stated intention of voting to confirm Kavanaugh.
No comments:
Post a Comment