Silence makes a loud echo

Decades-old allegation roils Senate

My mother got away from a would-be rapist when she was young. She told no one of the older man’s attack for years. Trauma or shame had nothing to do with her keeping quiet. She did not want her father to confront her attacker.

My grandfather was a kind, civilized man but he had a strong sense of honor. He would have acted. Reporting the attack to authorities would have done no good. There were no witnesses — although mom fooled her attacker into believing there was one. The ruse worked long enough for her to get away. So it was a “he said, she said” situation. My grandfather would not have stood by and let nothing happen. There would have been serious trouble.

So, in effect, my grandfather’s principles convinced my mother to keep the attack secret.

So many things — even the virtues of a loving father — work to keep assault, abuse and harassment victims silent. That is changing, but the transition will be rough.

If Christine Blasey Ford had better options as a teen in 1982, neither she, Brett Kavanaugh nor the rest of the country would be watching her accusations come to light now in public hearings. If the claim had been disproved then, these Senate hearings would not be happening. If Ford made the whole thing up years later, the question of why she did not report the attack at the time would stick.

If Kavanaugh had any credible taint of attempted sexual assault before, he would never have been confirmed as a federal judge, much less been nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court.

There are no simple answers of how to rewire the world. “Believe the woman” is not the simple answer. I believe my mother. I would not hesitate to swear out an affidavit that she told me of the attack. But I cannot prove a word of her story. I also cannot reasonably expect anyone outside my family to put the same amount of confidence in her account as I do.

Sympathy for accusers and zeal to make up for past wrongs are biases, too.

Ford alleges Kavanaugh tried to force himself on her when she was 15-year-old and he was 17. Kavanaugh and a friend pushed her into a bedroom while she was in the hall on her way to a bathroom during a drinking party, she says. Kavanaugh pinned her down on the bed while the other boy turned up loud music and cheered him on, according to her account. Ford says she got away when the other boy jumped on the bed, sending the two others tumbling to the floor. Kavanaugh strenuously denies any of this.

I am just a wiseguy from Arkansas, but it sure does seem like the logical step would be to hear from the other boy.

The ducking and dodging of the other boy, the ironically named Mark Judge, is the closest thing to corroboration Ford has. Judge issued statements through his lawyer. He denies ever seeing Kavanaugh do any such thing as Ford describes and that he has no recollection of it. OK. Have him take the oath and sit in that witness chair. Such as that tends to impress upon him and everyone else the seriousness of a given issue. At least that is my experience.

Instead, Judge was last seen by a couple of reporters who tracked him down at his vacation home in Bethany Beach, Del. They found his car in the driveway with piles of clothes and Superman comics in it. His only response to their questions was: “How’d you find me?”

The best way to convince people you are telling the truth is to show no fear of it.

“He is a recovering alcoholic and is under unbelievable stress,” Judge’s lawyer, Barbara Van Gelder, told the Washington Post. “He needed for his own health to get out of this toxic environment and take care of himself.”

Well, here is what I would say to Judge if I were a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee: Buck up, buttercup. Your country needs you. Your friend could also use your help, assuming you are telling the truth. So put your right hand in the air and your rear in the chair. If you cannot shed any light on this, fine. Look me in the eye and say that.

It is ridiculous to pretend the Senate is making good-faith effort to resolve this when the only witness gets a pass.