Friday, September 28, 2018

“Do you think that Brett Kavanaugh
is telling the truth?”


Watch and listen as two survivors of sexual assault, Maria Gallagher and Ana Maria Archila, confront Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ). An excerpt:

Archila: Senator Flake, do you think that Brett Kavanaugh is telling the truth?

Aide: Thank you.

Archila: Do you think that he’s able to hold the pain of this country and repair it? That is the work of justice. The way that justice works is you recognize hurt, you take responsibility for it, and then you begin to repair it. You are allowing someone who is unwilling to take responsibility for his own actions, unwilling to hold the harm that he has done to one woman, actually three women, and repair it. You are allowing someone who is unwilling to take responsibility for his own actions —

Reporter: Do you want to respond?

Archila: — to sit in the highest court of the country and to have the role of repairing the harm that has been done in this country to many people.

Flake: Thank you.
I’m disgusted. I’ve admired Jeff Flake for some time, especially after listening to This American Life’s 2017 story and 2018 episode about him. Not anymore. As one of the women who confronted him says, “Saying ‘Thank you’ is not an answer.”

*

And now: “Senate Panel Approves Kavanaugh, but Flake Wants F.B.I. Investigation Before Final Vote” (The New York Times.

[I’ve made small corrections to the Times transcript. The protesters have been identified, and the Times has added their names to the story.]

comments: 0