People in my general age range have observed a lot that rings familiar, as we follow the Kavanaugh confirmation process. We may choose not to comment a lot about it. Memories are getting stirred up. We remember when society felt it was doing us a favor by lowering the drinking age. I found I was legal to drink just as I graduated from high school. We should have shrugged and not paid much attention. We should have thought for ourselves.I remember riding my bike along Iowa Avenue on my way to a Cougar football game when a car-full of rowdy college-age males passed by and tossed beer on me. I stopped momentarily and wondered what the world was coming to. Peer pressure dragged us down. There were restaurants that catered to the "bar rush." Groups of people stumbled into those places shortly after "closing time" and behaved with unfettered stupidity. You'd see your friends the next week under normal sober circumstances and flash a knowing smile.
We hear Kavanaugh talking about his young adult phase, about how much he enjoyed beer. How many times did he say the word beer? What was so alluring about beer for us young folks? Or, other alcoholic beverages? How could society have possibly felt this would be uplifting for us? The argument is familiar: if young men could fight and die in Vietnam, their age peers back home should have the adult privilege of consuming alcohol.
Can't we be the least bit rational? What good comes from consuming alcohol, for anyone? Why is it we'd feel on the defensive if we tried simply saying we didn't drink? Or, smoke marijuana or even cigarettes?
Kavanaugh sits there flummoxed by the realization that times have changed so much, that revelations about his past foolishness - from his "rite of passage" college-age years - could be so bad, his career path is now imperiled.
Should I not indict him for being angry, for showing emotion of the type that is unbecoming a judge? Would Judge Mathis even be given a pass for showing emotions like this? Maybe Judge Mathis should be on the Supreme Court. He's black so he probably would not win the approval of President Trump. Kavanaugh would get all sorts of passes from Trump and his right wing crowd that now has such a scary amount of power in Washington D.C. Please folks, stop and think: peel away the sheer salesmanship in Trump's rhetoric and ask about the consequences, for you and your life, of right wing muscle being flexed. Has it occurred to you that the populist rhetoric is set up to deceive? When you wake up to reality, will it be too late?
Memories close to home, actually
Kavanaugh recalls a young adult culture of a past time that prompts memories among so many of us. I have memories floating back of University of Minnesota-Morris football culture of the '70s and early '80s. I'm not sure precisely when we detached from that, because cultural change doesn't happen overnight. I do know that UMM football culture during the on-field apex of that program had ugly traits. The misogyny was as bad as you'd find anywhere. The provost himself knew there was an absurd or ridiculous aspect.
"Cougar follies" was an annual skit show that was prone for censorship. It was a pre-season rite. I remember it being held at the 9-F Sportsmen's Club. I doubt that any such show would be permitted today, and if it was, I as media person certainly wouldn't be allowed there. Why was I ever allowed there? Our society was more relaxed then. Embarrassing stuff didn't fly all over the place via electronic media. Secondly, we basically gave a pass to the football culture that was like a big gorilla pounding its chest. We just knew "football players were like that."
So, Brett Kavanaugh recalls in his own private thoughts the outrageousness of that behavior, and how costly such memories could be if seeing the light of day today.
You might be thinking "rape is never acceptable - never mind the cultural change." Given the license for inebriated and misogynistic traits in that earlier time, I'm not sure we could rule out anything happening.
This Christine Ford would never have been allowed to come forward, to get so far as being called to appear before a nationally-televised hearing, if her story didn't strike everyone as credible. Everyone thinks that, even the Republicans. The Republicans are desperate to lay one layer over another in terms of the political right gaining power. They trample on the Democrats by saying the most disrespectful and misleading things.
Does it occur to you that Democrats are actually intelligent and respectable people, people who really have laudable aims? Do you really believe they are "demon rats" to use the term of a Fox News host? Are you ready to vote Republican in the mid-terms to toss more fuel on the fire in terms of what is going on in the nation's capital? So, you want to see power enhanced for our foul-mouthed porn star president?
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| Christine Ford - BBC image |
Jeff Flake is a brave outlier. He's a Republican who believes in having a modicum of respect for those on the other side of the aisle. But he's risking being demonized now just like the "demon rats." The term "rino" has been a curse for several years.
Is there sanctuary within religion?
Does Kavanaugh feel ashamed of how he once behaved? If he does not, he certainly does not belong on the Supreme Court. You would think that in this age of science, religion would be fading or maybe getting re-configured to adjust to scientific values. Instead we see "evangelicals" waving the flag behind right wing politicians who say "climate change is a hoax."
I try clinging to a church that has a moderate and gentle view of things: an ELCA Lutheran church.
Being a Lutheran of any kind brings issues, though. We recently had a Martin Luther impersonator visit my church of First Lutheran in Morris, complete with costume. It made me recall vaguely what I read or heard once about Martin Luther being an anti-Semite. So I decided to do some research. I was astounded to discover that the charges of anti-Semitism were not gray area at all. What I mean by gray area, are instances where someone criticizes the nation of Israel and might be decried as anti-Semitic. The late Robert Novak had to deal with that. It is not anti-Semitic, but what Martin Luther said was in fact virulent anti-Semitism, so bad it helped set the stage for what happened to the Jews in Europe in the mid-20th century.
Are Lutheran ministers trained on how to deal with this question when it arises? I would discourage any such Martin Luther impersonator from making the rounds at churches, reminding everyone of this horrible stain on their church that bears the "Luther" name. Catholicism has such a serious stain now, it's amazing anyone chooses to continue to be a member. The whole "fundamentalist" sector that covers various denominations is to be ashamed of itself for behaving so political, for singing the praises of Trump and others who throw bombs rhetorically, as it were.
We have the "conservative" Apostolic Christian factor here in Morris. We still have a big Catholic Church edifice in town where I presume throngs gather regularly. And now because of checking on the history of Martin Luther, I have to be very concerned about continuing to belong to a supposedly mainstream denomination: the ELCA.
Christ could angrily confront us
Is there any way to make Christianity truly uplifting for all? Jesus Christ could return to our existence and throw a tantrum about all that has happened in his name.
Let me implore you: the people who pull the strings behind the right wing political movement do not care about you and your family. A concluding thought: Maybe PZ Myers is right about everything.
It's incredibly sad for me because my late mother would want me to continue attending church. I don't think she knew anything about Martin Luther's incendiary pronouncements. If she had, it would have seriously disturbed her. Is the Methodist faith the best place to be?
Alas, in the final analysis, our Native Americans might have the whole thing nailed when they simply talk about "the creator."
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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