Sexual assault survivors and activists opposing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation rallied at the Boston City Hall Plaza hours before Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake was scheduled to appear for the Forbes Under 30 Summit Monday.
Flake is the reason why the vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation has been delayed until after an FBI investigation looks into sexual assault claims against Kavanaugh — Flake was a swing vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee deciding whether or not to advance the nomination, meaning he was able to take action and side with Democrats when it truly mattered.
But regardless of whether Flake ultimately fell on the right side of history, the time it took him to drag his feet and question the validity of Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony, and the fact that he still may vote to confirm Kavanaugh, points to a greater problem: senators fail to take action on issues affecting their constituency when their very job is to do so.
Senators are fundamentally disconnected from the experiences of people they serve — Flake was confronted in an elevator by two sexual assault survivors explaining what it’s like to be a survivor of sexual assault before he revised his position on Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
In a similar vein, survivors at City Hall today spoke out to the senators planning to confirm Kavanaugh — who operate from a place of privilege and fail to comprehend what it means for someone who may have committed sexual assault to serve on the Supreme Court — to convey the magnitude of this decision. But it’s disheartening that they have to do so.
That Republican senators continue to stand behind Kavanaugh simply because his conservative ideology reflects theirs, which sends a message to survivors that their experiences are irrelevant compared to Kavanaugh’s allure as someone who will serve the party’s political interests. Republicans could replace him with an equally conservative nominee who doesn’t have a history of sexual assault, but it’s easier for them to crouch behind the idea that Democrats are simply playing politics with concerns about Kavanaugh’s past.
Republicans will most likely vote down party lines regardless of any evidence against Kavanaugh. This vote is about putting someone in power who will serve their interests for years to come. And if they have to stand for re-election, they can’t go back home to the people who relied on them to confirm Kavanaugh and risk losing their careers over their personal, moral beliefs.
Flake isn’t standing for re-election, meaning his decisions are about his values only. He has a chance to defy party lines in a way that most senators don’t. He said Sunday that the only reason he was able to make the bold move he did, calling for an FBI investigation, was because his career in Senate is coming to a close.
Senators shouldn’t only be able to do the right thing when their careers are coming to end. Why be in office if all you’re going to use that power for is to stay in power longer?
Today’s rally gave a voice to women who were reminded by Ford’s testimony of their own experiences. They too were sexually assaulted in high school, they were told that they were making it up for attention, they watched the actions of their assaulter be excused because he was privileged and his parents were rich.
Or, maybe they never even came forward with their story because they knew from the start that the same thing that has happened to Ford would happen to them. They knew that the people with the power to take action would let them down.
Kavanaugh’s nomination has become symbolic of whether we’re going to promote people into power who have committed assault. Flake has an opportunity right now, as does every other senator who remains silent, to stand up in opposition to Kavanaugh’s confirmation. Doing so may threaten their public standing or put their re-election at risk, but for people who have supposedly dedicated their lives to serving their constituents — many of whom may be sexual assault survivors themselves — that cannot be more important than letting women know they will be believed.
