Heroes and Villains

Little Harbour, Nova Scotia 10/4/18 5:30 AM

Every great story should have a hero and a villain.

This great story has a large number of each.  And it should.  It's one of the biggest of my lifetime.  And I've been around for a long time.

Is it a true story or fiction?  Well, it's all true except maybe for the ending.  Look at the date and time.  I'm writing this before I know the ending.  But, I'll tell you the ending.  At least what I expect it will be.

All the rest of the story is true and will remain true no matter the ending.

The first hero is Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.  The "Reluctant Hero".

But for her, the story would have been a complete bore.  With a predictable and unhappy ending.  Trump and his sycophant Republican senators doing the wrong thing. Again.

Instead, Dr. Ford risked all with nothing to gain personally and made this an exciting story with a cliffhanger ending.  She is by far the biggest hero.  Unmatched. Not even approached by any of the others who are nevertheless hugely impressive on their own.

The next one is a total surprise.  Senator Diane Feinstein. The "Unexpected Hero".

She was viciously attacked by the Republicans for outmaneuvering them.  I'd like to give her credit for that but I think she mostly just did what they never do or forgot how to do: "The Right Thing"

She respected Dr. Ford's desire to stay anonymous and did not share her letter with her fellow Senators knowing they or their staffs would leak it.

Instead, she did something quite brilliant for which she was roundly criticized:  She released only the contents of Dr. Ford's letter, to protect Dr. Ford, (not the letter itself), and she did it at the last minute which delayed the hearing long enough for someone (we don't know who) to leak Dr. Ford's name and for Dr. Ford to come forward and change the whole outcome of the story.

How unfair.  The Republican Senators were reduced to almost incoherent rage. Especially one of the principle villains, Senator Lindsey Graham.

Next came the supporting cast of heroes the Democratic Senators on the Committee who were magnificent in their untiring efforts to speak "truth to power" in spite of the inevitable defeat they faced.

Most impressive of these was Senator Amy Klobuchar who by her calm, respectful but pointed questioning of Judge Kavanaugh's drinking led to his revealing who he really is.  A bully without proper judicial temperament.

And even more impressively, Senator Klobuchar did not respond in kind, which she was entitled to do, but remained calm and disciplined which served as a most valuable contrast to the Judge's behavior.

The other two accusers, Deborah Ramirez, and Julie Swetnick are of course greater than all the others with the exception of Dr. Ford.

And all the other women who have remembered their experiences with great personal pain and have spoken up and who have educated the men in their lives.

There are many more heroes: The former students with Judge Kavanaugh at Georgetown Prep and Yale. The ABA, and the Dean of Yale Law School who called for a delay and FBI investigation. The hundreds of University Law Professors who signed a letter in opposition to the Judge. The Jesuit Order's America magazine which urged his withdrawal

And many many more. Too many to recount.

What is so encouraging in all this is how many spoke up and told the truth, many with risk and without benefit to themselves.

And the villains you ask?

No surprise here except of course Judge Kavanagh who faced with a defining moment failed miserably.  And miserably is the right word.  Breaking down in self-pity.  He was disrespectful and resentful of the process which he of all people should have known was necessary, however unpleasant for him to endure.

This together with his easily provable prevarications showed he's not within a country mile of being qualified to be a judge in any court let alone the Supreme Court of the United States of America.

The other villains you already know.  The Republican Senators who wanted Kavanaugh confirmed and did not want to find out or care who he really was. Who felt he would solidify their hold over the third branch of government which is all they cared about.

Party over Country. Again.

And last but never least. Donald Trump.  Who for some time held his tongue (or let his handlers hold it) but then did what he always does and does best:  use the situation to rally his base, appealing to their worst instincts by attacking Dr. Ford. And doing his all to restrict the FBI investigation and make it useless.

What about Senators Flake, Collins and Murkowski?

As of this writing, we don't know whether they are heroes or heels.

Senator Flake's last-minute conversion and putting his action where his mouth is by calling for a delay and an FBI investigation made a happy ending to this story possible.

The heroes behind this conversion were Senator Coons of Delaware and the two Sexual Assault victims who confronted him in the elevator and convinced him to "do the right thing". To match his brave words with action.

Never a sure thing with Senator Flake.

So at this point, we don't know if  Flake will become either a hero or a villain.

My guess is he'll be a hero.  He's got nothing to lose.  Unlike Collins and Murkowski the other two undecided Senators. He's not running for reelection.  They will do whatever he does.

This is Flake's "moment of truth".  What an opportunity!  To be the one person in the entire country who can make a difference and save our third branch of government.

My bet is he will, unlike Kavanaugh, pass his big test and this story will have a happy ending.

But, whether he does or not the other heroes and villains will remain the same.

And this will remain one of the great stories of our lives.  A real cliffhanger.

And yes it's way more than just a story.  It's one of the most defining moments in our country's history.