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Can you see the expression on these women's faces as they listen to Kavanaugh rant?
Women of my age are poised for a piercing and echoing "Kavanaugh Scream" should Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh be confirmed without adequate investigation given the credible evidence raised of a deeply flawed moral character.
This poised scream is energized also by the men in step with women's outrage. The poised scream is a massive force.
Kavanaugh deserves due process and I applaud Jeff Flake's acknowledgement of the need to conduct an investigation of serious allegations made against Kavanaugh's character. One week does not seem sufficient.
Very few women in America want a man in the Supreme Court who has a record of fundamental disregard for, and exploitation of, women's bodies.
The men who exploit women's bodies are the the type of man who disregards other people's rights as human beings.
I've known those kind of men. Most women do. If men of this ilk become successful, they wear a socially appropriate mask that allows them to have a respectable family and community regard.
The amazing series West World explores this troubled masculine identity, linking it to the pursuit of violence and sadistic sexuality.
Of course some women are attracted to this sadistic ethos, but these types of appetites and passions are ruled by a certain kind of man.
I don't know if Kavanaugh is that kind of man. He deserves due process in a full investigation.
That said, if Kavanaugh is approved without adequate investigation of allegations the scream that will result will reverberate across the nation in its felt effects.
People are angry but they feel powerless. Women are half the population. Few things unite them as effectively as the kind of man who exploits other people's bodies, especially vulnerable female bodies. Unfortunately, this scream is coming at time wherein activism is increasingly being coded by authorities as terrorism, a coding that reflects the rise of a repressive regime:
Parrish, W. & Levin, S. Thu 20 Sep 2018) 'Treating protest as terrorism': US plans crackdown on Keystone XL activists. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/20/keystone-pipeline-protest-activism-crackdown-standing-rock
“Treating protest as terrorism is highly problematic,” said German, noting that the US government has long labeled activism as “terrorism”, once claiming that filing public records requests was an “extremist” tactic. “It’s an effective way of suppressing protest activity and creating an enormous burden for people who want to go out and express their concerns.”
The “terrorist” and “extremist” labels can be used to justify brutality and a militarized operation, said Andrea Carter, an attorney with the Water Protector Legal Collective, a group that has represented Standing Rock defendants.
“It’s a really egregious tactic,” she said, noting that the labels also lay the groundwork for prosecutors to turn low-level misdemeanor cases into federal felony trials. “A lot of it has to do with public relations.”
The repressive apparatuses have been amassing force for years. In 2009 the American Civil Liberties Union reported that DoD terrorism training materials described public protests as “low level terrorism” (“ACLU Challenges”). In 2008, the Pentagon planed to deploy 20,000 uniformed trained troops inside the U.S. by 2011, purportedly to help state and local officials respond to a terrorist attack or some other domestic catastrophe (Hsu and Tyson A1). The Washington Post reported resistance to this plan:
Reform of this sadistic ethos is the only thing that can stop the risking Kavanaugh Scream that will echo and amplify the screams of other people who have demanded rights as human beings.
I hope the Kavanaugh Scream can move as an unobstructed great ripple leading to reform rather than break harshly against a wall, that will ultimately crumble but not without needless destruction and misplacement of the vital energy needed to confront the infrastructural challenges captured in the idea of the Anthropocene.
[Excerpted] Domestic emergency deployment may be "just the first example of a series of expansions in presidential and military authority," or even an increase in domestic surveillance, said Anna Christensen of the ACLU's National Security Project. And Cato Vice President Gene Healy warned of "a creeping militarization" of homeland security. (Hsu and Tyson A1)Good luck searching if you want to know the true number of military deployments in the US, especially when supporting US policing. The Pentagon won't even release troop deployments for Afghanistan:
Pentagon Questioned Over Blackout On War Zone Troop Numbers. NPR https://www.npr.org/2018/07/03/625544265/pentagon-questioned-over-war-zone-numbers-blackoutThere is a MOBILIZATION of REPRESSIVE APPARATUSES (laws, technologies, types of protocols, symbolic codes, etc) poised at the moment of the rising Kavanaugh Scream.
Reform of this sadistic ethos is the only thing that can stop the risking Kavanaugh Scream that will echo and amplify the screams of other people who have demanded rights as human beings.
I hope the Kavanaugh Scream can move as an unobstructed great ripple leading to reform rather than break harshly against a wall, that will ultimately crumble but not without needless destruction and misplacement of the vital energy needed to confront the infrastructural challenges captured in the idea of the Anthropocene.
References
ACLU. “ACLU Challenges Defense Department Personnel Policy To Regard Lawful Protests As ‘Low-Level Terrorism.’”ACLU. 10 June 2009. 24 June 2009 http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/39822prs20090610.html.
Hsu, Spencer S., and Ann S. Tyson. “Pentagon to Detail Troops to Bolster Domestic Security.” The Washington Post 1 December 2008: A1.
ACLU. “ACLU Challenges Defense Department Personnel Policy To Regard Lawful Protests As ‘Low-Level Terrorism.’”ACLU. 10 June 2009. 24 June 2009 http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/39822prs20090610.html.
Hsu, Spencer S., and Ann S. Tyson. “Pentagon to Detail Troops to Bolster Domestic Security.” The Washington Post 1 December 2008: A1.