"Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future."
- John F. Kennedy
What exactly is the truth. How important is it to be truthful? I started binge watching 800 Words recently, and the subject of truth came up. In today’s climate, the term truth seems to have a very loose definition. Oxford defines it as “in accordance with fact or reality, accurate or exact, loyal or faithful, honest.”
For most of my lifetime I felt that people were basically honest and the truth was something I could count on. For most of my life I believed that if I told the truth I would be believed and that honesty would eventually carry the day. I am not so sure anymore, just how much honesty matters in a society where power seems to trump all else.
I have spent the week listening to the words of Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford. Both are relating recollections of a happening many years ago. Both are telling their truths. Both were raised in a time when women were likely to say no to certain forms of intimacy, and men were likely to brag about conquests, real or imagined. What was (and should have been) a life altering moment to a fifteen year old girl, might be remembered differently from the perspective of a seventeen year old boy.
That is when our politicians have an opportunity to stand up and make a difference, because their truths can help mold a country in desperate need of reshaping. I accept the fact that in this time of #metoo there might be some women who are stretching the truth, but the huge majority of them are releasing a burden they have carried far too long. Some men, unfortunately are being shamed for a crime they never committed, but a great many of them are being made to face a truth they might not even remember.
When ANY woman accuses ANY man of attempted rape, there must be accountability. To push it under the rug for political expediency is to tell our mothers, sisters, wives and daughters that they are less than the men who surround them. To watch every democrat in Congress immediately believe that Brett Kavanaugh is a molester is ALMOST as alarming as watching nearly every republican congressperson call Christine Blasey Ford a political opportunist. There is nothing fun about what Ms. Ford is going through, and no one would put himself/herself through it for political gain.
Either way, the truth must be discovered before women around the country are made to watch an accused abuser be sworn in to the highest court in our land. The entire process should be stopped, and the truth needs to be clear to us all before Judge Kavanaugh can be sworn in. Mitch McConnell taught us during the Garland insanity that the Supreme Court can run with one less man/woman when those in power deem it necessary.
I understand why the conservative party wants to swear in Kavanaugh as soon as possible, but how can they bend the truth with the same hands that tuck in their daughters at night. To say that Brett Kavanaugh deserves a fair and unbiased hearing goes without saying, but if he is the man that our President believes him to be, than I am sure he will want to wait until his name is cleared before stepping into the job held by so many honorable men/ women before him.
Speaking of truth and the search for it, the book I read/reviewed this week features the ultimate truth seeker. Deck the Hounds: An Andy Carpenter Mystery by David Rosenfelt has Andy and his team searching for answers to help them prove the innocence of a homeless veteran who is accused of murder. The saddest part of an Andy Carpenter mystery for me is the last page. I know I will miss the gang until the next book in the series is published.
As always a complete review of this book follows my blog.
Happy reading,
- Beverly
- John F. Kennedy
What exactly is the truth. How important is it to be truthful? I started binge watching 800 Words recently, and the subject of truth came up. In today’s climate, the term truth seems to have a very loose definition. Oxford defines it as “in accordance with fact or reality, accurate or exact, loyal or faithful, honest.”
For most of my lifetime I felt that people were basically honest and the truth was something I could count on. For most of my life I believed that if I told the truth I would be believed and that honesty would eventually carry the day. I am not so sure anymore, just how much honesty matters in a society where power seems to trump all else.
I have spent the week listening to the words of Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford. Both are relating recollections of a happening many years ago. Both are telling their truths. Both were raised in a time when women were likely to say no to certain forms of intimacy, and men were likely to brag about conquests, real or imagined. What was (and should have been) a life altering moment to a fifteen year old girl, might be remembered differently from the perspective of a seventeen year old boy.
That is when our politicians have an opportunity to stand up and make a difference, because their truths can help mold a country in desperate need of reshaping. I accept the fact that in this time of #metoo there might be some women who are stretching the truth, but the huge majority of them are releasing a burden they have carried far too long. Some men, unfortunately are being shamed for a crime they never committed, but a great many of them are being made to face a truth they might not even remember.
When ANY woman accuses ANY man of attempted rape, there must be accountability. To push it under the rug for political expediency is to tell our mothers, sisters, wives and daughters that they are less than the men who surround them. To watch every democrat in Congress immediately believe that Brett Kavanaugh is a molester is ALMOST as alarming as watching nearly every republican congressperson call Christine Blasey Ford a political opportunist. There is nothing fun about what Ms. Ford is going through, and no one would put himself/herself through it for political gain.
Either way, the truth must be discovered before women around the country are made to watch an accused abuser be sworn in to the highest court in our land. The entire process should be stopped, and the truth needs to be clear to us all before Judge Kavanaugh can be sworn in. Mitch McConnell taught us during the Garland insanity that the Supreme Court can run with one less man/woman when those in power deem it necessary.
I understand why the conservative party wants to swear in Kavanaugh as soon as possible, but how can they bend the truth with the same hands that tuck in their daughters at night. To say that Brett Kavanaugh deserves a fair and unbiased hearing goes without saying, but if he is the man that our President believes him to be, than I am sure he will want to wait until his name is cleared before stepping into the job held by so many honorable men/ women before him.
Speaking of truth and the search for it, the book I read/reviewed this week features the ultimate truth seeker. Deck the Hounds: An Andy Carpenter Mystery by David Rosenfelt has Andy and his team searching for answers to help them prove the innocence of a homeless veteran who is accused of murder. The saddest part of an Andy Carpenter mystery for me is the last page. I know I will miss the gang until the next book in the series is published.
As always a complete review of this book follows my blog.
Happy reading,
- Beverly
Click on the book cover to order the title mentioned in today's blog
