Open Letter To. Dr Christine Blasey Ford

Dr. Blasey-Ford,

You don't know me from Adam, and I'm not sure why you'd feel the need to hold any of my words as if they had a unique value for you, but I wanted you to know that I am in awe of the bravery it takes to stand up in front of the world and speak truth to power, especially in the face of what can only be a tremendous amount of emotional baggage (which definitely seems like an incorrect word but I, as of this moment, lack the vocabulary to articulate it in a more appropriate fashion) that needed to be sorted out before you could even speak freely about it. I speak for myself, but feel confidently speaking for a litany of others as well, that we thank you for your candor and your service to the country.

For the love of all that is holy: don't testify. I have a few reasons below.

It is obvious that there are times in life as well as in history, where people need to stand up and fight injustice, even if nothing happens. I'm an African American man with a deep knowledge of United States history, and despite that, I fight against racism at every turn and with every opportunity I have. I do it because, despite knowing I'm not going to change society, I might be able to change a mind, because in general, people's unwillingness to listen runs parallel with my desire to make them listen. And on an individual level, people are generally more willing to listen to variant ideas, even ones they may naturally object to- in one-on-one situations, it's easier to make connections to foster change. I don't usually think I'm going to make large-scale change, but the possibility of creating change little by little in the minds of the people gives me the strength to fight in the face of rejection.

You, however, are walking into a political tsunami, the perfect storm against you. First of all, the man that assaulted you has a unique political position which places you squarely in the crosshairs of the Russia Investigation. KKKavanugh is maybe the only person in the Federal Judiciary who thinks a President when in office, is essentially above the law. The idea of investigating a sitting President, regardless of the acts they may be accused of, should not have the distraction of legal proceedings taking away the focus of the President. He has even gone as far as saying the Supreme Court decision of US v. Nixon, the case that required the release of the tapes that got Nixon impeached, was incorrectly decided. Kavanaugh on this court, in the hyper-partisan environment of the court today, could **easily** turn a 5-4 decision to make the President above scrutiny. If he gets KKKavanaugh, he doesn't **have** to fire Sessions or Rosenstein- he can have the SCOTUS codify into precedent and never have to worry about it again. So your argument flies in the face of probably the top interest of the President, which is not a good place to be. It's not KKKavanaugh fanatics that are calling your house and threatening you and your family- it's all about that Base, bout that Base, no treble.

The second reason is actually probably more devastating than the first. Conservatives, across the board, want to have a conservative majority in the Courts, and the Crown Jewel of the courts, obviously, is the Supreme Court. They REALLY want the Court to flip 5-4 conservative, and honestly, this is **now** their best chance to do it. The current political environment is one in which, as of September 23, a strong democratic preference insofar as who voters would like to have in office- NBC News poll shows the Democrats have the largest margin in the history of the poll over the GOP and the Cook Political Report has even Texas and Tennessee and Arizona as toss-ups. There is a wave coming in the fall, and it's Blue. The question: is it a Carolina Baby Blue, a KC Royals Blue or a University of Michigan Navy Blue. But regardless of which is is, they **know** they're going to have a hard time getting someone **else** through. I can't defend this, but I think one of the reasons KKKavanaugh was also picked is he made the vaguest, and thus manipulatable arg for Roe, which they know is the kryptonite for Collins and Murkowski. Trump conservatives, as well as old-school party conservatives, have one thing in common- they want the court to flip. Its the reason the Federalist Society made Trump **produce a fucking list** of justices he could appoint that would do the bidding of the Right. Mitch McConnell has pretty much said this, by saying they would plough through and KKKavanaugh would be confirmed.

If you're curious why they're so gung-ho to have SCOTUS majority conservative, I would suggest you google "The Warren Court" and realize their goal is essentially a Reverse Warren.

I guess my main reason for hoping you don't testify has nothing to do with anything except the fact that you're playing a rigged game. They're not going to let you be questioned by Senators, which means the optics of old white dudes saying patently offensive shit is probably off the board, which means those moments aren't created as they naturally would be. Also, the idea of being cross-examined by an attorney with literally none of the rules of courts to control what can be asked and how, sounds way more like a trial for you, which is pretty shitty since it's essentially a job interview for him. This lawyer is going to try to literally destroy you and any shred of credibility you have- and any doubt she can create means that's doubt: the kind of gendered doubt that Corker and Flake and Collins can get behind. Meanwhile, KKKavanaugh has been sitting around, preparing specific rhetoric and framing to best bring to light the critical information he wants the committee to know- that he didn't do it and has never done anything like it. He'll come off just good enough to get the swing votes he needs and **regardless of what you say or how credible you happen to be, he's going to get confirmed** and you'll go out worse than Anita Hill, which is a fate nobody desreves.

I wish our society wasn't so sickneingly and profundly sexist. I wish there was a world where you would be allowed to tell your story and be not just heard, but actually listened to. I also wish I lived in a world where, as a black man, I didn't fear being killed by the police when I leave my house. But here we are. If I thought there was a **chance** what you were about to embark upon would end up with **something** that didn't end up being the message "well i don't believe her" which, seems, to me, to be societally more dangerous.

Thank you for your courage,
Doug