Kavanaugh affair analogy to l'affaire Dreyfus

Our country is in the midst of something similar to l'affaire Dreyfus,  a multi-year event taking place in France around the turn of the 20th century.  Like so much in our world, a concise  overview can be accessed by the Wikipedia link that is one of the wonders of our age,  a true “university” that by conceptualization and realization is a hallmark of our era.

I use the analogy, because at this pivotal moment of the unfolding of the Kavanaugh affair  we, like France of 1900 are/were nations divided, with the chasm going through all segments of society, all focused around a single individual.  Dailykos, a website I've been posting on for twelve years,  is a bastion of one segment, while Fox news is its virtual antipode, yet this divide includes families, friends, organizations and every aspect of society.

As I write this it's only hours since Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in to become one of nine individual in the court of last resort, and final arbiter and shaper of laws created by those who must first win and then retain their authority by votes of the citizenry.  It's uncontested that, in defense of his nomination he openly accused one of our two political parties of collusion based on a conspiracy of lies, a proclamation of his deep bias that under other circumstances would universally negate his becoming a "Justice."  (a title only used for Supreme Court judges)

There are two directions that can be taken.  One is to  acknowledge the fact that, no matter the injustices that brought him this authority, he now has it,  until impeached for cause or his retirement.  In spite of removal by impeachment being politically impossible, the Democratic head of the House Judiciary Committee, just promised to investigate Kavanaugh should his party prevail next month.  Thus, rather than this being, "case closed" it is being kept alive.

What makes this noteworthy is that Kavanaugh is hated for his politics, yet despised for his purported sexual related assaults that he has been accused of when he was a teenager.  None of these were actual rape, but actions that, given the recent movement that has caused a cultural tsunami under the rubric of #metoo where aggressive sexual advances by men towards women have become both culturally and to some degree, legally, a more serious crime. 

At this point the ball is in the Democrats hands, currently the opposition party.  It could be that the newly configured court could not be the nightmare that the left fears.  Historically, predictions often fall short, but even if this occurs, optimists feel there is still hope, that could be as immediate as the General election of 2020.  At that time, the Supreme court could be expanded, even if only temporarily, to have a more balanced makeup of both parties. This could be by Democratic control of  only a majority of both houses of Congress and the Presidency.


Could it be that a society can only absorb so much stress before it breaks apart, the norms and traditions that had been functional devolving to such a state of uncertainty that individual ambiguity is unacceptable to either faction.  I refer to the Dryfus Affair as this seems to have happened in France, and could occur here.

Dailykos has provided me with a platform, one that is the best that I can find for my own personal needs.  There is intellectual stimulation and camaraderie that I want to preserve, even if it means I keep certain observations to myself.  I still don’t know the rules that define acceptable deviation from the norms even after twelve years, as they have varied somewhat over the period of my participation.
This period of “affair Kavanaugh”, is so intense that after 35 years of marriage my wife and I feel the stress.  

The sharing of my “intellectualisms,” such as this, are not appreciated, as she feels a visceral antipathy towards Kavanaugh as representative of the Trump cult, that is more intense than mine.
So, perhaps we are all on Howard Zinn’s metaphorical train, the one that it’s impossible to be neutral on while it is barreling forward.  You either try to stop it, or by relaxing and enjoying the view, you will be taken to it’s destination and then he implied, “you can’t then complain that you are distressed by where you have to get off.”