IMAGINE SCREAMING AT YOUR JOB INTERVIEW IN ANGER.
IMAGINE BERATING THE HIRING PANEL WITH SHOCK AND AWE FOR NOT GIVING YOU THE JOB IMMEDIATELY, FOR DELAYING YOUR CORONATION, FOR NOT RECOGNIZING YOUR BRILLIANCE AND WORTH BY YOUR MERE PRESENCE. IMAGINE TELLING THEM THAT YOU DID THEM A FAVOR BY DEIGNING TO AGREE TO AN INTERVIEW.
IMAGINE TAUNTING YOUR HIRING PANEL WITH PASSAGES FROM SCRIPTURE, SUMMONING FIRE AND BRIMSTONE, REAL WRATH OF GOD STUFF, WARNING THAT THEY WILL RUE THE DAY THAT THEY FAILED TO RECOGNIZE THE GREATNESS SITTING BEFORE THEM. IMAGINE WARNING THE PANEL THAT GOD ALMIGHTY HIMSELF ENDORSES THIS HIRING.
IMAGINE TAKING UMBRAGE FOR THE MERE SUGGESTION OF MALFEASANCE, WHILE FAILING TO SHOW ANY SYMPATHY OR CONCERN FOR THAT MALFEASANCE. IMAGINE WEEPING IN ADDITION TO SCREAMING, DECLARING THAT YOUR VICTIMHOOD IS THE ONLY LEGITIMATE ONE.
IMAGINE LAUNCHING THROUGH A LITANY OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS, COLLEGES ATTENDED, DEGREES EARNED, POSITIONS HELD, WAVING THEM LIKE A BLUDGEON TO SMITE UNBELIEVERS. IMAGINE A SHORTER, CONCISER VERSION OF THAT LITANY, WHERE YOU SCREAM: PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! PRIVILEGE! UNTIL THE HIRING PANEL BEGS FOR MERCY.
IMAGINE DOING THIS NOT AS A TODDLER, OR A PRETEEN, OR A TEENAGER, OR EVEN A YOUNG ADULT, BUT AS A MIDDLE AGED MAN.
NOW, IMAGINE IF CLARENCE THOMAS HAD DONE THE SAME THING 27 YEARS EARLIER WHEN HE SAT IN THE SAME CHAIR. IMAGINE THE OUTRAGE:
ANGRY NEGRO!
DANGEROUS!
UNCIVILIZED!
A THREAT TO ALL THAT IS HOLY AND PURE ABOUT AMERICA!
AND THEN, IMAGINE IF THE ROLES HAD BEEN REVERSED, AND DR. CHRISTINE BEASLEY FORD HAD NOT SPOKEN WITH INTELLIGENCE, COMPOSURE, AND DECORUM ABOUT ONE OF THE MOST PAINFUL EPISODES IN HER LIFE, BUT HAD YELLED, SCREAMED, AND WEPT DURING HER TESTIMONY. IMAGINE THE OUTRAGE:
HARPY!
BANSHEE!
HYSTERICAL!
SHRILL!
MANIC!
SHE’S ON THE RAG!
IMAGINE? IMAGINE? IMAGINE!
Sadly, we don’t have to imagine. For it happens too frequently. From Senate Committees to street corners, from board rooms to boarding houses, from Wall Street to Walmart, a woman’s personhood takes a subordinate position to the ambitions, wants, needs, and vainglory of men.
Brett Kavanaugh has no business sitting on any court bench, much less on the Supreme Court. His intemperance is a danger to the country. He should be impeached and stripped of his current appointment, not given a promotion. Only his wealth and privilege as a cis, white, heterosexual male has allowed him to get by this far. Now imagine if his cruelty and arrogance finally catches up to him and he has to answer for the things he has done.
Imagine that.
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