I recently received this email from Cathy Trauernicht, successful entrepreneur, voter integrity advocate, and member of the Tuesday Morning Group coalition. I was captivated by Cathy’s masterful articulation — not only of the problem, but of the inappropriate response by the below mentioned educational institution. As I told her, the all-women’s college I attended has taken some similar, remarkably stupid actions until the alumnae protested.
This issue has suddenly become far more significant. Ms. Ford’s testimony, which has been delayed until Thursday the 27th, would likely preclude Judge Kavanaugh from taking part in the Supreme Court session beginning October 1st, if confirmed. This is true even if he takes the bench during the session.
I wanted to share her email with you, with her permission, of course.
I’m a former parent of the Holton-Arms School community. As you may have heard, the Head of Holton-Arms sent a letter to the school community, celebrating alumna Christine Blasey Ford for using her “voice.” https://www.axios.com/kavanaugh-accuser-ford-allegations-school-letter-7cd0102a-8ab8-46b4-8d3d-9d9fb9e21166.html?ref=gazelle.popsugar.com
The persistent abuse of women as political pawns is something I cannot abide. Nor can I sympathize with women who do not accept personal responsibility for their actions.
Below is the email I sent tonight to Susanna Jones, current Head of the Holton-Arms School.
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Dear Ms. Jones,
As a former Holton parent, and as a woman, I’d like to weigh in on the Christine Blasey Ford controversy.
Having lived in the Washington, DC, area for a long time, and being an astute observer of political manipulation, I can recognize templates taken out of political play books. Unfortunately, women are all too often manipulated and used for political gain according to these play books, and it’s not their gain in the long run that is secured. I strongly suspect that Christine Blasey Ford is such a case of political manipulation. She is looking more and more foolish by the day, as are those who spring to her defense with no substantiating facts.
Leaving aside the fact that there are no facts to substantiate Ms. Ford’s accusations against Judge Kavanaugh, I would like to suggest that, in your role as Head of the Holton-Arms School, you avoid the mire of the political arena and seize this opportunity to remind young girls and young women about personal responsibility and consequences for their actions. They are told repeatedly how smart, capable and independent they are. With these qualities go personal responsibility. Should they find themselves in situations where they can’t remember what happened, they must accept the consequences and not hide behind a mantra of victimhood.
Ms. Ford’s inability to recall specific facts of her alleged attack is peculiar. Her continuing evasion of the facts is doing a disservice to women who have been victims of assault, who can recall every detail of abuse as they desperately fought back against their attacker.
By celebrating Ms. Ford’s “voice” as you did in your letter to the Holton community, you celebrated the voice of victimhood, not empowerment. She waited 36 years — until a Supreme Court nomination was days away from a vote — to make her voice “heard.” Thirty-six years without filing a police report. Thirty-six years with no corroborating witnesses. The “expression of solidarity is exactly what we would expect from the Holton sisterhood,” you wrote. Solidarity for what? For simply being “sisters”? For making an explosive, UNSUBSTANTIATED, 36 year-old allegation with the objective of derailing a Supreme Court nominee who, by all accounts, has conducted himself personally and professionally in admirable fashion? This is superficial and shameful, Ms. Jones.
I am a product of single-sex education from elementary school through college, and have watched the “women’s liberation movement” morph into “women’s empowerment,” and then pathetically devolve into women’s “victimhood.” Sometimes, women are victims of their own irresponsible behavior.
One more observation. Ms. Ford’s unsubstantiated, 36 year-old accusations are making a mockery out of our legal system. She and her handlers want Judge Kavanaugh tried in the court of public opinion, rather than in a court of law (where they would lose their case). That is a tactic of cowards, manipulated by craven political opportunists. The court of public opinion carries no presumption of innocence; it only serves to prey upon emotions and fire people up into a frenzy of irrational behavior. Does the storied Holton-Arms School no longer teach the Constitution and its protections?
In conclusion, I urge you to stay out of the political swamp, and stay focused on your role as an educator. Educate young girls and young women to accept responsibility for their own behavior and to stay away from compromising situations. That is true empowerment. And they may not be getting that lesson at home.
Thank you for listening,
Catharine Trauernicht
