How Did This Happen?

We are currently a nation divided.

I guess that's not news, really. We have been divided for a while. I can't remember the date, or the time, or the exact cause, but I know with 100% certainty that a divide arose.

We lost America, the Beautiful and became Democrats vs. Republicans.

And I get it, to a point. There are serious differences.

One says "trickle down" and the other says the trickle stops at the top.
One says "healthcare for all" and the other screams socialism.
One says "pro life" and the other says "pro choice".

It started as a divide. It is now a chasm.

But there is one area that I am particularly disheartened to note. It seems we are now divided, by party, concerning the veracity of women who come forward to tell their experiences of sexual abuse. Just yesterday our president openly mocked Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's testimony to the Senate. He began by pointing out that she did not remember the exact date. And to crescendoing cheers and applause at one of his "rallies", he continued to ridicule her lapses in detail. He repeated over and over "I don't know" as if it was the punchline of a joke, and not the achingly wrenching answer given by a woman reliving a trauma that has haunted her to the extent that she installed two entrances to her home to ensure there would always be a way out.

Can we truly not all agree that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford should not be ridiculed? Is that too much to ask? It's a very narrow standard. One woman. One morning's worth of attestations. Left alone.

But apparently it's too much for our president. After a national avalanche of #MeToo's, and seventeen women coming forward to accuse him personally of sexual crimes and misdemeanors, he's more worried about the boys and the men who might potentially be falsely accused than he is about the women who have survived assault. He's concerned about men being treated unfairly. Repeat that last sentence to yourself, slowly.

This same man took out full page ads in the New York Times in 1989 to demand the reinstatement of the death penalty so that the young black/latino men accused of raping a woman in Central Park could be executed. When their convictions were vacated due to DNA evidence and the CONFESSION of a serial rapist, Trump did not back down. He did not apologize. He had a story and he stuck to it. He was not so concerned about false accusations back then. Especially if they didn't impact white men.

That was then.

This is now.

I keep hearing that our nation is "having a moment". Dear god I sincerely hope that this is not just a fleeting moment. I hope that this is the beginning of a new era, one in which women stop feeling guilty and stop being made to feel guilty for the reprehensible behavior of some men. I hope it is a new era, one in which women feel they can come forward and unburden themselves of traumas without being further humiliated by those with power.

I hope we are entering an era of compassion.

And I hope that being able to exhibit and extend compassion does not rely on one's political party.