Here are my informal notes from the session where we tried to identify the real, actual, genuine issues surrounding the Judge Kavanaugh nomination hearings. I’ve done some paraphrasing and combining, so let me know if you see any errors or if I missed anything, pretty-please? This is the work of stasis theory and practice — finding common ground by asking pertinent questions:
- Sexual assault — every state has their own law; here’s Illinois
- The “boys will be boys” problem (mostly a culture & sociological problem?)
- What counts as credible? Who gets to decide credibility issues?
- Politics, where some politicians use the issue for ideological purposes — to score ideological points (a potential source of cynicism for readers and citizens)
- The role of President Trump — appropriate to combine with above?
- The roles and integrity of the Supreme Court and other civic institutions
- The challenge of precision/clarity in historic cases, especially as they play out in contemporary real time
- White male privilege and associated social norms
