Moving testimony from nominee Brett Kavanaugh, but I think he did it

Kava-naww!

He said.

She said.

I was moved by the morning testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who told the Senate Judiciary Committee she is 100 percent certain she was sexually assaulted by U.S. Supreme Court hopeful Brett Kavanaugh.

But it was the opening remarks of Kavanaugh I saw first.

It caught me totally off guard.

Stunned by his emotion, stirred by his suffering, amazed at his struggle for composure, I started to tear up and count the glasses of bottled water he drank.

I had been so ready to find him guilty of grinding his 17-year-old drunken body onto a terrified 15-year-old girl, who felt she being suffocated by his hand covering her mouth.

That is . . . until I encountered Kavanaugh’s opening statements, and the way he wove his personal tapestry of tragedy. Interwoven in Kavanaugh’s “only child” opening remarks was the evil that had befallen his family, the assault on his name, his daughter’s request during a nighttime prayer to “pray for the woman,” his profession of innocence before God, and no ill will toward his accuser.

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Good gawd.

This was almost too much to endure.

But when U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, began his “I’m Mad as Hell” rant channeling the righteous anger of his late best friend U.S. Sen. John McCain, I began to step back.

“This is the most unethical sham since I’ve been in politics,” Graham railed.

Then I began to step back even further when Kavanaugh refused to affirm U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s, D-Ill, suggestion to call in the FBI to investigate Ford’s claims to clear his name.

Finally, I streamed the opening remarks of Dr. Ford, who looked weary.

“I tried to convince myself that because Brett did not rape me, I should be able to move on and just pretend that it had never happened,” she told the hearing.

I didn’t cry.

I didn’t weep.

But as a woman, something rang very true.

How many of us in the past seven decades of my life encountered unspeakable transgressions and then brushed them off as the detritus of men being boys?

How many men in power have used lack of memory as an excuse?

It’s possible to be drunk and not remember, and to believe you didn’t do it because you can’t remember.

If truth be told, I feel like sitting this one out. But I dare not. If we haven’t learned from the past . . . we’ll never learn anything now.

He did it.

Pews news . . .

The Protestant pen.

Nearly 300 members of the Protestant faith and clerical community, who signed a letter asking Cardinal Blase Cupich to address the recent ceremonious burning of a gay-friendly flag by a Roman Catholic priest, Father Paul Kalchik, are still awaiting the return mail.

“We have yet to hear a word from Cardinal Cupich,” said Rev. Shawna Bowman, pastor of the Friendship Presbyterian Church in Norwood Park, who was one of the main signatories on the letter.

The Archdiocese of Chicago did send a response to the Sun-Times acknowledging receipt of the letter from the predominantly Protestant pastoral community, which has the cardinal expressing grave concerns over “the hurt” caused by Kalchik’s “recent actions” and his “experience of sexual victimization in the past.”

The letter states: “As the cardinal noted in his letter to parishioners last weekend, he has been concerned for some weeks about Fr. Kalchik’s issues and has asked him to take time away from the parish to receive attention,” the archdiocesan letter states.

“Updates on his status with the Archdiocese will be provided at a later time, as appropriate to his human dignity, and the community he serves.

“On previous occasions, Cardinal Cupich has voiced his disagreement with the claim made by Fr. Kalchik and others that sexual abuse in the church is caused by homosexuality.”

Bowman, who describes herself as the “director” of the original letter to Cupich, tells Sneed:

“We appreciate the response from the Catholic Archdiocese from Chicago sent to the Sun-Times . . . and [are] grateful for the comments the cardinal has made in the past disputing the claim homosexuality causes the kinds of things which led to the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church.

“But at the same time we’d like to see the cardinal make a personal public statement to address this incident involving Father Kalchik’s actions both specifically and publicly to the LGBTQ community,” said Bowman.

“Father Kalchik [who was removed from ministry at the church by Cupich] are now appearing on a blog! As religious leaders, it’s our work to affirm the dignity of all people and the sexual orientation God gave them,” she added.

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Sneedlings . . .

Today’s birthdays: Hilary Duff, 31; Young Jeezy, 41; and Naomi Watts, 50.