One Small Voice: Senator Jeff Flake is an adult apart

Though we were spared for two entire days from hearing the name of Trump over and over, we heard the names of Grassley, Graham, Kavanaugh, Feinstein, and Ford, ad nauseum.

Those of us not already familiar with the signs and symptoms of sexual assault survivors learned quite a bit about the effects of trauma on memory and behavior.  Those of us who, prior to the hearings, thought of Brett Kavanaugh as a highly educated and accomplished jurist (I did), learned that he really, really likes his beer. A lot.

We also saw a side of him that surprised us. A side that was belligerent, quick to anger, prone to rudeness and lacking in self-control. A side which some of us consider to be a poor indicator of one who needs to have a calm, deliberate, appropriate temperament in order to hold a position on the highest court in the land.

But this is not what has become, for me, the most significant outcome of the Kavanaugh hearings of this past week.

After taking a long, introspective break from the emotionality of the hearings, I am most taken by the actions of Jeff Flake, Republican Senator from my new home state of Arizona.

To anyone who is semi-skilled at interpreting body language, it was clear watching Flake during the testimonies that he was troubled, uncomfortable and deep in conflicted thought. On Friday prior to the final vote to move Kavanaugh to the full Senate for confirmation, Flake sat with his face turned downward, his brow furrowed in worried deliberation.

Being an amateur pop psychologist myself, my “degree” earned from years of watching Phil Donohue, I surmised that Senator Flake was torn by two major forces.

First, Flake is a fairly loyal Republican, and he dislikes it when he feels compelled to disagree with his party on specific issues. He does express his disagreement when he must, but he really hates being put in that position by those he believes are not true representatives of the Republican Party he signed up for.

Second, Senator Flake appears to be the kind of Christian who lives his faith, rather than thumping his Bible and making pious declarations. Thus, he believes in basic human rights for both genders and all groups of people, majorities or minorities. He has a well-developed conscience and is meticulous about applying it fairly and justly.  His is a conscience that forces him to consider all sides of an issue and weigh them with regard to fairness, justice, compassion and political expediency.

In plainer words, Jeff Flake loves his country and his God, and he tries to be balanced in reconciling the two worlds. He tries to be a mature adult in an environment that, of late, has been more like a junior high school, with high emotions, swirling hormones, inconsistent behavior, temper tantrums, ambiguous messages, and the meting out of revenge for perceived wrongs.

After fighting the demons in the halls of the Capitol, Senator Flake sought to achieve compromise — a lost art in partisan politics today. By trading his yes vote that would move the confirmation process along, he secured a short delay in which a desired investigation — fueled by public opinion and raw,  #MeToo emotions — into the specific charges made by Dr. Ford could be conducted by the FBI.

Though many on both sides of the aisle believe this is a wasted step toward the inevitable, to me, this is a very reasonable strategy for all involved.

First and foremost, it provides a cooling-off period from the drama of Thursday and Friday in Washington, the press, and on social media.

Second, it gives Democrats, and, more importantly, Christine Blasey Ford, an FBI look into specific allegations not investigated prior to this appointment for Brett Kavanaugh. It gives testimony to women survivors of sexual assault that they matter, that what they claim matters.

Third, it offers Brett Kavanaugh the opportunity to be vindicated by virtue of an impartial look-see into his social past and into his substance use history. He is adamant about his untarnished life. That life revealed should speak for itself.

And maybe, just maybe, it offers a balm to Senator Flake’s conscience, that he has tried to make this whole ugly affair a bit more palatable for all involved and for the citizens of this country.

I’m not placing Flake on a pedestal. I communicate with his office fairly regularly on the issues where I disagree. I find him to be flawed, as we all are.

But in contrast to most participants in this past week’s maelstrom of misery, I found Jeff Flake to be an adult apart from the herd. I hope people will take notice of his achievement. He is not a hero, but he is a person who is looking out for the good of all instead of the good for himself. He is humbly living the values we all admire as the normal course of events in everyday life.