NOTE: I am presenting this message as I wrote it, in its entirety. I respect the recipient's privacy; I do believe the message contains no clues that would reveal their identity.

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Your message resonates with sincerity, and—long story short—I'll go ahead and "re-request" you as a Facebook friend. I would have missed being in touch with you! That said, I hope you'll consider how I felt when I read that post about "liar Christine Ford" and why I reacted the way I did.

You said you "sometimes do not . . . get the complete picture." Please, please tell me this was the case in regard to Dr. Ford. Let me tell you what I know: she is clearly a brilliant person: Ph.D. in psychology, master's in epidemiology, (now former) college professor, published author. Unfortunately, what brought her fame was that she was a victim of rape. (Technically, attempted rape.) It happened in 1982. She was 15 years old—a child. You can read the details of her ordeal. No direct eyewitness can back up the precise details of her narrative, because she and the two older male perpetrators were alone in a room. Christine had been resting by herself. The boys (both drunk) came in; one locked the door and forcibly sexually assaulted her. He even covered her mouth so she couldn't scream. She escaped only when the second boy jumped on top, knocking all three down. At that point, she was able to escape. She ran away in terror and confusion.

She didn't tell anyone at the time. I for one (having once been sexually assaulted [albeit not violently, as Christine was] by a person in a position of power and respect) can understand this totally. She was scared and scarred. Perhaps she knew that she wouldn't be believed, or no one would care, or that she'd be ostracized and labeled a slut, and the rich preppy boys who did it would never pay a penalty. What she said years later was that she just wanted to put it behind her and move on with her life.

Anyway, I think you know who the primary would-be rapist was. His name was Brett Kavanaugh. And now he has a lifetime appointment as a Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

So how did we get from a child sexual-assault victim who put her life together and became a Ph.D. college professor, to her being labeled "liar Christine Ford" in a cruel Facebook meme?

The answer is Donald J. Trump.

Before I go on about Dr. Ford, I want to make something clear. Yes, I am a liberal and usually vote for Democratic candidates. But I am not of the "knee-jerk" variety. I study the issues, read up, stay informed. That I usually end up towards the left side of the spectrum absolutely does not mean I dismiss any and all Republicans or even their policies as bad. I could name a few Republican politicians and officials I have a good deal of respect for both as people and as (well-intentioned, at least) policymakers—some names that come to mind are John Kasich, the late John McCain, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, Robert Mueller, Rod Rosenstein, William Weld, Justin Amash, Jeff Flake. . . .

That said, I am pretty much disgusted with Trump and most of the people he chooses to surround himself with and associate with. This goes far beyond "political differences." I'm very hesitant to get started here, because if I were to start discussing what I see to be wrong with Trump, his minions, and his enablers, I could write a hundred paragraphs.

For now, let me just focus on the Ford story. Christine Ford had seen a news item that showed Brett Kavanaugh's name on a short list to be Trump's Supreme Court nominee. It was with a great deal of hesitancy and reluctance that she informed her congresswoman of Kavanaugh's 1982 assault on her. She (and, for a time, her Senator, Diane Feinstein) tried to keep the matter confidential, but circumstances "outed" her story and ultimately led to Ford's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Immediately following her testimony, even Trump himself said something along the lines of "she sounded believable." But Trump clearly had not the slightest intention of supporting her. Kavanaugh had published a piece in 2009 suggesting that a sitting President should be immune from prosecution. So Trump was not about to let some woman stand in the way of Kavanaugh's appointment. The spineless Senate Republicans had tied their fates to Trump and would not stand in his way, either. Kavanaugh's own Senate testimony showed him to be short-tempered and frankly somewhat childish when challenged. Republican defenders were quick to point out that the evidence presented in Ford's testimony against Kavanaugh wouldn't hold up in court. Unfortunately, that's probably true. Sexual assault and attempted rape is a little hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt when it's 36 years after the fact. But let's be clear: the Senate hearing was not to determine whether Brett Kavanaugh would be convicted as a felon and sent to rot in prison for 40 years. No, the standard here needed to be a little higher, because what they were supposed to be determining was WHETHER BRETT KAVANAUGH EXEMPLIFIED WHAT SHOULD BE AMONG THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF CHARACTER, INTEGRITY, AND PRINCIPLE ON THE PLANET: THE QUALITIES WORTHY OF A LIFETIME APPOINTMENT TO THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES.

It didn't matter. Other women came forward to say they had been assaulted by Kavanaugh. It didn't matter. And others came forward to say they remembered from those days having witnessed or heard talk about Kavanaugh's frequent drunkenness (sometimes to the point of blacking out) and his sexual misbehavior. It didn't matter. A farce of an FBI probe was held, where Trump decided how long it would last and who would and wouldn't be allowed to be interviewed. No surprise how that turned out. Kavanaugh's now on the Supreme Court. What about Christine Ford?

Christine Ford lost her professorship because of the controversy. She received numerous death threats. She's been tormented so much she's had to move four times (at last count). And people put out a meme on Facebook calling her "liar Christine Ford."

I hope you can now understand why seeing that post bothered me enough to react as I did.

You seem to like Trump, and—if I'm to be totally honest—that troubles me a little. But you and I are both grownups, entitled to our own opinions and not likely to change them. I would only say: it is your perfect right to express support for Trump if you feel you must, but I would plead with you to consider drawing the line at piling on to trash and ridicule good—and, in so many cases such as Dr. Ford's, vulnerable—people who in Trump's view might pose an obstacle to his power.

I know you have a good heart, and you have certainly been consistently kind and supportive to me. I do value our friendship, and I hope we can remain friends.