Sir, – Due to the failed presidency of Donald Trump and his caustic views of the world in general, both accused and accuser have their reputations and lives irreparably damaged. The proper place to have this matter vented was in a court of law, if there was sufficient evidence to suggest a crime had been committed, and it should have been tried in front of a jury of their peers and not political hacks trying to score points against each other. This spectacle, this farce, has damaged America in the eyes of the international community. If Brett Kavanaugh was nominated by anyone else other than the present incumbent idiot in the White House, would he have been held to such acrimonious and invasive scrutiny? – Yours, etc,
CHRISTY GALLIGAN,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.
Sir, – Can we stop pretending that the problem with Brett Kavanaugh has to do with “Me Too” or “Time’s Up”. It’s because he’s a conservative Catholic. If he did what he’s accused of I’ve no sympathy for him but I wonder would it have come up if he wasn’t a right-wing conservative? – Yours, etc,
BRIAN DERMODY,
Blessington,
Co Wicklow.
A chara, – A copy of the 1982 summer calendar of embattled US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was made available in advance of his second hearing with the US Senate Judiciary Committee. The schedule is what one might expect for an American teenager in Maryland in the 1980s – school exams, beach trips, football camps. But the entries for the 8th and the 14th of May? “Gaelic football” at 11am, diaried the 17-year-old Kavanaugh. Alas, he scribbled a heavy blue border around the two dates: he was “grounded” on both weekends. – Yours, etc,
RONAN McGURRIN,
Sligo.
Sir, – Could Shane Ross do anything about the way they appoint judges in the United States? – Yours, etc,
FRANK KILFEATHER,
Delgany,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – Prof Christine Blasey Ford has powerfully spoken her truth of sexual assault to some of the most powerful people in the world’s most powerful country. That, in itself, is an enormous achievement.
Yet once again we see too many men are doing what too many men always do: circling the wagons to protect one of their own.
When challenged on behaviour that every man knows every man is capable of, too often collective cowardice characterises their reaction.
For too many men telling the truth about their actions and attitudes towards women is malleable and tradable and its auction in the arena of sexual assault accusations means women can rarely outbid them to achieve justice. Time and again there is ample evidence of this on these shores as well as across the Atlantic. – Yours, etc,
PATRICIA MULKEEN,
Ballinfull,
Co Sligo.