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ОглавлениеCHAPTER 1
A Public, Contentious Case Of Presumed Sexual Assault
There was hardly anything else on TV then, at least hardly anything else worth watching, while Frank Martin and his wife Isabel had supper together that Sunday – unless you liked NFL games, TV shows or Netflix instead of politics-tied-to-sex. The US Senate, at the recommendation of its Judiciary Committee, had just appointed Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court as its 9th Justice. The strong objections by Democrats based largely on accusations of a sexual assault of 36 years earlier (while in high school) by a now psychologist Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, came just short of derailing the President’s pick: ONE vote was all it took in the US Senate, 51 over 49.
There was no way to be truly neutral -impartial?- in the matter, as there is no way for a crowd to be neutral in a contested call by the referee of a football or soccer game; it all depends on which team you are a fun of, not on the facts. There is no true evidence, no impartial evidence. It all depends, in contested cases -in sports OR morality- on where you stand. In the case of Kavanaugh-Ford case it was the same. Believing, accepting one or the other was simply partisan. And the Republicans had the needed numbers, even if barely, and it was all in the numbers, regardless of fame, position, the President’s tilt, the FBI – OR the truth. But of course we know that in contested Media disputes there is no absolute truth. Only partisan truth.
Numbers, we hear, don’t count in sports, just the referee. Even if later he gets hell… or if a later review costs him his job. Numbers do count in politics… and in courts with jurors – not in ‘only one judge’ courts!
“Isabel, in matters of the impropriety of unwanted sexual behavior between the sexes, I guess physical assault counts always as wrong, everywhere, even in marriage. Outside marriage, especially in the work place, more subtle things also count as a no-no, like words, gestures, various degrees of touching, whenever unwanted by one party. Of course sexual and flirting matters between the sexes that lead to any employment position/advancement repercussions, positive or negative, all fall in the same category. Agree?”
“Yes, Frank. Why do you ask?”
“Because I am leading to more subtle things that I have not mentioned like intended portrayed attractiveness, clothing (type of-, length of-, see-through, revealing) and obvious or camouflaged upper or lower ‘flashing’ – not just clear ‘mooning,’ but also thigh/crotch exposure by posture… and also cleavage (when upright or if shown or exaggerated by bending). Do you agree, Isabel?”
“That is all very complicated, Frank. For instance, proper or improper clothing for each situation is very difficult to judge. Some is addressed in the work place by ‘dress codes’ that specify length (of skirt) and amount of skin exposure -mostly affecting women- that has now been extended at some work places -and in schools- even to the nature of the fabric, not just see-through; to ban for instance ‘flesh conforming fabrics’ like lycra. Men have told us that obvious sexual attractiveness by a woman -especially clear cleavage- is not just inviting, but distracting to males, at least in the work place, even if not in a beach or pool side. I think you guys are right.”
“What I am aiming at with this conversation is something about that which did not come up -at least not shown- in the TV aired hearings of Ford/Kavanaugh. She described his being then -in the so called ‘assault’- in a room with one other boy besides Kavanaugh, his being on top of her -on a bed or cot- and his covering her mouth with his hand so she could not scream, before she wiggled herself out, free and away. She called that ‘sexual assault,’ but I did not hear his undoing his or her clothes or sneaking his hand to reach for this or that part of her anatomy, which most of us would have indeed accepted as actual intended assault. Yet none of that was reported by either party -that was aired-. Was that, if THAT was what happened, true assault? Couldn’t the boy (drunk?) and his friend have just been horsing around without intending intercourse/rape? And we were not told about the atmosphere -their attire, their demeanor- before such ‘event’…”
“I agree, Frank. It was, if it happened, just her own ‘perception’ of assault that then she hid for 36 years. An accusation of that nature against a person not running for public office these days would not be considered ‘sexual assault.’ But I guess, regardless of any political motivations to derail the Kavanaugh nomination, THAT was enough to call it ‘assault’ and inadmissible to become a Supreme Court in the eyes of Democrats – and largely of those in the ‘Me Too’ movement… But again it would not stand TODAY, against most guys, in most courts, as true ‘assault’”
“And do you think, Isabel, that at some point in the future, that not just borderline or suspicious ‘horsing around’ but even excessive female exposure -like clear/excessive cleavage at work or in a close social encounter as King Louis XIV’s courtiers did- might be considered actual ‘sexual assault’ just by showing themselves?”
“That’s a tough one, Frank. Perhaps as extenuating factor if it happens just prior to an actual physical assault or rape. ‘Me Too’ ladies defend ’I can show you what I want and you may get all excited; but you can’t touch or grab if I don’t want you to. It will be sexual assault!’ It probably doesn’t sound fair to most men. Yet I doubt just ‘exposure’ (of one’s cleavage, thighs, or one’s crotch while seated) will ever be considered ‘assault’ like men’s ‘flashing’ or ‘mooning’ (or words!). Right now, obvious mooning -of one’s rear or front end- in public, gets a guy fired from work, but not if a woman shows just cleavage… But who knows how the future will see it; perhaps… if more such cases -even of just ‘horsing-around-later-claimed-unwanted’ and accusations (like Dr. Ford’s)- come to the forefront and get public attention by the Media.”
“As for me,” went on her husband, “Isabel, I have already installed in my office, out in the open for everyone to see, a continuous video recording of all my face-to-face encounters with patients. I did have a couple of silly reports against me of sexual nature, both of comp cases, infuriated by my report to the insurance company. Both were dismissed as just likely fabrications. After the second, I installed the camera. I have one disc per office day. I keep all in our basement… Both patients had seemed, at least initially, quite pleased with me. Now I can’t trust anybody!… And I’ll probably stop seeing Comp cases soon…
……..
The phone rang in Dr. Martin’s home that Sunday as the couple were busy discussing the Ford-Kavanaugh affair, so juicy for the Media when it was news. It was a call from his friend in the Irwing Hospital ER, Dr. Bob Stein:
“Hi Frank! Sorry for bothering you at this late hour. I have a young kid here, Eddy Floss, who seems OK now but had a Grand Mal seizure today at home, his first one ever, after a day at the Valley Days Fair. His labs look all OK and I just talked to his pediatrician on the phone. He tells me to send him home and have his mother call you in the morning so you can see him at some point later with no rush and do an EEG. But I did not feel comfortable sending him home now… What do you think?”
“I agree with you, Bob. Keep him there. I’m not on call but I’ll be there in 20 minutes. Let me take a look at him myself.”
“You really don’t have to Frank. It is late, and Sunday. I can just admit him to the pediatric floor and keep an eye on him; you can see him in he morning… Or perhaps I’ll just send him home as his pediatrician tells me. The kid is really OK.”
“It is no bother. I’ll be right there.” And Dr. Martin hanged up. He was already in his pajamas, but quickly got dressed and got on he road.
He was in the ER 15 minutes later.
[In retrospect, now that we have this full, real story and outcome some time later, Dr. Martin’s decision to be kind, assiduous, extra-caring and see the boy in the ER at odd hours on a Sunday evening and he was not on call and didn't have to, would eventually cost him!].
He examined the boy -who was sitting up on a stretcher- in front of his mother and grandmother. All seemed fine except for his noticing that when bending the boy’s head all the way forward, the boy grinned and raised his shoulders a pinch. Demonstrating this to his mom and to Dr. Stein, Dr. Martin, as he did it again for them to see, he told the boy:
“Eddy, tell me if your back or your neck hurt when I bend your head again as I just did.”
“Ouch!” the boy said when Dr. Martin brought his chin to his chest with a gentle down push.
He interpreted that as ‘guarding,’ a subtle positive ‘meningeal’ sign. Dr. Stein believed Dr, Martin’s demonstration and accepted the need for a spinal tap. The neurologist offered to do it right there himself.
He did the tap easily, with the boy ‘siting up’ at the edge of he stretcher – Dr. Martin’s then and there amid his colleagues and residents, famous trademark in a place where other neurologists always did it with the patient lying down on one side. And the fluid he obtained (with 51 white blood cells per cubic mm, all lymphocytes) confirmed his suspicion of a mild case of meningitis, probably viral. The fluid should have had no cells at all or at the most, 2 or 3. His diagnosis of viral meningitis was correct on all accounts. Most likely benign.
