Dear Senator Collins:

Like many others, I waited with baited breath all day for 3:00, wondering if maybe, just maybe, you’d come riding to our rescue with this whole Brett Kavanaugh debacle. Surely, I thought, Susan Collins, the defender of women’s rights, would find it in herself to take a principled stand against him, to tell survivors of sexual assault–particularly Dr. Ford–that they were heard, that they were believed, that their voices MATTERED.

Boy oh boy, was I wrong.

Your remarks were disingenuous, condescending, and a devastating blow for the women’s rights that you seek to champion (to say nothing of the rights of the LGBT+ community).

In your speech, you decried the influx of money from “leftist” groups against Kavanaugh. That’s pretty rich, coming from someone who belongs to a party that is in the pocket of the Koch Brothers and the Mercers. How could you stand there with a straight face and make it sound as if it were the Democrats who were the slaves to big money, rather than your own GOP, which has slashed taxes for the wealthy again and again?

In your speech, you decried abortion advocacy organizations as alarmist (indeed, hysterical). That’s pretty hurtful and damaging, coming from a senator who has spoken so often about her support for women’s rights, particularly the issue of reproductive freedom. How dare you dismiss them in such a callous fashion, acting as if their well-founded concerns were worth nothing more than a condescending dismissal?

In your speech, you decried the rush to judgment about the truth of Dr. Ford’s allegations, even as you said you believed that she had been assaulted. How can you say that you believe her testimony, and that you take the testimony of other sexual assault survivors seriously, if you are also going to simultaneously dismiss them as being mistaken? You can’t have it both ways, Senator, at least, not and sound like an intellectually and morally honest person and leader.

I truly did expect more from you, Senator Collins. Though I am not one of your constituents, I still saw you as one of those rare creatures in today’s world: a moderate in every sense of the word, someone with whom I could disagree on issues of policy but who I still respected. After that speech today, I am dismayed and disgusted, my respect for you in tatters.

Unfortunately, what you did today was reveal your true self: as a partisan who favours the party line over principle. With your speech today, you have told survivors of sexual assault, in tones that no one could miss, to not even bother coming forward with their testimony. Why should they? They now know that not even their powerful women representatives in the legislature will step up to bat for them. The power of a man in politics will always overshadow, and ultimately overwhelm, that of his accuser.

But they will come forward. They will come forward in November, and in 2020, and beyond. There is a wave coming, and nothing is going to stop it.

I guess, ultimately, I’m disappointed in you, Senator Collins. I truly hope that things change in the days and weeks ahead, that the Democrats win in November, that women become a power in the House, the Senate, and all over the country. And I hope that you see the error of your ways.

We’ll be seeing you in 2020.