'Such a Slap in the Face.' Sexual Assault Survivors Who Met With Susan Collins Feel Betrayed

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Last Thursday night, Amanda O’Brien sat on a bus for 10 hours to get from Maine to Washington D.C. to meet with Sen. Susan Collins and share her opposition to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The bus was full of sexual assault survivors, who shared their stories with their seat mates as they crawled toward the Capitol. O’Brien, who wore black like the rest of the survivors, tried to prepare herself. When she and a handful of other survivors got to the Senator’s office on Friday, she told Senator Collins that she had been sexually assaulted for years as a young child. She told her because of the impact of the assault, she later became the victim of domestic violence. She told her Senator things she has rarely told anyone, things she would still rather not repeat.

“Senator Collins was also teary eyed,” she recalled on Friday morning. “It was very much a woman-to-woman conversation. She hugged us, we felt very listened to. I would be shocked if she votes yes.”

“I looked her in the eye with tears in my eyes and said ‘please,'” recalls Perreault, a 46-year-old office administrator in Portland who is also a sexual assault survivor. Perreault says she skipped other big protests of the Trump era because she’s shy, she’s a germaphobe, and she gets motion sickness easily. For this, she got on a bus. “I begged her not to confirm Kavanaugh,” she said.

Slideshow by photo services
But on Friday afternoon, Collins announced her intention to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh, all but ensuring that Trump’s pick will sit on the Supreme Court, despite Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony that he pinned her to a bed and tried to rape her when they were both in high school. Kavanaugh denies Ford’s allegation.

“I feel betrayed,” says O’Brien. “I feel it was a really dirty trick to sit down and listen to survivors and almost use them as talking points to get on the soapbox for Republicans.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/such-a-slap-in-the-face-sexual-assault-survivors-who-met-with-susan-collins-feel-betrayed-shell-vote-for-kavanaugh/ar-BBO0x72?li=BBnbcA1

[sakabatou]

1. Republicans seem to only care about themselves and getting money and/or power

[pangaia]

2. Somewbody sure got to Collins.. or else she is even more of

shitty little weasel than I thought.

Sometimes I am pretty naive..

[LiberalFighter]

3. She is the latter.

If she had ever been honest she never would had broken her promise to serve only two terms as Senator.

[Liberalagogo]

17. She's feckless

in every sense of the word.

[zentrum]

21. She's the latter.

[ZeroSomeBrains]

25. She faked concern

Ultimately she did what she always does. Side with the republicans. I never want to hear anyone call her a moderate ever again.

[Azathoth]

4. Collins is easily the most despicable senator in the chamber

And that's a very high bar to clear.

[pangaia]

5. Worse than McConnell, worse tyhan Graham cracker.. etc etc..

god, how do we pick a 'worst' among this bunch??

[Azathoth]

8. McConnell, and even Graham, tell you to your face that they hate you

and intend to piss on your shoe. Collins smiles and pretends to be your friend, pretends to listen to you, all the while winking at McConnell and Graham when you're not looking. Then she waits till your back is turned to piss on your shoe, and when you spin around wondering what happened, she tells you she's so sorry to see your shoes wet and says she saw some black kid doing the pissing.

I'll take an enemy like McConnell any day over a snake like Collins.

[pangaia]

15. Good point. Never thought of that. Thanks...

[Meadowoak]

28. Let's find good democrats to run against all these serpents.

[pangaia]

30. NATE McMURRAY NY 27th.

Running against indicted gangster Christopher Collins.
In NY 27th gerrymandered SUPER RED district.

6 weeks ago the race was considered safely R.
NOW it is a toss up. Nate take NO corporate $$ and the DNCC and Cuomo just ignore him.

Nate needs $$$$$
Can you help?

ACT BLUE !!!

[dchill]

27. They seem to take turns.

Spread the blame. Or credit.

[The Genealogist]

7. I agree with this

My reason: with Blunt, Imhoff, Cornyn, McConnell, etc, you know what your are getting, because they proudly proclaim the fact that they are right wing trash. Susan Collins is just like them, except she like to play moderate for attention and publicity. At least the others are honest about who they are.

[Azathoth]

10. Yup. Collins was always a stronger 'YES' than Graham, but she had to do her ritual kabuki dance

and pretend to care. And then she washes her hands of it all when it's over. To my mind, that's the absolute lowest form of cravenness and cruelty.

[dalton99a]

11. +1. That's her M.O.

[oberliner]

9. That is definitely not true

[Azathoth]

14. How so? When's the last time Collins was the decisive vote against her own party?

I don't mean bullshit maneuvering like the ACA repeal disaster, where she was given a pass by leadership because they thought they had enough votes without her and instead got blindsided by a genuine maverick like McCain. I mean an actual, decisive vote, a moment when she put her money where her mouth was, knowing she was elevating principle at the expense of her party?

Falsely pretending to care about something is morally far worse than openly opposing it.

[oberliner]

16. There are some really loathsome Republican Senators

Most of them have voted with Trump 90+ percent of the time.

I am not saying Collins is a profile in courage, I am just saying she isn't the worst of the worst.

Cornyn, Blunt, Wicker off the top of my head are significantly more awful (and, of course, Mitch).

[smirkymonkey]

6. I had no idea about this.

It only makes me makes me hate Susan Collins even more. How dare she use them like that!

[BigmanPigman]

18. Hear hear!

[Maven]

12. Collins is a corrupt sleaze and a fraud.

In other words, a Republican.

[lancelyons]

13. The sooner you guys realize that the GOP is united in their DISLIKE for Liberals.

THe view liberals and the left as evil.

They will take the power to control the left.

They would be ok with getting rid of the left and liberals even though they are Americans.

Stop acting like its just a person that has a different ideology. They HATE liberals.

[BigmanPigman]

20. I was going to reply, "No, they HATE liberals"

Then I read your entire post. Yes they do HATE us! And now I match their hate and double it!!!!!!

[SunSeeker]

19. This is just the latest in a long list of betrayals by Collins.

Collins will not survive this outrage. Maine will elect a Democratic Senator in 2020.

[volstork]

22. She's compromised. They are ALL

compromised. Never forget that tha Russians hacked the RNC, too, so have the goods on that bunch as well. Add to that the fact that collins’ husband is a lobbyist with deep Russian ties, and she has no choice but to do the bidding of her Russian masters.
They are selling us out piece by piece to Putin, because he will kill them and/or their families if they don’t.

[dlk]

23. Collins Betrayed the Survivors With a Sneer on Her Face

We can be rightfully hurt, angry and outraged at her despicable betrayal. Then we can get active to vote her out. It’s the only way.

[yardwork]

24. Well then, vote her out. Replace her with a Democrat.

[Freethinker65]

26. Feel betrayed? They were betrayed. But hell, it is Collins. What did they suspect.

[George II]

29. Collins may well be the biggest phony in government. All talk of compassion, but....

....votes against her constituents.

I don't understand how or why she gets elected. Let's hope this is her last term.