For sake of decency and victims of abuse

Dear Senators Jeff Flake, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, There was a time – fleeting as it was – when it seemed President Donald Trump would give the proper respect and deference due to Christine Blasey Ford, the professor who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a party when she was 15. Last week Trump called her ‘‘very compelling’’ and a ‘‘very credible witness’’. His civility did not last, of course. But the president hit rock bottom this week when, speaking before a political rally in Mississippi, he savagely mocked Ford. ‘‘ ‘I don’t know. I don’t know.’ ‘Upstairs? Downstairs? Where was it?’ ‘I don’t know,’ ’’ Trump said in his shameful attempt to imitate her testimony. ‘‘ ‘But I had one beer. That’s the only thing I remember.’ ’’

What followed this public sadism? Cheering. Laughter. Applause. One of Ford’s attorneys, Michael R Bromwich, called the performance a ‘‘vicious, vile and soulless attack’’. He was being generous. Don’t let this train leave the station, senators, not if you care about decency, about the integrity of the court, about what this episode is telling victims of sexual abuse.

Trump can always pick some other conservative to fill this vacancy. And victims of sexual abuse can be shown that speaking out is not a lost cause, not a one-way ticket to public shaming from a powerful man. The country will be better for it.