During the confirmation hearing of Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh, I sat glued to my screen. Like many, I was enthralled by the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford and then the testimony of Kavanaugh. As I watched, I was engaged in a running chat with three of my close friends, all of whom graduated from the same doctoral program, work in the same field, are professors at state universities, and share many political views. The conversation among my friends mirrored that of the nation. As Kavanaugh lashed out with a snarl on his face, some concluded it was obviously the behavior of a wicked and cruel man; others declared it was the normal reaction of the wrongly accused.
It was in that moment that I was reminded of a very important life lesson: people who have much in common can
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