Imagine you were Kavenaugh when you decided to pursue the SC

[Laura PourMeADrink]

You knew:
1) Mark Judge had written a book about the culture at Georgetown Prep, hell you were practically named in that book.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasted:_Tales_of_a_GenX_Drunk#Summary

2) Mark Judge was your friend - well documented, easy to prove.

3) There could be plenty of people who could put you at various parties - especially people who are now Democrats and don't like your politics.

How to handle?
Inexplicably, he decided to try and hide his past. This shows a tremendous amount of narcissism and poor judgement. That he could get away with his past not catching up to him. Perhaps he confessed to Trump and Trump said "no worries, we will rush you through and I will help you craft your denials." ??

On the other hand, if he had just taken the "Yes, I was an asshole back then, and then, I decided to turn my life around" (albeit he's got the Yale problems too) he probably would have evoked more sympathy and breezed through.

But then, something no one expected, not even Kavenaugh. Dr Ford showed up. And, there was no way he could have admitted - yes, I was a jerk, and I remember you, and I am so sorry. Would even the most forgiving people among us forgive him for attempted rape?

No matter what way you look at this - he probably should have just stayed a judge. Now he is the poster boy for debauchery and female sexual abuse. What a price to pay. He would have been better off never pursuing the SC at all.

By the way, the FBI checks from his past, did not go back before a certain age - when he was young. Explains why none of them wanted FBI involved !!

So, now, Trump has given up on him. Whatever they find now is "his problem". Trump is already eyeing his next nominee.

[ginnyinWI]

1. It's not the "crime", it's the attempted cover up.

If he would have gone the Dubya route and just made statements like "when I was young and foolish I was young and foolish" he would have been better off. Maybe not made the Supreme Court, but at least kept his reputation more or less intact. It was the choirboy routine that really went too far.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

2. Starting to think he really was in a lose-lose situation though. If he

admitted to too much drinking and possible blackouts - then one could deduce that he could have done what Dr Ford said.

Totally agree - he went too far on the choirboy routine (btw, what Chris Cuomo said would be his downfall early on).

Yet, at some point - did he turn his life around? He must have to some degree to achieve what he has achieved at Yale and beyond. I know zero about his life since Yale.

[smirkymonkey]

5. Just like what they said about Clinton. "It's not about the sex, it's about the LYING!"

Well Brett, its your turn in the barrel now. Suck it up, asshole.

[Merlot]

31. Actually this time it IS about the "sex"

With Clinton, it was two adults (although one was in a position of power) and no one was drinking.

With kav, it's about being drunk, an under age girl, and forcing/attempting rape.

The lying is actually not as bad as the crime in this case.

[smirkymonkey]

32. What I meant was it is about the hypocrisy with them.

Kavanaugh is clearly lying, and it has been proven that he has lied under oath before, yet that doesn't seem to bother them in this case. He was part of the cabal that persecuted Clinton for "lying" and now he has the nerve to lie when it's his turn to come clean about what he has done.

[whathehell]

10. I agree with virtually everything you've both said..

My husbsnd and I were both amazed at his incredibly poor choices

Everything from complete denial very probable facts of his past

to the appalling display of arrogance and disrespect

he showed toward sitting senators questioning him...My husband's

theory about the latter, in particular, was that he'd already

given up on getting confirmed at that point, and so decided to just

let it rip.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

16. Interesting. I thought that anger he exhibited was more about "F you all, for

catching me." than "Ohhh....what you've put me and my family through". Well, actually, that last one was probably true too. Must have been agonizing for him to watch the truth unfold. He must be totally despondent now. I hope that he does seek therapy over this.

[MLAA]

20. 'We' didn't put his family through anything. His actions and decisions did. 😬

His narcissism and sense of privilege/entitlement made him go forward ...any other half competent person would have put their family first along time ago.

[CincyDem]

3. Door number 3...

IMHO, neither of this routes because when he was nominated, in his mind's eye with his view of the world (and more particularly women), if he scoured his past he would see a clean slate.

Not tha he wouldn't see his time in the bedroom with the music turned up, his standing in line, his punch spiking, or his dick-wagging. He's see all that and say "oh yeah - that's cool, no issue here".

Kav's decision making isn't flawed, in fact it's probably pretty f'ing good and logical.

It's that his underlying morals that are flawed. I honestly believe HE believes he did nothing wrong. He's denials and outbursts sound so hollow because he can't understand why others find it wrong. So he doesn't know how to navigate the landscape..he has no idea why he's the target of all this moral outrage so he has no idea how to logic his way out of it.

That's why he's left with that belligerence. It was almost as if he was moments away from standing up screaming at one of the female senators - "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? YOU DON'T GET TO TREAT ME LIKE THIS."

God would that have been a Jack Nicholson "you can't handle the truth" moment.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

6. Good Points. Yet, it's hard for me to wrap my brain around thinking what you

have done is entitled to you/OK --and--hiding it which implies you KNOW your behavior is wrong. Like Trump entitled as a celebrity to grab P's, yet he knows it's wrong/unacceptable and pays people to be quiet. IOW, how the two aren't mutually exclusive.

[ginnyinWI]

11. I think they know that society thinks it is wrong, so they hide it.

But they don't think it's wrong for them, personally. They feel entitled to live by different rules. Rich and privileged and able to get away with whatever they can get away with. There is a double standard--what regular people can do and what the entitled can do, or try to do.

Trump has always used his money to fix all of his unacceptable behaviors and until the Presidency it has worked.

We don't know what BK is like behind closed doors or what behavior he is getting away with, like alcoholism, at the present time. All we have is the display in the committee room. But that alone would disqualify him for me. Not a judicial temperament. If I were a senator I wouldn't need to hear about his past behavior. The present is enough.

[Duppers]

36. Exactly!

Well stated.

[suegeo]

12. What is he hiding in his records as a lawyer for the Bush Crime Family

The GOP is hiding this information, so they must know there is wrong doing there. What little we did get to see was awful. He was and is a flying monkey in the vast right wing conspiracy.

At some point, even or esp at Yale, he didn't do anything to turn his life around. He was born into incredible privilege. He went to an elite prep scool, his mom was a judge. His father, from what little I know, also had an elite job.

Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, white, male. Turn his life around? I don't believe that. Turn it around from what? Going to the country club, groping girls with no punishment, bonding with other boys by picking on awkward teen girls.

It pisses me off that I have to think of this vulgar boy at all.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

17. Are both his parents deceased? From reading about Judge, he settled on his

issues stemming not from abuse, but from neglect.

[Staph]

35. His mother, at least, is still alive.

She was at the hearing on Thursday. I have heard no mention of his father.

[CincyDem]

15. And now you know why you can't be a republican :-)

Yeah - I know, hard to imagine.

I'm going to presume from your screen name you're not a white male prep schooler from a wealthy family. At least I'm pretty sure about the male part

What you're missing is the sense of entitlement that's groomed into these guys by society in general (white male), local environment (prep school), and winning the "to the manor born" lottery (wealthy family).

I've got two out of three but didn't win the lottery.

From my view of the world, I can easily see the entitlement. Without the money, I'd like to believe there's a running chance that we can turn out human. Add the money and I think these guys grow up thinking all things and all people were put on earth for their pleasure. (not just physical but more like that phrase "serve at the pleasure of the president&quot . The world and everyone in it exists to do their bidding. I firmly believe that's not just how they act - it's who they are and to their dying days they just don't understand what's wrong with that.

Even with two out of three - Iv'e got a be purposefully aware. And I'm not always perfect on this. But I've been lucky. I have been surrounded by powerful women my entire life, both personally and professionally. I spent 30 years in a big corp and worked for a women 26 of them. I was lucky to be part of early forward thinking corporate programs focused on gender and racial issues in the 80's that were run by women and minorities who, at the time, were consultants and are today, household names. On the personal side, I get feedback almost daily from my wife, 3 daughters and two daughters-in-law.

So yeah - I'm really really lucky. I can't shed the privilege bestowed on my by society and I can't undo the environment that educated me. But, starting with my mother, I've been surrounded by such strong women that I can at least be aware of how those thing effect me and others around me. And, like I imagine it is for a sober alcoholic, I have to always be aware of it. And, unfortunately, I fall off the wagon so I just get back up and start counting days again. It's part of why I come here. It's like an AA meeting for white male privilege.

Anyway - I rambled a bit from our original interaction but my point is...I guarantee you their anger is real. Kav didn't keep his entitlement in check very well but I'm sure it took every ounce of energy in his body to keep him from standing up and screaming "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM - I WAS ENTITLED TO HER - SO F'CK OFF". Honestly, that wouldn't have surprised me. And it would have been a hell of a sound bite.

[qazplm135]

28. also possible, and this isn't a defense,

that he was so wasted for much of these acts that he does not remember them and thus believes he's innocent.

Not remotely a defense, but a possibility.

[madaboutharry]

4. If his life is indeed ruined, he has only himself to blame.

He did himself in with his own sense of entitlement, his hubris, and his arrogance.

He did not have enough decency, humility, or self-discipline to take a pass.

He didn't have it in him to say "Thank you, but I am going to stay on the D.C. Court."

Americans are a forgiving people. They are more than able to forgive the normal failings they themselves have experienced and the failings they have witnessed in their loved ones.

Sexual assault and other sex crimes, that is where hard lines are drawn.

I also think that republican lawmakers who exhibited phony respect but were actually dismissive of Dr. Ford are going to have a very difficult time ahead.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

7. You are right - his fault - but can't help but think it's Trump's as well. Think we

can totally assume that they (Trump and Rep's on committee) knew about his past.
Only explanation why they wouldn't want FBI to delve further. Makes me hate them more.

Have you read about Mark Judge's life/books? I hadn't until this morning. Sad to me. But - at least it sounds like Judge explored it all and tried to heal himself. Kavenaugh sublimated and never took on that self-discovery. And, he got away with that for many years.

[suegeo]

19. Mark Judge is a right-wing flying monkey

He produces content for Bannon, Breitbart, and that smug donkey Tucker Carlson. Since Shaun Hannity (huge ass hole can't say anything nice about him, so I will fling accurate, vulgar adjectives at him), runs with this pack of flea bitten rabid hounds, I would expect Mark Judge has produced content /propaganda for the fascists. Hannity is a demon from a deep ring of hell. Mark Judge wrote garbage for these dogs, and took their blood money for doing so.

Mark Judge is a wing nut welfare whore. Andrew Breitbart dropped dead. Too bad his garbage website did not. Ripley needs to find the pod monsters being grown there.

[irisblue]

21. I like and agree with your postthanks

[suegeo]

25. You are welcome

It's not for me to say how anyone else should feel. I for one refuse to be sad for
Mark Judge or any of this law destroying cabal. The GOP is irredeemable. What they have done is unforgivable.

I guess the best to be hoped for is some kind of Nuremberg trials or a truth and reconciliation hearing. But I am not ready to make nice, Dixie Chicks serious.

I am still mad as H. E. Double hockey sticks about coup 2000, seeing C. RICE 9.11 happened on her watch sitting behind the Kav at his hearing.

God Breitbart was disgusting

[volstork]

8. There is a single word for this:

Hubris.

[ginnyinWI]

13. Arrogance, conceit. nt

[Hortensis]

9. The incredibly bad judgement is what's so striking to me.

Reportedly a lot of very strong conservatives, which he obviously is, are very lacking in capacity for self awareness. They can see plenty of faults in others but cannot turn the lens around to evaluate themselves and their own behavior. If he's like that, that would explain a lot.

Then there are other characteristics of hard-core conservatism itself, which tend to include a profound dishonesty with self as much as the world that warps understanding of everything, as above including morals, ethics and religious precepts as they apply to them.

Add a lifetime of feeling entitled, cleverness and sharpness but never wisdom, the arrogance of a man who's been lionized and pandered to for over a decade, and the rest of his character -- including the good he no doubt prides himself on, and I'm imagining a guy who could bushwhack himself by subjecting a very long trail of misdeeds and inadequacies to intense scrutiny and never see it coming.

[CrispyQ]

14. You stated it perfectly here:

They can see plenty of faults in others but cannot turn the lens around to evaluate themselves and their own behavior.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

18. They may see faults in others but only others who are different than them. (See Roy Moore).

[Hortensis]

22. Exactly. How 'bout that trumpster mom who insisted being groped

happens all the time and is no big deal -- calling on her young teen daughters for agreement?

Poor thing just popped up yet again on MSNBC. Nationwide media are offering her hundreds of chances to see herself as others do. Bless her heart, as we say here in Georgia.

Link to tweet

[irisblue]

24. I think he was carefully groomed for SCOTUS for at least 30 years.

In reading his wiki 2-3 weeks ago, I was struck by how involved his career was with long term republican/liberterianist/conservative leaning groups. Some one got him to Ken Starr ( Starrs' federal legal involvement goes back to 1975 at least) and groomed him for higher and higher level fed legal jobs. Kav. & his wife were in Bush2 White House as very impt functionaries. Did Bush2 recognize a similarity of personality traits? Bush2 has been quietly pushing current senators for Kav.
This makes me think that there are other long time groomed goons in the wings.
Yeah I know it's conspiracy thoughts, but I spent less then an hour in researching wikipedia, I learned a few things.

[Hortensis]

30. I'm sure you're right. Both part of big conspiracy and

perfectly normal. Of course these people identify those like them, who share their values as they pride themselves on considering them, to bring along. Just as more decent people do.

Just as Trump does as he replaces the big conspiracists' choices with even scummier ones he feels more comfortable with.

But the big conspiracists have been at this for over 40 years, starting with endowing universities to teach extremist ideologies that hadn't been considered viable and placing promising graduates in positions of influence in many types of institutions. Kavenaugh's obviously ideologically, politically, and amorally the kind of judicial tool they want on SCOTUS, and no wonder the right's collapsing under its intense corruption. They've been choosing for all the wrong stuff.

[mcar]

23. Mark Shields on PBS News hour last night

Went back to GW Bush's phrase "when I was young and foolish, I was young and foolish" and how effective that was for him on the campaign trail. I hold Bush in the highest contempt, but Shields is right - it effectively neutralized the issue.

It's all Kav had to do and he'd be on his way to SCOTUS. Instead he has given us a perfect example of spoiled frat boy privilege.

Thank the gods he's an even bigger loser than GWB. And thank you, Dr. Ford!

[Shrike47]

26. I think he has forgotten all about his drinking and groping as a teen. Not important to him.

If the targets are not real people in his mind, incidents with them are irrelevant and soon forgotten.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. There seems to be something of a pattern with Trump appointees.

He appoints or hires someone who is unqualified or unsuitable, but he likes them because they look good on TV and they are loyal to him or said nice things about him. That person's unsuitability is eventually revealed, either through the confirmation process or after they started on the job, their reputation is ruined, and suddenly Trump barely even knows them. That person should never have accepted the appointment in the first place, but their own hubris got the better of them and now their reputation is in shreds and they're worse off than they would have been if they'd never taken the job offer. Dr. Ronny Jackson is a perfect example of this - one of many - and it looks like Kavanaugh could be another.

[smirkymonkey]

33. He even turned on his mentor, Roy Cohn at the end. Cohn said of him before he died, "Trump

pisses ice water." When someone is no longer of any use to him, he cuts them off cold. The man has no soul.

[Zambero]

29. The OJ syndrome

"That was not the real me who did that shit, therefore I never did it". I'm sure John Edwards had a similar tape playing around in his head, all the while concealing career-ending facts during the 2004 campaign.

[libdem4life]

34. What this has done that is positive is

lit a fire beneath capable women to stand for office...in record numbers. The Good ol' white boys club is aging out. That's the dire fear...their base is now rapidly ending up in cemetaries.

Once Trump is dealt with, one way or the other, I personally think enough will be uncovered that he, like Nixon, will resign. After the Kavanaugh debacle, his twitter involvement, wishy washy as it was, will add another chink in the R's armor. The Midterms are a foregone conclusion. Unless the proverbial bleeding stops, they can wave goodbye to the Senate, as well. I'm sure there are a number of Senators that have some of this baggage they'd rather not emerge.

Even his daughter asked him to cut bait on Kavanaugh...she's much more politically savvy than he is. Also, she has her "golden name and pedigree" to protect and her dream of being President...LOL.