After Brett Kavanaugh’s batshit opening remarks today, he took questions from senators. Republicans lined up to kiss his ass and express outrage on his behalf. Democrats asked mildly effective questions that exposed his penchant for saying things that are not true.
Two exchanges in particular stood out. The first was when Senator Amy Klobuchar opened the door wide enough to allow Kavanaugh the excuse of having drunk so much the night in question he didn’t remember what happened. It went like this:
Senator Klobuchar: “Was there ever a time that you drank so much you couldn’t remember what happened, or part of what happened, the night before?”
Judge Kavanaugh: “No. I remember what happened. And I think you’ve probably had beers, senator.”
Senator Klobuchar: “So you’re saying there’s never been a case where you drank so much that you didn’t remember what happened the night before—or part of what happened?”
Judge Kavanaugh: “It’s… You’re asking about… Blackout… I dunno, have you?“
Senator Klobuchar: “Could you answer the question, judge?” [Silence.] “So… you… that’s not happened? Is that your answer?”
Judge Klobuchar: “Yeah and I’m curious if you have.”
Senator Klobuchar: “I have no drinking problem, judge.”
Judge Kavanaugh: [Smirking, pleased with himself] “Yeah, nor do I.”
Maybe not, but you definitely have a “not losing my cool when I’m challenged” problem. Watch the exchange here:
After a brief recess, Judge Kavanaugh came back and apologized for his hostile questions about drinking directed at Senator Klobuchar. But he never explained why he is so insistent that he has never forgotten a single thing due to drunkenness. Why would he insist that? Why would anyone insist on that? How can someone who’s been called a “heavy drinker” by a college friend say that with a straight face? And not just say it but insist on it? He’s never, ever, forgotten anything. No way. Not possible.
That… is not credible.
The other odd exchange was when Judge Kavanaugh had the nerve to criticize Senator Blumenthal for publicly using Renate’s name. You probably know of Renate by her first name alone because Kavanaugh and his friends slut-shamed her by name in their yearbooks. Well, nevermind that. Today, Kavanaugh took Blumenthal to task for slut-shaming Renate by mentioning that Kavanaugh had slut-shamed Renate.
Whaaat? Watch that exchange with Blumenthal over Renate:
“This is a critical exchange,” Josh Marshall of TPM tweeted. “Kavanaugh is clearly lying about Renate. It is obvious to anyone who has ever been in high school or college that this was sexual shaming, calling her easy. He’s lying. Lying when everyone knows it.”
Marshall has the full Renate backstory here:
Kavanaugh and his friends were in the same social set as a woman named Renate Schroeder, now Renate Dolphin. In Kavanaugh’s and his friends’ yearbook pages they make various references to being members of the “Renate alumni” or being a “Renate Alumnus” or the various other permutations. One guy in his group included this poem: “You need a date / and it’s getting late / so don’t hesitate / to call Renate.” Read the article about it in the Times. We don’t know precisely what Dolphin’s relationship was with these guys. But it’s obvious that this was some kind of nasty denigrating behavior, some form of what we’d now call ‘slut-shaming’. Again, we don’t know the details. It’s just as likely she turned all of them down and that this kind of sex-shaming was payback. But it’s really obvious what this was—topline references to what was clearly an ugly story, one focused on denigrating her for purportedly being ‘easy’.
The most poignant part of the story is that Dolphin actually signed that letter from all the women who knew Kavanaugh in High School. She went to a different school. So for decades she’d never known about this. She only learned about it when reporters brought it to her attention. “I learned about these yearbook pages only a few days ago,” she told the Times. “I don’t know what ‘Renate Alumnus’ actually means. I can’t begin to comprehend what goes through the minds of 17-year-old boys who write such things, but the insinuation is horrible, hurtful and simply untrue. I pray their daughters are never treated this way. I will have no further comment.”
Kavanaugh insists now that what he wrote about Renate in his yearbook was meant to show his affection for her because she’s a “great person.” Yeah right, dude. Cuz that’s how that works. Yeah, that makes total sense, you hypocritical, weak-stomached, weepy man of privilege.
(On the privilege tip: Wow, I learned so much today about country clubs and renting busses for thirty of your closest friends and buying them all tickets to baseball games.)
Oh yeah, and Kavanaugh lied to senators about what a Devil’s Triangle is. It’s not a drinking game, as he said under oath. It’s a threesome with two men and one woman.
Oh yeah, and Kavanaugh lied about what “boof” means. It doesn’t refer to “flatulence,” as he testified. It is a verb meaning “to abuse any licit or illicit substance via insertion into one’s rectum.” Close, though! Close, but no cigar.
What else did the judge mislead or deceive senators about? Who knows! He’s been untruthful about so many little things it’s hard to keep track of them.
One thing is for sure: This is a man who can’t stand to be questioned. Can’t stand to be criticized. Is absolutely sure of his powers of recall to the exclusion of any other living person’s, and also to the exclusion of commonsense understanding about how alcohol works.
But at least he keeps immaculate calendars.
