No Excuses

The consistently thoughtful, sane and sober William Saletan on Tuesday argued that given a documented

pattern of inebriation, could Kavanaugh have blacked out? Could he have done bad things and forgotten them? Again, evidence suggests he could. In an autobiographical novel about their high school years, Judge depicts a character named Bart O’Kavanaugh who “passed out on his way back from a party.” And according to Roche, during the year after the alleged assault on Ford, Kavanaugh—who was “normally reserved” when sober—became “aggressive and belligerent when he was very drunk.”

He believes

The alcohol theory is arguably the most plausible explanation of what happened. It’s less crazy than Ford inventing a story and putting herself through hell so Trump can nominate a different conservative judge to the Supreme Court. It’s less crazy than two different women developing false memories about the same man. It’s less crazy than Kavanaugh being a total fraud who has conned friends and colleagues into thinking he’s a decent guy. And even if you prefer one of the other theories, this one is sufficiently plausible and well supported to merit scrutiny.

For the most part, Nate Silver agrees:

I've always thought this is the most likely scenario, although it's really a range of scenarios (e.g. "has only a vague memory of what happened that night", "has no memory of that night but can't categorically rule it out because he was routinely blackout drunk", etc.) https://t.co/0OVfC9Njh7

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) September 25, 2018

Uh, no. Brett Kavanaugh is lying.  As recently as Monday evening, the Supreme Court nominee declared on Fox News "What I know is the truth, and the truth is I've never sexually assaulted anyone."  He added "I never did any such thing. The other people alleged to be there don't recall any such thing. If such a thing had happened, it would have been the talk of campus."

This is not "maybe," "to the best of my recollection," or "I drank heavily, like a lot of other young guys, at that stage in my life, and although I don't remember everything, I'm confident I didn't commit such a heinous act."

It is instead: no, not ever, no chance.  He has thereby forfeited any right to walk back a denial which has been assertive, thorough, and definitive, stated more than once. 

Further, Brett Kavanaugh has a record of deception.  He has lied about his receipt of emails, draft letters, and memoranda stolen from the computer files of SenateDemocratic staff, his involvement in the nomination of Judge Charles Pickering to the 5th Circuit Court in the Bush 43 presidency, his knowledge of that Administration's detention of enemy combatants, and about Trump's search for a nominee for the current Supreme Court vacancy.  If the Pinocchio tale were true, Kavanaugh's nose would be second in length only to that of Trump.

Honed by years of hoodwinking individuals about his drinking and words spoken and actions taken therefrom, Brett Kavanaugh's skill at deception understandably fools many people.  To their credit, Saletan and Silver merely believe it's likely that the nominee does not remember accurately, and acknowledge that much of what he says is false.  Regrettably, there are many others who actually believe him.

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