Claiming to be a Renate alumni and a virgin seems like perjury. Either you look at it it's a lie. He lied then or he's lying now.
I really hate it when men drag there long suffering wives into the picture, so pathetic. Fox News. Is that what he considers credible journalism? We're doomed....
91
Look at his wife's face - sad and says so much. Let's let this fellow go to rehab and live out the rest of his days without any power... HIs wife looks like she's sorry...
68
I find it extremely interesting to see all the progs here jumping to the conclusion that despite all the statements that nothing happened with Ms. Dolphin they insist something did. Ms. Dolphin denies even a kiss with Kavanaugh.
Are only accusers given credibility? Why do the progs here not believe Ms. Dolphin (and all the others starring there is nothing here)?
21
Isn’t all this somewhat part of the football culture too. The boys who play get a big head from yet another source. Big man on campus and all that.
21
The irony is that he is incensed that his name is being dragged through the mud.
55
It's just sad - very sad. Kavanaugh is a flawed individual that landed on his feet and messed up in his past - many, many times.
27
Mr Kavanaugh has all the connections he needs to find another job. So, he doesn't need to be on our United States Supreme Court. We all have to ask what deals is he make to make this appointment so Important....
50
There is an inaccuracy in the video. The drinking age in DC was 18 at the time. I remember because I was a teen traveling to DC from MD to go to nightclubs in the 80s.
That said, his yearbook entries clearly reveal disturbing attitudes toward drinking and women. If he's changed, good for him. But his open bragging about both drinking and callous sexual exploits in the yearbook align with the allegations of his accusers.
The fact that he is trying to deny his self-authored, public attitudes from that time is suspicious. That he ever held such deeply sexist views is disturbing. That he doesn't apologize for it now or acknowledge the impropriety of his excessive drinking or misogyny leads me to think he has no remorse and has not grown from his experiences. Therefore, he has no place on the court.
I feel sorry for his wife and daughters. The contrast of his blanket denials of the past in light of the yearbook entries must be disturbing.
Anita Hill's experience taught us that all three branches of government don't really care about women. The flat footed reaction of the GOP members of the judiciary committee to Dr. Ford shows they don't care about women. In fact, they are using women to "correct" their optics by asking a woman to question Dr. Ford on their behalf, thus further exposing their weakness.
If this nomination goes through, it tells me all three branches of government STILL don't care about women. I cannot adequately express how deeply disturbing that notion is.
94
Do we want someone on the Supreme Court who seems to have once (at the very least) had misogynistic views of women that doesn't show contrition attesting that he has changed? If this is an example of how he shows respect to his friends then he should not be on the Supreme Court or even be a Judge at all. No contrition, no remorse, then no seat.
47
"But, for some reason, he also denied the right to an abortion to a 17-year old girl. All I can surmise is that Kavanaugh believes that boys have every right to do as they please but girls have to carry the consequences for ever."
128
“Judge Kavanaugh was friends with Renate Dolphin in high school. He admired her very much then, and he admires her to this day.”
Sure, you always join in on scurrilous references to the people you admire.
53
Brett and his bros need to offer a come to Jesus apology to Renate Dolphin. Or do privileged wealthy white young men get a free pass on casual cruelty developed as teenagers? Where are his parents in guiding his emotional development? Crickets.
59
The comments here indicate the state of mind of the readers: transforming an innocent reckoning of a first kiss into sexual abuse.
11
Has anyone on the Judiciary Committee asked about Judge Kavanaugh's yearbook page? Was it part of his initial FBI background check?
Even aside from the "Renate alumnius" proclamation there are items here indicating questionable judgement.
I'm nearly his age (I graduated college in 1983) and to me this is just rife with references to heavy, excessive, and/or binge drinking. It mentions 'Ralph club'. When I was in college, "Ralph" was a synonym/code word for puke. As in, "did you Ralph?"
The references to things like "who won that game" (may not be a direct quote, but close enough) sounds like an episode (or two?) or black out drinking ... like he doesn't remember what happened. Is that a correct interpretation? If so, was it a regular occurrence for him? Dr. Blasely described him as being "stumbling drunk" at the party where she was assaulted. Would he remember?
How about the "police fan club" statement? Why is he a fan of that particular police department? Did they let him go with a "boy's will be boys" warning?
Yes, many of us drank in high school. I did. I know I passed out once at a party. Two friends of mine who were dating got me into my own bed so I am confident saying that I did not sexually assault anyone.
At the very least, I feel this deserves further investigation. I don't care if President Trump said the FBI doesn't "want" to do this. I'm fairly sure that it is their job and duty. And, if not, surely there's an appropriate agency.
66
Smart Americans don't believe this man and his rendition of events in high school or college.
Women who value themselves and their families will not tolerate this sort of bum rush job the Republicans are attempting.
We the people value our democracy and Constitution!
We want the outdated Electoral College abolished.
We want life terms on the Supreme Court ended immediately.
We want any member of Congress cooperating with Putin ,and his plans to over throw our democracy to be held in contempt of the Constitution and laws of the United States of America.
47
It is absurd to try to parse the meaning of "Renate Alumnius" or "FFFFFFFourth of July" and make a federal case over it. It is obvious what it could be taken to mean, but we should remember that these "mysterious entr[ies]" are buried in the middle of hundreds of other obscure references. Ordinarily, these books just sit on a shelf and the cryptic entries are not meant to communicate information about Ms. Dolphin or anyone else to the world at large. Is it nice? No. But it was probably not intended to be subjected to the scrutiny it is getting, and that is relevant to its interpretation. It is childish foolishness, and it is also foolish to try to glean much meaning from it.
9
Unusual, probably not.
Certainly I did worse things in High School.
However, this is for a position on the U.S. Supreme court,
the vast majority of us should not bother to apply. If we can't
find a qualified nominee who hasn't been accused of sexual assault than we're in bad shape.
45
When America ends, the traitorous lies of this disgraceful GOP will be the predominant reason.
40
Kavanaugh is the spitting image of Damien from the 1978 film Damien.
12
In his high school yearbook, Kavanaugh’s entry apparently says he is a “Renate Alumnius”, and his lawyer says it is because they attended one event together. Please, I would not accept that explanation from a child, let alone a nominee to the Supreme Court. These high school boys knew exactly what they were implying, and mocking, when they memorialized these personal, misogynistic comments.
I am of Kavanaugh’s generation. With all our youthful mistakes, including alcohol, most high school and college boys of that time did not treat women so disrespectfully.
And, a woman lacks credibility because she was “drunk”, but the categorical denier is off the hook despite repeatedly bragging about his own excessive drinking?
78
@Joseph Brennan: I would like to hear Kavanaugh say that his lawyer was mistaken and that he was saying he is a creature with a kidney, and be done with it.
5
This rush to confirm Kavanaugh is beyond ludicrous. Why is there no FBI investigation? Why will there be only one round of questions with a 5 minute time restriction placed on each senator? Why are no additional witnesses being subpoenaed? Why, why, why??? The list goes on and on. It seems that Trump’s Party is intent on destroying the last vestiges of our democracy.
54
Attacking a person's character and reputation on an accusation that was not an issue for 35years... does it matter only for a scotus nominee? How about city council, water board or Attorney General of a state. Democrats are strangely silent when it comes to Keith Ellison, under accusations backed up by multiple Witnesses and police reports
Kavanaugh a villain.
Ellison ? victim of scurrilous accusations deserving sypathy?
9
This man who has no regard for women, their bodies, their safety may very soon be the deciding vote on a woman's right to choose; a decion that could last for generations of young women. As we say in my family when you can't rationalize the irrational, "The spaceship has landed."
29
Renate was one of the people who wrote letters supporting Kavanaugh. I guess you are either on the team or you are not.
6
The responses from the Kavanaugh camp tell me more than the allegations. Are we really expected to believe that despite all the autobiographical evidence in the yearbook and first hand accounts suggesting this guy was the hard charging work hard/ play hard type that he was really only fondly noting for the annals of history a memorable dance culminated by a romantic kiss? And 18 other guys had the same intention? The Republican narrative is that this series of events is really just a political whack by the Democrats to keep a fine man from reaching the pinnacle of his profession. Therefore, the response is “I did no such thing, I’m not going anywhere”. This narrative, it seems, mandates that Kavanaugh continue to double down on forceful and repeated outright denials of all allegations pertaining to his hard charging past despite voluminous evidence suggesting he was outright crass and crude, at LEAST. This consistent narrative may be enough to convince the base this is the right guy for the lifetime job. What the rest of us are left with is a growing and sickening conviction that the swing vote on the SC could be occupied by an individual that will stay on message from the Camp, despite the obvious contradictions it illuminates. I hate to say it, but that type of character flaw will be infinitely more damaging to the Republic than whether he did or did not assault Ms. Ford.
30
These boys were different. We didn't assault or try to rape the girls we knew.
12
Daughter: Daddy, what's a Renate alumnius?
Brett Kavanaugh: Oh, honey, I'm so sorry you had to see that. Daddy's learned a lot since then. It's "alumnus."
22
'... what's a Renate alumnius?'
'It's "alumnus."'
Don't be too sure about that. In Latin, "-ius" is the masculine, nominative suffix for forming an adjective from a noun.* Perhaps you have heard of Julius Caesar or Marcus Aurelius.
If there is any mistake, it is in the gender. "Renate Alumnia" might be more accurate. See, for example, "Livia Drusilla" and "Julia Augusta".
* See: en dot wiktionary dot org/wiki/-ius
9
If Kavanaugh were anywhere near as "virtuous" as he claims to be, he'd have run far & fast AWAY from boastful serial-adulterer Donald Trump and his filthy administration. He'd want no part in this.
But, ah, it seems he's NOT so "virtuous" after all - and, wow, does Kavanaugh LOVE power! You can almost see him salivating over the idea of a powerful lifetime appointment.
46
Whether or not he sexually assaulted Dr. Ford, these yearbook entries should be enough to disqualify Kavanaugh. They show an abhorrent attitude toward women. I wonder if anyone has investigated his present day drinking habits.
47
It's getting to the point where I just want to scream out loud every time I read about these preppies and their so-called "antics." I too went to high school in the late 70's and graduated from college in the early 80's. There was plenty of partying, I had a good time and had a variety of friends, people who identified as "stoners," "jocks," "nerds," not to mention all the drama club divas, the intensely academic types, you name it. There were plenty of jokes about who was doing what with whom...but even back then we all knew that spoiled, entitled preppies were the worst. And you know what, there were, back then as now, good, kind, decent young men. The guys I dated and loved did not drink to black out, brag in yearbooks about sexual conquests, did not hold me or other women down on a bed, attempt to cover mouths and dangle their genitalia in our faces. The men I knew were so far from judge kavanaugh's behavior that it is laughable. And they did not years later have to appear on Fox and pretend to be virginal choirboys either. The smarmy, wink, wink fraternity of drugs, drinking and notches on bedposts is so ugly-retro sexist, and it debases the validity of the entire supreme court vetting process, and then how the sudden turn-about occurs, as all these crazed partiers become god-fearing Christians intent on maintaining conservative values... ludicrous! Ugh. The whole thing reeks of typical hypocritical republican entitlement. Color me disgusted, beyond belief.
113
Kavanaugh says publically in his Fox interview that he was a virgin all through high school and college and 'several years after'. In light of the culture of drinking and partying that went on all during that time, it unbelievable that Kavanaugh didn't have sex or 'anything close to it' as he said. Kavanaugh is a liar. His promise to Senator Collins that Roe v Wade is settled law is not truthful. Trump appointed Kavanaugh to gut Roe and if he makes it to the court, women will no longer be in charge of their own reproductive lifes.
50
Go to any yearbook from those years and you find the same fake news that we read everyday in leading newspapers. Kids will be kids... bravado, parties, bragging, etc.
5
On the contrary, as the former yearbook adviser at an all boys Catholic school during nearly the same time period, I am happy to tell you that this type of bragging did not take place. And if it had, it never would have made it into the yearbook. Instead it would have been reported to the Dean of discipline.
27
@jk How did the variety of sexual activities on Kavanaugh's yearbook page get by the advisor? Maybe he was too busy in church or helping the poor.
24
The boys will be boys mentality was in full force in the multiple fraternity houses of the college I went to. These gracious stately mansions were the breeding ground for male entitlement. Raucus, boozy keg parties were the norm. So were sexual assault and harassment. These bastions of boys clubs filled with privileged white lads, smirking and high fiving one another, followed in the Brett Kavanaugh credo - what happened at Kappa Phi Delta stayed there. But it also stayed in my mind.Even decades later, college memories remain etched deeply in my psyche. Especially if like me you were sexually assaulted. More than once.
This was 45 years ago and yet once again because of Bret Kavanaugh we are reminded that boys will be boys. .It is still a get out of jail free card, a free pass meant to trivialize male behavior their entire life. https://wp.me/p2qifI-4l0
37
I went to parties in college and beyond and everyone drank and/or smoked, but I don't know of any friend or acquaintance of mine who ever held a woman down on the bed, covered her mouth and tried to hike-up her dress. Also, it's hard to believe that this is the guy who seems to want to overturn Roe v. Wade. It makes sense in a sick kind of way. Also, as for Trump and his unhelpful comments, as far as I know, women are allowed to enjoy a party, have a few drinks and not have their so-called friends try to molest them.
38
Jim McCarthy refers to the Renate references as “intended to allude to innocent dates or dance partners”. Did they all time-travel to 1953? I’m a few years older than Kavanaugh and the parties I attended in college included dancing but certainly not “dance partners”. Sounds like Mr. Kavanaugh grew up in 1950s Mayberry, not 1980s Baltimore. Seriously?
24
Even if they so alluded, it’s still rude and hurtful and degrading to make a joking boys club of her! They were still using her and her name as an inside joke, and then were so careless about her feelings that they publicized it in their yearbook. That’s bullying behavior, all around.
32
"People would claim things they hadn’t done to sort of seem bigger than they were, older than they were.”
No wonder Trump so admires Kavanaugh.
20
And no wonder some of the school’s graduates appear at ease lying their way out of obvious slights against others.
Then again, they had Catholic priests known to exploit vulnerable children as their teachers and mentors...
9
The "favored" young of wealth and power often grow up knowing they have "more": more family money and power, better schools, business contacts and political contacts. The obvious conclusion is that all men are not created equal, there are, indeed, special people. And they have been lucky, and are among the special. Therefore, their "high jinks" years can reach into areas the "non-special" cannot reach: degrading women, the poor, non-whites, the un-athletic, the un-special. This is a common occurance of spoiled children and Kavanaugh's actions are being protected by men raised under similar, special, conditions. It is common, it is frequent, and it is disgusting that they have had such poor educations, poor human relations, and failed the simple test of being and sharing friendship and appreciation of people not in "their favored" positions". They are rather limited in humanity when they disqualify all the "un-favored" . A really pathetic and frequently vicious group who believe themselves above the law and above the rest of us. They are protected by their superiority, all their life. That's probably why Trump whines about not being "protected" from held accountable for his actions. No one ever made him accountable, or permitted challenge to the lie of his superiority.
17
Just a thought. The assault and unruly behaviour is alleged and denied. It does seem clear, however, that Brett Kavanaugh participated in underage drinking, both in high school and college.
I assume this was illegal. I assume this likely involved some form of subterfuge/conniving older persons to buy booze for him/using fake id's etc. I assume this was frequent.
So now we go from a youthful 'indiscretion', to repetitive illegal activity over many years endangering the liberties of others.
12
Actually, it was legal at the time in DC as the drinking age for beer was 18.
3
He was said to be 17 at the time of the incident with Ford. Underage and illegal.
11
Gorsuch has such a similar background (same high school, Ivy League education) to Kavanaugh, but there were no issues about his behavior at any time. Although he clearly has conservative leanings, there was a completely respectful vetting and nomination process. That is obviously not the case here.Could the reason possibly be the difference in men here? Knowing nothing about Kavanaugh beforehand, I was first shocked about the level of his relatively recent huge debt, driven by baseball ticket purchases! Mind boggling to me. And now, all this. Something is certainly off about this guy -- Republicans put forth a perfectly qualified candidate in Gorsuch. I don't agree with his positions, but he was qualified, and was nominated. Can't they do the same now -- there are plenty of conservative jurists they an call upon and push through quickly. Kavanaugh is not the man I would want to die on my sword over.
23
If nothing else, some impulse control difficulties and, hard as it may be to hear, poor judgement.
And, short of the ways those qualities may hurt others, they are qualities he’s free to exercise — as a private citizen; but they do seem to, or arguably should disqualify one from being among only nine human beings to adjudicate from the highest court we have in the country (once) most esteemed in the world. Those positions should be reserved for people with better impulse control and better judgement.
I know I wouldn’t qualify...
13
Yes, I too was shocked by his personal debt. For tickets to a lousy team?!
9
Kavanaugh is a frat boy posing as a supreme court judge.
44
This should be a wake up call to all those defending Kavanaugh. That poor pathetic woman has apparently been played for most of her life. No, Mrs. Dolphin, Kavanaugh and all those other fun boys were never your friend.
33
“Renate Alumnius” is only hurtful when the New York Times implies sexual connotations where there is none. The boys each took the girl on a date and in Kavanaugh’s case he took the girl to a dance, big deal. Thanks for ruining a few more lives as well as their high school memories.
6
Failure to be confirmed to the Supreme Court is not a life-destroying event.
4
@iRail Seriously?
1
@iRail Seriously?
"The group photo, with Judge Kavanaugh and eight fellow football players in pads and uniform, grinning, was captioned “Renate Alumni.”
"Judge Kavanaugh was one of 13 graduating seniors who referred to Ms. Dolphin in some way on their personal pages."
"Michael Walsh, another Georgetown Prep alumnus, also listed himself on his personal yearbook page as a “Renate Alumnus.” Alongside some song lyrics, he included a short poem: “You need a date / and it’s getting late / so don’t hesitate / to call Renate.”
So, was Renate the only girl these guys took on a date or to a dance?
13
Kavanaugh comes across to me as a cold-blooded man - one to whom lying comes too easily. IMO, he has a vicious streak a mile wide, and it's aimed mainly at women.
I hope that by the time this is over, Kavanaugh's own reputation will be in tatters. It sounds to me like he's sure willing to drag innocent young women into situations where he can intimidate them - and now, decades later, he's trying to debase and intimidate them all over again. How crass and vile can he be? Very, it seems!
Kavanaugh is a disgrace on every level, and I hope all the nasty things he's ever done to any woman in any manner will ALL come back & hit him like a ton of Karma now.
34
I feel that whatever he did in high school and we'll in the past that I should be left there this female should sit down and shut up. 15 minutes of fame is what she is after. Look at what the man has done since becoming a judge. Kids will be kids.
So many male kids are rapists and sexual assaulters who never face consequences because female kids are too embarrassed, broken, and terrified to speak up. Sometimes they females heal and become courageous and speak out much later in life, just like these women are in order to protect other women.
22
John, the dude has continued to make light of his improper and hurtful behavior, and by boasting about some of it in recent years, he encouraged it in others.
As for the “sit down and shut up” demand of “this woman”, that sounds just like what she claims Kavanaugh communicated to her and to the pregnant (raped?) teenager who escaped her abusive family and complicit country, and successfully jumped through all the required legal hoops only to have her rights and needs and wishes disregarded by that same dude.
13
Kavenaugh denied a 17 year old girl an abortion, for those crying about a ruined life. At 17 Kavenaugh was getting sloshed at illegal underage drinking parties and showing the disrespect for women that some are describing now, and the year book seems to affirm. Had there been some problem such as a traffic accident or injury at one of these parties, undoubtedly his wealthy and connected parents would have been able to cover everything up and buy his way out of serious trouble.
Nobody should shut up and be quiet about past behavior such as this in a potential member of the Supreme Court.
19
We live in an era where intercourse is described by people across social strata, gender and age with one of the harshest, ugliest, cold inhuman words in the English language. I'm sure everyone under the age of 70 is exposed to this on a near daily basis.
Where the media and arbiters of culture stand slack-jawed trying to think of new words to describe the unmitigated brilliance of popular entertainers whose lyrics describe the most vulgar attitude toward, usually, women, but now often men, too.
Where it is no longer even questioned if the end result of reproductive activity -- children -- are owed by their creators some sort of rearing. I suppose because it could be considered judgmental or offensive to people who... choose not to raise their children?
Yet we stand in horror as we recount a teenage boy who made vague allusions toward some sort of sexual activity. Shocked, I tell you!
I've rarely seen such hypocrisy.
#metoo is not bad. But it is hard not to consider the fact that the left won the culture wars in overwhelming fashion, and that -- increasingly-- they appear deeply uncomfortable with the result
Is sexual activity nothing, or something?
You can't have it both ways.
3
@John, violent, non consensual sexual activity is something indeed. What this teen age boy did is sexual assault, not "vague sexual activity".
16
@Chris M
You’re referring to other incidents. I’m specifically referencing the yearbook content.
You also seem to be very comfortable exploding the definition of “violent.”
People should be more careful with language. They should familiarize themselves with the concept of diminishing returns.
This is partisan war, nothing less, nothing more. It’s theater. The Republicans will win. He will be appointed. Some political damage will have been done.
And so it goes.
Even down to the commmentators on this site, we all play our roles.
There is very little honest discourse in this country these days, though. It’s all mercenary. War. There’s no level. Escalated rhetoric wins the day.
Sad!
1
As disturbing as it is to think the republicans may vote to put Kavanaugh on the court, it's will deservedly leave a permanent stain on all of them, especially if other allegations surface thereafter.
13
Judge Kavanaugh is probably more typical of boys’ high school and early college behaviors. Right or wrong, engaging in those
behaviors are sort of a rite of passage. Personally, I’d much rather have a judge on the Supreme Court who had some of the typical experiences boys and girls have while growing up. To me, having experienced those things of which Judge Kavanaugh is accused, makes for a judge who might well have a more authentic perspective when making real life decisions which highly impact our lives.
I think it is just as typical a high school or college experience to NOT have engaged in reckless underage drinking or getting so extremely drunk that you fall out of a bus or must insist that “what happens at xyz place you where you were drunk stays at xyz place”.
I also think it is an insult to the millions of teenagers who don’t engage in behavior that is dehumanizing of their peers to suggest that they are not normal or that their choices are odd or unusual or worthy of not being in the “in” crowd. Just as it is an insult to suggest that college or law school students who don’t regularly drink themselves into oblivion have somehow not had a full or real experience of school or of reality. Why should the bad choices and disregard for law or morals be considered the standard?
And, above all, if you prefer a SCOTUS Judge to have a sense of what the “real world” or real
Loved experience of acarrear people are, remember that the experience you congratulate him for having is only that of (a subset of) boys/men, of religious groups, of racial groups and a very small subset socio-economically — and their is nothing new in that regard that he would be adding to the current Court.
Let him live the life of a curvy Latin-American or Black immigrant female teenager, or perhaps a brown-skinned, dark haired Muslim or Sikh young man, for a year, and then we can talk about him having some needed perspective.
26
@CeCe
Ugh! Sexual assault and criminal battery are not “typical teen experiences” !!
16
*...the real lived experience of ordinary people...
That’s what I meant to write.
1
Many years ago when I was in high school there were situations where a group of boys would gang up on a girl or girls in one way or another, not sexually, but bullying, or derisive. Sometimes other boys were the victims. I never joined in, it was uncaring, insensitive, potentially hurtful behavior. It was simply the wrong thing to do, that was obvious. The boys who lead the activity were cruel, the followers who joined in were weak and misguided. It was no excuse to be 15 or 16, even less so to be 17 or 18. Lack of character, that's all it was.
28
Hello Republican lady. Guess what? GOP misogyny applies to you, too. Surprise!
26
Kavanaugh v Christine Blasey Ford
Kavanaugh v Deborah Ramirez
Renata Dolphin v Christine Blasey Ford et al
Trump v his accusers
Roe v Wade
When the inmates are running the asylum it's really is time for a revolution.
13
This is my meToo. I had a reputation in my high school years and I did nothing to earn it Except that I was pretty & large breasted. Apparently that is all it took to make up lies.
I did not learn about it until decades later. Explains why when I would try to make friends in high school, it seemed like they ran away.
Thank god for college & a loving family
40
What was going through the brain of the moderator of the year book who allowed crude references to some young girl? It is conceivable that one or two references could slip through as a prank, but 14 of them is insane.
29
@Mark Adams: Perhaps the faculty adviser didn't know it was a girl's name. ("Renate" means a creature with kidneys.) "Alumnius" is not, at least on its face, crude. It's plausible that there were hundreds of other obscure references. I think that the faculty adviser did not subject each one of them to the sort of scrutiny some are getting here because, quite sensibly, he thought that these would be dead symbols in books gathering dust. As they should be. Like the tree in the forest.
This issue has gone beyond ridiculous. If adolescent indiscretions are all Kavanaugh opponents have on him, then I say proceed with his confirmation. I’m sure many of the commenters who are outraged by a few of his alleged youthful missteps have had similar foibles in their past (or worse) that they would prefer to forget. Kavanaugh probably did some things in his youth that he regrets today, but it doesn’t do him any good to admit to them and apologize just to appease the liberal opposition and add fuel to the fire. I actually feel sorry for the women in this story. Not for what Kavanaugh allegedly did to them 35 years ago, but because they are being used for political purposes. Nobody cares about what really happened to them.
3
Actually, there is a lot to be gained by Mr. Kavanaugh acknowledging and apologizing for past misdeeds. Or at least there would have been if it didn’t seem like it had to be drummed out of him.
If he did any of the things he is accused of, then first and foremost an addition and apology could mean some much-needed healing for those against whom he allegedly transgressed. It might also heal some part within him, a part he may not recognize until, many decades from now, he is enfeebled physically and reviewing his life as he prepares for whatever may come next.
Additionally, it would demonstrate needed growth and change, and insight into the impact of his alleged actions on others not immediately involved, such as his family, classmates, strangers in a bar, or young and impressionable current high school, college, and law school students. It would show him not to be an automaton of the right (wrong) wing of the GOP, but a human with a heart that is capable of learning and changing with new, salient information. It would show him, if the allegations are true (and some seem irrefutable given they appear on not just his yearbook page, but in transcripts of recent speeches he made), to have more integrity than many people now believe him to have. And it might be a good example of Catholic Christian values, especially for those younger than him. Including his offspring and theirs.
As for being used, I agree with you to some extent, but these women won’t be foresaken.
6
And you, too, I suppose.
6
Yet Renate jumped at the chance to sign his petition of support. Now she's regretful. Deep sigh. I came of age in the 1970s feminist era, and I despair that we have not moved ahead in any meaningful way.
17
@Jersey jazz
She was unaware of the year book posts, I'm sure that if she had known, her feelings about Kavanaugh would be far different.
17
@James Young The press has been unable to reach MOST of the signatories and a number of others say they were essentially tricked and had no idea their signatures would be used to discredit Ford's accusations of sexual assault.
I'm not surprised at all. My immediate reaction to the letter these women signed was that all of them -- or, really, any of them -- could not possibly have known Kavanaugh well enough then and continuously up to the present to make the statements they were making. As a lawyer, it reminded me of a poorly drafted, careless declaration that a witness signs without really studying and making sure everything is accurate and defensible, only to break down under cross-examination and admit that a lot of what is stated is untrue or has no basis. These spoiled and privileged young men are essentially deplorable. What is disqualifying for Kavanaugh in my view is not these past episodes, but the lying and cover-ups. If only he had come clean from the first, I would feel much more sympathetic to him. I have to say that I also am not at all impressed with his judgment or demeanor as a witness for himself -- it speaks very poorly for his practical legal skills and abilities.
28
I'm not surprised either. My mom is one of these hard core, go-along-with-anything-catholic, catholic women. Some years ago she signed a right-to-life petition more than 30 times, once for herself and once for each member of our family, including months old twin grand babies. All of our names were included in the list of right-to-life supporters that appeared in one of our local newspapers. Jeeze!
3
It has always interested me, in our current political climate, when things leak out, like the remarks about Ms. Dolphins, that it's suddenly bad journalism, and how the Times "forced an untrue narrative". I want to take a minute and point out a fact. We've all been in high school, and as a young man, my step father taught me, to not treat women/girls poorly, to respect them, treat them as equals, so I would have NEVER done anything that Kavanaugh is reported to have done. But as a male, I vividly recall some of the guys I knew that would talk about girls like they were trash, and always, always, talked like they had slept with the prettiest girl, even if they had never slept with any girl ever, in essence they were still virgins. And oddly, they too were on some varsity sports, and most would have been considered "the all american boy". I've been to parties as a high school, and no it wasn't legal for us to drink, but back in the late 1970s, drinking then wasn't treated like it is today. But that's another topic for another day.
That said, the things that those boys wrote were about sex, whether they were true or not, make little difference to boys like that, where sexual prowess, and conquests are important to (some) young men at that age. It's about maleness, and oozing testosterone,not wanting to be looked at as gay, again true or not. If you look at the player in the bottom left corner, some may have questioned his maleness given what he's doing, in the picture.
11
“Conquests” says it all. A conquest happens when one defeats another, as in a battle. That certainly does not describe healthy or safe relationships, let alone a healthy sexual life.
As one expert recently stated, consent is the baseline, not the full ideal of relating sexually. Healthy and healthful sexual intimacy includes so much more than the other person not objecting to what’s going on. And when it’s a “conquest” the implication is that it was done against the other person’s (usually a female person’s) will. In other words, assault and battery. Where’s the fun or mere “shenaniganess” in that? And boyhood or manhood boasting about sexual conquest, real or made up, is boasting about rape or something akin to it.
2
This is awful, and I cry for my country. The lack of even the most basic decorum, the appalling sense of entitlement. How else can this guy wait another minute to withdraw from the process? These people are dragging the name of our country through the mud... How are we going to be like when, eventually, this awful time of our country’s history is over?
15
Bill Clinton was a master philanderer and assulter of multiple women who’s wife defended him to no end by dragging those poor women through the mud. Yet this paper and it’s readers were supporting her candidacy for the White House with hyperventilating enthusiasm, and would vote for Bill’s ghost if possible. Where/why/when was the collective change of heart towards this behavior?
6
@Midwest Josh
Clinton's past wasn't known until well into his presidency, and by the way, we have progressed as a society, and this is also a job interview. As a hiring manager, if someone I'm interviewing for a job, lies on his resume, that ends the consideration of that candidate.
16
@James Young - Bill’s past was well known by the time Hillary was running, and yet she still ran with the support of so, so many. They supported a women who protested a monster. That’s my point.
@James Young
Not true. All of Bill's "rapiness" was well known years before he ran for Pres. Dems just chose to ignore it.
As a lifelong Democrat, I am not enchanted with the Kavanaugh nomination, not because he is a Republican, but because of his apparent values, especially regarding abortion and powers of the president. Having had one memorable drunken evening, during which I said things which my adult daughter told me about the next day which I did not remember at all, I can understand if Kavanaugh did the thing he is accused of but can't remember it. Alcohol can make us really really stupid. As to why Dr. Blasey said nothing...how is this different from all the victims of priest abuse, who also said nothing? Being a victim isn't something you want to remember or talk about or share, especially when those in authority (the culture and the powerful church) are unlikely to believe you? I don't think much of the nominee's high school behavior, but it just doesn't seem like a good reason to withhold a vote for him -- his record as a Judge is condemnation enough!
9
@Ann Schubert
I just want to say, I've been drunk, many times, but I've never had an instance when I couldn't remember what happened the next day. Black outs, and being so drunk that you can't remember specific events, means it's time to stop drinking, I mean how embarrassing for you to have your daughter, say gee mom, you were really out of line last night. I'm sure that wasn't the first time that's happened to you.
other than that, I totally agree with your statement.
1
"... which I did not remember at all ..."
Alcohol can prevent memory formation. Such amnesia is called a "blackout". Kavanaugh should say how often he has had alcoholic blackouts.
Google "alcohol blackout" for more. See, for example:
What Happened? Alcohol, Memory Blackouts, and the Brain
Aaron M. White, Ph.D.
July 2004
https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh27-2/186-196.htm
Google Scholar lists many more papers on "alcoholic blackouts".
1
James Young: "... I've never had an instance when I couldn't remember what happened the next day."
Then you aren't an experienced drinker. Have you ever had the spins or vomited?
James Young: "Black outs, and being so drunk that you can't remember specific events, means it's time to stop drinking, ..."
That's incoherent. A blackout isn't noticeable until the next day or so.
James Young: "... I mean how embarrassing for you ..."
Ann's honesty is refreshing. Kavanaugh should try being honest about his own drinking history.
1
As the 17 year old Treasurer of the KEG CITY CLUB “100 Kegs or Bust” - any chance we can find out who bought the beer? Furnishing alcohol to minors is a crime and if Kavanaugh controlled the money....
9
I don't know anymore. I'm going to echo what another commenter astutely, in my opinion, had observed: confirm Judge K, and the evangelicals will be lulled into a greater degree of complacency and more may stay home come November; however, block Judge K and we're seeing 2016 all over again since Dems are not truly unified. Which one is the lesser of two evils?? There are better ways to reform SCOTUS, such as amending the US Constitution to introduce term limits on these justices. Think pragmatically maybe?
4
It’s ironic but fitting that evangelicals would defend a guy like Kavanaugh. The Times should report the truth, though, and this feels like their rebuttal to Trump's insistence of Kavanaugh's sainthood. The evidence is mounting against his perfect character image, even if he is confirmed. This article is simply adding to the pile.
Devil's Triangle, Renate Alumnius, FFFFFFFourth of July, Treasurer for 100 Kegs or Bust, Boofing.
Wow, after reading Kavanaugh’s yearbook entry, the GOP has certainly come along way from Douglas Ginsburg having to withdraw from a Supreme Court nomination once it was disclosed that he had used marijuana a few times!
24
@SRP
Not to mention the term "Boofing" at the time was slang for sexual intercourse.
3
@James Young
That's not what boofing is. Google it.
It's not surprising Orrin Hatch, a Mormon from Utah, is blind to this Supreme Court nominee's male entitlement behavior.
The Mormon church is a bastion of protective people who believe the in the absolute entitlement of all male behavior.
Sickening.
16
So the Republicans have now hired a female sex crimes prosecutor for all of their old white males to hide behind...
Two Questions:
Are we the taxpayers footing this bill?
And if so, what are we paying these disgraceful old cowards posing as Senators for?
21
Take a close look at the yearbook post, there is a word there my friend Thomas Edward Eskelson picked out: Use of the word BOOFED. "When you are really high from smoking weed."
No one asked him what that was about?
Here is the current Urban Dictionary entry: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Boofed
4
@Dr. Mike Olson
Which is exactly what I said it meant.
Watch the Senate Republicans. They will turn Kavanaugh into a victim of Renate's.
3
If you believe that Kavanaugh remained a virgin for many years after high school, as he stated in his Fox interview, then I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. This guy is a liar!
12
Something that is glossed over is that the contents of this yearbook does not say much good about the school. In fact, it is nothing short of amazing that this language made it past the yearbook sponsor (provided, of course, there was one single adult involved). Raises some questions indeed.
12
@José Good point. Obviously the school failed to exercise proper supervision and failed to understand that things like yearbooks live on forever. If you didn't keep yours, you can bet there is a service that can replace it. If I were a parent, I would feel that the school let me and my offspring down by not policing this sort of thing more closely.
3
@José
And supposedly it was "reviewed" by a faculty member.
Is there any information on Kavanaugh's stance on trying juvenile offenders as adults? If he has supported holding children to adult consequences for their actions in the court system, then his supporters can stop attributing his actions to youthful indiscretions.
8
It seems like at the very least, he was a drunk bully in high school, and a drunk frat boy in college. This contrasts with his claims that he was basically an altar boy. It seems like he likely observed or was part of a group of rowdy football players who assaulted women for sport. And it's possible that he took part in this behavior - egged on by his peers.
I believe it's possible to earn redemption for past behavior. But it seems to me that Kavanaugh has never taken any responsibility for anything he did wrong - or the harm he caused others.
It's laughable, however, that these football players had a secret society based on just knowing a girl. My guess is that there's something MUCH more salacious here, but that Ms. Dolphin doesn't want to be the center of tabloid discussion for what happened to her in high school (regardless of whether or not it was consensual).
9
I know of an older adult, a lawyer (not even a judge) for more than half a century, who would not so much as go five miles above the speed limit because, this person said, “I am a member of the Bar and so it is of utmost importance that I, of all people, obey the law.”
One so wishes that all of the people nominated to the courts of our land, and especially the Supreme Court, demonstrated such integrity. Rather than, say, gloating about underage and public drunkenness, to say the least.
23
You know who else is getting hurt by this? Kavanaugh's daughters. I feel bad for them.
That said. We have president (a president....) we all heard talking about his "right" to grab women in their private parts, who also have a porn star (a porn star....) on record for an affair with him. Now we have a Supreme Court nominee who might have assaulted a woman while so inebriated he doesn't remember it. Republicans - honestly, this is the best you got?
PS. The school administration is partly responsible for allowing vulgar year book comments to appear. They were the adults in the room, even if the boys weren't (though I don't give the latter a pass, for the record).
11
'We have president (a president....) we all heard talking about his "right" to grab women in their private parts, ...'
Trump never used the word "right". If you want to criticize Trump, start by quoting him accurately.
1
@GNI You. gotta. be. kidding. There is some ok way to say?
2
What happens when Brett Kavanaugh's daughters google and compare their father's Georgetown Preparatory's yearbook entry to Neil Gorsuch's?
Judge Kavanaugh, will you be proud?
You understand that your cravenness for power is responsible for them learning about your Devil's Triangle, FFFFFFFourth of July, Ranate alumnus, 100 Kegs or Bust, and Boofing?
At first I was sad and embarrassed for your daughters and your wife, but then I realized that they are well-compensated in their own consequent lifestyles.
Some of this, Judge Gorsuch, will be minimized if you withdraw now.
If you don't, is it only a matter of time, six months, three years, before regime changes and actual detailed investigations and you are impeached from the Supreme Court over your past and your perjury.
(OK, it's possible that you will be impeached from even the DC Circuit, but much less likely if you end it now....)
The only justice in the history of the U.S. to be impeached from the Supreme Court. Wow, Won't your daughters and wife be proud?
3
Well Ms. Dolphin, the innuendo from these high school remarks is difficult to ignore. This is like a high school nightmare come true years after the fact.
Your so-called friends from that time and place who not only demeaned and sullied your reputation but infamously memorialized it have now forever defined who you are decades later. Heck of a high school legacy.
14
A different socio-economic level and ethnicity, and such good-ole-boys would have spent their Yale years in prison, with records as sexual predators, or left dead in an alley by relatives of the girl. Let's not give him a life-time appointment to direct our lives.
21
@sandhillgarden
So true. I'd like to hear this from more people. The hypocrisy is real. Many examples, but the Central Park Five story definitely comes to mind, especially how DT responded.
Can we also bring up how drug users are put in jail and denied a good life but so many people in power were/are heavy drug users themselves but it is somehow considered normal? (alcohol, i.e. liquid drugs).
5
@sandhillgarden
Umm, no. There is no jurisdiction in this country that would prosecute someone without a victim complaint. And to this day, nobody has ever filed a criminal complaint against Kavanaugh.
Unrepentant men who are products of a time so saturated in sexism and misogyny have no business serving in positions of power and authority anywhere let alone on the Supreme Court of the United States. Even moreso when credible allegations of abusive behavior, once widely dismissed by a prevalent 'boys-will-be-boys' mentality coupled with blaming the victims of their abuse, have been made. I might respect the man if he admitted he was drunk, admitted he had no memory, perhaps because he was drunk, owned his disgusting attitudes and behavior and told us how he has and continues to deconstruct sexist thought and practice in his thinking and behavior. If he can't do that, he has no business sitting on the highest court, his biases intact, still blind to the damage it continues to cause.
16
I find this story deeply depressing. Catching glimpses into the prep school, Ivy League world of Brett Kavanaugh, Mark Judge and their friends is the most demoralizing aspect of the whole Kavanaugh confirmation ordeal.
It seems to have been almost a ritualistic rite of passage for these privileged boys to behave like booze-fueled, sexually predatory savages on their way to assuming the positions of great power in our society to which they felt entitled. For middle-class Americans who work hard to keep a roof over our heads, their "elite" experience seems like a bizarre combination of Lord of the Flies and National Lampoon’s Animal House.
I feel sorry for people just now realizing that their children, especially girls like Christine Blasey, were victimized by our nation’s brutal, sordid and degrading system of so-called “meritocracy.” I cringe at the cruel cheap shot Trump took at Blasey’s mother and father, suggesting that “loving parents” wouldn’t allow the attempted rape of their daughter to go unreported to the police.
My heart goes out to Renate Schroeder Dolphin, who signed a letter to the Judiciary Committee praising Kavauaugh for behaving “honorably” and treating women with “respect,” not realizing that for decades she has been memorialized by him and his friends in their yearbook as some kind of cheap slag who existed merely for them to use, mock and demean.
35
We can argue about whether behavior 35 years ago should disqualify someone. But no one should argue about a man lying here and now. who wants to be a Supreme Court justice. Just listen to his Fox interview -- "I never drank in excess", and then "my comments in my yearbook about Renate were just reflecting my one date where we briefly kissed." There are multiple people, men and women, including his own friends who describe his drinking as excessive to the point of being completely incoherent. His yearbook comments, written by him include reference to excessive drinking. Why lie about that? And his poor female "friend" Renate whom he happily used to be one of his 65 cheerleaders - no woman looking at the group picture bragging about being "Renate alumni"believes he included references to her out of some sort of sweet fondness. He is a liar here and now -- that is the problem.
29
I totally agree. Regardless of whether or not he sexually assaulted someone, we KNOW that he was a self proclaimed “alum.” I am surprised that the media hasn’t picked up on this to a greater extent. I think it is a huge story. There is no denying it. The numerous references in that yearbook are proof of his shabby moral character.
13
She is furious over what was said in a high school yearbook. From nearly 40 years ago. Nothing that has happened in her adult life puts what a bunch of immature teenagers said decades ago into perspective?
I don't get it, I really don't.
6
@Lynn in DC Perhaps she is furious because she was was so misled by this person; thinking she was his good friend - enough to put herself in the midst of this maelstrom by signing her name to a letter, but then finds out that friendship was hollow - all the while, he and his friends were bragging about their supposed sexual conquests with her. Wouldn't you be furious?
18
@Lynn in DC
What don't you get. Atticus Finch said, "to understand someone, you have to get into their skin and walk around in it".
5
@LynnCalhoun
Maybe if I had recently graduated from high school. But nearly 40 years later? Come on. Does this woman not have a life?
It sounds like silly bragging among a bunch of insecure, inexperienced boys who wanted to show off in front of one another. That said, (a) none of those boys seems like he would memorialize chaste dates and innocent kisses under the magnolia tree between all the football games and keggers in the yearbook; and (b) I find it hard to believe that in the tight-knit and gossip-y confines of elite prep schools in the DC area that she had not heard that half the senior class boys had mentioned her in the yearbook. My guess is, yes, he did what he is accused of and Ms. Dolphin should have probably reconsidered before signing the letter.
199
@Charles I went to an all-girls school down the street from Georgetown Prep. You don't see each other yearbooks unless your brother goes to school there and brings it home.
6
Supreme Court seats are rare and precious things - not to be given out lightly. There are a number of clouds now over Kavanaugh - not only the sex assault(s), but also his lack of candor (if not outright lying) about his role in key decisions in the Bush II Whitehouse. Sure, maybe Kavanaugh subsequently had an epiphany later in life (after having daughters maybe?) and now understands the errors of his youth - but he doesn't admit of atone for them - just deny deny deny per Trump's playbook. Surely there are other highly qualified conservative SCOTUS candidates who didn't spend their privileged high school and college years in a drunken Bacchanalia. Who instead studied, performed community service, attend church and associated activities - these are the candidates who should be brought forward for consideration to the court. They have led a consistent life of hard work and dedication to higher ideals - and won't enter the court with a cloud of suspicion over them.
18
@Sigma0
Lack on candor, isn't that why McCabe was fired.
3
@James Young
Bingo!
1
It is possible that one or both accusers had drugs added to their drinks without their knowledge.
5
Hmmm.... if I was Renate I would have preferred this was not be drug out into the national limelight. What do her children or does her husband think of this?
This seems unfair to her even if it its sickening.
10
What speaks most loudly and clearly about the culture of Georgetown Prep generally and Kavanaugh's little posse specifically is that an adult man in his 50's asked the Times not to use his name because, after all these years, he still fears retribution.
29
In 2012 during the Mitt Romney-Barack Obama presidential campaign, Mitt’s “playful” activities while in a terribly expensive all-boys prep school were brought up, then casually tossed aside.
1) Mitt led a group of other prepsters who grabbed a young “effeminate” boy with long hair, took him down as the apex predators they were as Mitt took scissors he brought and they cut off this boy’s hair as he cried and struggled. “Boys will be boys!”
2) Mitt gave directions to a blind teacher inside a school building resulting in the teacher running dead on into a glass door. “Oh too, too funny!”
These are also “rape” stories of the strong doing as they pleased with a weaker person...in the minds of the entitled.
Was Mitt thrown out of school? Was he punished in any way? No. He left for a prestigious private college, Brigham Young University, the Mormon university, then went on to get his MBA and become a TRUE predator--a vulture capitalist.
The other prep school boys who did nothing to intervene in both cases were just as guilty as their ring leader. Any boy (even over 21 they aren’t mature) who allowed this to happen were just as guilty.
Studies have shown that these “masters of the universe” whether hedge fund managers or federal court justices are sociopaths in higher proportions than in other occupations.
A Christian nation! Why do we extoll these people without souls?
Some people DO see through such folks. Utah’s top newspaper refused to back Mitt for POTUS.
28
@Nuschler
Really, what does that same paper say about Kavanaugh now.
What I have a problem with these neo con white males and their female defenders is they claim to be highly moral God fearing women who have no problem if they have unprotected sex with a woman, but don't want that woman to have a right to an abortion.
25
GOP voting Friday on Kavenaugh is crazy! Rush rush rush before public opinion can catch up with them.Just like tax scam; ACA repeal and others; Rush before facts can come out. Vote out GOP to save health care; Medicare and Social Security. Ray Sipe
16
Is anyone else horrified that the same people who made "multiple apparent references to the Ku Klux Klan" in Georgetown Prep's yearbook may now be circuit court judges, lawyers and politicians?
31
Best we can say about him, he is a cad.
The worse goes on and on.
8
Now we know why, when he worked for Ken Starr, Brett Kavanaugh was so obsessed with Bill Clinton's sexual activity.
32
@MidtownATL
And I'm sure he's getting tips on how to vilify Ms. Dolphin, and any other woman that has the gall to ruin their chances at lording over us. Joseph Goebbels said it best, "Blame the other party, of the crimes that you yourself are guilty of".
8
That Judge Kavanaugh chose to speak out on Fox News tells me everything I need to know about him.
41
If Kavanaugh balks while being questioned about personal topics on Thursday, Democrats should show him a copy of the memo he wrote to Ken Starr and the lewd questions he wanted Bill Clinton to answer about his affair with Monica Lewinsky.
28
I can’t express in words how terrified I am about this inquisition. This is insane.
1
@Victor you mean you feel a tiny little bit of what women feel when the integrity of their own bodies is challenged, imposed upon, investigated, adjudicated, and controlled by others?
9
@Victor
I'm not sure what you mean, what's insane, the GOP forcing him through, the same thing came back to haunt them with the Clarence Thomas debacle, again the GOP.
1
Alexandra Walsh, a lawyer for Judge Kavanaugh, said in a statement: “[...] The language from Judge Kavanaugh’s high school yearbook refers to the fact that he and Ms. Dolphin attended that one high school event together and nothing else.”
Yeah, right. One mustn't lose sight of the fact that lawyers - just like Congressional Republicans - lie out of self-interest. The only difference is a lawyer doesn't care about the paper trail of monies exchanged because they quite legally provide lies as a service.
14
What does this say about the Beorgetown Prep School that they allowed that kind of smear in their yearbook? Obviously, that kind of behavior was a culture, encouraged and sanctioned by the school.
23
Right? My thoughts, exactly. Unbelievable.
5
@Kate Long
They said the yearbook was reviewed by a faculty member, must have been a male.....
1
This entire charade begins with Justice Kennedy!
Why would he retire a few months before an election??
The fix was in!
Especially galling in light of McConnell not allowing Judge Merrick Garland to be brought for a vote.
35
Joan. Good comment.
Those administrators at Georgetown Prep must be in all sorts of damage control. Talk about getting a reputation.
19
Corruption is supposed to develop after decades of power and privilege. Apparently Kavanaugh's developed much earlier. I remember smart a's like this in college. I hope he fails.
16
Do Walsh and McCarthy actually think we’re going to believe that “Renate Alumni” simply alludes to innocent dates and goodnight kisses? Oh, puh-lease, give me a break! We all know EXACTLY what their clients meant by this term back in high school.
Furthermore, we all know exactly what their clients are doing now – lying to get themselves out of trouble rather than owning up to past transgressions and asking for forgiveness (like we all learned to do back in kindergarten).
But then, members of the privileged class are often rank with the attitude that the rules don’t apply to them (above the law), conditioned by years of affluence, class, and gettin’ away with stuff.
27
Many decent people, who generally live at peace with the world, find that the [rare] persons with whom they experience unpleasantness, have usually offended many others as well. I wonder why the right-wing fanatics who destroy everything of value in this world, are not systematically investigated on a routine basis. Many of them have destroyed many lives throughout their sordid careers, and only when one person comes forward does anyone research their past atrocities. Their crimes should be exposed *before* they become very prominent.
I advocate the foundation of a "Committee for a Vermin-Free Environment" that would seek out accurate information on hypocrites who preen themselves on their unique virtue, even as they spend their lives preying on innocents. Any demonstrable incidents of sexual predation, racist comments or actions, denigration of poor or disadvantaged groups, and abuse of workers should receive maximum publicity early on, thus preventing perps from destroying other lives, and also warning wannabe persecutors that their actions will have consequences for themselves as well as their victims.
People of good will should fund such an organization, and encourage victims to come forward under conditions where they will be respected, listened to, protected, and helped, with anonymity guaranteed unless they explicitly allow publicity.
4
Lordy. I know there are awful men of all political persuasions. That said, do the Republicans have to nominate someone accused of sexually harrassing/assaulting behavior to higher office every couple of decades because of some curse? Or maybe there was a contract signed with a mysterious figure at a crossroads during a full moon?
13
One cannot speak of enough irony about Renate et al. The joke is on them. It goes to show how little the vouchers for character really means.
13
To most of those commenting here:
Would you be willing to support an effort to check the high school yearbooks of boys who grew up to become prominent, current members of the Democratic Party - including Senators and federal judges appointed by recent Democratic Presidents?
Should entries in high school yearbooks now become a standard for future male candidates for high office, in all 3 branches of government?
Note that Kavanaugh in his interview Monday night said that
"all of us have probably done things we look back on in high school and regret or cringe a bit”. That could easily include those yearbook posts. Doesn't make him a sexual predator.
1
Yes. It might not be a bad idea, actually.
And now, a question of my own: what would you be saying if Kavanaugh was a Democrat?
8
@José
I agree, I think anyone that nominated or runs for congress, should have an in depth FBI background check done. I would have no problem not supporting a democrat, if the roles were reversed, no one should support this kind of behavior, regardless of party. There should also be a truth in ads law, so NO body running for elected office can run an ad that is a lie. Fact checking would be done in advance, if it's untrue that ad doesn't run.
@HurryHarry
Then what does it make him, did you do the same things he did. And by the way, I'm sure democrats have been drug through the ringer by the GOP when they had their chance. How much money did Newt spend of tax payers money investigating Clinton, only to ultimate try and impeach him for lying. If that's the bar that the GOP set, well they made the rules. Your defending the undefendable, unless your one too.
4
I happen to believe Judge Kavanaugh. I don't believe Mr. Judge when he was under the influence because Drunks are liars and they like to act like big shots.
Concerning Ms. Ford, I find it very telling that she is a Democratic Activist. She marched again President Trump the day after he was inaugurated. What bothers me even more is that her attorney, Ms. Katz is not only an activist but also heads up a Soros organization to defeat Conservative judicial picks.
As Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has said: I will go to any lengths to stop judicial picks by President Trump. This playbook has been used over and over again and quite frankly is tiresome. Race and sex. Why is it always that way with Conservative picks and yet when President Obama had his picks (with the exception of Garland) there were no accusations, no demonstrations...Sotomeyer and Kagan were confirmed in bi-partisan agreement. The reason Garland was not confirmed was because we had a new president coming in. That is not the case now.
Roe v Wade is settled law. However, if we want to play devil's advocate and it were to be overturned, which it will not, the law goes back to the states. If you live in a liberal state, you can have an abortion. If you don't, you will probably have to pay a fee and travel to that state. Nobody is taking away a woman's right to choose.
1
What a disturbing thing to write.
So, it's OK for a woman to have to travel over state lines to end an unwanted pregnancy? This is why you're OK with overturning a woman's right to her own reproductive choices? Geography?
Not privacy or the right to keep government out of our bedrooms?
It must be very difficult to be a conservative woman in a era of Trumpism. At times, I imagine the feelings of hypocracy must be overwhelming.
Louie
8
@Carolynr98 So if you are too poor to pay that fee to travel to another state, you don't think that woman's right to choose has been compromised?
4
@Carolynr98: give me a break - forcing a woman to have to travel to another state for an abortion - which probably requires taking time off work (and many women do not have paid vacation time), paying quite a bit for travel, lodging, food, etc. while away - IS essentially taking away a number of women’s right to choose if they cannot afford to take unpaid leave and travel to another state. No matter what one’s opinion is on abortion, your statement is preposterous.
13
Kavenaugh is unqualified for office- period.
If you question whether or not the court has become a partsan tool, then riddle me this...
Why would the Republicans ram through a nominee whose history of sexual debasement, alcohol abuse and less than close relationship with the truth normally shutter a nominee?
I'll answer my own question.
Because they're going to lose the Congress this November and very likely the presidency after that. So, the goal is to install a politcally motivated extremist who just might save the president, based on his past writings, from impeachment if the obstruction of justice charges reach the prosecutorial level.
This is the only chance this tower of corruption has at legitimizing itself in the eyes of it's less than intellectual base- who need to see shadows and not facts.
Kavenagh needs to go the way of the Bork nomination and the way Clarence Thomas's nomination should have gone.
No where.
Louie
23
I think most people "know" what the Renate comments is implied to mean...true or not..this is revealing that the Judge would allow himself to "cooperate" on such an issue...and now posed to be on the highest court in the land..his decision will affect our entire population of 320 million US citizens.
12
Was Ms. Dolphin the only girl these 13 boys ever had a date with? If so ordinary and unremarkable, why worthy of such yearbook prominence? The explanation offered for their references to her is risible.
18
If this was a Democratic nominee , a story regarding a High school yearbook would probably never have been published by the New York Times. It certainly would have been at Fox news though, and my strong bet is that most people here who are so outraged at the yearbook comments would have entirely different opinions.
My fellow American, this nomination is laying bare that we are no longer fellow Americans.... and that is the saddest thing of many sad things about this Presidency. As a united Nation, we are at Ebb tide... and all boats are lower, not the least being objective coverage by the media.
2
If that Democrat had said in an interview that he was not sexually active in high school and contemporaneous information came to light suggesting the opposite, and that person had also been accused of sexual assault by two people then no, I wouldn't be defending that person, I'd be calling for him to withdraw his nomination.
14
@Bill K
Bill, seriously. You need to get a clue. If this was a Democratic nominee...he would have already been forced to resign. Not even a doubt of that happening. Democrats are the party of political correctness. Look at what happened to Senator Al Franken. He didn't even get a hearing and he was forced out.
I'll bet not a few republicans...and certainly plenty of commenters here believe Blasey Ford was, in fact, assaulted by Kavanaugh...but they want him on the Supreme Court anyway...because he is one of them!!!
I'm not one of them, and if you aren't, then you'd better
VOTE OUT ALL REPUBLICANS
6
There is usually only one thing that a horrible teenage boy ends up becoming- a horrible man. His horrific acts are usually unknown to others until the questioning begins. I wonder how many people that Kavanaugh knew as a teenager are now nodding their heads and saying "I told you so".
Brett Kavanaugh can take to Fox & Friends or any other misogynist TV network or talk show to protest his innocence. But the damage is done. Even if confirmed, despite all the implicit evidence, he is never going to be able to command respect on the supreme court bench. He may have a soulmate in Clarence Thomas but he will be reviled by the 3 fine women on the bench - Kagan, Sotomayor and Ginsburg.
21
I'd like to know more about the 65 women who signed a letter in support of Kavanaugh. What were they told? What did they think they were doing -- were these good Catholic women who thought they were vouching for a man who would overturn Roe v. Wade, since that was considered to be the sticking point, and Kavanaugh would be painted as anti-women? Why would Renate have signed given that she doesn't seem to have been a close friend?
10
Let Kavanaugh in. He should be a member about whom other justices could be proud. He is a wonderful topic for writings, debates, songs, poetry and SNL. Justice Marshall's replacement should be happy to have him there. Equal opportunity stuff. His children will also find out more about dad. Let him in.
I see comments asking why the yearbook faculty adviser didn't censor the references, and other comments calling them slurs and libelous. Maybe it should tell us something that Ms. Dolphin was never aware of the cryptic phrase in the yearbook until it was recently pointed out to her. Nobody cared. It was, apparently, not a message that had ever connected with anybody whose opinion was important to her. It was no doubt intentionally obscure and ambiguous. There is nothing that guarantees that Kavanaugh understood it the same way the other boys did. Childhood foolishness.
3
You can choke that down if it helps you but I don’t buy it. These are the words of a very self actualized person, more hyper aware of what they’re saying than anything. It got his rocks of to bully her, a theme we’re hearing repeatedly from women he’s interacted with in the past.
13
he didnt understand? ummm...no
3
Brett Kavanaugh broke the law every time he drank (many reports say excessively) while underage during high school and college. Why is no one talking about this? His behavior while drinking is now in question. Continual disregard for the laws regarding legal drinking age by Kavanaugh reveals an attitude of privilege that is unbecoming of a Supreme Court Justice. A Lifetime appointment demands a candidate whose life has honored, and respected, the rule of law. Supreme Court appointees must be held to a much higher standard, a much higher moral compass. Kavanaugh does not meet that standard.
26
The drinking age at that time was 18 in both DC and Maryland.
2
@Tod Foster
Because the drinking age laws weren't nationally 21 in the early 1980s. In many places, including DC, you could buy and consume beer at the age of 18.
Know your facts. They're kinda important.
3
Wow! So well said! Why is no one talking about underage drinking and disrespect for law?
1
Article after article, interview after interview. I ask one question: Why would a person risk her reputation, her life, her job, her 'status' as a professor, her marriage, to step forward and make this 'allegation' if they were not true? I hear the old tortoises of the GOP, accuse the democrats of a smear campaign (is that all you've got?) because their 2nd SCOTUS nominee, (who would overturn Roe v Wade, and protect the POTUS from prosecution) was on the cusp of being rammed down our collective throats. They and their staffs knew of Deborah Rameriz last week and were trying to speed up the process. Now she has come out too? I suppose she's lying as well? Hmm. What do the 2 women ( and my guess there are more) have to gain? Nothing. What doe they have to lose? It's clear they have lost a lot already with Mrs Ford having to move out of her house, receiving death threats. This guy is a jerk, a phony, a kiss up, whatever you call it. He has the depth of character of a puddle on the sidewalk. Time to punt GOP. He will never pass muster on the Senate floor. I'm curious how Murkowski and Collins feel about this latest allegation.
33
They have much to gain. Taking one for the team. Self-satisfied virtuosity. Hero status to the left akin to Anita Hill. Perhaps credit for doing the impossible and bringing down a SCOTUS nominee. Lots of reasons to lie here. But I believe that both believe their stories and aren’t lying. And either or both could be 100% wrong. Any memory expert will tell you that many well-believed memories are false. I see this with my own kids when talking about their childhood memories, and a few times I have been shocked by finding my own absolute positive memories to be in error. It is well known that eyewitness testimony is often false. This is why we have a statute of limitations- the further from the event the less reliable the “truth” of participants and witnesses.
2
Same old same old. Deny bad behavior as if it never happened. I have no respect at all for any members of the GOP. Male or female. True definition of what deplorable means. Have to stop writing feeling nauseous.
24
As a psychologist, I know that people's recollections of events can be influence by a whole host of subsequent experience. What disturbs me about Judge Kavanaugh's application for the Supreme Court is not that he may have behaved badly as high school or college student, but that as a 53 year old man, he is not being honest about who he was at the time. He portrays himself as a Boy Scout without blemish. I don't expect all Supreme Court nominees to have spotless personal lives, but integrity and honesty are central qualifications for the job. I don't know to what degree the accusations against Judge Cavanaugh are founded, but Senate hearings are unlikely to clarify the matter. For someone who is to be one of the main arbiters of what is just and fair in our society to be confirmed in such a manifestly absurd process in the face of allegations is a travesty.
47
"... such a manifestly absurd process ..."
The US Constitution requires that the Senate give "advice and consent" in the appointment of "Judges of the supreme Court".*
The Constitution says in several places that the Houses of Congress have the power to set their own rules. Can you suggest a better "process"?
* Article II, Section 2:
"He [the President] ... shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, ..."
@rdb1957: so.....he should confess to something he DID NOT DO....to make you and other liberals "feel better about yourselves"....even though confessing to a sex crime would leave him vulnerable to CRIMINAL CHARGES In Maryland as they have no statute of limitations.
What a shame that Ms Dolphin didn't say, 'I was ahead of my time. I was sexually liberated and enjoyed hooking up in high school'. What would be the spin of the story now?
We will never know what happened all those years ago - but to spend so much time and angst on it instead of the relevant issue of what he would be like on SCOTUS is beyond belief.
3
All of these allegations are part of vetting BK’s character. To claim they are irrelevant is wishful thinking.
17
@fred
Fred, you don't get to say how Ms. Dolphin should feel. Isn't this the problem? Women should either be life of the party or hold their legs together -- whatever, they're never right and they never get to say when they don't feel like satisfying men's expectations.
15
Fred, seriously? Don’t you want to take some time and re-think your comment? Do you have a wife? A daughter? A mother? Please run it by one of them if you do.
6
This is repugnant. I look forward to hearing Kavanaugh’s heartfelt apology.
14
Some of the comments here seem to be they are just kids, forget it,it’s just high spirts, so what nobody really got hurt.in our society there seems to be nothing wrong with a man bullying awoman either sexually or otherwise, after all that’s what guys do. And so it continues because nobody wants to admit that we have a problem. We give some people popular guys, jocks a pass because some of us want to be like them so we live through them. Why else would we have popular governor who defrauded the government thru his health company. We admire that he got away with it,forgetting that that was our tax dollars
9
Maybe we shouldn't have more than one member of the court from a single high school, let alone this particular prep school for the super rich of DC. Spread the wealth. BTW, these twits seem no worse than the "jocks" at any high school in America. Sexually assaulting someone at any time life should be disqualifying for the court, but we're never going to know what happened
15
If those boys in the photo walked across our border today, they would be called " unaccompanied children."
5
"The language from Judge Kavanaugh’s high school yearbook refers to the fact that he and Ms. Dolphin attended that one high school event together and nothing else.”
How stupid does Kavanaugh think we are?
41
@Deirdre: Ms. Dolphin affirms they had one date.
The only disagreement is whether there was a good night kiss.
After 36 years, they are allowed to differ slightly in their memories.
She has nothing bad to say about him at all.
"A faculty adviser reviewed the pages" and let references to the KKK , drunken parties, and insults to women stay? At this "elite" (just like Jesus was, you know, elite) Catholic school. What the heck. Can we get some judges - Supreme and otherwise - who, like virtually all other Americans, did not go to one of these so-called "elite" high schools and universities. You know, someone who maybe spent their high school and/or college years working their way through? Knows what it is like to live and cope in the real world... And don't even start me on Catholic and Jesuit education...What a racket.
27
@JHa
Sonia Sotomayor fits your bill.
5
Beyond the disrespect to females, he was also Biggest Contributor to the Beach Week Ralph Club? Wow how impressive.
And he says he kissed Renate, but Renate says no he didn't? What's up with that? It was a club Brett wanted to join, but he didn't, so he lied about it? How often does this truth-seeker lie?
What is this, a reality TV gossip show? I can't believe these things are being discussed about a Supreme Court nominee. Give it up, Brett. Withdraw your nomination, move on, and let the public in turn move on from this tripe. Or are you so privileged, you don't care about this sex- and alcohol-stinking veil hanging over your appointment for the rest of your life?
17
"I can't believe these things are being discussed about a Supreme Court nominee."
The Thomas hearings also featured lurid details. The Times published a rehash here:
Anita Hill’s Testimony and Other Key Moments From the Clarence Thomas Hearings
By Julia Jacobs
Sept. 20, 2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/20/us/politics/anita-hill-testimony-clar...
1
@Deb: they disagree about a kiss that MIGHT HAVE been exchanged -- 36 years ago.
And you consider that a LIE?
What if he did kiss her? perhaps just a light kiss on the cheek? and she forgot about it? does that make HER a liar?
You lefties have fallen so low in your haste to destroy this man, you don't even read your own writing and just rant about nonsense.....
1
I transcribed from the NYT: Ms Dolphin said that she had never kissed Judge Kavanaugh. “I think Brett must have me confused with someone else, because I never kissed him,” she said through her lawyer.
So, whom you believe, Fox News judge or Ms. Dolphin, who had SIGNED earlier a letter of support for the Fox News judge?
And all the GOP frat guys of the judiciary committee plus McConnell publicly say today, we'll vote for Fox News judge to be a member of the Supreme Court.
I wonder, all these male senators do they think we are just idiots? Do they think they can crushed all of us because they want to defend the people from whom they are in sitting in the Senate?
Are these minions to erase our Constitution for getting Fox News Judge sitting at the SC?
Yes, we have to vote and yes we have to clean the Senate and throw out of the SC Gorsuch and if "confirmed" Judge Fox News.
Oh Yes, I am another Pangloss but I do believe in the transformative power of exercising our right to vote!
8
Wonder how Renate feels now that Kavanaugh's boast about her in the yearbook surfaced. Bet she wishes she could take back her signature on the bogus letter of support.
11
He was still a virgin well into college.
Awww. How sweet.
LIAR!
23
@Will.
Such a weird thing to lie about. How hard can it be to find one person who would come forward to contradict him?
4
To me renate suicide squad insinuates that some of them were using her to lose their virginity. But that’s just my impression...
9
@Prof
Interesting. I read it as driving her to suicide, but I guess I'm overly influenced by what's happening with kids today on social media.
1
Good god, males like this are 98% of the world's problems throughout history.
29
I wonder about his early childhood education. Another Catholic school?
5
Frat boys and those who want to be Frat boys. Don't have much use for them. But regretfully...this nation keeps putting them in charge of way too many things.
Never met a "Frat" boy who didn't eventually turn me off...
16
The more I see of his "innocent schoolboy" remarks from the time he is alleged to have assaulted a girl, the more credible she sounds, and the less judicial he does. Me Too!
31
Who ran this school then? Who was the faculty member who served as yearbook advisor and allowed this appalling yearbook entry?
How did the school's mission statement describe the school's purpose and its goals for the boys they were educating?
7
@Judy Priests?
1
I am not an American citizen and not concerned by Kavanaugh's being elected or not, and I am no Trump supporter.
But what's going on here, NYT? Are you talking rape, which is and should be punished to the full extent of the law? Are you talking attempted rape? Shouldn't we wait for proof and punish if applicable? Or are you talking "hurtful comments" ? Are you mixing all of these up and implying they are related ?
I have no tolerance for men who hurt women, and I never have. But I deeply fear a system when all of these grievances are blended into one another in a new form of AltFacts and you're guilty of one therefore the other, until proven innocent. That's McCarthyism at its best and it seems to me that NYT is not helping.
Cover the issues NYT, but keep them well separated and remind your readers that this is so, or you are contributing to AltFacts.
Time to re-read Arthur Miller's Crucible.
6
@Arnaud Tarantola
As of today, we are talking attempting rape, sexual assault and crass/demeaning behavior towards women. We simple Americans understand that they are different things, and deem them all relevant to a fair assessment of someone seeking a position on the highest court of this land.
11
When you read the yearbook blurb, you have to ask yourself, "what exactly did the yearbook faculty advisor think when he/she saw this stuff?"
16
I have represented young men and women who have appealed civil service commissions permanently disqualifying them as firefighter or police officer cadets based upon intemperate habits.
Thus, the Senate must also determine whether Kavanaugh lacks temperate habits.
27
The way Kavanaugh and a dozen other schoolboys refer to this young woman is disgusting, suggesting she is an object to be passed around among them for their pleasure. Where was the faculty advisor? Why would any school — private or public — allow a self-indulgent yearbook page like this to go into print? Somebody has to be the adult in the room.
Nowadays I read that some colleges withdraw their acceptances if a future freshman appears to be too “out of control” on social media. This yearbook is the 1983 equivalent. The stuff BK said — which he cannot deny or disavow or “forget” — fully justifies removing him from Supreme Court consideration. And it may be grounds to impeach him from the lower court if he did not disclose his misconduct in his prior background checks.
If I was the young woman’s parent and I knew i
about these libelous statements 35 years ago, there would be a substantial libel suit against Brett Kavanaugh, his little buddies, Georgetown Prep, and the Jesuits.
18
The view from afar .
Some months ago ,few among us would ever have known who Brett Kavanaugh was and then Judge Kennedy resigns ,rather quickly and does so at the encouragement of Senator Grassley .,because Grassley knows that if the GOP have any chance to secure a conservative Judge ,it must be done and dusted before the Mid term elections .
Kavanaugh is not just a judge ,he is one with a noted record when he worked within the WH alongside Kenneth Starr . The Republicans were quite deliberate in preventing the Democrats from viewing considerable evidence .
Kavanaugh is heralded by DT as his choice ,which many of us from the corp of integrity would be deafened by warning bells .
Trump wants to appoint a judge with noted views re the untouchability of the POTUS amongst other things.
The senate judicial meeting with BK is Farcical and BK is well rehearsed and annoyingly evasive on pertinent questions
.He does not win neutrals over .
it is quite evident that the GOP want to railroad and fast track his appointment NOW.
Then the allegations are voiced by the two women concerned . GOP "conspiracy ,despicable ,underhand"
Now ,cutting to the chase . I watched the FOX news interview last night .BK,s responses were wooden and parrot like
predetermined comments but its the body language that speaks more ,partic between BK and his wife .She is distinctly uncomfortable .BK is lying ..She knows it
The putrid stench still wafts from the state of Denmark .
14
At this point, this issue is much bigger than this particular nomination. This comment thread and the entire handling of this betray some very illiberal themes.
Is it fair or tolerant or even just plain sane to castigate a 53 year old man for stupid things he wrote as teenager in a high school yearbook? Is it fair to judge a 17 year old in the early 1980s for not behaving and thinking according the standards and mores of the present?
Have we completely forgotten that Dr. Fords allegations are just that -- allegations? Her claims have yet to be heard or verified in a court of law. In our society there is still a presumption of innocence. That presumption is among the pillars of or freedom. Are we going to cheapen and threaten that for a short-term political gain?
8
The question is not a matter of law and he has not been accused in Court by anybody Mr. Kavanaugh is not to be subject to a reasonable doubt standard as he is not facing prison.
We are evaluating his character and clearly he fails —not so much because of what he has done, but because he lies. He lies about his younger years and how he treated women them.
He is clearly not Supreme Court caliber. A possible Supreme Court justice speaks honestly and with regret in regards to his failings.
18
@Joe Joe, so true, but this is where we find ourselves. The "presumption of innocence" no longer resonates w/ most partisans (why appeal to a higher cause when the base cause is more emotive (and psychologically gratifying, for whatever twisted reason)). both parties bear the burden of responsibly for the debasement of jurisprudence (let alone critical thinking). we should look inward; we bear the blame for letting our "elite" bring us to this point. we've met the enemy, and they are us.
This is less about sex, than it about impressing teammates and other boys. Girls are not the intended audience of this behavior. It’s shameful the school didn’t do anything to address this.
14
@Maryellen Simcoe: Agreed. This behavior is the very definition of toxic masculinity.
12
Ms. Dolphin is absolutely correct in her interpretation of the repeated lewd mentions of her name throughout the yearbook. She is being painted as “easy,” period.
No man living is the least persuaded by protestations that she is being characterized as an upstanding young women who had kiddie dates complete with lollipops with the entire football team.
As they say on ESPN, Come on, man!
21
I am disgusted that this Renate Club reference doesn't upset every single Senator of the US. This spells one thing to every single female citizen in America. Kavanaugh does not have the character needed for a Supreme Court judge. End of story. Women are watching this closely, and will be voting accordingly.
47
If all this hyper-politicized nonsense results in us examining the culture of our privileged, self-aggrandizing prep schools or our social status-centered public schools or the inflated value we place on athletics and sports culture then maybe this misuse of historical events among adolescents might turn out for the better. Maybe it'll lead us to question our worship of competition... Most of the politicians and journalists who act disgusted by the behavior indicated here attended one of a handful of elite universities (or prep schools) greatly funded by taxpayers whose children have NO hope of attending, mainly because of their social circumstances and zip codes. And you don't have to dip into the archives to find ethically questionable behavior among America's elite - it's just harder to spot (and less excusable) than crudities displayed by America's disenfranchised.
15
But I should add, if any of this adolescent nonsense happened to one of my daughters I'd engage in legally unquestionable behavior.
9
@carl bumba carl, "in spades" buddy. spot on! we're being sullied by the elite who think we're rubes (ok, don't go there, for many are indeed, rubes). many of us are not. time to stand up for ourselves.
2
This man's character disqualifies him for a dignified office. And, his apparent contempt for women then and now is downright troubling. Character is built in youth and he clearly has shown what his is then and now.
Do not support this nomination. The fact that the GOP continues to support him speaks volumes about whose priorities they stand for. How dare these men get on TV and give interviews that suggest they don't care so long as they win. This country's dignity is in shambles as a result of this male behavior in every branch of government. The degeneracy is palpable.
41
We may never know the truth about Mr. Kavanaugh's behavior given its dizzying gyrations in the PR spin universe, amplifying the stakes of a likely long-serving potential judge. Even (or especially) from an originalist bent, America risks losing its balance of powers. Congress rubberstamps issues and blind-eyes unilateral behavior. Citizens United muted the remnant of the populist voice after electoral college winnowing. In effect, process has vacated legislative oversight. A kowtowing judicial branch (at best) or judges beholden to a president or party for subversion of the approval process obliterates democracy's final bastion. In essence, a dictatorial president purchases the office with corporate cash, commercializes decision-making while an equally prostituted congress awaits its share of the largess, and the portion of the justice arm not curtailed by PR blunderbuss is castrated by beholden court system. Mr. Kavanagh, aside from his inculcated misogyny, has already obfuscated and outright lied under oath as to his beliefs and judicial record.
16
Didn't the Georgetown Prep yearbook have a faculty advisor? Someone who might have told these clueless sons of privilege that their disrespect of Renate Schroeder (now Dolphin) was not acceptable? Not going to be published in their school-sponsored yearbook? No, apparently not.
This might have been a teachable moment for Brett Kavanaugh and his peers. Perhaps those testosterone-driven adolescents could have learned something from some compassionate adult supervision. Even if not, they would have been spared learning what they did learn: that their disrespect of women was the norm. Perfectly OK.
And that is precisely why Brett Kavanaugh is not fit for a lifetime appointment on the Court. He still doesn't get what he did wrong. Still defends that boys will be boys, which only works if girls don't matter.
43
These private school boys learn the power game early. Their parents’ money buys them entry into a world where the usual moral limits don’t apply. They are privileged, white and on their way to the Ivy League & Halls of Power. Limits certainly did not apply to young Mr. Kavanaugh who could advertise his excessive drinking and insinuate sexual conquests without repercussions. Apparently even his Lovely Parents did not object.
There will be a reckoning. I cannot adequately describe my heartsickness that a carnival barker inhabits our highest office and our supposed leaders sacrifice their reputations for corporate tax breaks. I literally cannot sleep at night because the East River may come up to my ground floor apartment as it nearly did during Hurricane Sandy. Babies in detention crying is another one of my obsessions. Rambling? Perhaps. But every one of these issues will be confronted by a Supreme Court that may have two members that lied about disrespecting half the population & then will decide issues directly related to their bodies.
NO!
10
How about a few extra alarm bells about "Have you boofed yet" and "Beach Week Ralph Club - Biggest Contributor". Might want to check the definitions of "boof" and "ralph" on Urban Dictionary and ask Judge Kavanaugh exactly what those terms are referring to in his yearbook entry.
31
@Anne Yes! and his referencing a devil's triangle? Was the woman involved even sober??
11
Priests are unfrocked and held accountable for child abuses which happened 30 years ago. Why is this any different? Abuse is abuse. Hopefully this will be the wake-up call for generations. Without question, this is an important issue and a culture brought front and center that finally must end. I applaud the NYTimes for going after this and appalled at the reaction and resistance of Republicans.
46
@Denise The priests were presumably adults at the time. If you can't see the difference, I doubt I can explain it to you in ways you can understand.
2
@Denise: a teenager writing idiotic nonsense in his YEAR BOOK -- thirty six years ago!!! -- is the same as rape?
Renate Dolphin DOES NOT ALLEGE any rape, any abuse or any wrongdoing. At most, she is upset to see 14 boys talk about a "Renate alumni" -- but even that does not mention sex.
If the allegations are true, do we want to give this man the potential to take away a woman's right to choose? I shudder at the thought of him being appointed.
31
Every time a guy's excused for being "17 year old just doing 17 year old stuff", there's a woman (in this case a 15 year old)--and what's she doing exactly? Is being assaulted just "15 year old girl stuff"? I can only think of this in context of my daughter--but if she were assaulted like this, I'd want the guy's head. I can't imagine her suffering and saying "hey, you're just a 15 year old girl doing 15 year old girl stuff". I mean, that's implicit in excusing the boy, right? The assault's just something girls experience, right? It's all good, huh?
46
He keeps saying he was a virgin during this time. If that's the case, then it is plausible that he may have done these things because he was repressed. He may have been frustrated and that was his reaction. The issue for me is not that he did or didn't do those things. It's that he gives conflicting information about that time and what he shows in this yearbook. His own yearbook page and others say he was a heavy drinker. If he would just admit that he MAY have done these things while drunk and is remorseful, that would go a long way. I say he should take a lie detector test if he is so adamant that he would never do these things.
13
In my day, a faculty advisor to the student yearbook committee would have vetoed such a heartless slight.
So much for 1983 Georgetown Prep school.
--The Buddy, high school class of 1990.
21
@The Buddy
Maybe the faculty advisor, unlike you, actually KNOWS what the Senate Club was about.
From the Asian American lawsuit against Harvard, I learned that Ivy admissions like Harvard and Yale judge applicants based on their "personality" in areas such as courage, likability, kindness.
I will say this, these schools clearly reveal that they are a lousy judge of character and personality and that their outright discrimination of studious Asian American based on perceived "personality" should be ruled unconstitutional. People like Kavanaugh clearly demonstrate why.
27
What kills me is that Trump vouches for him. Doesn't vouching for someone require some measure of a morality from the voucher who guarantees that the subject is as righteous as he is?
12
A woman or girl still feels every bit as much raped or attacked if her rapist or attacker is drunk or a teenager as she does when he is not.
The people mouthing off and ranting about an attempted rape being some sort of goofing are exactly why this man should be barred from the court and why these people should be barred from leadership. We need a society and leaders that stand up for respect.
The only courtroom seat Kavanaugh belongs in is at the defense counsel's table.
As for the women under his sway, it's so sad that the only way some women can have standing in our society is to try to ride on the coattails of a powerful assailant.
23
From Mr. Kavanaugh's interview with Fox News 24Sept: "When I was in high school -- and I went to an all-boys Catholic high school where I was focused on academics and athletics and going to church every Sunday at Little Flower and working on my service projects and friendships." I'm guessing this is the result of his days of prepping at the White House, and they are WAY overselling it. His comments are the polar opposite of what his buddy Mr. Judge wrote in his books, e.g. " 'Wasted: Tales of a GenX Drunk' a 1997 memoir about alcoholism, binge drinking, and hookup culture at Georgetown Preparatory School.
29
@Steve Kennedy: do you believe that every single student at any school are all identical in their actions in experiences?
Just because Mark Judge was an alcoholic...it does not make Kavanaugh or ANYONE ELSE an alcoholic.
If Al Franken is deemed unfit for a lesser position (Senator) by a lesser infraction (lewd gestures), then why isn't Kavanaugh deemed unfit for a hight position by a greater infraction?
48
@Peter Pruim
The only people who "deemed" Franken to be unfit were his fellow Dems (especially Gillenbrand), who forced his resignation. And the larger point -- which you missed by a country mile -- is the fact that Franken never disputed that he did exactly what he was accused of, while Kavanaugh says it never happened.
It strains credulity to suggest that the 13 senior "boys" who crudely referenced Ms. Dolphin in the personal pages of their yearbook were listing her to note that they had a dance or a date with her. All one has to do it read *any* of the other "fratty" comments elsewhere in the yearbook or read about the alcohol-fueld misbehavior outlined in Mark Judge's books, to see that these were not boys who would be memorializing a tender, innocent moment in their yearbook. Much of it may have been unfounded bragging, but it speaks to Kavanaugh's character and attitude that he was engaged in this behavior and that he wrote those things in his yearbook. Read Kavanaugh's personal page in the yearbook (something he created himself) and then watch his recent Fox interview and you can see that he is now being dishonest and dissembling and is trying to cover up the bad boy/frat boy reputation he had when in prep school. The words in the yearbook speak for themselves.
575
@CS
And for him to say, "all I want is a fair hearing" what about her, and why are women vilified if they finally speak up. There was a young guy in high school, he was the all american boy, tall, handsome, the captain of the football team, and his dad happened to be the principal. The kid was an awful student, but he was able to convince the female student teachers aids to provide him with test answers, or he would get girls to outright do his homework.
But he would do the same thing, once he had gotten what he wanted from them, and I don't mean sex. He would bad mouth the girls, make them sound like tramps, (as if being a promiscuous male isn't trampy), that he had slept with any number of girls true or not, his football buddies would hang on his every word.
until he made the mistake of saying that about my twin sister, then he felt the wrath of me, then I was 6ft 2in, 190 pounds, and not one to sit back and let a low life, idiot of a human being insult my family. His friends had to carry him off, he ran into the wood shop to hide in class, but I could have cared less, I went right in behind him, I disrupted class that day.
My point is, boys unless home schooled not to do that to girls, will in fact say sexually explicit things whether true or not, to make themselves look good to their school mates. And young men on a varsity football team it becomes about maleness, (sadly). My step father raised me better, had I done that my ears would still be ringing.
2
How about a conservative like Jeff Flake for the court?
4
@gc He's not a judge. Kavanaugh is sitting member of the DC Circuit Court, widely recognized as a feeder to the Supreme Court.
2
@Jon There is no requirement that a justice even be a lawyer. And after such debacles as Hobby Lobby & Citizens United, I think I might prefer some one with an appreciation of real world consequences to an scholarly legal brain.
Among the reminiscences about sports and booze is a mysterious entry: “Renate Alumnius.”
There is not a single solitary person reading this article who doesn't know EXACTLY what that caption means.
Twenty years after I graduated from college, I had a chat with a fellow I'd known—I thought—pretty well, a teammate. Imagine my surprise when he started listing the young men, other teammates, who had told him that they'd had sex with me, men who I'd thought were my friends, men who I'd also thought I'd known pretty well, but not that well (AT ALL), if you get my drift. It was astonishing to know that, all the while I'd thought we were all pretty good friends, these guys were besmirching my reputation behind my back, telling falsehoods about me that even people who I thought would and should know better heard and believed. For 20 years.
Poor Renate. Right there in black and white, from then and forever, these guys were saying that she was a conquest, as in "been there, done that."
And all this time Renate has been living her life, unaware of what those boys really thought of her, much less what they had said about her so very publicly and so very permanently.
Hey, but, you know? It's all a joke. You know, good clean fun! C'mon! Where's your sense of humor? Gee, it happened so very long ago! Get over it! And, never forget: boys will be boys.
28
Kavenaugh was a spoiled; rich white frat boy. Kavenaugh should withdraw. Brett Kavenaugh has a history of underage drinking; he admitted that on FOX. The drinking age at the time was 21; he was under that.Multiple women have come forward with accusations. Kavenaughs college roommate admitted Kavenaugh drank heavily and was abusive when drunk.We still do not have many of the documents from Kavenaugh's past. This is a job promotion; not a trial. Bring in the FBI; which will not be allowed by the Senate. Brett Kavenaugh should withdraw. Ray Sipe
20
@Ray Sipe In 1982-83 the drinking age in Maryland and DC was 18 for beer and wine, 21 for alcohol. BK turned 18 in February of his senior year so he could legally get buzzed during his final semester.
2
@Iconic Icon He was more than buzzed!
@Denny
Are you (a) a classmate or acquaintance of Kavanaugh's, or (b) someone who has no idea what he is talking about.
You must be one or the other.
Who does he think he's fooling? He needs to explain FFFFFFFourth of July and The Devil's Triangle. We all have read what these mean - he needs to explain it to Congress under oath.
25
@Horatio
I'm sure republicans are coaching him on their approved definitions as we speak.
This is a disgrace.
4
Just wondering about the kid-glove treatment here: "some describe as disrespectful to women," "at times insensitive."
2
It's called objective journalism. The Journalist does not state something is wrong/bad/sexist, they do reporting and quote the opinions of others. Pretty standard fare.
1
What this shows is that the 65 women who vouched for Kavanaugh don't even know who this guy really is. Their letter is meaningless. And, oh, yeah, this all could not have happened to nicer (political) "party."
20
There are three references listed in Kavanaugh’s yearbook that haven’t been reported on. Each of them paints a very different picture than the ‘virgin mirth, choirboy-next-door’ self-portrait he put together on Fox yesterday.
They include: “Devil’s Triangle; FFFFFFFourth of July; and Have you boofed yet?” Without going into their meaning (all are either deviant or demeaning), each of them undermines Kavanaugh’s statement that he didn’t participate in parties like the alleged bacchanals now haunting him.
Even though the MSM is ignoring these references, any competent questioning in a future Judicial Committee hearing will confront him with each of his yearbook boasts. Why? Because he has put them squarely at issue in his sweeping claims on Fox News.
But then again, this is a Senate Committee that, under Joe Biden’s leadership, forced Anita Hill to sit solo even though there were three other witnesses ready to give similar testimony about Thomas’s behavior. Biden made that choice despite the fact the Arlen Spector actually attacked Hill for being the only witness. Even today, Biden is getting a pass in the retrospectives about the Thomas hearing. They bury the lede about Biden’s failure to call the additional witnesses every time.
With that history, I fear this will be another high tech lynching of the witness against the nominee, the same as before.
18
Curious how the moral majority disappears when one of their own brags about underage drinking, bullying and humiliating women. Kavanaugh has sat on a high horse in his pursuit of charges against Bill Clinton. Turnabout is fare pay and we can now on that horse as citizens and ask that he not be given a life time appointment. He lied in his previous hearings--was called on it and then has the audacity to railroad his way onto the SCOTUS.
Plenty of people are guilty of underage drinking but we don't get to sit on the SCOTUS and we have not been accused of sexual assault or have a documented yearbook evidence of misogyny. I graduated from prep school at age 16 and was fully responsible for my actions and what I said in our yearbook. Kavanaugh has no excuse at the age of 17 for his actions and should be held accountable for not being a decent human being--his lying and contempt for his accusers is not convincing.
23
Much more damaging to Kavanaugh's character is the meaning behind his yearbook entry, which reads, "I survived the FFFFFFFourth of July." Each of those F's stand for something, each of which is sexually demeaning to women. The NYT ought to report what that sentence actually means, and, of course, Kavanaugh should be asked about it on Thursday.
23
Make sure you check out the Holton Arms yearbook, too. Google it to see how that school also encouraged lots of promiscuous behavior. And while you are at it, ask yourself why these girls (and boys, for that matter ) kept going to parties if they were so terrrible or had bad things happen to them. Hmm. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as they said. Or if it were, then maybe they didn’t care.....
4
Even more reason not to confirm him—his behavior is culturally normal. That’s not okay.
5
If Bart O'Kavanaugh can't make this work, I hear Tucker Max is free.
3
Apart from his despicable behavior while enebriated, why is no one talking about Kavanaugh’s alcohol consumption itself? It sounds like the Republicans are putting an alcoholic in the Supreme Court.
17
shame on you reporters for bringing this useless information to light and destroying the past and present for this named "victim". Renate was living a life of happiness and now will have to look back and rethink all of her actions. This will report will do nothing to change the mind of the senate but Renate now will live with self-doubt and hurt for the rest of her life.
4
@Elizabeth
You blame the NYT for reporting the facts but not Kavanaugh and his virginal gang of predatory lotharios for demeaning this young lady in an orchestrated manner.
What upstanding GOP morality and character.
12
So how did Kavanaugh miss talking about this on fox? He must have been drinking when he wrote that in the year book and forgot he said it. He must go!
8
@Wade
Or more importantly, why didn't the "journalists" at fox not question him on this? Was it not in their talking points given from the white house?
5
Another thought. I think the senators or judicial committee should ask Dr. Ford a couple of other questions, not just where, when and who was there, assuming that she can't remember these details but is otherwise telling the truth. First were you engaged in kissing and other amorous activities with Mr. Kavanaugh prior to the incident? Second, did Mr Kavanaugh force you into the bedroom or did you go willingly? Finally, when Mr. Kavanaugh tried to take your clothes off and you resisted did he stop or continue? The answers are important. If Mr. Kavanaugh targeted Dr. Ford and proceeded to try to rape her that is one thing. If the two of them were playing around and getting aroused and Mr. Kavanaugh at some point went too far, as far as Dr. Ford was concerned that is another. We certainly don't want a sexual predator as a supreme court judge but on the other hand let the first male who has never tried to go farther with a girl than she wanted in his teenage years throw the first stone. Silence.
3
@Tom
Did you miss the part about pushing her into the room and locking the door?
16
@Tom
Are you aware of the allegation? We’ve already heard this much—he put his hand over her mouth and she was afraid he might inadvertently kill her (to anyone who finds this far-fetched, I can attest to how terrifying it is to have your mouth covered and as a result, to not be able to breathe), and it only stopped because Mark Judge jumped on top of them and knocked Kavanaugh off. So, they can ask, but I doubt the story will change.
9
"Two of Judge Kavanaugh’s classmates say the mentions of Renate were part of the football players’ unsubstantiated boasting about their conquests."
What a cad.
Plus, he claimed to be a virgin well into his college years on Fox News Channel last night.
Brett Kavanaugh is a smug, lying, sanctimonious, hypocritical, right-wing tool who is getting exactly what he deserves.
36
This shows the same abject disregard for the dignity of a fellow human being as his sneering dismissal of the father of the Parkland shooting victim in the Judiciary Committee room. He has a coldness and lack of empathy that border on viciousness and are utterly disqualifying. That a narcissistic sociopath president gravitated to this man is unsurprising.
My disgust for these men and their Republican apologists on the committee is entirely balanced by my deep admiration for these tremendously courageous women who are stepping out of the shadows of their lifelong pain and into the storm to speak their bright truths to corrupt power.
23
While I was in a different all-boys DC high school, there was an app called Lulu that let women rank guys they had dated by their attractiveness, prowess in bed, etc. Women could see it, but men could not. It actually scraped Facebook for your information, so boys could not opt-in or opt-out.
Girls I knew would tease guys frequently about their Lulu rating, suggesting to them that they might let them see it, but then withholding it and laughing at them as the guys jumped through hoops to figure it out.
Women through it was hilarious; guys couldn't stand it. Sound familar? Turns out everyone gossips about dating in high school.
5
*thought
@Jon
Was that app in 1983, 1993, 2003? Does this have any relevance to Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulting girls and women?
No.
8
“Everyone does it” does not mean it’s ok.
8
Supreme Court Justice Biff Tannen.
5
Your statement "Ford is a woman with a history of sheer hate for his mother who judged on a case that was not in her favor" is factually untrue. See https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/brett-kavanaugh-foreclosure-accuser-pa...
14
@even spinoza
Right—NYT did an article on this:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/19/us/politics/christine-blasey-ford-kav...
1
The most likely story is that all those boys mentioned "Renate" in their yearbook pages because they all went on dates with her, not one of them ever put a hand on her, andthey just like to brag that they had sex with her about it behind her back to their stupid friends. Unfortunately, a lot of teenage boys are like this. To them, it's a badge of honor, while to the girl involved, it's humiliating and shameful.
But I can tell you this. I went to high school in the 1970s too. And not ONE person wrote such wretched, obnoxious things about girls, dates or alcohol under their picture. Not that those things didn't happen, but none of the boys were so stupid and tasteless as to write something like that in a yearbook, where it would be embarrassing and possibly humiliating no only to themselves but to other people.
All of this is to say that Kavanaugh probably didn't commit any sexual assaults in high school. But he was darn stupid, and on that basis alone, he doesn't qualify for the Supreme Court. There are plenty of people who are smart now, and were smart when they were 17. We can find one of them to take his place.
14
@RedorBlueGuy
"...All of this is to say that Kavanaugh probably didn't commit any sexual assaults in high school. "
I think there are at least 4 women who have come forward who beg to differ.
8
@RedorBlueGuy He doesn't qualify for the Supreme Court because he was "darn stupid" in high school? I think just about anyone over the age of 30 would say they were "darn stupid" in high school.
1
I think this is absolutely absurd! There is NO way that either of these people are the same as they were in High School. It's ridiculous to spend SO much time and effort and money on something from 30+ years ago. It's a shame when you've got actual sex offenders walking the streets because the children attacked waited even 8 years to come out because of fear of their offender. Children are scared daily while these adults make a mockery of the system. This is why real offenders run the streets! Shame on Ford, shame on her supporters and shame on the people who give this the publicity it's getting.
4
@Lacie
Actually Lacie, I think you are wrong. You are exactly as you were at 18 years old. You have more experience, you have more wisdom, but behavior is innate and immutable.
6
This IS an actual sexual offender. And he’d like a seat on the US Supreme Court.
10
So, here's a question for all the republican commenters here:
How often are women crying rape or sexual assault lying versus how many women are actually assaulted?
Republicans would have you believe that for every rape, 10 women are lying. Actual studies show that the number is at best the reverse...for every 10 to 50 reported rapes, one woman is lying. And what about all the unreported rapes? What about all the unreported sexual assaults?
You have to give republicans credit for consistency. They claim voter fraud is a problem, provide no evidence, but then enact laws to make it much harder to vote. Republicans want to follow the same patter with false claims of sexual assault and rape. Claim that false claims are a big problem...bigger than actual rapes, and change laws or simply ignore all women claiming rape or sexual assault because of the tiny chance they might be lying.
And that is where we are in this, the bully boy, Trump as president, society. Rape is just boys being boys. Stop your complaining and as one republican candidate for governor in Texas advised, "If it's inevitable, just relax and enjoy it"
If you can't seem to get yourself to just relax and enjoy it, here's something you can do
VOTE OUT ALL REPUBLICANS
22
The suggestion that the references to "Renate" were merely references to dates and dancing is laughable on its face. They really must take people for idiots if they expect us to believe a "frat culture" likes to boast about dancing and holding hands. That wasn't even the case in the 50's for crying out loud.
28
"Anticipating the imminent publication of Kenneth Starr’s memoir of the Clinton impeachment, I looked into Judge Kavanaugh’s files in the Office of Independent Counsel records, housed in the National Archives.
What I discovered sheds light on how Mr. Kavanaugh made his way in his early career, and how he flagrantly breached his role as a neutral public servant and followed the imperatives of a political operative.'
~ Sean Wilentz, historian
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/opinion/why-was-kavanaugh-obsessed-wi...
4
Not too sure how much more crazier this process can get?
And I have a question for those Trump supporters,
Is that period of time America was great... a recurring loop of High School? Happy Days? Sounds to me it was a sexist, racist, unrealistic sense of entitlement period you all are yearning for.
Brett, you were the fellow we all despised in High School. And now you get to relive those years in front of the World, talk about schadenfreude for those of us who tolerated your "still" unapologetic moronic behavior.
15
This is a function of the all-boys fantasist environment...Teens who are truly sexually active abide by one sacred rule: Keep your mouth shut! Bragging would have been embarrassing for your gf and self defeating and absurd...
1
Good grief. I am sure that you all have raised perfect male children, which is why you can type your sanctimonious and high-minded feelings about this issue in the comments section. I am sure the suburban and exurban kids that you all raised never get in trouble or are disrespectful to women/girls. Your kids never drank to excess, curse, spit on sidewalks, put their feet on the back of chairs, or turned in library books late. It's only the people who live on the "other side" of the tracks...you know, the ones who are too poor to raise their kids right or the ones who have too rich to raise their kids right.
2
@Levite
You forgot “stole candy bars.” Why is it whenever anybody lists these teen-age transgressions, they never mention, held a younger girl down, covered her mouth so she couldn’t scream, and tried to take her clothes off?
8
He may or may not have committed sexual assault as a teenager—but his yearbook page sure does make him look like an entitled jerk.
I know plenty of high school seniors who would never write that kind of stuff in their yearbook, and even if they did, it wouldn’t get past the student editors. It’s possible young and foolish without being unkind to others.
12
This is shameful and inexcusable. This has never been, and will never be, normal behavior by decent young men.
100 kegs = 100 misdemeanors for underage drinking
100 kegs = 100 misdemeanors for corrupting minors
Treasurer of underage keg parties...sounds like criminal money laundering
How did he ever pass a background check for SCOTUS?
7
@jamie The drinking age was 18 at the time.
@Jon and he was 17...and the girls were as young as 15
1
@jamie
No. The keg stuff is from the yearbook when he was a senior, and 18.
If Brett Kavanaugh and his high school buddies had a crush on Renate Schroeder, a student at a nearby Catholic girls’ school, she must have been stunningly beautiful. So, it's understandable that they fantasized about her and described themselves as “Renate Alumni.”
Also understandable, even applaudable, is what Judge Kavanaugh said on Fox News: “... I think all of us have probably done things we look back on in high school and regret or cringe a bit.”
If he had been half as honest about Dr. Blasey's sexual assault charge against him, it wouldn’t have become this controversial. It is his adamant denial of something he did as a teenager, that too when totally drunk, that one finds disgusting. His denial has made his Republican supporters portray Dr. Blasey as a liar,
Ever since he became a nominee, he has been boasting about his excellent relationship with women. If that’s the case, where was the need to get it authenticated by 65 women? It is said that the authentication letter was signed on Sept. 14. Isn’t it reasonable to suspect that he and his supporters organized the authentication campaign after they got wind of Dr. Blasey's accusation and feared that more women might come forward with similar accusations?
Judge Kavanaugh’s propensity for lying has become clear by now. A thorough investigation of his past is very much in order. The person who fills the present vacancy on the Supreme Court will have a pivotal role to play in deciding the future of the country.
10
"Have you Boofed yet?" seems like it deserves a little more attention.
10
Maybe Kavanaugh should be asked what some allusions are on his yearbook page. Senators can start with "boof" and "Devil's Triangle."
12
Teenage boys objectifying women? I am shocked. SHOCKED!
3
Not all boys are jerks.
6
Now we're scrutinizing high school yearbooks?
Good lord, democrats. You lost the election, get over it. There's plenty of elections to come. Go out and convince your fellow citizens to vote for your party. Scrounging through high school yearbooks is pathetic.
2
@AJP
No it is not. And Hillary won the popular vote by almost 3 million.
7
@AJP
This isn't just about dredging up who he was in high school. We are looking at someone who will be a member or our Supreme Court. For life. Who has been accused of assaulting girls and women in high school and college. So we are looking at his behavior in his high school and college years to see if the accounts of the accusers can be corroborated.
And, from what we are seeing, they can.
And it appears he is lying. A lot.
8
@AJP When the person is about to be voted into a lifetime appointment where they will be passing judgement on others from all walks of life then yes I will scrutinize their yearbook. That person needs to be held to the highest moral standard.
It's not just the drinking that people are the most upset about, it's the demeaning way they spoke about women, it's the allegations of predatory behavior, and it's the complete disregard for women that is the major problem. Everyone knows what "FFFFFFourth of July", "boof" and "devils triangle" mean and it's hard to believe that in the 70's these boys were bragging about merely kissing or dancing with a girl. That behavior, and lying about it as an adult, is not becoming of a Supreme Court justice, let alone an average person.
7
Kavanaugh needs to sue each and everyone of these liars for slander. This is Dirty Politics 101 and that is all the Dems specialize in.
1
@JC He won't sue because he's a liar.
6
So the Yales and Harvards of America discriminate against studious Asian Americans just so they can admit legacy party animals like Kavanaugh "who have great personality." Yeah, that's some amazing personality these jokers have; the personality of rapists and predators.
It's time to end this injustice now and stop discriminating against Asian Americans at Ivy Leagues on the basis of personality contests.
12
What has not been mentioned is that the young women targeted by the likes of Kavanaugh and his frat brothers, do not have powerful, wealthy, or important fathers or brothers. No climber like Kavanaugh would have tried to assault the daughter or sister of a man who he might later have reason to need or fear. They pick their victims with an eye to their relative lack of social status. That's why Mrs Kavanaugh can honestly say that she never saw the kind of behavior alleged by Dr Ford and Ms Ramirez, I'm certain she never did. Kavanaugh and Judge and their friends on the football team knew without a doubt, even at the tender age of 17, that some women were off limits for their assaults, and some could be fair game without worry.
17
I generally agree with your statement; there most definitely is an unspoken understanding among elitist boys and men like this that women raised of equal privilege, with family money and connections, are mitts off. And, often, but not always, those young ladies carry themselves with an air of confidence that may not be evident with a lower class girl. However, there is nothing, that I am aware of, to suggest that either of the two women who as adults were not of privilege. They, too, attended elite schools and, in Christine Blasey’s case, lived in an affluent area. What I and nearly every woman I know can say about teenaged girls and those college years, is that confidence can rise and fall dramatically and I think this is often what boys and men assessing who their next victim will be, are actually most perceptive of. Confidence may be the biggest determinant of victimization and that cuts across all social status.
5
When Trump promised to pick only the best people, he’s not sending his best. He’s not sending you. They’re not sending you. He’s picking people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.
5
Have you looked into Dr. Ford's yearbook? It's full of partying, alcohol, etc. Shame...
2
@Tamar
So?
Please tell me you aren't saying she deserved to be assaulted because her yearbook is full of partying, alcohol, etc.
5
Another wonderful human being nominated by our president...just like all of his wonderful Cabinet members and all of the other felons, liars, haters and accused sexual assaulters that seem to surround this president; the one who promise to drain the swamp.
5
"The school’s culture was one of heavy drinking and at times insensitivity."
WAS?????
6
And people talk about Mean Girls! Boys like those entitled brats (or Bretts) grew into the entitled, tone deaf, cruel men now on the Judiciary Committee.
12
What I have a hard time with (this comes from me a woman raped more than once in her life) is this whole "proof" piece. It's really a male request to have "proof". What kind of "proof" are we looking for? It takes women months, years and decades to deal with the changes it brings about in us, the survivors. It takes years of therapy and/or not talking about it and believing you did something wrong. Maybe it's because men are raped or sexually assaulted at a far less rate than women. Also, I find it hard to fathom that K's first accuser is going to be cross-examined by how many old, fat, white, rich, sexist men!!!! How does that work???? LOL LOL. K has the upper hand. He's a judge, he's used to being in court. She is a Professor and not used to being in a court. I find it all very distressing. This will not ruin Judge K's life. It's a job interview, for God's sake. He can get another job.
8
And then to have Michael Avenatti and Rowen Farrow on your case? Brett Kavanaugh is toast. Shall we start a lottery for how much longer he lasts in his self made tragicomedy?
9
This man has already said he was a virgin through college. And a man, a white man, with such pedigree, who has attended "the right schools, kept the right friends, attained the right clerkships, secured the right mentors, and had the right White House experience, leading to the right appeals court slot" is clearly a golden boy candidate, whose virginal and pure experience is akin to SCOTUS sainthood, and who belongs at the top of the moral ethical chain of command that dictates control over women in America (who are, as we know, wink wink, not capable of making such decisions on their own).
14
Brett Kavanaugh has lied under oath. If he's telling the truth now, why doesn't he take a lie detector test given by the FBI? Why isn't he clamoring for an FBI investigation?
11
Guilty before any due process over incidents that occurred decades ago based on pure hearsay is plain wrong. I’m a female and do not condone assault on any level, physical, emotional or psychological. However, we cannot allow accusations to be just that and take down lives without DUE PROCESS. Ladies, this takes away from true crimes and victims if no solid basis.
4
@Jennifer
Then have the FBI interview the people involved and those they claimed witnessed it. I am also concerned about his money problem which I feel shows poor judgement.
8
@Jennifer
So why won't he agree to the FBI investigation? Why?
7
"High school pranks" and "antics?" Pinning down a younger classmate and groping her, trying to pull her clothes off and then blocking her mouth so she can't cry for help is something far more than school "antics." At age 17, 18, that's old enough to know better. A position on the highest court in the land should attract candidates who are beyond reproach. What bothers me even more, though, is that Brett Kavanaugh seems to have retained the same attitude of entitlement he had in high school -- that by virtue of his birth and entrees in life, he deserves a seat on the highest court in the land. Kavanaugh's combativeness is troubling. His lack of taking ownership even for the drunken excesses of those years show a profound lack of responsibility. Even toward the woman Ms. Dolphin, who signed a letter in his defense.
17
“Not just Brett Kavanaugh and his particular group, but all the classmates in general. People would claim things they hadn’t done to sort of seem bigger than they were, older than they were.”
In other words, Kavanaugh was educated and came of age in a culture in which lying was commonplace and accepted as normal behavior? Perfect match for DJTrump.
8
This circus undercuts the legitimacy of the #metoo movement.
3
The Times is running out of time and its down to mining yearbooks. Stormie's lawyer is going to expose the Gorgetown gang rape culture tomorrow. That will be hard for The Times to trump. The Democratic Political Complex has been very imaginative in its NEVER TRUMP campaign, so maybe it will release Trump's and Kavanaugh's tax returns tomorrow showing all of the Russkie mobster money that has been laundered through their accounts. Hopefully, Dr. Blasey Ford will be too traumatized to testify on Thursday, and Judge K's nomination will be postponed until after Trump's and Pence's impeachment and conviction next February.
7
Do you people realize how juvenile all of these stories of who said what thirty five years ago sound. They were all stupid kids then just like they all are now. Why stir up things when people seemed happy with the past. Someone goes through and old year book from who knows who and disturbs a woman with what some idiot entered. There are some very disturbed people out there.
4
@Ricardoh Go back and read his entire yearbook entry, the unredacted version. It is beyond disturbing. Why didn’t Yale revoke its acceptance? Who needs a hot mess like this in the freshman class?
5
Many people speak about how horrific the yearbook comments were & how we would feel if our daughters were treated that way...Well for one, as a woman I was raised to stand up tall & brush comments like that off. Women are strong and strong enough to say they wont be defined by or lose sleep over some prep boy comments...remember "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me..." 2018 could use some more of that.The other side of it is how would you feel if it was your son today? Your son makes a foolish facebook post or a less than thoughtful comment about a girl on twitter when he is in hs... he then graduates w/ a 4.0, goes to an ivy league college & graduates magnum cum laude & strives the rest of his life to be an upstanding father, husband & member of society...But wait, now at 50 years old he applies for a job he has worked so hard to get & that facebook post comes back around. Now he doesn't get that job or any other job for that matter...all his achievements are forever overshadowed by this moment...his wife is harassed daily & embarrassed to go to the supermarket. His kids are shunned by their friends (& friends' parents) & told terrible things about their dad. Well mom? dad? Does your precious boy deserve that kind of fall from grace? The entire point of a juvenile justice system is because it was understood that unless a crime was particularly heinous children make mistakes, grow & mature. People are not meant to be defined by their adolescence.
4
You've got some pretty low standards for a Supreme Court judge.
12
@Cate
This is not just a job, this is serving as a Justice on the Supreme Court. And he's not being charged with a criminal offence. He's being considered to pass judgement on the most important issues facing our society.
A higher standard must apply.
9
@Cate, Less than thoughtful??? Nobody is talking about inconsiderate and rude! This is a physical and sexual assault x2 and possibly 3! And, since you think women in 2018 need to toughen up, that is exactly what those once demoralized young ladies are doing. Buckle up boys!
6
Have you heard any of these elite Catholic prep school guys speak out against the Catholic Church regarding its sexual abuse scandal? Didn't think so.....
11
Avenatti, slam dunk.
8
The next G-Prep reunion will he worth one Netflics movie, a Harvard Gender Studies Seminar, 4 roman a clefs on Kindle, and $1,000,000 aggregate minimum in legal and PR representation. O America -- we all so pretty now. -- See children, our seedy elites, just doin the secular Stations of the Cross. Boy wait til 2038, when today's cool kids have to parse, all that fun selfie sexting, as they ascend to the Power Chairs - then maybe not, given our "progress."-- But soft, has 2038 already arrived down in Emerald City? Must ask the Wizard. --Plus ca change.
1
Why not look at his ADULT life instead? No one is nominating teenager !!! Judge him on his adult life !
Why did you not judge Bill Clinton on his sexual behavior when he run for the highest office of the land ?
4
@Justaman
Umm, because he never raped anyone?
6
@Justaman
I believe he was impeached for that sexual behavior....
6
@DMS
No, he was impeached for perjury.
If you brag about having sex with a high school girl, true or not, and then are stupid enough to refer to it in your high school yearbook, you should never be appointed to the Supreme Court. Period. End of story.
And then if somehow you are nominated for the Court, despite repeated FBI vetting that fails to expose your bad behavior, and you lie about it, you need to go away.
Judge Kavanaugh, you should withdraw now. Say you don’t want to subject your family to this anymore. Whatever you need to say to preserve some self respect and reputation. Because you are caught, bro. What happens at Georgetown Prep, alas, does not stay at Georgetown Prep.
22
There are so many decent men in this country; if it’s got to be a man, for whatever reason, is it too much to ask for one of those millions of decent men who didn’t make disgusting jokes on their yearbook page?
9
The "president" of the Renate alumni group is J.C. Del Real. Has the NY Times contacted him for a comment?
Maybe he can enlighten us as to what made him the "President" versus just one of the proud members like Brett Kavanaugh and Mark Judge, his friend who has written so frequently about his public exploits who inexplicably decided to shut up.
15
He’s the poster boy for Christian hypocrisy in this country.
19
For everyone confused, "Renate Alumnus" means they all hooked up with her. A common phrase today would be "Eskimo Brothers" #TheLeague
Anyone who bases Brett K. who has EVER done anything remotely regrettable in their high school/college days, under the influence or not, is a complete hypocrite. Your opinion is invalid if you are part of the populous you claim to be against. Wake up people. This goes both ways. Get an Instagram and follow some college based accounts focused on girls. It will blow your sheltered minds to find that girls do the SAME thing guys do. Stop taking everything out of context because you don't like the President. I suppose we should hate the entire white house staff as well for being associated with old Don.
5
Surprise - teenagers in high school play with innuendo on who hooked up with whom, and they poke fun and insinuate and exaggerate things constantly to impress their friends.
Only in the twisted world of the NYT and liberal elites is such high school innuendo news or relevant.
Oh, yeah, I forgot. The tabloids also love that stuff.
7
Perhaps when you up for a Supreme Court position which is a life long appointment affecting the lives of every American, and you’ve been accused of being a violent sexual predator, the stupid things you say about sexual encounters in high school DO matter?
19
@Baron95 What is surprising is a school culture, in a fancy-shmancy prep school no less, in a Catholic Jesuit prep school, no less, that allowed this garbage to make it to a yearbook. There seems to be at least a subset of students whose parents held them to no standards, let them off the hook, or looked the other way. Now, is the child father to the man or not?
Brett Kavanaugh's foul youth coupled with his sanctimony as an adult ought to rule him out for a lifetime appointment to SCOTUS.
13
.,..this should push down frat enrollment. A silver cloud? But seriously, are we going to start looking for buggers that he wiped under his couch? Not to make light, but some stuff should just stay buried.
3
When are we going to hear about Mark Judge's yearbook quote ("Certain women should be regularly struck like a gong.") and the things Judge later wrote saying that women who weren't offering themselves openly were inviting men to prove themselves and show them the "awesome" power of the male libido?
Judge was one of Kavanaugh's best friends and best friends usually share opinions on things like that. As Kavanaugh has been stonewalling, go to the next best indicator, the mind of his best friend.
13
@pathenry
Right.....and guilt by association is perfectly acceptable.
2
I couldn't stop thinking about this last night. Irregardless of whether they shared a kiss, a dull date to a dance, or some thing more it shows that in high school, he breezily thought of a girl as a thing, a possession, an inside joke. Many of us have poorly formed ideas when young, and don't realize how these types of jokes can hurt. However, most of us realize this and apologize for what idiots we were in our youth. Issuing a non-apologetic, "I'm such a good boy" statement shows that Kavanaugh is still at the maturity level to be Judge of "Have you boofed yet?" rather than the highest court in this land.
13
@sweatpants thank you, you got it exactly right.
So this is what passes for news at the NYTimes, now? Get scooped on the fuzzy, unsubstantiated accusation of indecent exposure, so the Times reporters now dig into irreverent high school yearbook references.
Three points. First, the yearbook reference was crass and demeaning. But it is also characteristic of stupid, high school boys. And ALL high school boys are stupid. The reference has zero probative value.
Second, based on the comments from the girl Kavanaugh and his friends referred to in their crass comments, Kavanaugh's reference was nothing but unwarranted braggadocio. He either had a single kiss with this girl (his account) or he alluded to a made up one (her account) to make himself look cool.
And third, the girl Kavanaugh referred to corroborates that Kavanaugh was nothing but decent to her (aside from this comment in a yearbook at an all-guys school). She thus confirms that the braggadocio to his buddies does not reflect her actual interactions with him. Again, typical of decent, yet stupid, high school boys.
And yet the Times feels like this is actually a story, worthy to be added to the avalanche of smears against this man.
6
This is ridiculous. It is blatantly obvious what type of behavior was encouraged, tolerated and coddled of Kavanaugh and his buddies. If this was how you were taught to behave and expect such behavior to be tolerated at what point would you step off the rolled out carpet to take stock in your person and what you have become? You don't. I am disgusted at being an American, if this goes through I am for sure looking at options post school to move out of the country. This boat has so many holes in it, and this is the equivalent of making them wider.
4
Seems that a lot of Kav defenders have the same pattern: The first girl you go out with is like the first pancake and it's just WOOPS LOL, that time I pinned her down and she protested, and I got mad cuz I was drunk, and I insisted, and my buddy locked the door and turned up the music, but her bathing suit wouldn't come off, and then someone knocked so I left.
You're surprised that women voters don't see this the way you do? They feel again! like that girl, bruised, raggedly trying to breathe and stop trembling, forever in a different universe now, because she's just the most convenient flesh a poor, sweet football jock had at hand? Forgive us women if we are not impressed now with your victimhood!!
Imagine a man, stronger than you, and his laughing friend, trying to pull your so-manly pants off and grabbing your tender parts, while telling you to shut up and just get with the fun. They cover your mouth and lock the door, and hold YOU down. It goes on, and they're drunk, and you realize for the first time that your body is theirs to play with as they want. Terror grips you, but they stop just short of rape. Now you see them every day, and now they're respected men in the community; maybe judges... The shame of trying to tell the authorities now is enormous, and your wife knows nothing of that incident. Golly, let's have a conversation about how serious we should take your hysterical feelings. Let's find out why YOU didn't report it? Grrrr...
661
@deb
Why would a woman report sexual assault, when they will be vilified, they will be told, well if you weren't wearing that short dress, or if your dress wasn't cut so low.
I swore that if I ever had a son, that I would teach him what my step father taught me. Those were, you never hit girls (that translates to women later in life) never disrespect women, you don't cat call, whistle, make any rude remark, my step father would have NEVER stood by and let me say or do any of those things. And if I would have had sex in high school, oh lord, let the beatings commence.
The men in my family were raised to treat women with respect, to never hit them, say sexual things about them, true or not.
Kavanaugh's behavior isn't unusual, it was the norm for decades. So they have to have some male home schooling, other wise you end up with the Kavanaugh's of the world, that justify their behavior, by saying well, boys will be boys.
I'm so glad my step father raised me better, so when Kavanaugh intimates that all boys do that, umm, no, only privileged brats do, or boys that have no man at home to teach them that women girls aren't here for your enjoyment, they are to be respected.
Most men have never been sexually assaulted, for that to happen they would have to be held down and raped by another man, they wouldn't know the humiliation of being assaulted, then the humiliation of having to relive that episode, and be blamed for the mans behavior. No most men or boys have zero idea.
5
Renate Alumni? What kind of deeply sick and lurid toxic masculinity is coursing through the veins of our elite? How horrible must be the suffering of this sweet, innocent girl, so pure and self-sacrificing. How could anyone ever - EVER - imagine a young high school senior, full of goodness and light, ever wanting to be involved with such a putrid piece of male flesh. I am thoroughly revolted. We must get her in therapy at once!
5
Did the NYT now openly drop the mask of an unbiased paper? Look at he front page - ALL titles as though the Times is fighting against Kavanaugh.
5
I'm going to catch some flack for this, but I'm an educated, mature, married, contented 42-year-old woman. I'm not sure that my reaction to this juvenile yearbook comment would be as strong as either the NYTs or Ms. Dolphin's. In fact, I think I would say something along the lines of, "Those guys only WISH they had gotten to first base with me. I'll take it as a compliment" and move on.
Sounds like all this talk of high school has turned a lot of articles -- and the comments therein - into a version of high school.
Yes to letting Dr. Ford and Mr. Kavanaugh give their testimonies in the service of uncovering the truth, if it can be known. No to parsing every aspect of two people's adolescence.
7
What does it say (to women first of all) that we have heard President Trump's voice on tape bragging about his groping rights and a porn star on record sharing their affair, and we have the possibility of a Supreme Court judge who might have drunkenly attacked a young woman but he was too obliterated to even remember?
Sorry, but there is no way around the fact that this is unacceptable. And I feel bad for Kavanaugh's daughters.
9
@PS In four years, Margaret will be 17. Makes you wonder how likely a 'Kavanaugh Alumnius' there will be...
4
Reading about the situation in the Times is like being in high school again. Urg... I'd rather drop out this time.
4
This article is devoid of journalistic value and doubtless painful to Ms. Dolphin. There have been a growing number of questionable editorial decisions at the NYT of late.
4
And what is the meaning of “Maureen—Tainted Whack” in his yearbook writeup? I shudder to think....
7
The issue is not that he wrote or did the things mentioned in his yearbook, which don’t clearly allude to any major crimes aside from a few misdemeanors (which, with the benefit of rich white male privilege, can be laughed off years later...) People change, mature, and develop character.
No, the issue here is that as a middle-aged adult seeking one of the most powerful positions in the world, he is lying profusely, including under oath, demonstrating a complete lack of character TODAY. This is less about what this guy was like in HS, but who he is today, which is clearly not qualified to rise to the highest fourth in the land.
While there may or may not be an actual criminal case behind this, that’s not the point (unless of course somebody chooses to press charges). The point is a complete abdication of responsibility and sense of entitlement that indicates a complete lack of character. Let him keep his current job unless charged with a crime and proven guilty, but nobody has a civil right to be promoted to Supreme Court Justice.
5
And he has not yet spoken out against those making death threats against his accusers.
Even if he is being wrongly accused of disgraceful behavior toward females, certainly as a man of the law, he wouldn’t countenance a fellow citizen’s life being threatened with extra-judicial violence, right? RIGHT??
5
I grew up in Bethesda in the 1980s and as a teenager went to my fair share of house parties and field parties thrown by Prep or Gonzaga or Landon boys and sometimes Holy Child girls. It was the ‘80s, if you’re not Gen-Xer, watch a John Hugh’s movie to get a sense of the party scene from my generation. I don’t think the helicoptered kids of today can possibly relate. Everyone smoked pot, lots did coke, dropped acid and drank heavily, and there was a lot of sex. And yes, it was not uncommon for teens from the elite, all-boy, prep school circuit to disrespect and objectify girls. I remember at one party a Prep boy poking a pool stick in my vagina area (I was clothed) from behind while others laughed. I assumed at the time and still do, that the all boy environment at these schools played some role in their sense about girls. The boys from gender-mixed schools, by-and-large didn’t do these things. I guess because they were used to seeing us girls as peers.
I don’t know if the judge did or didn’t do what has been alleged. But the conduct is completely consistent with the culture I witnessed and experienced at the time.
13
@Lisa Messenger: No, Lisa, everyone who went to high school and college in the eighties did not drink heavily, smoke pot, drop acid, do lines of coke, or sleep around the way you imagine, but if it makes you feel better to think so....
2
I’m still friends with many of my male friends from high school. Not a single one of them ever treated me with anything but dignity and respect.
There are plenty of decent men out there who would never—even as “stupid teenagers”—talk about women the way Kavanaugh did on his yearbook page. I’m beginning to get pretty fed up with the elite, entitled 1% who are running this country. Let’s get some of the smart and decent middle-class folks running things for a change.
3
Agreed...the all-male milieu sounds much more sexually immature than coeducational schools...I mean how many basketball captain/footballer BMOCs graduate as virgins?
Sounds like golden boy Kavanaugh never ever had a steady long-term girlfriend...That’s odd
I'm curious as to who approached her to sign the document supporting Brett and when. Has she since asked to have her name removed? Doesn't feel good knowing you were the butt a school wide joke, does it Renate? Do you still support him?
6
So much for altar boy and boy scout, eh?
15
His yearbook page is hurtful? ... What? Is this the NYT or the Georgetown Prep student paper?
The Renate references....we all know what they were... and they prove that Mr. Kavanaugh was a mean person in high school. He took a part of what was essentially bullying and demeaning a girl so he would look better. That's not the character of any SCOTUS I want. Even in high school he should have known better than to immortalize in writing a reference so hurtful.
18
If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it’s a duck.
This one talks like an entitled, badly-behaved partying frat boy. How far backwards does one have to bend over to give him the benefit of the doubt?
14
It's one thing to be crude and boastful in high school, but to gang up on one woman and memorialize her as a 'slut' goes beyond youthful boasting. I don't know many men who would do that. It's really hateful and disturbing. It's also premeditated, and can't be explained away by alcohol or hormones.
16
All boys are idiots at that age. You’re holding high school against him? Seriously? What he has achieved since then says a lot more about Judge Kavanaugh than his goofy high school years.
3
Not all men try to rape girls in high school. Or even college for that matter. As a former fraternity member who attended elite schools, I can tell you that this is not normal behavior. The yearbook page is typical, and in the absence of allegations wouldn’t be disqualifying (though I would like him to tell us more about his experience with “Devil’s Triangles”...). However, his blatant lying and obfuscation about relatively minor details, painting himself as a virgin saint in HS, do not comport to the facts and suggest a serious lack of character today as a middle-aged adult. This isn’t about whether he was a bonehead in HS.
Between his lying and his desire to not have the FBI extend their background check, he sure looks like he has skeletons to bury. Skeletons that would not be seen by the public as simple youthful indiscretions. Mitch McConnell knew as much, which is why he originally pushed for Trump to NOT nominate the guy. If there is nothing to see here, then let’s call the witnesses and have the FBI look into the facts. But no matter what, he has already discredited himself by lying and misrepresentation of details that he frankly shouldn’t need to lie about. That’s not a great quality for the ultimate arbiter of Justice.
7
@Tori
"What he has achieved since then says a lot more about Judge Kavanaugh than his goofy high school years."
He's been a tool of the elite polluters, the deranged elite. And a good tool, by the way.
6
Y’all at the NYTimes need psychiatric assistance. Perhaps Confessor Ford will have some down time next week to fit you in.
1
Life's lesson: Little jerks grow up to be big jerks. No exceptions.
18
@BRILLIANT GIRL Good point. I view middle school (around Grade 8) as the make-or-break point. That’s the time when young people decide whether to take their life seriously, or to party it all away. BK’s yearbook page shows he fell into the latter category.
You say he’s a federal appellate judge? Yes, one who apparently selects model- grade female law school graduates as his law clerks, all in the name of equality.
2
@BRILLIANT GIRL
Maybe, and true for both sexes.
2
@CABOT
Agree.
Mr. Kavanaugh appears to be a "kiss up kick down" kind of guy. Knows who to suck up to in order to get ahead, and total lack of respect for all others. Mr. Trumps kind of guy.
11
High school boys being disrespectful to girls? Shocking. HS boys are the worst and the source of many a #MeToo moment. I will never forget those creeps.
5
Puh-lease NYTimes. Is this really where we are going? Did anyone at this paper or in the comments section go to high school? Kids are immature and unsophisticated about a great many things, including, or perhaps especially, sex.
I went to high school long after the 1980s and still had a group of girls refer to one of my pairs of pants as my "butt jeans" (except they used an unprintable word instead of "butt") and would make audible comments if I showed my backside. They didn't physically assault me or anyone I know of. Despite their immaturity, I really doubt they did. I grew up, they grew up, that's life.
There is a real issue with this nomination - the accusation of Dr. Blasey. To say he was once in high school and immature is a far step from saying "therefore he sexually assaulted someone."
Please report more on the party and those present.
3
These guys are pigs. Worse: they are liars.
No one, with half a brain, could believe the lies they are spewing.
Kavanuagh is unfit for the Supreme Court. He should not be a Federal judge at all.
Let him be rapey in the private sector.
12
Let's be clear, at its best this is "slut shaming" and at it worst it a coordinated lie that totally misrepresented this young lady's relationship with a multiple men from Kavanaugh's school. It clearly speaks to his character and is hard evidence that should be referenced when Senators evaluate his judgment and attitude when he was a young man.
Personally, I would be ashamed if my child did this and furious if someone did this to my child.
15
"The language from Judge Kavanaugh’s high school yearbook refers to the fact that he and Ms. Dolphin attended that one high school event together and nothing else." do they take us for complete idiots? we know exactly what it means. Kavanaugh and his ilk are the lowest form of misogynist scum. i hope avenatti drags him through the swamp so all can see Kavanaugh for what he really is.
17
Among the reminiscences about sports and booze is a mysterious entry: “Renate Alumnius.”
There is not a single solitary person reading this article who doesn't know EXACTLY what that caption means.
Twenty years after I graduated from college, I had a chat with a fellow I'd known—I thought—pretty well, a teammate. Imagine my surprise when he started listing the young men, other teammates, who had told him that they'd had sex with me, men who I'd thought were my friends, men who I'd also thought I'd known pretty well, but not that well (AT ALL), if you get my drift.
It was astonishing to know that, all the while I'd thought we were all pretty good friends, these guys were besmirching my reputation behind my back, telling falsehoods about me that even people who I thought would and should know better heard and believed. For 20 years.
Poor Renate. Right there in black and white, from then and forever, these guys were saying that she was a slut. (Can I say that, New York Times?) All this time Renate has been living her life, unaware of what those boys really thought of her, much less what they had said about her so very publicly and so very permanently.
Hey, but, you know? It's all a joke. You know, good clean fun! C'mon! Where's your sense of humor? Gee, it happened so very long ago! Get over it! And, never forget: boys will be boys.
11
@sarasotaliz
So you say! LOL!
1
@C B Close
We don't hate Brett. We want nothing to do with him, which means, that we don't want him having ANYTHING to do with our lives. Especially on the SCOTUS.
1
From the clips I have seen/read, on reputable news media, of Kavanaughs interview on Fox,it appears he gave TMI! I really don't care when he lost his virginity! His appearance on Fox was probably suggested by Trump,who thinks really smart people watch that all day long like he does. I am sure his base lapped up what Brett had to say. But I find something very disingenuous about Brett. I can see him as a young man sucking up to his teachers, pretending to be the perfect catholic boy. And why, pray tell, didn't the yearbook advisor do something about the yearbook entries! Too many people in his prep school (as well as his yearbook page) and in college confirm that he was blotto drunk. Dr Ford and others seem like reliable sources. Do we need another Clarence Thomas on SCOTUS? The committee will surely find another candidate that will do their bidding but without the baggage that Kavanaugh has. Lets not forget what the republicans did to Merrick Garland. The rush to appoint this guy tells me a lot about who Grassley, Graham and the rest, really think he is. it is all about abortion for them and all about not being impeached for trump.
7
It’s a shame that Judge Kavanaugh has to answer for 37-year old youthful indiscretions. It implies that we are locked forever in all the weaknesses, ignorance, crassness and vices of thoughtless youth and can never change or mature for the rest of our lives.
What person, man or woman, can say that he has lived a life of four decades free from any taint of scandal or moral failure? And if such there be, who would want so perfect an individual to serve as justice over the rest of us flawed humans?
I strongly disagree with Kavanaugh’s political philosophies yet I would still prefer him—with his mistakes and regrets—to someone with no concept of moral failings and contempt for all of us who have stumbled occasionally in life.
4
Of course we have all made foolish mistakes when we were young—but nobody in my high school bragged about that kid of behavior in the yearbook.
Even to other teenagers, this looks kind of bad, not funny.
6
@CABOT - Sexual assault isn't a youthful indiscretion.
7
@Woman
It looks bad but shouldn't disqualify him. People in the military kill people... innocent people. People change.
The "Renate Alumni" captioning the team picture has a very straight forward meaning:
The nine male students in the picture accomplished something on/from/with Renate. A girl does not graduate groups of smiling football players. Groups graduate from institutions, school bodies not female bodies. This is the utmost in objectification and clearly reduces Renate to a "thing". Likewise, actions are done to things- things do not participate. The excessive reliving/referencing to their accomplishments regarding Renate in the year book indicates something far more maleficent than mean spirited rumors and slut-shaming.
13
Blasey-Ford's accusation is deeply troubling, but this? This is not newsworthy. When I was in high school, I was the occasional target of insults. They stung; they sucked. But they do not bear on the modern morality of the people who said them, and I would never rehydrate those ancient jabs as part of a current character attack. Let's focus on the allegations that matter, forcibly attempting to remove a girl's clothes, for example. But let's be very careful about constructing a world that regards high school yearbook scribblings as license for reputational ruin.
3
Several issues trouble me about Kavanaugh. The Supremes are heavy with Harvard law, Catholics, and East Coast elite already. What about ethnic, gender, and geographic diversity? He never went to a public school? He seems arrogant in his teens, and I might remember this type of clique. However, his accomplishments are many. There will be no winners here. The Supremes have seemingly become a tool to be manipulated, thanks to Mitch McConnell. Republicans are going to force the issue, and like POTUS will deny everything with straight faces. It seems women could be thrown under the bus whenever it is inconvenient not to. Why no FBI when it would seem that it could settle this he said, she said type of acrimony. It has become so ugly I feel badly for me and thee having to do this sort of thing no matter if the caustic results are really worth it. This really did not need to happen if Republicans had done their homework and steered a better course that would not have set the nation on fire. There are important issues we do not deal with as these days red herrings are easier? I also wonder why this nominee is incapable to step away while putting his family through this.
5
@MED The FBI won't settle anything. At most, they will conduct the same interviews that the Senate Judiciary Committee and the media have already conducted and report their findings to the president and the Judiciary Committee.
I don't see the point of an FBI investigation now that everything is already public and a public investigation has already been conducted ... unless it is to conduct background checks into the various witnesses (other than Kavanaugh who has already undergone FBI background checks), including the accusers.
1
@Econ101
The FBI has the power to charge someone with a felony if they lie. THAT alone could make a difference.
@Mass independent
No, no, no. The FBI is an investigative agency only. The FBI does not have the power to charge people with crimes.
I am a psychotherapist for adolescents, and I spent yesterday afternoon with a 17-year-old girl, with a history of sexual abuse, trying to calm her fears about the 'rape culture' of the university to which she has just been admitted. The yearbook mention of "Renate Alumnus" is just the sort of entitled, smug, misogynistic crap that is to be found in prep schools and universities that leads to "rape culture" on campuses. I counseled my client to stay away from all Greek life, and when nervous, call campus security for an escort home. I wonder if Judge Kavanaugh will counsel his two daughters to stay away from boys like him?
15
While it can be expected that high school students say and do things that are inappropriate, even sexist or racist, that they later regret as they learn more about social relations, the comments left in Mr. Kavanaugh's yearbook about Ms. Davis would likely imply to fellow students that she had been their object of sexual advances. In addition, I cannot imagine that even at that age, I would have written such comments. I was old enough at 18 to understand how those comments would have been taken by my fellow students. As such, it is painfully obvious what the words imply. Now, regardless of partisan politics, the question is, do we want to appoint a judge to the highest court, who is brushing over his previous inappropriate behavior? This, in my view, is a continuance of the same inappropriate behavior. As the information has come to light, has he even yet apologized for making Ms. Davis the object of his group's sexual innuendos? In other words, yes, this is a sad testimony to Mr. Kavanaugh's character and his attitude towards women.
8
Exactly, Frank...
this yearbook page sure makes Kavanaugh look like a jerk. He would have scared me if I were in school with him.
2
The idea expressed by some that this is "normal" behavior for high school and college boys is insulting. No - all boys do not act like this … only the spoiled, egotistical, entitled who treat everyone as pawns if their own life story, especially women. It is behavior that is common with football players because of how they are glorified or rich preppies because of how they are raised. And these are traits that don't change although people learn to adopt a veneer of respectability and sincerity - especially if they go into politics. To try and tell us that the phrase referring to the poor girl who was slut shamed does not mean what we all know it means is also insulting to our intelligence because, after all, we all have been in high school and are familiar with the practice. Please save us from the smug, self-satisfied, lying, preppie that is Kavenaugh.
12
Unfortunately, you are wrong in assigning this kind of behavior only to preppy elites and to football players.
Plenty of poor, inner-city boys and men are guilty of the same kind of dehumanizing behaviors and entitled attitudes, particularly when it comes to girls and women.
1
Well a lot of assumptions about his character from people who were not there. It is tempting to believe the narrative that he was a spoiled frat boy, therefore it is not only possible but likely he committed said offence. However as with most things it depends on what side of the political fence you're on. Articles like this are meant to sow doubt on his character which is fair, considering the job. However the the way this whole investigation came about is nothing to be proud of. Last minute machinations by people who are supposed to be honorable has thrown the whole process into the gutter. This is unfortunate because had the process gone according to tradition, Ms Ford wouldn't be the center act of a circus.
1
“These guys weren’t any different than other boys high schools across the country,” said Suzanne Matan, a friend of Judge Kavanaugh’s from their high school days...
I'm sick of hearing this justification, and this was not my experience or how we were taught, thankfully. And I feel sick that it seems so many of these kids end up at "Ivy League" schools, and this way of thinking and sick behavior continues at places like Yale and through college years. It's clear that the "good ol' boys days" are far from over. Disgusting!
8
Yet another reason I’m glad I went to a “lowly” SUNY without the privileged elite.
My education there was top-notch, and unsullied by entitled jerks.
4
Wow.
It seems as if it's okay to smear a high school girls reputation when you are a teenager, but God forbid you say anything that might smear a grown man's past reputation, true or not.
Republicans are despicable with their hypocritical judgments and their double standards.
22
Is there no one else not surprised that this culture was tolerated in a Catholic h.s.?
No matter how common it is for children to be assaulted those of us who don't assault agree it isn't "normal." So why all the talk of this behavior being "normal?"
Those of us who tolerate the debasement of women under the guise of normality ensure it continues. We become no better than the cardinals who reassigned abusers.
Let's not reassign this man to the Supreme Court.
5
Can any one blame Donald Trump for not supporting his nominee to the highest court of USA?He rightfully believes Brett to be an angel when comparing him with himself !
1
When you let your political party get taken over by a reality TV personality, you should not be surprised when you become a character in his reality TV world.
7
I'm moved to think a bit more about the role of the tony private high school Kavanaugh attended, Georgetown Prep (full disclosure -- I lived several years in that neighborhood, but my kid went to the local public schools, which is why we moved there in the first place). What sort of administration of a CATHOLIC high school would condone such trash in the yearbook and such a widely known debauched party atmosphere to start with, and what does it say about how they were relating to these kids in general, and more importantly, their parents. No doubt they were taking cues from the cultural/economic milieu they were serving -- elite, rich, and entitled families who wouldn't accept any school discipline for their lovely children whom they were grooming to take on their privilege. The school knew what it was dealing with, and to keep the flow of new students coming in with their enormous tuition checks abandoned any pretense of applying any religious principles and embraced this sordid behavior. Chalk up another positive for the church.
5
@John Binkly The kind that had as its “sex and religion” teacher a guy who, it was reported, later was convicted on child pornography charges. The guy who taught these same boys about sex and religion.
4
Considering the head of Housing and Urban Development copped(bragged?) to gut stabbing someone as a youth, this seems par for the course.
4
As an educator, regarding all things listed in the yearbook, I'm most surprised by what administrators at this Catholic school and/or the teacher(s) overseeing the yearbook permitted to be listed in these boys' entries, than I am at what the boys listed.
Renate Alumnus is ambiguous and perhaps wouldn't catch a teacher's eye in editing. But "Keg City"?
6
@Jessica You'd think they'd at least have caught "alumnius."
2
Doesn’t say much for the quality of the education Kavanaugh and his classmates received there, does it?
God help any of us if people could go back 40 years and decipher and perjoratively judge silly comments made by others concerning our school adventures. This whole thing is getting ridiculous.
1
We need normal people on the Supreme Court, not another spoiled, private school brat. And I'm not just bashing this guy, goes for all of them.
13
I wonder how Judge Kavanaugh, the father of two daughters, would feel if he knew a group of young men were boosting that they were the "Liza Alumni" or the "Margaret Alumni"?
10
@God is Love
The judge has the power to do something about it. Most people do not.
The accusations against Kavanaugh are very serious. They are not understandable youthful indiscretions. What's more, he clearly never grew beyond them. These accusations of sexual assault really resonate because they mesh with his political agenda of making war on women's rights. We already knew he had women in the cross-hairs politically before these allegations came to light. But with these allegations and their corroborating evidence we know his mysogyny goes even beyond that. This man is disgusting. I believe he's a perjurer and a would-be rapist. We can do better.
476
@Dystopia "Would-be rapist" sounds a little Minority Report meets 1984.
And who are you to determine whether or not they were youthful indiscretions? And then to say he never grew beyond them? Maybe you've had first hand interaction with him at sometime? One more...would be rapist? Of course you and every other person out there deeming this person as unfit are beyond reproach and have always been so, right? Never had any of those shameful behaviors in our youth we would all take to our grave if we could? Never uttered any thing inappropriate? I'll bet...
1
@Dystopia
Did you vote for Bill Clinton, twice? If so why did you ignore his lifetime of indiscretions? Knowing what you do today would you still vote for him v Bush 41 or Dole?
Can we do better in our President?
1
Let's remember that students the same age as young Brett Kavanaugh "joking" on social media had their acceptances to Harvard revoked.
Making decisions to do something harmful to another student -- for example, gleefully celebrating your membership in the "Renate Alumni" club -- may end up meaning that you don't get something you want.
And that is life. The rest of us know this. Somehow overprivileged rich boys and their enablers believe that nothing they do should ever have any repercussions.
18
"I think all of us have probably done things we look back on in high school and regret or cringe a bit"
Yup, but we're not campaigning to be on the highest court in the country.
Kavanaugh and Clarence are not worthy of the Supreme Court.
22
So this guy was born in 1965 if my math is right. He would have been in high school around the late 70s and college in the 80s . I was in law enforcement during those days and sex was very common in high schools and most certainly college.
I find it hard to believe that a football hero from a rich family that apparently liked his illegal booze was a celibate and would not think of pushing himself on a girl. As to the girls claiming they were all just friends, really.
9
This report is all over the place, difficult to follow and incoherent at best. Renate references could be anything from a name these young men chose to adopt - whimsically, arbitrarily for all we know - to something else not clearly defined in this article. And, how is it that friends of Ms. Dolphin can be so certain of what her relationship was with anyone? The Renate reference seems to mean different things to different people, then and now. This report seems to do nothing, in my opinion, to shed light, provide clarity or provoke meaningful thought.
1
If they could present his other records, and if we weren't seeing a pattern develop, we wouldn't need to be looking so hard.
But what about that other comment he wrote- "Bowling Alley Assault- What A Night"? Was the bowling alley assaulted, or was that just the location of an assault?
10
Millions of teenagers were in high school in the 1980s, and many of them went to schools or lived in communities where underage drinking may have been common. BUT not all of them chose to be a part of that subculture of defying the law.
Lots of judges made mistakes along their way. Probably all of them did. BUT most of those mistakes did not involve defying the law, or patting themselves on the back for those mistakes even into their middle age and in public.
11
Talk about "Mean Girls."
Kavanaugh and his clic were the Mean Boys.
Anyone who ever showed this level of contempt for women doesn't belong anywhere near the Supreme Court. Nor should he be making reproductive decisions for women of any age.
16
This is not a criminal trial. It is a job interview for the Supreme Court. Think of any other job interview you might have or invite someone to. Would you, out of all available candidates, hire this guy, no further background check required?
Personally, I think the answer is obvious
14
Just pray that the Dems win a Senate majority against all the odds. Then they can Merrick Garland all of Dump's judicial nominees for the next two years.
13
It’s possible that the Renate Alumnius thing was about them NOT being able to “score” with a certain girl; but that is just about as bad as bragging that they did.
Regardless, the very fact that a group of 17 and 18 yr old (at time of yearbook publication) young men would have any kind of “alumni” gang or gag named after a girl, especially one they had taken on a date, is deeply insulting and dehumanizing of her and, by extension, of all girls and women.
And the fact that Mr. Kavanaugh, via his statements about it, and his fellow “Alumni” still don’t understand or admit to that speaks to an ongoing and larger problem.
11
The central question at this point: Where is the independent, thorough investigation into these allegations?
Kavanaugh and the Republicans in congress should be screaming for one in order to clear Kavanaugh's name and avoid casting a permanent shadow over his confirmation and tainting the validity of the Supreme Court for decades.
Why aren't they?
I have yet to hear any credible reason why such an investigation is being refused, other than 1). the allegations of sexual assault and attempted rape are true 2). Republicans don't care if they are true
Both possibilities are chilling and grotesque. VOTE.
16
Speaking of yearbook quotes:
“Striving to extend our educational experience beyond the confines of the classroom, we played such intellectually stimulating games as Quarters, Mexican Dice and everyone’s favorite, Pass-Out, which usually resulted from the aforementioned two.”
“Now that we’re older and more mature. We’ve discovered a totally different type of party, often mistaken for a high class zoo. The drastic change in the nature of the party is attributed to the addition of the two B’s: Beer and Boys.”
“a definite shift developed in our choice of men. No longer confining ourselves to the walls of Landon and Prep (Georgetown), we plunged into the waters of St. John and Gonzaga with much success.”
“Beach week culminated the year for those of us lucky enough to go. With school and our minds in temporary recess, we were able to release all those troubling inhibitions of the past year. While dancing in the middle of coastal Highway, Ann [redacted last name] and friends picked up some men who passed out in their apartment…”
“And there were always parties to celebrate any occasion. Although these parties are no doubt unforgettable, they are only a memory lapse for most, since loss of consciousness is often an integral part of the party scene.”
The above quotes are Holton-Arms yearbook quotes 82,83,84.
https://www.teaparty.org/breaking-kavanaugh-accuser-set-cancel-senate-te...
3
Clearly Kavanaugh is a member of a golden elite group, the kind that forms inside expensive schools, sports and privileged lives. When you’re born to greatness, you expect to make your own rules and never get called to account. The comments about these events seem to break along the old lines in any hallway with adolescents, don’t they? In-crowd or outsider.
I think that the accusations will keep coming as will the defenses. Perhaps they will start coming from more recent Kavanaugh history. He’s a damaged candidate and probably a lousy human because not ALL the people speaking up to corroborate the situations in his past can be politically motivated.
I don’t know the man or his accusers but here’s one piece of thought from the present day; what kind of a person would allow his family to continue to be dragged through this public shaming? For his own ambition? For the probability of further destroying their lives as details are exposed or backed up by additional accusers? His denials are painful to watch (Virgin? Seriously?!) but are not nearly as bad as the expressions crossing his wife’s face during that Fox interview.
12
He without sin shall cast the first stone.
1
@Richard
The Golden Rule:
Them that's got the gold make the rules.
7
@Richard - We aren't asking for a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court.
7
Check out what boff and FFFF mean, both used on his page. Yes I have done things that make me cringe at a distant remove but have not done anything classifiable as a crime, unless you count stealing a very small item at age 7.
9
All it would take is two Republican Senators, male or female, with the honor and integrity to say "I take the question of these allegations seriously enough to want a thorough FBI investigation to determine, as much as can be determined, what facts are available in this situation. Until we get that investigation, I am a "NO" vote."
Are there two Republican Senators, male or female, with the honor and integrity to do this? The answer says a whole lot about Republican Senators.
12
“Renate” references “were intended to allude to innocent dates or dance partners and were generally known within the community of people involved for over 35 years.”
I went to Landon, an all boys private school, which was about 7 minutes (driving) away from Prep and shared a similar if not identical culture with Georgetown Prep and other private schools in the area.
While I am more than a decade younger than Kavanaugh, the culture within those schools, for better or worse, is an indelible point of pride and has changed little since my time.
As a product of that culture and with (some) ability to understand my younger self, the above statement, suggesting that the references were an "allusion to innocent dates or dance partners" is so utterly absurd that its laughable.
22
Yup. Sounds like another “wouldN’T have” (Helsinki) moment to me.
I'm totally for gathering all the facts, but I'm struggling with this particular reality: that Kavanaugh referenced this young woman in this way. I do not believe the claims that the various boys just meant to indicate that they'd been on a date with this woman; their little poem suggests otherwise.
But Kavanaugh is not arguing that he learned to do better in later life. He's said he didn't do anything wrong. And that's getting harder to accept looking at the way he so casually represented himself.
22
Can you even imagine what the reaction from the right would have been if anything like this had been found in Obama's past or the histories of any of his Supreme Court nominees?
24
@concerned citizen - Republicans went nuts when President Obama admitted to doing marijuana in his youth.
7
This can go to two extremes. In a judge, I would hope it indicates empathy for those who made bad choices. One learns from mistakes, understands the human flaws of circumstance, and it builds character and fair understanding. On the other hand, it could evidence arrogance: the secret superiority he was good enough to get away with it. The latter is frightening but all too common among the hedonistic power-elite puppeteers in control of the government.
9
@Thomas Busse
It indicates empathy for those who made bad choices, in other words for perpetrators of sexual assault, not for victims. If you or a loved one were a victim of rape, would you want him deciding the case?
2
As many have said, this is essentially an interview for a very important job. Employers comb social media before hiring anyone who will work with their clients and represent the company. They will go back to the earliest postings, including high school. Kavanaugh’s wall postings would raise red flags for any employer. Although this is years later and a different context, based on his wall, they wouldn’t hire him much less for a lifetime position in the most important job around.
12
I knew boys like this in high school, and steered clear of them. They lived as though the world was theirs for the taking, and for a time it was. Well, TIME'S UP.
39
@svetik, Even more important, that behavior and attitude of being above the law, and dismissiveness about it, seems to have continued into his adulthood, right through to at least just 3 or 4 years ago when he reportedly joked and bragged about his habit of alcohol abuse.
What kind of message does/did he think was conveyed to the young people and others listening to him? Did it not occur to him that others reasonably could understand him to be condoning or encouraging such behavior?
If it did occur to him but he said it anyway, he’s not appropriate for the highest, most esteemed court in the land (and arguably in the world).
And if it did not occur to him, he is not appropriate for the highest, most esteemed court in the land.
We’re not talking about any random job here, we are talking about a job that requires absolutely sound judgement. His words and action and choices thereof do not, in this area, reflect the ability to use and apply good judgement reliably and consistently.
And yes, we all make mistakes, but most of us don’t go on to brag about them and encourage others to make the same mistake.
15
The test for Mr Kavanaugh should be ‘ is his behavior towards women beyond reasonable doubt’ ‘ The answer is it is not. That should be the basis for his disapproval to occupy the bench. Can’t take a chance with life time appointments. There are plenty of qualified judges available to fill the post. Kavanaugh doesn’t have the monopoly on extraordinary qualifications.
11
I offer this comment as a profound supporter of the NYTimes and left-wing voter. By not putting the issue discussed here in a broader social context, this article demonstrates serious flaws as a work of journalism. We might object to this behavior in principle in high school boys, but its use retroactively in this way poses serious issues/questions that the Times isn't bringing into focus for the reader. For example, if the events described in this article are accepted as being "important" by the Times and its readers, keep in mind that virtually all people have made shameful, peer-pressured, and inappropriate comments during those early years. They could be—but they are not automatically—an indication of character. The question is whether they have embraced the way society's perspectives have changed to learn that such behavior was wrong. (I'm going to guess that many of the Times editors even fit this category—as well as the vast majority of human beings today). If this story is significant, as the Times clearly suggests it is, they should clarify WHY think that, and highlight its broader social implications. Otherwise it feels overly partisan and unsophisticated.
243
@Chris here's WHY: No other than Mr. Kavanaugh is being appointed for the Supreme Court job. Sure, we all are imperfect but a SCOTUS should be held to a higher standard. Now, do you get WHY?
4
@Chris okay, here's some context. There was a known culture of sexual braggadocio, if not predation, and faculty overseeing it were complicit. I went to college during the same time frame with no such activity or condoning. Stop trying to normalize it.
3
"They could be—but they are not automatically—an indication of character."
You are rebutting a straw man. The article doesn't even use the word "character".
"The question is whether they have embraced the way society's perspectives have changed to learn that such behavior was wrong."
The "question" is whether *Judge* Kavanaugh will repudiate his illegal underage drinking and defend the rule of law. Kavanaugh also needs to explain how his youthful debauchery influences his judicial decisions.
2
Having poor judgement in High School is understandable.
Denying your past as an adult to avoid any responsibility when confronted shows poor judgement and weak character.
I'm judging Kavanaugh by his current actions, not his past mistakes.
28
Read my almost incoherent thoughts on this article:
I am utterly aghast that the NYTimes has published an article talking about what boys in the 80's wrote in their high school yearbook. Everyone please take a step back, take a deep breath, and think about how crazy it is to judge someone on that. It was 35 years ago! It's a high school yearbook! This has become a parody of itself. Children seem to be running the both the government and the media. I would cancel my subscription, but I'm becoming fascinated watching the devolution of a once respected newspaper. It's like a mirror to the insanity of the time in which we live. Truly remarkable. I don't know whether to laugh or to hide, hoping that sanity returns.
Thanks for reading!
5
@TechMigrant Think of this as a job interview. As an adult, would you care that a candidate, who may not have been guilty of a criminal defense, is in complete denial about the rest of his high school behavior?
7
@TechMigrant
I'm pretty sure Charles Manson made the same "It was years ago!" argument as his sentence wore on.
4
I'm sorry, on what planet is just "having too many beers" in high school a defense? HIGH SCHOOL. 13- through 18-year-olds. Among other things, this is illegal. Even if nothing else happened I would seriously question why Kavanaugh was part of a culture of serious teen alcohol consumption! How is this a person who should serve on the Supreme Court? Truly, Trump has a rare talent for finding slime with which to fill the highest posts.
23
Teen boys brag. So what?
2
@Bar tennant-Their bragging damages other people. It is a cruel and vicious action and tells us something is nasty about their character. Some finish growing up and recognize their errors (and make restitution where possible) others do not. We need to know which type we are dealing with here. I want a real, decent, honest to goodness grown up on the court not a frat boy denying his past mistakes.
17
@Bar tenant - My son didn't treat girls this way. Neither did my husband or any of my brothers.
7
One Clarence Thomas on the SCOTUS is one too many. Kavanaugh will make it two if the GOP get their way.
For me the mystery is , why are there ANY female supporters of the GOP. It seems that facts , critical thinking and truth are incompatible with the stupidity of tribalism. Being raised/steeped in this tribalism prevents GOP women from supporting universal healthcare for their families , equal pay for women , control over their bodies , tax cuts for the working class not the 1% ,etc.
America , you are better than the Trump crime family & their abettors ……… aren`t you ?
15
Some people seem to be defending Kavanaugh's youthful indiscretions as simply being ordinary teenage behavior, essentially saying "who among us didn't do or say things so long ago that they now regret?"
Here's the thing: we are talking about a potential supreme court justice. A lifetime appointment. This is the highest court in our land. It deserves--demands--people of consistently high moral caliber. Why can't republicans see that?
26
So, anyone have a problem with apparently rampant underage drinking? Any concern about the incubation of young leaders in an atmosphere of lawlessness and irresponsibility?
As one who recalls the wholesale bullying of both the scholarly nerd and the impoverished and the marginalized by loutish boozers in high school (male and female) might we be witnessing a renewal of "lifelong character" as a reasonable expectation for high office?
Surely there's always room for substantial but not complete forgiveness of youthful high-jinks but given multiple candidates of equal standing, one with privileged irresponsibility in high school (and fervent denial in adulthood), why not the always-best?
12
The world has changed for the better.
Bill Cosby was sentenced today for behavior that he has repeated since the 1960's. His privilege, wealth, connections and good name kept him out of trouble - until now.
Mr. Kavanaugh now has to face his high school and college behavior, and to some extent the culture he reveled in. It's no longer cute that as he put it "what happened at Georgetown Prep stays at Georgetown Prep - and that's been very good for all of us."
His wall of denial is simply a strategy, but most of the country seems to see through it.
20
How hard can it be to find qualified people who have demonstrated fairness, respect, and empathy for others during their ENTIRE lives? The growing picture of this man is of an elite who has had it very good in this life...all of the skids have been greased, all of the lines have been bypassed for a place in the front, all of the misfortunes have been smoothed away and made to disappear.
Unfortunately, he does not seem to have figured out that he's NOT special, that he's just incredibly lucky. How could such a person ever have the empathy and insight necessary to fairly judge cases that affect millions of the rest of us, the not-so-lucky Americans?
28
There was a girl named Marjorie when i was in high school.
She was good looking, soft spoken, smart. popular and it was difficult to arrange a date with her because she was very popular.
She also broke some hearts because she finally only dated one lucky young fellow. The other boys and myself described ourselves as "Marjorie Alumni". That was our way of making fun of ourselves.
We lost, so "Renate Alumni" is not some disgusting expression to me. Like Marjorie, Renate is in fact, a very good woman.That is obvious.
I am up in years now and i saw some terrible things in my life so i can't help but feel--"If these year book words are the worst thing that these boys do in their lives, they will be OK.
Few if any, are interested in my calming words.Most readers are out for blood these days so they launched a very powerful
"counter attack" on Kavanaugh, his wife, his two girls, his mother and father, his entire family, and the family name of
Kavanaugh are scarred for life because of this story so you are even now. You can be sure that most of his enemies want more punishment.
Keeping Kavanaugh off the highest court because of Roe v Wade is a separate subject and worth fighting for.
The "Feeling of the times" (Zeitgeist) is a powerful force and most want to join in so the entire Kavanaugh family will continue to suffer.
So, you won ! (If one would call that,"Winning")
The trouble with "war" is we have never learned how to end them but there comes a time for things.
7
@M.W. Endres Thank you for a believable explanation of "...Alumni". It would Judge Kavanaugh a lot, if only the explanation offered on his behalf was a different story .."they may have kissed at a dance". Once again, I am trying to accept a credible story from K that explains how the negatives came about, not just an absolute denial.
3
@M.W. Endres
You have invented a story out of whole cloth.
“You need a date / and it’s getting late / so don’t hesitate / to call Renate.”
Did you and your friends sing that song about Marjorie, too? If you and your friends treated Marjorie the way Kavanaugh and his friends treated Renate, you and your friends are ugly and nasty bullies.
9
@M.W. Endres
There are times -- not all times -- but undeniably, there are times when equanimity sounds like trying to whistle an ugly truth away with a pleasant tune.
Your melody rings hollow, Endres.
5
The Renate alumnus society needs to make amends to Ms Dolphin. I am sure she regrets her signature on that letter of 65. None of the alumnae should be sitting in judgement on Americans
And before you say everyone does this- I guarantee none of the other justices (except for Thomas) has anything like this In their background
12
I’d sure like to know whether Kavanaugh believes that his and his classmates’ denigration of girls would constitute sexual harassment (and actionable claims against them) had it occurred in a co-ed school or, say, at his daughter’s’ middle or high school’s. If he does so believe, who would he hold responsible and how does he believe the responsible parties ought be penalized? For that, matter, how does he think his female teachers (if any) may have felt having to see and hear their male students objectifying girls, and worse?
I think it is important for judges to have well-developed skills in the area of what some call empathic insight or emotional intelligence, as well as impecable analytical, critical thinking, and communication skills, a deep and broad knowledge of the law and procedure, the ability to listen well and carefully, the ability to learn about and quickly grasp new ideas, concepts, and aspects of human experience across a wide array of possible topics, etc.
14
Lol how embarrassing that she signed that letter.
10
In the old human way, Prep Boy Brett is just trying to save face for his children, his wife, and the little girls he coached. But clearly he is lying through his teeth. Of course going on Fox News, the house that Roger Ailes built, doesn't. Maybe he will call Bill Cosby as character witness? I do feel sorry for his wife and children. If the binge drinking Prep Boy had an ounce of class he would withdraw and work on his family.
24
It may be impossible to prove definitively that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted anybody. But it's undeniable that he engaged in substantial underage drinking, and that alone should be enough to draw his character into question, as well as his claims of innocence. I know darn well what prep school life in the 80's was like, and if he was really such an Animal House kegmeister, the allegations of these women are not surprising in the least. It doesn't prove that he did it, but it fits right into a pattern of thinking he was above the rules, a culture of binge drinking and disrespecting women that at that time was more the norm than the exception. Was he aytpical? No. I'm sure there were classmates of Kavanaugh who were worse. I'm sure he's generally a good man who just did some dumb things in high school. But no matter; the Supreme Court is not a homecoming prize or a drinking trophy, it's one of the most critical institutions in our government, and regardless of what comes out of these hearings, he clearly has no place in it.
29
When the wife shows up sitting next to the interviewee, nodding and adding her two cents what a great guy he is, you know there’s trouble.
26
Boys will be boys they say. Kavanaugh & Friends mistake was to actually brag about it in writing.
5
@Bobb your comment is exactly what is wrong with the entire trump presidency and much of the current GOP.
I pity and have concern for any women or girls in your life.
2
@Bobb Too bad there weren't any mobile phones available back in the '80s.
But there *were* cameras. I'm surprised some interesting photographs haven't shown up.
Were there no shutterbugs amongst the Geogetown Prep elites?
1
If someone lies about the meaning behind an obvious slur they will also lie about other things.
29
Everyone knows what the quote means and refers to . . . they are saying they 'had' her, sexually . . . there's no way to sweep it under the rug.
23
New York Times, please get beyond high school. In Judge Kavanaugh's adult life and professional career, is there a systemic problem that will effect his ability to perform as a Supreme Court justice?
6
@S Baldwin
In his adult life, as part of Ken Starr's team, he prepared questions for Monica Lewinsky that were so prurient in nature, they call into question whether he ever outgrew his frat-boy nature. A pornographic and anti-woman mind-set sure sounds like a systemic problem to me.
3
You mean like when he exposed himself to a woman in law school?
4
@S Baldwin Mr. Kavanaugh can't even man up enough to admit and apologize for his dirty and drunken past... that would do wonders. His denials make him appear to be a snake of the first order.
6
Just the fact that Kavaugh's interview was conducted by Fox News is indicative of fake information devoid of any honesty.
Agreed, I am totally biased. But the reality is Fox spins lies to such an extent that the narrative becomes the truth.
The fact that a nominated candidate for a Supreme Court has to go on national television to deny allegations, a need to confirm his integrity and have lawyers to defend him warrants withdrawal of his nomination. Dr. Ford and Ms Ramirez may not have solid evidence from decades past. And their inebriated, spotty recollections may seem like lies. And the boys will be boys mind-set of those times with collective silence and support of Kavanaugh could perhaps be to hide their own complicity. But the year-book can be very revealing. The fact that the girls and their parents did not report the assault does not indicate it did not happen. Protecting their daughters from humiliation and trying to save their own family reputation might have resulted in not reporting to the authorities. Society was cruel to the females and their parents. So were the authorities who would blame the victims. Ms. Dolphin and other female Kavanaugh supporters must realize that they were not spared either. They can now come forward without fear. And a year-book is a good place to start. A collective allegation is proof enough about Kavanaugh's integrity or lack thereof.
11
After reading this article, I have to ask how anyone could not think it at least possible that Kavanaugh did exactly what Blasey Ford accuses him of.
Heavy drinker...check.
View girls as sex objects...check.
Unwilling to take no for an answer...check.
Willing to lie to cover up his sordid past...check.
No wonder the republicans in the senate wanted to get the vote on Kavanaugh over as quick as possible. More and more "stuff" is coming out every single day.
Any FBI vetting of Kavanaugh in the past would not have addressed any of this "stuff". They only look for any evidence that candidate is not loyal to the country...maybe a criminal background check at most.
I do have to admit that an FBI check on all of this "stuff" now would likely take more than a few days. It seems like Kavanaugh spent high school and college drinking and then harassing women. How many more skeletons are in his closet?!?!? I'll be he doesn't even know.
If the Senate confirms Kavanaugh...they are confirming a sexual predator to be on the highest court of the nation. What does that say about them? What does it say about you if you vote for them?
VOTE OUT ALL REPUBLICANS
26
Is Kavanaugh a virginal scholar athlete who kept a Franklin Covey planner at age 17? Or was he a wannabe frat boy who routinely partied & drank til near incoherence? I know it’s just a “job interview”. But I’m going to err on the side of caution here. He has no business being anywhere near SCOTUS.
35
This predatory behavior is not normal 'boys being boys'. It is privileged young men who weren't then and aren't now accountable for their behavior and views of women. You want to put this on the SCOTUS? Republicans.....the party of family values!
22
So a Times reporter actually confronted this poor woman about some crass comments a bunch of high school boys made about her in their high school yearbook, and then splashed the comments across the front page of the most read newspaper in the world.
I have to say, those stupid high school boys at least had the decency to veil their comments. The same cannot be said of these so-called journalists who seem intent on uncovering every high school exploit of this 53 year old judge, with no regard for who they embarrass or exploit.
What next? Did Kavanaugh pull a girl's hair in Kindergarten? Did he make up a Canadian girlfriend in middle school? I know ... I bet he played spin the bottle once! What other non-crimes can we dig up from his entire childhood history on which we can, with our trained, Freudian insight, project the worst impressions about this man.
5
@Econ101
"veil their comments" in a yearbook every student had access to. Yep, that is some decency.
8
For those who believe that " Renate Alumni" refers only to dating and going to dances with a girl named Renate, I have some beautiful swamp land you might like to buy.
35
@Jeri P
Is it the White House by any chance? Is is up for sale, but thought Putin bought it.
4
We all see this for what it is, democrats trying to stall his confirmation, Ford is never going to show up to the hearing she'll have another excuse and they'll keep trying to stall as long as they can, It's really sad that people are willing to destroy this mans life and career over something that can never be proved, I truly hope all you parents with boys will protect them from ever trying to kiss a girl, if they do they can be accused of attempted rape by any woman for the rest of their live, they won't need any proof as we are setting the standard now for that, yeah we can't let this happen. Men need to stand up to these false charges and democrats need to held accountable for their actions
5
@Ron
"It's really sad that people are willing to destroy this mans life and career over something that can never be proved."
Well, I'm not on the Supreme Court either, and it hasn't destroyed my life. I'm sure he'll get past it, somehow.
18
Evidence. We should be nice but insist on at least some evidence. What Mrs Ford has done is prohibit Mr Cavanaugh from offering an alibi (how can you if you do not know when or where the so-called party was?) or from fighting back against her allegations and offer zero evidence other than an incorrect page from her confessions to an analyst some time after the alleged event. If this is the new standard for information about people who are being considered for public office no one will dare take a job with the government. What is happening is insane. Absolutely insane.
It is hard to believe that there are supposedly intelligent people are running around acting like this woman's evidence-free accusations should be taken seriously.
Give her a day in front of committee then vote. Any Republican who votes against Judge Kavanaugh will be held accountable.
5
And so will any who vote for him.
8
So his yearbook listings are about his drinking and galavanting and a few sport scores?
Nothing about honor society, social work, academic awards, evidence of erudition, honors, etc.?
THIS is what GOP considers to be a proper SCOTUS candidate?
23
I agree, except for your possibly referring to objectifying or using girls as “galavanting” (frivolous pleasure-seeking).
There is nothing frivolous about denigrating another human being nor an entire class of human beings.
5
Please read it again. Both are mentioned in spades.
This reflects strongly on the whole Republican Party, and there is even room to include Democrats, but it is the Republicans that have made a war of this, with strategies to defeat the public interest and the public's right to know.
How can anyone think any differently but that the Republicans as Mitch McConnell said want to ram this through ASAP to prevent the public from knowing and deliberating about these important subjects?
Sure, there are accusations and even seeming violations on both sides, but it is always the Republicans that are dishonest about how they respond to them, and the Republicans always have a large and vocal misogynistic Greek chorus marching to war in the background.
We have a dysfunction in this country that knows how to hide itself enough so that it never gets identified and challenged because like racism it is an ugly part of American culture that is driven by money and examples at the very top.
9
It is interesting to judge Kavanaugh's alleged behaviour through the lens of today. When i went to univeristy in 1978, as a gay man, i observed that it was the 'norm' for women to be objectified at school, and conquested by the frat boys. This was the culture; ie Animal House was lauded as a playbook. What mystified me, was that one couldn't question or complain about it without being made into a black sheep of some type.
15
Anyone who is trying to excuse predatory behavior because the male was "young" or "drunk" is only fooling themselves.
There are many children and adults living who are products of their uncontrolled lust. Many are at the bottom of the economic ladder.
There are many girls and women who are wounded in their spirits from these predatory, uncontrolled actions by boys and men.
There is no excuse for this behavior. None.
Time's UP, boys and men! Time's UP!
20
And who was anotherother coddled Yale student, son of a rich, political family that became president?
Air National Guard cover-up? et al.
And Bush hires Kavanaugh? Go figure.
Yale graduates don't appear to fall far from the tree of
entitlement.
11
@phacops 1
Except they were there on Capitol Hill yesterday, and not for Kavanaugh.
1
@phacops 1
...says phacops 1, without any awareness of the fact that two Dem icons (Bill & Hillary) also graduated from Yale. Are they also "coddled" and "entitled" Yale students?
1
"When Ms. Dolphin signed the Sept. 14 letter, she wasn’t aware of the “Renate” yearbook references on the pages of Judge Kavanaugh and his football teammates"
Yet she vouched for him. How many of the other women were "unaware" of facts?
Also, he claims to have kissed her, something she says he's Mistaken about. Sounds like he has little actual recall of events in his high school years. Were's that diary now? Seems like, at the very least, he's getting his encounters mixed up.
9
The difference between Kavanaugh and Romney is that when Romney was accused and tackling a fellow student and cutting his hair by force, Romney at least expressed remorse over the incident. This guy Kavanaugh and his buddies publicized Renate's name around the school as if she was some "Korean Comfort woman" in a Japanese war camp during WWII. And there isn't even a hint of remorse !!
It would be truly amazing if a creep like this gets confirmed to highest court in the land. i'm a naturalized immigrant from South-East Asia; stuff like this always happens in developing countries and banana republics around the world......but I never thought it would happen here.
23
Hate to say this, but I remember that the nuns in the all girls high school I attended told us that it's the girl's responsibility if a boy makes an inappropriate pass or worse. The Catholic church has cultivated the idea that somehow, men are victims of their sexual impulses, and not fully responsible for sexual misbehavior. It's up to girls and women to dress and behave in a manner that will not tempt a boy or a man to give in to his sex drive.
It was rubbish then--I don't know if it still persists in the Church.
16
The irony is that this idea is also behind the Burqua and the Hijab.
3
I guess. Nearly any encounter or relationship can be expressed through a lens of sexual impropriety. Women are almost as vulnerable as men to accusations of devaluation, infidelity, coercion, discrimination, conquest, objectification, abuse of power. When we resort to logical fallacies and shoddy appraisal of facts, no one is safe. The “shame” of sexual past, true or untrue, can be visited on women just as easily as men.
5
@rjs7777
Then again, a properly executed investigation of his adolescent sexual behavior might give us a glimpse of his ability to admit error and his willingness to change.
Have trouble understanding why men who don't treat women as people are not good candidates to have final say over our legal rights?
Lemme ask: had he been accused of attempting to rape a male would you be as sanguine?
2
“They were very disrespectful, at least verbally, with Renate,” said Sean Hagan, a Georgetown Prep student at the time, referring to Judge Kavanaugh and his teammates. “I can’t express how disgusted I am with them, then and now.”
Hear, hear!
While there were/are plenty of high school and college guys who engaged in the loutish, disgusting behavior of Kavanaugh, I'm quite sure most would react like Hagan. I certainly did. And remember, Kavanaugh -- given that he is seeking a seat on the SCOTUS -- is one whose standard of conduct should be (and have been) the most unimpeachable of his peers. As he got older, his behavior simply morphed from drunken, misogynistic party boy to a cunning, unabashed power seeker in the judiciary.
To the women who might defend this minority of guys with the "boys will be boys" line, maybe these guys are the only kind they've known.
20
Oh, so I guess since a mere date merits a mention, she was the only woman they dated? Right. This article sure dances around what the reference obviously meant for the poor woman.
14
Why would the United States pay this man for the rest of his life to judge anything?
24
I read the entire text next to the picture yesterday. There were other questionable references. Now, today, several of those words are redacted. Why?
4
Could Kavanaugh just admit what this was about? Say what it meant, and then apologize to her and explain all the reasons why as a 50-something man you are embarrassed about it now. All the lying is making his character look worse and worse. I forgive a 50-yr for a lewd comment in a yearbook when he was a teen. I don't forgive him for lying and lying about it as a grown man.
27
“They had no other such encounter. The language from Judge Kavanaugh’s high school yearbook refers to the fact that he and Ms. Dolphin attended that one high school event together and nothing else.” No it doesn't Mr. Lawyer, no it doesn't. Anyone that reads the entry knows exactly what it means and what it is intended to convey.
20
Peer pressure is the greatest pressure in the universe & to these entitled kids even more so than most. Yeah, most of us did things in our youth we've grown to regret but the genesis of who we become is already well formed.
Jim McCarthy's statement that The Times twisted & forced an untrue narrative...beneath contempt is incorrect. The Times is simply interviewing & quoting, where appropriate, Kavanaugh's former classmates & associates.
If any of us saw 'Renate Alumni' scrawled on a bathroom wall we would all know in what context this was meant.
The elite Georgetown Prep sounds very much like an incubator for the privileged & arrogant.
12
Aristotle said "Give me a child until he is 7 and I will show you the man.”
We've now been given Brett Kavanaugh at 17-19.
3
Maybe prep schools for the rich are different, but none of the males in my high school wrote anything even approaching that in our yearbook, and the faculty advisor would never have allowed it.
Perhaps it assuages their egos to pretend that "all" high school boys do this, but I'm pretty confident the vast majority don't behave that way. At a minimum, that guy is the result of some absolutely worthless parenting.
18
Went out once in college with two prep school guys, another girl and a hideous bottle of sherry. I was not a drinker and enough of a snob to know that you didn't swig sherry out of a bottle so after one swig I quit. The other girl was the daughter of a minister in a church where alcohol was forbidden. She was not likely to have even seen much alcohol and it didn't take long before she was disgustingly drunk and sick. The two preppies took extremely good care of her and never made any attempt to take advantage of her. They helped me smuggle her back to the women's dorm, where we would have all been in a lot of trouble had we been seen. The girl was too drunk to remember what happened and none of us spread her name around campus. There were a lot of things wrong with my preppy friend, but I always thought well of him because of his behavior that afternoon. And I still remember it more than 40 years later.
Boys will be boys, but not all boys are Kavenaugh boys.
6
If I remember correctly, the Catholic School attitude of the time was that a teen-aged, male student be permitted to "sow his wild oats" so that he'd grow into a fine family man. Many a young woman had her heart broken by one of these young men, as she tried to have them be her one and only.
It was embarrassing to witness Brett Kavanaugh during the Fox interview yesterday, as her pandered to his fellow citizens and spoke of kissing and virginity; really, I found it revolting.
Why does almost every Republican representative feel they have to present the image of being a Fundamentalist Christian in order to talk the talk to their followers? They are so fake and desperate.
23
None of the victims even saw the yearbook until you pointed it out and put your spin on it.
If a tree falls somewhere in the woods, Kavanaugh cut it down.
Not saying he is the greatest guy in the world, but this article is a stretch.
8
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Good advice that no one in this storm of character assassination is following.
Oh, we're SOOO concerned about hurting the feelings of this poor girl whom a bunch of high school boys had an inside joke about. SOOO concerned that we're going to expose it to the whole world and make her comment on it!!
And, of course, none of the rest of us said or thought or did anything offensive or demeaning in high school. None of us ostracized a classmate. None of us engaged in emotional bullying. None of did things to make us seem cool at the expense of others. None of us displayed an immaturity that we eventually grew out of.
We should all be judged today by the worst things we said or did in high school. But hopefully not ... because NONE of us will come out looking clean. NOT ONE of us.
Disgusting.
3
But only one of us will be making judgements that will define what a pregnant woman can legally do.
16
@Econ101
"And, of course, none of the rest of us said or thought or did anything offensive or demeaning in high school. None of us ostracized a classmate. None of us engaged in emotional bullying. None of did things to make us seem cool at the expense of others."
I'm assuming that your attempt to normalize this behavior means that you engaged in demeaning, bullying, and doing things at the expense of others to look cool (you chose the word "we"). Instead of expressing shame and regret for this behavior, you seem to think others should forgive it and shrug off the effects of it. Not everyone did these things. To believe that all of us are culpable of such behavior is to be looking at others through a distorted lens, in which case your opinion of Brett Kavanaugh's fitness for appointment to Supreme Court is not credible.
5
@Econ101
I never put a woman on a bed and put my hand over her mouth
1
These people with axes to grind from over 35 years ago need to get a life! I find Judge Kavanaugh to be a poor choice for the Supreme Court, but for actual, substantive issues. I can't even imagine what my life would be like if I held grudges against everyone that I felt slighted me or treated me disrespectfully in high school!
3
@Sharon
Guess maybe you've never been terrorized and needed therapy to address it. I can surely "imagine" this as I held the hand and was the confidant of someone processing her assault. I have no trouble imagining the years long impact of this.
Spend some time at rape crisis shelter if you don't get how this feels. Read some of the stories of adolescents who were assaulted in their churches.
6
I’m a young women in my 20s, who went to an expensive private school and then onto a private college, followed by a career in Tech.
I’ve put up with sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior at every stage of my life.
I’m beyond tired of the “boys will be boys” attitude because it’s simply not true. Not all boys are sexual harassers or assaulters.
In this world there are men who never had to grow out of their inappropriate behavior. That’s the sort of man I want on the Supreme Court. Sadly, that’s not the sort of man Brett Kavanaugh is.
26
"... followed by a career in Tech."
"I’ve put up with sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior at every stage of my life."
Companies are supposed to have policies and procedures for handling sexual harassment claims. Didn't you ever complain?
1
I did file a complaint.Thank you for checking!
4
Rebecca Morrison: "I did file a complaint.Thank you for checking!"
What happened after you filed the complaint? Evasiveness isn't persuasive.
His yearbook comments and his Fox interview don’t mesh well. I was skeptical of the Ford allegations at first but its evident that he was a cad in high school and now he’s lying about it. He’s just like Trump. Will this GOP dominated nightmare ever end?
22
When I was a freshman, I attended a private Catholic high school in the early 1960s. I didn't know any of the students as I had just moved to the area. I lived with my father and his new wife in Palos Verdes Estates, a prestigious and small Southern California community.
One night I eagerly attended a private party held at the lavish home of one my classmates . I felt honored to have been invited as I didn't really know this crowd of elite boys and girls. Although it was chaperoned by the boy's parents, there was secret spiking of the punch with rum. I didn't partake.
Most of the evening we all danced to rock 'n' roll and had a good time. Then things turned ugly for me. I was invited into the study by a boy who said he wanted to show me something interesting. I wasn't mistrusting of him as he seemed to be a nice young man, and I felt obligated to go with him because he was popular. We started kissing on the couch in the room, and he suddenly pushed me down, turned and put his hand up my skirt, just as the door of the room was flung open and somebody took a picture of us. I instantly struggled to get the boy off of me and got out of the room. The boy photographer had vanished.
A few weeks later the photograph was circulated around campus with the usual snickering about how I was "easy."
I felt used, hurt and damaged...at 14!
Because I was outside the "crowd," I was vulnerable to the same cruelty shown "Renate." I still recall all of it even after all these years.
43
The Justices of the Supreme Court should be 9 of the most gifted, even tempered people the country has available. I would not be particularly appalled by the accusations levied against “Brett” if he were a mere citizen but he is very obviously not the type of person worthy of the position. People gifted enough to be worthy of the Supreme Court do not have such a crass adolescent backdrop or even crasser relationships with drinking and gambling. The type of person worthy of it is more or less fully formed in ethical and intellectual terms by 17.
This is the quintessential American problem of confusing true intellect and character with mere privilege, experience and money.
29
@HH "The type of person worthy of it is more or less fully formed in ethical and intellectual terms by 17."
What?!! People should have their ethical foundation built by age 17, but they are also still very immature, self-absorbed, un-empathetic, and easily influenced by their peers ... especially 17 year old BOYS. If boys stopped maturing at age 17, God help us all.
Thankfully, people do an awful lot of maturing from age 17 to age, say, 25. The best people keep on maturing, intellectually enriching, and morally improving themselves well beyond that.
@Econ101 if you've ever met a truly brilliant child/teenager - perhaps in a not-corrupted gifted program - you would know that these types of children are far, far beyond their years in this type of development and virtually immune to this sort of crass behavior.
THOSE are the types of people who should be in this wise-man aristocracy that referees the nation.
Kavanaugh shouldn't be barred from employment or thrown in jail for anything alleged or revealed in these weeks, but he is not qualified in character to be on the Supreme Court OR the circuit court.
@HH In my experience, most "truly gifted" children, in the way that you seem to describe them, tend to be emotionally or socially detached. In other words, you seem to be describing children that exhibit characteristics of genius.
I will have to differ with you over whether the Supreme Court should be restricted to people like that, or that those are the types of people we even WANT on the high court. I happen to be a lawyer and have worked with and for many brilliant lawyers and have appeared before some very good judges, none of whom I would characterize as displaying the traits you describe.
I went to high school in the late 70s. Neither me nor my siblings participated in the drinking Kavanaugh claims was common place. I didn’t have my first drink until graduate school. Maybe I’m a prude - or maybe Kavanaugh is an alcoholic. At a minimum he sounds like an elitist creep. Thank you - next.
25
"... or maybe Kavanaugh is an alcoholic."
Or "maybe" the future Judge Kavanaugh was breaking the law with his underage drinking.
7
I just feels to me that there is a lot more going on in the background of this group than is being made public. What is the real motivation for Renate to support Kavanaugh? Was she paid like Stormy Daniels? Is she in some way financially connected to Kavanaugh or his friends or business associates? Was she threatened? Is she just scared to go against her in-group? There is far more than enough here for me to disbelieve Kavanaugh and oppose his appointment to the Supreme Court.
4
Dr. Ford's confabulation is exactly what Democrats were looking for---a little fact with a lot of fiction.
I strongly believe Judge Kavanaugh was not the boy with whom drunk Dr. Ford, then 14, had an encounter. I hope Dr. Ford is cross examined vigorously if she appears on Thursday.
I also believe teenage boys and girls are exploring life and learning how it works. I am sure millions of men and women cringe as adults when they recall their behavior as kids.
The Republicans must show guts and confirm Judge Kavanaugh. The court of public opinion, stirred strongly by the liberal media against Judge Kavanaugh, must not influence the confirmation process.
American parents who have sons must acknowledge that the foul stuff flung at Judge Kavanaugh by Dianne Feinstein may find its way to their sons. Nothing more than vague, hazy accusations made by someone will have the power to derail admissions to top level schools, or later in life, bar entrance into high level government office.
5
Yes, teenagers are “figuring things out.” However, young girls are not men’s plaything to figure these things out. Sexual assault is sexual assault. Period. Full stop.
23
@Steve4887 Please read the other comments and then realize how out of touch your thinking is. As a young man Mr. Kavanaugh was the worst of the worst, similar to the goons I went to private high school with. If he could admit his stupid past and apologize it could do wonders. UGH.
4
So a drunk 17 year old boy raping you today would be ok, as long as he was "just figuring out" what sex and boundaries and consent are all about? You wouldn't press any charges? Or are you saying that it's ok as long as the victim is younger and even more vulnerable than you are?
5
Whether or not Judge Kavanaugh is guilty of anything is still to be determined, and too many have been too quick to judge without hearing from all parties. Certainly, he has already been accused, tried, convicted and sentenced by Twitter and the New York Times. Is this what now passes for justice? We are descending evermore into mob rule.
10
As with Trump, everybody now knows there's something but with Brett Kavanaugh : outsized debts with no documented explanation of how they were incurred or the source of the funds used to recently pay them off; Republican refusal to release documents covering his service in the Starr investigation and in defense of George W Bush's "enhanced interrogation" (aka torture) policies; evidence suggesting that his prior testimony when nominated to the Federal bench was intentionally misleading and possibly false; unwillingness to directly answer what is, for many people, the most important issues of precedent (Roe) and governance (Presidential immunity from prosecution while in office and limits of pardoning authority). And now evidence, at very least, of an early manhood as a willing participant in the fratboy culture (hint: not everybody who can joins organizations like DKE).
The Jesuits famously say that the character of a boy at seven tells you his character as a man).
But this is all irrelevant: as this nomination isn't about Justice for Kavanaugh or for Ford (or Ramirez) or any single person, it is about pure power.
The Right pushes the metaphor of Judges as baseball umpires who are supposed to call balls and strikes according to the rules of the game. But that's a sleight of hand when, as is obvious to all, that the umpires also now regularly change those rules.
6
@Sly
Yes, mob rule in the White House.
2
Regardless of his errant ways as a teenager, it’s his life of privilege that has kept him out of touch with every day people. His opinions and rulings do not take into account what most people experience. He is unable to see beyond the world he was born into. Appearing on Fox only confirms his lack of empathy.
It’s not so much that he shouldn’t be confirmed, he should not have been nominated for the SC in the first place.
33
Confirmation is about the character of the person nominated.
Kavanaugh's character is questionable.
29
This is beyond the pale. So what happened here? K kissed a girl in high school who had a bit of a reputation and then joined in a crass joke about it with his buddies in a yearbook for an all-guys high school.
This is not news. It is not in ANY WAY probative of the sexual assault allegation against K. It is not in ANY WAY probative of his character today.
Are we now going to start questioning all public officials on things they thought or said in HIGH SCHOOL that were in some way demeaning or offensive to some people? Is this what we have come to? Because NONE OF US are innocent if that is the standard. NONE OF US.
This is not justice, this is not even journalism. This is a kangaroo court circus.
9
Econ101, let’s get our facts straight.
He says he kissed her; she says they never kissed. So you can’t know whether a kiss was ever exchanged.
You also claim she had “a bit of a reputation” when all you actually can know is that a lot of boys were obsessed with her, a fact which doesn’t prove your innuendo that she had a reputation.
Moreover, to my mind, the very fact that you jumped to the conclusion that she had a reputation — a little bit slutty as they once said of Anita Hill — proves that Kavanaugh’s “crass joke,” as you put it, was extremely harmful.
7
A girl who “had a bit of a reputation”? Do you know how many women and girls are given entirely false “reputations” by misogynistic men and then attacked because of them? My piggy neighbor raped me based on that kind of talk. But that’s rape culture for you. No biggie, right?
6
The paragraph on Kavanaugh's yearbook page reminds me of those in my own high school yearbook: full of in-jokes and purposely oblique allusions, so that the yearbook advisor, and other adults, don't realize how inappropriate they are. He may very well not even remember himself what events some of those phrases reference. That paragraph does not paint an attractive picture of the boy he was, but that doesn't mean that he didn't mature and change in later years...but this Renate business bothers me more and more. No one who was a teenager can seriously think that "Renate Alumnus" is anything but an insinuation of some sort of sexual contact. Please. And the fact that Kavanaugh is trying to convince us otherwise-- rather than admitting that it was a stupid, hurtful thing to say, was an untrue boast made amongst a group of immature teenaged boys, and that today, right now, Renate deserves a heartfelt apology from all of them-- is the final straw. I am against him joining the Supreme Court.
34
@YMHahn
Circuitous logic, but you end up at the right place! ;-)
3
I simply don't understand why witness to the assault Mark Judge hasn't been called to testify??
22
#howmanybrettkavanaughsdoyouknow?
more than not ... so sad to say.
3
I like most of the readers of this article went to high school. We all knew guys like Kavanaugh and his clique, and we all know what they meant by calling themselves Renate Alumnus. But for the unenlightened, let's just say it's not because she led their Bible study group. These jocks get away with it in high school where they strut around with impunity, but - sometimes - it ain't so in the real world.
16
“These guys weren’t any different than other boys high schools across the country,”.... Really? REALLY?? I remember spending the vast majority of my time in high school studying, watching TV, playing video games, talking on the phone with friends, or in school clubs. I didn't have the time for game-parties every single weekend; the parties I did attend were not awash with beer. Also, if boys boasted of conquests (real or imaginary), they certainly never humiliated the poor girl by publicly shaming her in the school yearbook! Ms. Matan, if you think that behavior is normal for high school, boys, then all I can say is I hope you don't have sons.
26
The lengths to which Democrats, liberals and progressives will go to take down any Republican selection to the Supreme Court are now beyond the pale. Dredging up a candidate's high school experiences and using them as a means to disqualify a perfectly qualified jurist has taken partisanship to a new level. The American people will remember the vindictiveness of Democrats if they are able to smear Kavanaugh based on unproven actions 36 years ago. They recognize a witch hunt when they see it.
2
@paul
Nah. I think there are far more people who understand that Kavanaugh is not appropriate for the SC - and the reasons go deeper than high school. "witch hunt" is all to reminiscent of our disgraceful president's view of the world.
5
@paul - Merritt Garland
3
Merrick Garland
3
He certainly appears to be a smarmy and oleaceous person, and if only a tenth of the reported material is correct the man is not the proper one for this eminent position.
27
I truly appreciate these comments. As an admittedly liberal democrat, I read these entries with as much of an open mind as I can muster. That being said, I can say that Judge Kavanaugh must admit his lies, which are painfully clear based on what has become known through the news reports of the Washington Post and the NY Times, even without Dr. Blasey's testimony. A SCOTUS nominee cannot be considered acceptable after showing such blatant disregard for the law.
5
There is one president, one vice president, there are nine Supreme Court justices, and there are 100 senators. With 300 million people in the country, I think we can find exemplary, qualified people for 111 positions. If all boys will be boys (meaning they broke the law by drinking under age, probably with fake ID's, and then assaulted and demeaned women, all as their perverted idea of fun at a party) then let's find 111 women to fill those spots.
63
Alcohol, disrespect, sex, objectification...... all this happening in a religious" school!
Any word from the conservative religious leaders with their "high" moral standards?
26
What stood out in his yearbook photo and caption as a red flag was the boasting of excessive underage drinking.
6
I teach my kids to tell the truth, no matter how much it hurts or embarrasses because the truth has a way of coming out. Who would think there'd be printed evidence of poor character choices remaining from high school.
Suppose he had simply been honest and said there were many things in his youth he regretted, especially his years at Catholic school. Time and drugged stupor had created holes in his memory but he apologized for his rich kid arrogance. Would we see him in a more favorable light or instantly brand him a predator now, years after his moral compass has been aligned correctly through years of judicial practice?
6
Rape is not a "high school prank," even if committed in high school. Rape is always rape and it can kill the soul of the person being raped.
36
'Rape is not a "high school prank," ...'
There are no allegations of rape.
5
@GNI
There are of attempted rape which is still a felony
@GNI Just "attempted rape."
I wanted and still want to hear what Judge Kavanaugh has to say. But without a doubt, the way he and the men who bragged about being "Renate Aluminius" are now trying to twist that horrendous label is clearly deceitful. To me, it is a clear indication that he has not been and cannot be truthful about his high school conduct. Does he think we are fools? Does he think we do not know exactly what they were "bragging" about? Please. If he cannot even acknowledge how offensive and disrespectful those claims (in the school yearbook, no less) are, he certainly is not the kind of person who needs to be sitting on our highest court. I am as concerned about his current lack of insight as I am about his prior conduct. Those defending this type of conduct truly are tone deaf.
16
WHERE are the Law Schools such as Harvard and Yale that when Mr. Kavanaugh-- of lately Fox News, was selected to be a member of the SC, in seconds they supported his robust (though half unknown) "judicial" background? Now, if law schools want to teach to further generations what law is about, they should-- and I mean all the law schools of this country-- oppose his nomination just based in legal grounds: this judge (he shouldn't even be a judge) brought his case himself and as a prop, his wife, to FOX TV.
9
@Maita Moto
True, it would be poetic justice is reaching for the Supreme Court got him removed from the judicial altogether, but I think this is a lot more common than we know. In my area we had a very similar background judge that gave the rapist at Stanford, Brock Turner, such a light sentence the people removed him from office.
6
@Maita Moto
First, neither Harvard nor Yale decided to support Kavanaugh "in seconds." That just didn't happen.
Second, his judicial background is not "half unknown." Every judicial opinion he has ever written is in the public record and online, and has been so since first written.
Kavanaugh whined on Fox that he just wanted a fair hearing. Well, we all want a fair hearing. It starts with an FBI investigation and all the witnesses necessary to explore the facts. There are two very credible allegations against him now, corroborated by people who could give testimony, if the power-mad Republicans would only let them.
What's more, I want to see a full investigation of the possibility that he has lied under oath--grounds for him to be disbarred and jailed, let alone not elevated to the Supreme Court.
The Republicans left a Supreme Court seat vacant for a year in a naked abuse of their power, but suddenly they claim extreme urgency to fill this seat. They are again abusing their power by refusing to allow a full hearing of the facts.
We need to strip the Republicans of their power. They are utterly devoid of morality and patriotism. Vote them all out!
22
This yearbook post actually was not "Horrible" or "Hurtful" to Ms. Dolphin. It was a crass, inside joke buried in the pages of a yearbook for an all-boys high school. Ms. Dolphin didn't even know about it and considered Judge K to be a friend and decent person all these years later.
What is truly rich is that the journalists who present themselves as being concerned about hurtful comments are the only ones who managed to hurt or offend Ms. Dolphin by harranging her about the comments she otherwise would not have seen and then splashing them across the pages of the New York Times for all the world to see.
Some concern for women!!!
6
At what point in your life after high school and college do you suddenly develop respect for women when it seems to have been missing up into your 20s. Kavenaugh is a man who, as it has been reported in The Guardian, chose women more on their "look" than their brains. He seems to have acted like someone hiring an airline stewardess back in the 50s, not a competent law clerk.
10
Whether it was hurtful is not your judgment to make. It is the person about whom the “joke” is made who gets to decide whether it’s hurtful. And she has decided.
7
Judge Kavanaugh's opinions and the cases he has chosen to work on show a distain for women and private family matters. His opinion in the case of the 17 year old migrant girl who was raped and needed an abortion showed a lack of empathy and subtle misogyny toward the victim of a crime.
He was also part of Jeb Bush's legal team in the Terri Scheivo case. Could he been that insensitive or just plain oblivious to the families wishes in order to intervene in the matter of a woman in a vegetative state?
11
Small public h.s. in the 1970s. I had, what? 35 or 40 boys in my entire class. The majority "behaved themselves" as our parents used to say. They weren't obnoxious in class, they weren't rude to the lunch ladies; weren't jerks on the playing field and they certainly didn't mock this girl, while they ogled that girl. "Renate Alumni" says it all. The child is father of the man.
23
When Kavanaugh's daughters reach the teenage and college years, I wonder how he would feel if either of his daughters dated a guy like he was--goody two shoes on the surface, but an immature kid who got drunk, hung around with a bunch of spoiled bragging rich guys, and exhibited the same attitudes and sexual behavior toward girls and woman as Brett did when young.
Oh, and the guy one of Kavanaugh's daughters was dating made remarks about Kavanaugh's daughter, similar to what Kavanaugh wrote in his yearbook about "Renate Alumni' and then lied about what the reference meant.
14
This Ranate thing speaks to pretty twisted objectifying of women. I was in High School in the late ‘70s and spent many years in the Army. As a young enlisted Soldier in the early ‘80s, this would make us cringe. Maybe this was the way it was in the elite world of private prep schools, but those of us out in normal America in this era would have found this abhorant. And yes, we drank plenty and weren’t prudes, I assure you. This is a job interview for a life time job that literally will make life and death decisions on health care, the environment and presidential power. I’ve seen enough. Vote no.
16
Most 17 year olds think they know everything but in reality know nothing. It’s called maturity for a reason. Clinton was chasing every skirt, Obama a stoner. What a crazy world we find ourselves in.
7
@Art Imhoff I know plenty of 17 yr olds who thought they knew it all, smoked pot, drank alcohol and didn't/weren't accused of sexual assault or anything of that nature. It is possible to be immature and respectful.
10
Are you seriously equating consensual, adult sex and smoking marijuana with sexual assault? If so, you have some really skewed values, at a minimum. I wonder what skeletons are in your closet that you feel the need to make light of Kavanaugh's accused behavior?
2
When Kavanaugh rereads his yearbook page, I hope he does more than cringe - I hope he's absolutely ashamed. Google the terms Glazed Donut/Devil's Triangle/ffffffFourth of July (there's more). It's simply disgusting (and from an 'alleged' virgin, no less). I've screened job applicants before, and I would have tossed his resume immediately if I saw stuff like that in a background check. Can't wait to see what excuse his handlers cook up for him. I'm betting on - "I didn't write those; Mark Judge did."
20
At first I was astounded that 'journalists' are now going back in time to high school yearbooks, but now the issue is clear. This is a variation of the them of scouring online media pages for information. But unlike present online data online that may have some use, the search of old high school data is absurd. I am waiting for 'journalists' to start searching sonograms of the fetus Kavanaugh in the womb. Perhaps they will find an 'expert' who confirms the causality of fetal head size and later groping behavior!
5
I honestly think that everyone who is making a huge deal out of what is obviously a joke in a yearbook entry taken out of context 36 years later should have their yearbooks cracked open too, just to have a peek inside.
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
9
I am prepared to start throwing rocks. I, the men in my family, my friends in high school never engaged in this egregious type of behavior.
15
@Shaun Are you applying to be a Supreme Court Justice for the rest of your life? I'm not. The logic of conservatives is really very suspect. What Bill Clinton did was consensual and you all freaked out. But when conservatives commit non-consensual acts, it's all good? Roy Moore was banned from a shopping mall. Not fake news.
14
Read the horrific story about Amber Wyatt in the Washington Post and that's all you need to know about these smirking, posturing boys' references to "Renate Alumnius."
I say this as the mother of two sons: this is not universal, and it is not normal. These attitudes towards girls are the foundation of rape culture.
25
Meanwhile Ted Kennedy gets a pass and lets not forget Keith Ellison, Bill Clinton or Corey Booker. Wait....I got it wrong. They are democrats so we will give them grace and a pass. What if someone dug up everything about your youth past as a qualifying merit for you are as a adult today? I have changed dramatically. There is also no evidence of something worthy of disqualifying. I noted the comments and they stem out of hate not from critical thinking. I assume the same individuals backed Bill Clinton years or currently defending Corey Booker and apparently are not concerned about Keith Ellison
There is no glaring objective evidence that he did commit a assault crime but it is evident that Ford is a woman with a history of sheer hate for his mother who judged on a case that was not in her favor and she is bent on pursing at any cost her progressive agenda. She quickly took down her Facebook since it showed a individual filled with malice pasted on countless posts. It is disconcerting that slander is now permissible as political ploy to destroy people. So far we have nothing but assumptions based on someone's perceived recollection with zero evidence. I would fight for my name as he is doing. What do you expect him to do?
8
@Beto
Ted Kennedy, elected for a limited term, way in the past.
Keith Ellison, Bill Clinton, and Corey Booker ... all have the electorate to vote them out, or even Congress to censure them or pressure them to resign as John Conyers did. Why do Republicans always have to lie and twist the truth and point afar with the what-aboutism?
12
@Beto
And he could have insisted on an FBI investigation. Or ask his buddy - the one in the room who is now hiding at the beach - to be present on Thursday. He could have stayed off Fox News and forgone the staged interview. He could have actually answered the questions posed during the hearing instead of using "hypotheticals" to avoid saying anything of substance. This guy does not deserve the job.
4
@Beto How is it that Bill Clinton "got a pass?" He was impeached. And, newsflash: Ted Kennedy is dead.
3
Well, that was certainly good for a laugh. Who out there experienced high school and believes what the friends of Kavanaugh are spewing??? Their memory of those years are skewed by alcohol, so how can anyone really believe them??
4
I was a HS student around that time I don't recall anybody in my class making such vile boast and comments in the yearbook.
16
I have yet to hear Judge Kavanaugh account for his behavior towards women at parties where he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Did he attend such parties at all? How often? Where? What were the circumstances? With who? Did he ever reach a point where he lost consciousness or did he ever get so drunk that he cannot remember his actions? What was his relationship to women like when he was under the influence?
What about Renate? What did he do to earn yearbook distinction of being a Renate Alumnius?
Will the FBI investigate this so this entire process does not become a circus?
10
Courtus Interruptus!
7
So we are to believe this: sock hops and bad boy Bluto tried once to spike the punch. Good boy Brett stopped him!
3
It may well be the case that Mr. Kavenaugh does not recall these events due to alcohol blackouts. The Senate committee needs to ask him about memory lapses due to alcohol consumption.
6
I wonder if alcohol blackouts are considered a legitimate excuse. How convenient if they are.
3
What concerns me the most about Kavanaugh is his privileged background which probably puts him out of touch with the concerns of the majority of Americans. His interpretation of the constitution and the cases that come before him most likely will be influenced by his limited experience of ordinary people.
6
It is a big and diverse country out there. Five Catholica and now possibly two justices from the same prep school hardly seems to be representative. That has been my biggest complaint about the nomination so far. The questions about his past behavior and how it might reflect on is court decisions have now been added to that.
13
FWIW, there are several references to alcohol, not the least of all being "Beach Week Ralph Club -- Biggest Contributor". In the parlance of the early 1980s, "Ralphing" means 'vomiting due to excessive alcohol consumption'.
16
"In the parlance of the early 1980s, "Ralphing" means 'vomiting due to excessive alcohol consumption'."
Thanks for pointing that out:
"ralph [verb, slang]: vomit"
"First Known Use of 'ralph': circa 1966, in the meaning defined above"
Source: merriam-webster.com
Is the new standard going to be going through everyone's attitude in high school? We're gonna discourage a lot of people from public service if so. We've all grown a lot since then. Pretty dangerous precedent.
7
Nonsense. We need to be relieved from the dominance of privileged white men and Kavanaugh is absolutely typical. There are plenty of decent women and men who would never have considered acting like this and who are eligible. Just think: Kavanaugh would have the deciding vote on women’s rights issues!!! Don’t make me laugh.
3
My belief is that most boys who went to private Catholic or Christian prep schools at the time, did not abuse their female friends .
I didn't, and not one of my friends did either.
This is not to say that there wasn't any abuse then or now.
There is a pervasive culture in our society that women's bodies are to be exploited, and that women don't count. Witness the fact that they do not earn equal pay for equal work. It is perverse, immoral, unethical. The fashion-glamor industry is another example selling the idea that we need them to fulfill ourselves through buying the next dream product. But, I digress.
Of immediate importance, is whether Judge Kavanaugh is lying under oath. That's what we need to know.
10
I'm sure many women and men will say what a wonderful man and outstanding person Kavanaugh is but how many of those witnessed him when he was drunk and out of control. I know far too many people that are thoughtful and sensitive, but once they have a few drinks they become violent, angry and aggressive.
15
Don't get me wrong--I'm a feminist and died-in-the-wool progressive who adores all the chaos this is causing Kavanaugh's nomination, but high school yearbooks considered news and relevant to a political appointment?! We have truly entered a Black Mirror episode, and will have no one to blame but ourselves when in 2020 this is turned on us. I guess I'm an old curmudgeon, but I find this truly frightening.
9
@Judith Dancoff
I agree with your concern. Where are we going next? When my son was 11 years old, the lady across the street caught her son and my son sitting on a curb looking at a Playboy magazine. Is my son, who now has a BBA, a MBA, a wife and three children, disqualified from serving in any capacity because twenty-four years ago he was looking at pictures of naked women (I sincerely doubt he was reading the articles) in Playboy magazine?
Please do not respond by saying we are talking about sexual assault. There is no evidence of sexual assault contained in this article. This article is only talking about ambiguous statements in a high school yearbook. Indeed, the lady who is the apparent focus of the article is quoted as saying she never even kissed Judge Kavanaugh.
What next? Are we going to investigate a nominee's record of potty training?
2
@Michael
Kav went on TV and portrayed himself as a tea toaling non partying virgin. His best fiend wrote a book about how they were hard partying. Kav's yearbook portrays him as hard partying womanizer with multiple sex references and multiple examples of 'slut shaming.'
It's not what he did and may have forgotten when he was in high school . It's the current lies about a years long pattern of behavior that render him unfit.
and that doesnt even count his multiple lies during his confirmation.
I am Judge Kavanaugh's age. I graduated from high school the same year he did. I went to a private boarding school in New England with many, many boys/young men from prestigious suburbs and affluent families. The rules that apply to you and I throughout our lives never really apply to these particular males. The come from elite families who do whatever they can to ensure that their children remain, minimally, in the upper middle class. If you did not attend a private boarding school populated by these types of people, it would be difficult to understand completely what I am writing about, but , rest assured, the little snippet of yearbook chatter penned by Judge Kavanaugh in 1982 or 1983 speaks volumes about who he really is. While I was in boarding school then, I gave a wide, wide berth to these types of guys. We called them "jocks" and most of us regular guys knew that any sort of association with them usually included the threat of physical violence. But no matter where you landed on the social spectrum back then, physically assaulting a female was not in any way acceptable.
26
Oh gee, you mean like our recent Yale graduate president?
High school students provide the yearbook content, and a student is the editor (I was, the year I graduated from high school). But a staff member normally reads the yearbook before it goes to press. Repeated references of this nature associated with various boys - in the yearbook of a school attended only by boys - should have raised a red flag with any teacher.
It's disturbing, too, that Georgetown Prep graduates, all these years later, are trying to make us believe that the 'Renate' references were merely remarks about innocent dances. They should have the guts to own up and apologize.
39
A defining feature of the Trump universe and of its inhabitants is the maxim "never apologize." Never apologize for lying, never apologize for mishandling a summit, and absolutely never apologize for past sexual transgressions.
Much better men than Judge Kavanaugh have resigned and apologized for similar, and in cases, lesser transgressions. But that sort of a modicum of decency dies a quick death in the Trump universe.
16
Georgetown Prep sounds like a horrible school from several references, with Kavanaugh not just referred to as drinking but "stumbling drunk" and how most high school kids were like that. No. Other schools were not like that, and we don't want any judge to have that moral background. At first I thought it was a single youthful mistake, but now we see it lasted through high school and college and was his pattern. There is more than enough circumstantial evidence to convince me of reasonable doubt about his character.
16
I'm female. As a teen/young adult I was drunk many times at parties - on the beach, after hours at golf courses, in college dorms, etc. Obviously, I was also surrounded by drunk boys. I can say not once was I ever physically assaulted or even pushed to an emotional stage of feeling seriously threatened. It is NOT common boys will be boys behavior, drunk or not. It is disrespectful and violent behavior - illegal in some cases.
And now we see, right there in black and white, Kavanaugh wrote a comment about his "friend" Renate that can easily be interpreted then and now as alluding to a sexual encounter. Yet, in addition to his denials of the current accusations, he is dismissing the fact that he hurt that girl.
I don't want a man like that representing the country even if he did somehow grow up and learn how to act like a decent human being. But he doesn't even have the decency to at least say something like he did stupid things that disrespected women and hurt them, especially while drunk, but he grew up, learned it was wrong and changed? It's so much easier to just lie and deny everything I guess.
I think we can do better here. He needs to go.
24
Women are offened by this man because he does not believe insurance company's nor medicare should pay for any kind of birth control, which he doesn't believe in.
He also believes pharmacists have the right to refuse to provide birth control to their customers.
He is the most dangerous sort of jurist, one who is unable to provide unprejudice opinions.
Trumps wants him personally because he's mentioned presidents can do and behave any way they want! This man is dangerous to our country
16
Good reporting. Now let’s find out why they belong to the Rehoboth (sp) Beach Fan Club. See who’s daddy sent the cleaner for that beach party/DDI? And ask if his respect for law enforcement has improved any. We suspect his respect for women hasn’t.
Those Jesuit Catholic values really shine through. Maybe the church could be charged as co- conspirators. Take away their tax exemption.
9
Brett Kavanaugh is a sexual predator and misogynist.
He seems to have had a drinking problem (does he still?)
He may also have had a gambling problem (does he still?)
He has lied under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee about receiving stolen emails.
He's lying about willfully humiliating a young woman in his yearbook.
Kavanaugh and the GOP don't want the FBI to further vet him because they're afraid of what'll turn up.
He's not fit to be a judge or a Supreme Court justice. If Republicans confirm him he will have to be impeached and removed from the bench.
29
@L You've said what I've been wondering. Thank you! To me the fact that his large debts disappeared is very troublesome. How did that happen? To whom does he now owe money and will that new debt affect future rulings?
The drinking, gambling and the lying about his actions all make him ineligble for the Supreme Court.
15
These guys were most definitely different from guys in boys high schools across the country! I attended two different boys' high schools in two areas and none of this kind of nonsense went on. There was some drinking after ballgames but no enshrinement of depravity. No institutional disrespect for women (or anybody else, for that matter). This attempt to normalize deviance (a continuing theme with Trump, who often says "I know and you know..." just before uttering nonsense) is disturbing on a lot of levels. Kavanaugh's suggested questions for Starr to ask President Clinton reveal an unusual sexual fixation. I'm sorry, but this guy is just wrong for this job.
20
What I keep thinking about and dreading is the ghastly Amy Barrett or Joan Larsen waiting in the wings for a SC appointment when Kavanaugh is forced to withdraw. Real fanatics. It's kind of like how most of us don't want trump impeached because look who's next in line. Scary!
16
Didn't we all know these type of boys? In fact I was almost raped by one in school....he's still revered on FB by all of our old friends...football hero, drinker, funny guy, and (I'd love people to know my description) rapist. I never said a word because I was that awkward girl, no one would believe me. I should have known he wouldn't of been interested in my type anyway... but for a minute he was.
I'm here to tell you that to this very day I have self esteem issues, 30 years later.
His name was Brian.
20
Kavanaugh grew up as a white, privileged, frat boy.
America, on the other hand is 51% female.
The average American makes about $51,000 a year.
There are plenty of good judges out there. Would it be too much to ask that we nominate someone who more closely reflects America, and not a sweaty, smirking graduate of Georgetown Prep?
32
@IonaTrailer
I prefer to nominate the best legal minds, a group which Judge Kavanaugh appears to be part of. If the (single, uncorroborated) allegation of sexual is convincingly shown, that will be disqualifying. Crass references from a high school yearbook are beyond irrelevant.
4
These so called privileged ! Why every one is over looking the fact that the person supporting him whole heartedly under all circumstances ,regardless of such reasonably believable sexual misconducts ,is an other very privileged —-
Donald Trump !
Did Donald Trump also attend this Prep school ?
No wonder Catholic Church is in such a mess that recently a Bishop ‘s wife announced that she was feeling ashamed to be a Catholic .
2
Everyone who went to college met and knew creeps like Kavanaugh. The only difference between them and the nominee is that Kavanaugh has stepped out of obscurity and seeks a seat to the Supreme Court.
Now that he’s been outed by people who have firsthand knowledge of his boorish behavior the only question is when he’ll do his family (and the rest of us) a favor and step aside.
33
The chances are small that Kavanaugh is anything but what he appears: a liar and an attempted rapist. Is this the man we would promote to the supreme court? If so let us never forget who this impostor is, and let him never walk away from his sordid past.
22
Wow, this is low. The yearbook references do not support the allegation of sexual assault. They just don't. By the referenced girls' own account, she did not even kiss Kavanaugh and considered him to be a good friend who was respectful of women. So at most, Kavanaugh kissed her once (his account), and used that to brag about it as a conquest to his buddies in an all-guys high school yearbook.
Was is crass, stupid, and disrespectful? Yes. Does it in anyway support an allegation of sexual assault? No. Is it in any other way probative or relevant to the character of a man 36 years later? No.
13
"Is it in any other way probative or relevant to the character of a man 36 years later? No."
Yes. As a *judge*, Kavanaugh needs to repudiate his underage drinking and defend the rule of law. Kavanaugh also needs to explain how his youthful debauchery influences his judicial decisions.
2
To my thinking, it is 100 percent relevant if a nominee for the Supreme Court lies to the Senate as part of the confirmation process.
12
@Econ101
It does set a scene and describe a kind of milieu in which something like what Blasey-Ford alleges could have happened, so I guess I’d say it doesn’t not support it.
1
When I was a freshman in high school, the senior boys decided to vote for a woman they thought was super ugly (she wasn't) for homecoming queen. She looked so happy that day when she was crowned. Word got around quickly that it was a joke. I always wondered at what point did her friends/classmates know and why didn't someone have the decency to tell her sooner than later. I can only imagine the devastating, heartbreak that occurred when she did find out. And, I assume someone told her eventually. My heart breaks for Renate Schroeder Dolphin. To find out 35 years later that the people you thought were friends and decent people were actually despicable human beings.
53
Ever seen the film “Carrie”?
1
"My heart breaks for Renate Schroeder Dolphin."
OK, but the girls appear to have been as debauched as the boys:
'“Most of the time everyone, including the girls, was drunk,” Judge wrote in “Wasted: Tales of a Gen X Drunk,” a memoir of his alcoholism and recovery. “If you could breathe and walk at the same time, you could hook up with someone. This did not mean going all the way . . . but after a year spent in school without girls, heavy petting was basically an orgy.”'
‘100 Kegs or Bust’: Kavanaugh friend, Mark Judge, has spent years writing about high school debauchery
By Marc Fisher and Perry Stein
September 21, 2018
washingtonpost.com
@GNI - since when did one person getting drunk express consent to another drunk assaulting him/her?
Prior to looking at that yearbook page, I never thought I hear terms like "boofing" and "Devil's Triangle" used in conjunction with a Supreme Court nominee.
21
it's sexual harrasment of multiple young women. the Times has blurred the details in the photo today, but from the release yesterday, before they were blurred, I can tell you what they contain: the names of women.
13
By “Renate Alumnius” these little twerps meant to imply nothing less than that each of them had bedded the girl in high school, whether they had or not. (I suspect few if any did.) It bespeaks a kind of “Lord of the Flies” cruelty that, firmly embedded at 18, is likely to linger much further into adulthood than Mr. Kavanaugh’s laughable claims of steadfast “virginity.” Indeed, that level of prurience manifested itself in his sordid, sniggering little checklist of ten sexually explicit interrogatories he proposed submitting to President Clinton. He was and remains a degenerate and a liar, and has no business in his current job, let alone on the highest court of the land.
45
@Dennis Smith
I forgot about his plan of attack on Clinton. Yet I am sure he can spell hypocrite.!
3
Yeah, but George Bush hired him. That should speak volumes.
People wonder why teenage suicide rates are so high...this behavior is a huge reason. When I was in high school in a small town, the boys did this same behavior of saying they had been sexually active with me. They had not and I had not with anybody. I got to the point I didn't want to leave the house and I would still hear the rumors that I had been out and with them. The girls were mean to me because they thought I was sleeping with their boyfriends'. I became so depressed about it that I thought about suicide. I was ashamed and embarrassed and my mother heard these rumors and thought they must be true. When I lost her respect, it killed me. I pulled through it all but because of it, I don't have good high school memories and I still feel the hurt. Think about the things you do and say and be good to people. You never know who might not be strong enough to get through it all. Think about it guys, if someone did that to your daughter, how would she feel and how would you feel about her being treated this way? Do unto others as you would want them to do to your daughters.
33
more than the woman's name i took notice at the bragging about underage drinking.
9
“These guys weren’t any different than other boys high schools across the country,”
Maybe, in some ways, but these were rich, privileged boys and many of them probably felt they could get away with pretty much anything. The point is this man is trying to become a supreme court justice, and shouldn't the bar be much, much higher than he was just another idiot teenage boy? Also, is not underage drinking illegal in Maryland? It appears he was boasting about breaking the law through much of high school. Finally, doesn't that much teenage drinking indicate a lack of good judgement? That alone should be enough to disqualify him. Remember, we are supposedly looking for superlative jurists to become justices.
12
What is so astounding about this is women's cruelty to other women when they sign letters "vouching" for a man's character. Are you that arrogant that you presume to know everything about him and what he is and is not capable of? That just because he may have acted respectfully toward you, any statement from any woman to the contrary should be declared null and void?No one asked you. Stop signing letters that impugn the accusers. Renate sure wishes she did.
13
Highest court in the land should have the highest moral barrier to entry.
14
Then Clarence Thomas should resign.
1
Kavanaugh's guilt in shamefully and openly defaming Renate in a printed publication, his yearbook entry, is irrefutable documentary evidence of his unsuitability for any post of trust and profit under the Constitution, especially that of Justice of the US Supreme Court.
For Kavanaugh, there's no denying or getting out of this one. No possibly defective memories are involved.
Even if the other accusations against Kavanaugh could be questioned, the Renate defamation cannot be.
How can there be a role on the US Supreme Court for someone who is clearly established guilty of such crude, depraved, conduct?
9
I say this as a feminist and someone enraged by any kind of sexual assault--but it is the stuff of the tv show "Black Mirror" when, to choose our leaders, we peruse comments decades past in their high school yearbooks! How is this a news article, NYTimes? Is there nothing to write about him in the 40 years since? Perhaps the child is indicative of the man he will become, but also perhaps not. LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was a high school drop out and gang member before turning his life around. All I can say is, be careful what your own children write in their yearbooks, least they be ruining their lives!
10
But Mayor Villaraigosa acknowledged has past and did some profound soul-searching and making of amends. All we’re getting from Kavanaugh is denials.
21
We cannot insult good, ethical high school boys and men by saying that obnoxious, unethical high school boys and men are similar. Who you are by the time you’re 17 doesn’t change a whole lot. We’ve all known upstanding high schoolers. They deserve the respect they earned by making good choices.
5
So did Cory Booker. Kavenaugh just denies.
2
Times: 'But his yearbook provides a contemporaneous glimpse of the elite Catholic school’s hard-drinking atmosphere — Judge Kavanaugh’s personal page boasts, “100 kegs or bust” ...'
The Times should have reported the legal drinking age in Maryland at that time.
3
The legal drinking age was 18. Kavanaugh was 17 when the incident Dr Ford spoke about happened
4
Dee Erker: "The legal drinking age was 18. Kavanaugh was 17 when the incident Dr Ford spoke about happened"
Thanks. That's important to know, because Judge Kavanaugh was breaking the law as a teenager.
Here is a history of drinking ages in Maryland:
What were the previous legal drinking ages in Maryland and when were they raised?
1972 - Raised to 21 years of age.
1973 - Lowered to 18 years of age in Montgomery and Prince George's County
1974 - Lowered to 18 years of age for the entire state.
1983 - Raised to 21 years of age.
Source: "Consumer FAQs about Alcoholic Beverages" at marylandtaxes.gov
@Dee Erker
Assuming you are truly concerned or shocked about the news flash that under-aged drinking occurs, I think the relevant question would be how old was a person when he wrote a post about drinking?
It is one thing when students write offensive comments in their friends yearbooks. It is quite another when something deemed this offensive is printed in the yearbook as was done here - identifying students in multiple photos as "Renate Alumni." How did the Jesuit priests who run the school allow this to happen? For that matter how did any of the lay teachers let this destructive smearing of a young woman escape their oversight. All yearbook publications have faculty oversight of some kind - usually. How did this happen here? Shame on the Jesuits especially as they preach sexual morality!! And shame on Judge Kavanaugh for participating in this horrible, demeaning abuse of an innocent young female student from another school.
19
That Kavanaugh is holding up his "catholic school"
education as "proof" of his good morals and values is a complete sham.
Tell that to the thousands of victims who were molested by their priests.
More interviews please of his fellow "100 Kegs of Bust" and "Renate Aluminus" classmates....and
under oath.
16
As a young, naive college student who was choked when my creepy date forced himself on me and I refused, then driven out of town to who knows where while he forced my head in his lap and continued to choke me, I can attest to these sad stories of women who suffered and never came forward. All you face from your accusers are lies and threats. Then as an adult I had a GYN doctor sexually aroused during an examination that was horrible. When I called his partner, I got total denial, I got ridiculous statements like "you must have misinterpreted what you felt against your legs sitting on the exam table". How much are woman going to take? Judge Kavanaugh, where is the wedding ring you used to wear? If you were a nasty frat boy, you will be found out and your nomination will go south very fast. Is this what you want your children to remember you by? Get a job at the Vatican and move to Europe for a few years. Save your wife and children's reputation - yours is already gone.
13
Accusations of attempted rape are extremely serious. But this reporting is petty. Sure his behavior here is disgusting and hurtful, but he, like all of us, was young once. And when we are young we can say stupid things that we later regret. It would be an intolerable society to live in if the transgressions of you were held over our heads forever.
4
Perfect man for the Deplorables
5
It is no surprise that Kavanaugh and his defenders in Congress are all members of the prep school—fraternity pipeline. Fraternities breed hostility toward women and the entitled "boys will be boys" attitude, and I say this as someone who was in a sorority in college.
18
This is disgusting. Even for teenage boys it's disgusting. This tells us a lot about what sort of people these young men were and it's not a very pretty picture.
It also tells us a lot about Georgetown Prep. What I want to know is who the heck was the faculty advisor and what was he thinking? The fact that the school allowed this crass public humiliation of a young woman on the pages of it's yearbook is something they should answer for. It seems whatever guidance was being given to these boys was toxic.
32
Wonderful guys. This is classic - scraping the bottom of the barrel. Well done. Kavanaugh will be ‘borked’.
12
@Abacus
To some of us, being borked means you have done something in your career which makes you entirely unsuitable for the position to which you aspire. It means being called to account.
6
@Abacus, too bad he has no character. Or does he not bear any responsibility for that?
1
Uhmm you do realize this is a high school yearbook and not something penned from the bench?
7
Writing stupid (even hurtful) things in your high school yearbook is one thing, & it is not in any way unusual. Doing hurtful things including sexual assault is completely different. Attending a non-coed elite high school certainly does not add to your socialization skills. Having your life's path laid out for you & paved with money gives you the entitled attitude that Kavanaugh sems so good at demonstrating.
8
On top of everything else, what saddens me is the damage this does to the image of Jesuit Preparatory Schools. I was fortunate enough to attend one in Chicago. And though I'm not going to pretend that no one ever drank or that there were no parties or that we were always respectful to everyone and spent all of our time studying -- hey, we were kids just like everyone else -- we certainly would never have been allowed to post yearbook references like that, as if it were officially condoned. Just what kind of school was this anyway?
10
@laolaohu
I went to a Jesuit high school as well and still hold it as a defining, positive influence in my life. But I am not the least surprised by these crass yearbook references or that they made it past the faculty adviser. The references are all guised for that specific purposes.
I THINK I was smart enough to keep all my yearbook references PG (need to go back and check now), I know many friends were more cavalier in sharing their juvenile exploits. This is just immature, adolescent stuff, typical not just for prep school boys, but boys in general.
Sexual assault is clearly different, and that is not at all what I am talking about. But a bunch of high school boys sharing an inside joke about a girl is crass and offensive, but mostly just stupid and juvenile.
1
@Econ101 Granted. But "Keg City Treasurer, 100 Kegs or Bust." That's not disguised. As you and I both know, the Jesuits are not that blind. And many of the references around it fall right into place.
Since this helpful article was published, I have heard Kate Kelly in a couple of TV interviews, in which she described the 'Renate' phenomenon as referring to the young men's bragging about their supposed "romantic" encounters with this young woman. Ms Kelly, I must take very strong exception to your use of the word "romantic" -- there is nothing "romantic" about this sort of dominating, demeaning behavior.
28
"Georgetown Prep has many alumni who have gone into public service. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch of the Supreme Court is a graduate, as is Jerome H. Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve."
How can one *high school* produce two Supreme Court justices and a chairman of the Federal Reserve? It's almost as if we live in an aristocratic system that is rigged from the get-go. We wonder why these teenage boys felt entitled to women's bodies? They grew up in a culture that inculcated in them that their wealth, race, and gender entitled them to anything and everything they want.
42
@Gabriel H
...says the guy who probably voted for both Clintons for President.
With these types of boy schools, at that point in time, much more talk than action. I do believe things have changed for various reasons. For one the elite private school stream I think (from casual observation) is more ethnically diverse
1
@ADOLBE Where are such schools more ethnically diverse? Certainly not is this country.
4
I want to give both parties the benefit of the doubt. But if Kavanaugh is lying about anything, and I think he made a huge mistake by outright denying these charges, then he must not be confirmed.
The explanation about Renate is a joke. He include her name and his status as an “aluminous” because he went to a party with her and failed to mention all of the other girls he may have attended parties with? And apparently many other boys were similarly impressed with Renate, because they make the same reference.
I was a boy once. While my high school never would have allowed references in a year book to the debauchery referenced here, carousing is a universal pursuit of most high schoolers. Assault is not. I will await testimony from both parties (and hopefully an investigation) before I decide whether Kavanaugh assaulted Dr. ford.
But this is clear as day: he is lying about the reference to Renate. No high schooler refers to a friend in this manner. While it may seem a matter where the specifics of which are not 100% clear, that would not by itself be determinative of his being voted on to the Supreme Court, given the context I fear it confirms that Kavanaugh is lying and must not be confirmed.
20
@rb I doubt he's lying here. What this looks like is that this girl "hooked up" with a number of boys on the football team, and so it became a thing each time another boy did so.
Based on her account (which is that she did not even kiss him), it seems unlikely that Kavanaugh did more than kiss her (his account). And so it looks like just kissing her once was enough for K to consider himself part of the "club" and join in the joke with his friends.
If this is the case, what about Kavanaugh's comment is untrue? And what should he say in his response? Is he supposed to go into detail about why there was a "Renate Club" at all? Now THAT would be unnecessarily disrespectful and demeaning to Ms. Dolphin.
2
Kavanaugh spent years blacking out from alcohol. This point is confirmed by almost everyone that knew him. It is absolutely possible that he committed all of these allegations, and has no memory of his actions. And his friends that publicly “do not recall” are not under oath. They are being questioned by Senate investigators whose job is to push through the Kavanaugh nomination. His friends are watching how those that come forward are persecuted by the fair and balanced of Fox News, and they understandably do not want to enter that spotlight. It will require questioning people under oath to force witnesses to speak truthfully, which is likely why Dr. Ford requested an FBI investigation and Kavanaugh did not. He is obviously afraid of what those around him will say under oath, as the chatter among all of his friends when the nomination was announced was “This is going to be a problem.” They all remember, but they choose not to have their lives hijacked by Kavanaugh. They knew all of this to be true long before it became public knowledge. So to assert his innocence, Kavanaugh appears on Fox News? Absurd. Was he only interested in cementing his support with the klan? Kavanaugh will never be a legitimate candidate for a lifetime appointment. If Mitch does ram through this appointment, Democrats should re-open the entire matter that moment that they take control of Congress!
19
It's so refreshing that we will have such a privileged, male, misogynist on the supreme court. As opposed to the other privileged males on the court. The women are an aberration, I guess.
Now, all three branches of government are firmly in control of Fox ... er the GOP and the right-wing coocoos in congress and the stupendously privileged, awful thing in the white house.
Isn't Amerika great?
21
Jesus christ... did any of us not do something we regret in High school? How can anyone judge a man for things he did as a teenager.. this is so unbelievably stupid. Does anyone seriously think Kavanaugh isn't Supreme Court Justice material because he at one point in his life bragged to his teenage friends about getting laid? Why are we digging up dirt on something a teenager did? Can't find any dirt on him from his adult years can you? This is ridiculous.
5
@Greggory Rodriguez
But there is and was material from his professional life that gives many pause. It's not related to sex, but it is connected to whether or not he is being truthful in his denials when questioned about events in his past.
13
@Greggory Rodriguez
Funny, I didn’t think he was Supreme Court material before any of this stuff came out. I know a company that does a credit check on prospective employees (and I believe this happened in others) and he wouldn’t get hired there. I always thought that was unfair, but I understand how it might be an indicator of poor judgment. Financial instability can be compromising—it’s an automatic no for the Supreme Court as far as I’m concerned.
This stupid things we did as teen-agers line might work on me if, 1) the Blasey-Ford story didn’t sound like attempted rape, and 2) it wasn’t all so misogynistic. He may have eventually become a better man (well, with the Clinton thing he sounded pretty creepy to me), but character does start to form in your teens and if these allegations are true, then Brett wasn’t one of the good ones. We can do better.
10
@Greggory Rodriguez THen why can't he just admit it and say he is sorry and embarrassed? I did plenty of stupid stuff in high school that I'm embarrassed about, but I would be the first to admit it and apologize for it. He needs to stop denying and stop lying about it all.
5
Here are all of the US presidents and other political leaders whom I can think of off of the top of my head who engaged in unseemly sexual behavior and/or its coverup: Thomas Jefferson, ML King, three Kennedys, B. Clinton (H also depending on how you define it), Schwarzenegger . . .
2
@Thomas
Sorry Thomas, false analogies and he is not running for office or leading a movement. Supreme Court appointments, besides being for life, are specifically about a person’s judgment and should have the highest scrutiny.
10
C’mon. Making multiple references to this girl because she was a good dancer? Who are these guys trying to kid? Their unfortunate implications were rooted a little further from their feet.
19
What, it’s not a compliment to refer to someone’s daughter as the “town bike”? Who knew?
Land of the free, home of the rape culture. Revolting.
30
In the crim. justice system "it's innocent until proven guilty" but in these comments its "I knew people like this in school so it must be true." This would be fine if it were 1692 & this was Salem, MA but it seems to gloss over facts & evidence. You may not want him in for political reasons but he has a wife & daughters...consider the ramifications of dragging his name through the mud. The threats his family has received? It is disgusting. These are not small allegations. You want to say a man sexually assaulted women you need an iota of evidence to back it up. All I've heard is 35 yr old newfound memories, a yearbook page & a book by some guy in same class. None of this proves sexual assault in the slightest. Seems Renate thought well enough of Kavanaugh to sign the letter but sees "Renate Alumnus" & is hurt? I'm not judging 17 yr old Renate but if she consensually hooked up w/ a few of the boys & guys joked about it what does it prove? No one at 17 teased and had inside jokes w/ friends? It is so dangerous for the world to take this turn it's scary pple do not see the slippery slope ahead. Not for us but for our kids. Maybe you have a 5, 6 or 7 yr old son who will work hard to be something important in life...I pray he never drinks at a party or kisses a girl bc it just may ruin his life 30 years later. So we will destroy this man & his family publicly & privately before we question a woman's truthfulness bc doing so has become taboo. Guess what, women lie sometimes too.
4
@Cate . You may say 'none of this proves sexual assault' but like it or not, the case is building. So let us do the fair and sensible thing - a proper investigation. Why is that not OK with both sides? You are saying is it happened a long time ago and his poor family. Ditto for any and all of his possible victims. No one is owed a Supreme Court judgeship, so we can stop with destroying his life nonsense. He's had an extremely privileged life.
9
@Cate
Yes. It might wreck his public image.
And so my mother, may she rest in peace, told her sons and daughters when they were at drinking age.
And so she told us about all our behaviour: what you do now, what you think is "cool", may come back to bite you later -- so think!
We did not get off when we got caught screwing up because we were just kids.
Teach your children to act decently, fairly, and to take responsibility, not lie, when they screw up.
Seems Kavanagh's parents did not tell that to their spoiled brats.
Or the spoiled rich kids supposed, like trump brags, that if your rich/famous/powerful you can do whatever you want to others because they will "let" you.
Rich, famous, powerful, therefore innocent and the prey is to blame. The law is to blame.
Most teens do not attempt rape.
It is disrespectful to good kids to smear them all with trumpian filth of "everybody does it, just like me"
What you're saying is "let them off the hook", just as if they'd been as well-behaved as kids who didn't go along with them.
That encourages not only criminality and brutish, thuggish behaviour -- it also encourages total irresponsibility, blame-shifting, and a free privilege pass for rich kids..
1
@Cate
These are not “newfound memories.” What gave you that impression? For Blasey-Ford, it was a memory she carried with her and according to an interview I heard with one of her close friends, when she saw Kavanaugh’s name on the short list for SCOTUS, she felt she had to say something.
He claimed on republican tv last night he was a virgin in high school, yet in his high school yearbook, after a long list of boasting of sports scores and survived keglers, he boasts of a 'devil's triangle'.
So I suppose he was talking about a threesome two friends of his had with a girl and not himself...on his own page???
Why is nobody asking this.
Or perhaps he thinks if you have sex with a girl but another guy is doing it with you, you can still be a virgin.
Or, perhaps he is lying.
20
I attended Landon, a school of similar type mentioned in the list of activities on Kavanaugh's page. There were plenty of dumb party jock types like Kavanaugh at the school when I attended. I'm sure they did similar things while at school parties.
But there were also plenty of gentlemen who ran clubs, were on the math team, did the Model UN, had the highest class rankings, and would go on to be solid contributing citizens as extensions of their high school selves after attending Ivy League colleges. There are plenty of potential Supreme Court nominees from that group - why choose from the worst group?
20
ooooo, what this country needs as leaders,
more prep school and Ivy league types.
Great solution.
1
Kavanaugh is guilty. Women have been mistreated. So he should pay for years of women's pain.
4
A Supreme Court Justice need to recognize the mistreatment of women in the workplace, educational and medical institutions and anywhere it might occur. If there is something in a candidate's past that shows doubt about the ability to do that a better candidate should be found.
1
The reporters have missed a fair number of references of drinking to blackout/vomit and other fun activities.
"Georgetown vs Louisville- Who Won That Game Anyway?" Forgot??!!
"Extinguisher" Take a standard portable fire extinguisher (empty) Fill with cocktail of choice. Pump in compressed air.
Turn upside down and spray into waiting mouths. Classic frat house accessory.
"Orioles vs. Red Sox---Who Won, Anyway?" Forgot??!!
"Beach Week Ralph Club-Biggest Contributor" Ralph= Vomit
Yeah...I'd say the Justice had a varied social life between Georgetown Prep and Rehobeth Beach.
16
@P.C.Chapman
So if you can't remember who won a particular football game, you must have been black-out drunk and raped someone? Sure bud - that makes perfect sense.
@GMooG
The perfect sense is the context. Kavanaugh wrote the entirety of this entry in his Senior yearbook. He inserted this humorous 'situation' twice. It was code to his pals as to his prowess as a fun guy. Taken as two items in the list, it makes perfect sense in the narrative of his 'School Daze'.
Brett Kavanaugh was on the team of the Starr Report that published incredibly graphic details of the affair between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, which resulted in Monica Lewinsky spending the next 23 years being defined by her sexual relationship with Clinton.
Monica Lewinsky's name became synonymous with a sex act.
Hey Brett Kavanaugh, do you know today how she felt at having her privacy so invaded and being leered at and mocked by the public?
Karma, dude.
60
@fast/furious And don't forget how Kavanaugh rationalized reopening the investigation into Vince Foster's death after an autopsy and two investigations (one led by Robert B. Fiske) had already concluded Foster had committed suicide: WaPo reported that in a memo dated March 24, 1995, "Kavanaugh, then 30, argued that unsupported allegations that Foster may have been murdered gave Starr the right to probe the matter more deeply." They kept the Foster investigation going three years, tormenting the Clinton Administration, despite the untold pain it surely caused the Foster family.
5
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Renate
Proper noun[edit]. Renate ? A female given name, from Latin Renata, the feminine form of Renatus meaning reborn. Estonian[edit]. Etymology[edit]. From Latin ...
1
Renate with an e is a widely given German name. Given that her family name is Scroeder, I don't think an editing error is necessarily the case her. But, you got to show off your Latin. One for our dwindling educational system.
3
Delving into Brett Kavanaugh's past like this is exactly the sort of thing that would be severely criticized if a woman who was raped had her past searched and scrutinized. This is outrageous as would be of a female rape victim. His yearbook should have been kept private and not made public for everyone to see. This was from 35 years ago and students write crazy things. Would we ask to see Dr. Ford's yearbook or question her sexual history from high school and college? No. The senate judiciary committee will never ask about this as they shouldn't and let's give Judge Kavanaugh the same respect. Maybe he was young and foolish but that does not make him a sexual abuse individual. I take him at his word when he says he is innocent of all charges.
3
@WPLMMT-Just the fact that you would equate a lifetime promotion to the Supreme Court to a rape victim says all we need to know about you. Sorry, past history is always relevant with regard to employment. Apparently, you seem to think that someone who is not entitled to a particular job is as much a victim as a rape survivor. Pathetic.
@WPLMMT You're right it doesn't make him a sexual abuse individual, it makes him a sexual abuser. Important distinction. Good catch WPLMMT
1
Why take him at his word when he lied under oath in 2006.
5
The "judge" was a typical jock and frat boy who did and said what these standard issue dullards do and say. Nothing has changed since I was in school. Their show-off bravura shenanigans continue into adult life. Did you see, "The Wolf of Wall Street?" I'm not defending him.
10
"standard issue dullards" -- the perfect characterization of these fellows.
When choosing 9 men and women to represent a population of 325 million on the Supreme Court, it does not make sense that 6 out of the 9 are Catholic (only 23% of the American population) and 2 of the 9 are from the SAME HIGH SCHOOL. Talk about diversity... We can do better.
31
Nearly everyone who has ever attended a high school reunion, has had the remarkable experience of seeing how little their classmates' personalities have changed over the 20, 30, or 40 years. Say no more.
23
Kavanaugh, graduated but not forgotten by those whose lives he touched for better or worse. Life’s lessons leave a trail of laughter and tears that remain buried in memories of days gone by.
I knew a few guys like Kavanaugh. 40 years later, they have cleaned up on the outside, but inside they haven't changed much. They still harbor the same attitudes about sex, women, and power--only now they are more careful about where they let those attitudes be seen.
The only one who has really changed went out of his way to talk to and apologize to those of us in his graduating class about his bad behavior. He also doesn't have much to do with those other guys. Him I could support for the Supreme Court.
12
Unless there is concrete proof that Kavanaugh, we assume that his distractors are probably on a political witch hunt. American juries tend to incriminate, not based on law, but on their perceived notions without facts.
During the allegations about Clinton's sexual conduct, I never assumed his guilt. So, in like fashion, I assume that Kavanaugh should be considered "innocent until proven guilty". But hey. Most American Christians(?) truly believe that Europeans had a God-given right to annihilate the native people who had occupied the continental U.S. for thousands of years.
6
Who in the world was the yearbook advisor? In-jokes and innuendo printed in the yearbook indicates that the kids were in charge not the adults at this prep school. Those types of comments are usually in the blank pages where the kids sign not In print.
14
In my Sr. year highschool yearbook, a girl named Nicole signed my book saying "It was great knowing you! I love you!" and she signed it with a heart.
I barely knew this girl and we walked between classes a couple of times.
If someone were to read this in 15 years (making it 30-ish years, same timeframe that these events are taking place in), they may think I had a relationship with this girl, but the truth was I barely knew her and had forgotten all about it until I opened my yearbook just to see what kind of silly things were in it.
After 36 years, the context has been completely lost and nobody is making any effort to reestablish it.
4
@Shaun
Okay, let me explain—she might have had a little crush on you and you didn’t realize it. Or maybe she was just a gushy person who signed everyone’s yearbook that way. That’s completely different from this Renate Alumni thing, which was a thread through this yearbook. They all know what they meant.
2
Um.there is so much more in Kavanaugh's yearbook caption that he, or his classmates, should be asked about:
Judge -- have you boofed yet?
Beach Week Ralph Club?
I survived the FFFFFFFourth of July?
[Blacked out name] -- Tainted?
I don't know Kavanaugh, but I attended an all-girls Catholic high school for one year in the late 1960s, and actually had some pretty wonderful times with guys at the local all-boys Catholic high schools. But I was the only freshman in the group and was literally protected by some senior women who treated me like a baby sister. I also remember that time with great joy and clarity. It was all quite innocent and, for me anyway, involved no drinking.
As my innocence then became "tainted" by subsequent experience in the real world, I learned many hard lessons about boys/men, and certainly saw plenty of the toxic masculinity I see on the faces of those "Renate Alumunius" footballers, and hear in the lingo in Kavanaugh's caption. I also see a dourness in his photos that make me think he was not a happy camper.
13
For one of THE most important positions in our country, arguably equal to that of the president (since they have a lifetime appointment), a position that does not get voted on by citizens AND is supposed to embody the principles of blind justice (LADY Justice), I think that character matters. This, my friends, is not character worthy of the highest court in our land.
25
A lot of guys did stuff like that back in their teens. They knew better but they did it anyway, and they set life patterns for themselves. Whether it was personal crudity, a marked fondness for alcohol, a sense of entitlement, or any number of other offensive traits, the patterns they set are still there. By the same token, a great many teenage guys did not do the foolish stuff referred to. They knew better, and that was enough.
10
@Robert
"and they set life patterns for themselves"
Absolutely false! High school boys (and girls) can be crude and cruel. They are self-absorbed, unusually influenced by peer pressure, and immature.
This is the sort of stuff that people naturally grow out of. This is not a reflection of a "pattern" of behavior. It is a reflection of immaturity.
I support you would be found perfectly innocent if the thought police came digging into everything you said or did in high school?
This is disgusting: "This month, Renate Schroeder Dolphin joined 64 other women who, saying they knew Judge Kavanaugh during their high school years, signed a letter to the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is weighing Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination. The letter stated that “he has behaved honorably and treated women with respect.”
Girls who think they are gaining "points" with boys in high school and college by spreading their bodies around are highly delusional. One of my friends in high school was a cheerleader, smart and very nice but she made the mistake of having sex with a number of boys. They started calling her "Swift Cyph".
Boys will be boys as long as WE THE PEOPLE allow it. Let's make it "boys who behave like this will be boys in jail".
12
@njglea
Renate Schroeder Dolphin now says she is shocked, shocked that she had become a line entry in the all-boys prep school yearbook. I won’t cast stones at her and have no idea, or care to know, if she earned that moniker.
But she signed her name to a letter that has been spotlighted as a glowing reference for Kavanaugh, and rightfully can be questioned as to why she did that.
The fact that she has withdrawn her support for BK is nice, maybe even honorable, but certainly is telling. Please do tell.
3
@njglea Wait so your cheerleader friend made the conscious choice to sleep with multiple guys and somehow that's the guys' fault and the men need to change or go to jail for having consensual sex with someone who was seeking consensual sex from them?
That's insane.
2
@njglea Havn't you heard? It's 2018 and girls are just as likely to be the sexual initiators today.
Apology is the socially and ethically appropriate action for the coded yearbook entry, even if it was (implausibly) not originally intended to have its obvious interpretation. Feigning sainthood, Kavanaugh cannot even manage that minimum. That's why so few now trust him.
23
Isn’t it time for someone to pump the breaks on this whole thing? We’ve made a confirmation into a circus. Who will ever want to subject themselves to this kind of scrutiny? And that’s not a rhetorical question. Think about the kind of people you will get. Trump could care less about everything said about him. That’s what we will get, and we deserve it for what we’ve done.
6
By now he needs to find a graceful exit. Or the Democrats need to fashion a graceful exit for him. He won’t withdraw as long as he believes he has his reputation to protect. The best result would be for him to say, “in order to preserve the public’s faith in the Court, I will withdraw as a nominee. I am not withdrawing because I harassed Dr. Blasey or any woman, because I did not. Those accusations were part of a smear campaign; nothing more. But both sides have dug in and we need to end this now. The only resolution - to protect the Court - is for me to withdraw.”
12
The dichotomous thinking on this issue is in full view. The weakness of lawyer-like thinking of this matter is in full view. The choices given as a description of Kavanaughs character as being all good or all bad do not fully represent him or his actions. He appears perfect to some people. The description of his behavior towards her, by Dr. Blasey flies in the face of this belief so if it is true, it may be impossible for his family and friends to believe. The alternative is that they all accept this behavior as o.k. which stands as a mockery of the ideals to which we say we aspire. Now, under scrutiny for a lifetime position of trust for all our citizens, his current words and actions show a man who does not merit trust from all our citizens especially women and the disenfranchised. His body language and obfuscation during confirmation questioning by Kamala Harris demonstrate this. Do we have statistics on how many men believe it is ok to rape, to violate, to dominate others and how many have internalized the decent values of our society and practice self restraint and respect others? Why do some men believe they are entitled to any woman they want and other men know that is no way to treat another human being? Is is time to give a death sentence or life sentence for rape as it more often than not has a lifetime effect on the person violated?
4
Now an entry in your high school year book--when you're in your 50's--can be held against you?
This has gone over the edge.
10
It — more appropriately “they”, as there are multiple entries referencing drunken and sexual situations — can if you believe that they reflect a person’s character. Especially character revealing is the fact that the person who wrote those entries has not explained, reflected on, or even acknowledged his part in these situations.
8
@Talbot Rape is not an entry in a high school year book. We are talking about a woman coming forward and saying this man raped her in high school. Clear?
2
@RCJCHC
Talbot seems to be much more "clear" on this than you are. Nobody has accused Kavanaugh of rape.
The issue in my view is not who is telling the truth, Kavanaugh or Dr. Blasey, regarding what transpired 30years ago at a drunken high school party: the issue is that in today’s revised ethical atmosphere that women deserve to be respected and not used as sexual objects, any man who has any blemish in his past or present behavior towards women is going to have a PROBLEM if he runs for office or if he wants to be a judge for life. It is about time that this culture did an about face on values of men and women EQUALITY and we have the “me too” movement to thank.
Like Gail Collins said in her op ed piece in the New York Times:no one has the RIGHT to be appointed for life to the highest court in the land... and I would add that he/she has to demonstrate their acceptability.
21
@Manuela Bonnet-Buxton
"any man who has any blemish in his past or present behavior towards women"
Fair. But what constitutes a blemish? Does a high school boy making irreverent or objectifying comments to his buddies constitute a blemish on the record of a 50-year-old? Because there is not a straight man alive who is not guilty of such comments in high school.
Sexual assault is serious, and if an accusation of assault is substantiated, that is more than a "blemish" and should be disqualifying for the Supreme Court.
I think it is very important, however, not to conflate the two or to even fall into the trap of thinking the former somehow proves or even supports the latter.
7
First of all let's forget the idea that all teens act like that. I remember guys who got busy doing other things like science and journalism. They ended up being physicians, attorneys, professor emeritus (my husband). I also know men who have the decency to cringe at their high school behavior and would be horrified to have it looked at this intensely. Step down Judge Kavanaugh!
33
This high school stuff is all a diversion. No, in no way should it be discounted and in no way should the women involved not be given the time of day to tell their story.
But the bigger story, one that appears to have been shoved to the back burner, is why Kavanaugh wasn't on either of Trump's initial lists but seemed to show up as a prime candidate only at the eleventh hour. Was there a deal made where Kavanaugh would do Trump's bidding on the Court and that he'd do his best to dissolve the Mueller investigation? Those are the questions that should be answered.
32
Even if none of the accusations about Kavanaugh’s relationships with and attitudes towards women prove to be true there are two very strong reasons to deny his candidacy for the Supreme Court:
1. His apparent perjury before Congress.
2. The fact that thousands of documents pertaining to him have been held back from scrutiny by the Republican committee members or the White House.
It is obvious that the Republicans do not care about the treatment of women in our society. They have proven this repeatedly in their positions, comments and votes. Placing Kavanaugh on the Court will be an act that continues to make their demand for dominance evident. In their haste to confirm Kavanaugh and disregard the greater good of our country could not be more clear.
27
Watching Mr. Kavanaugh's interview was painful. He acted like a man caught in lies and desperate to save face and a potential job. The wife, playing the faithful and true partner, came across as one saying expected lines from an old scrip. What made him most unbelievable was his self portrayal as Mr. Clean complete with wavering voice and look of injured innocence. All of this done on Fox News, the bastion of truth. This is how he defends himself?
29
Smearing a girl in a yearbook is shocking, even for the 80's, which is the same time I was in high school. This is cruel. A long time ago or not, Bret Kavanaugh is not fit to sit on the highest court in the US. Also, glad my kids attend an inner city public school, because they don't behave like this at their school.
33
I don’t know what this yearbook stuff means. I do know what high school years can be like.
I was among those who drank, often to excess. My behavior continued through colllege and a few classmates (although they probably didn’t actually make it to class much) were obnoxious drunks.
At no time, not once in years of partying with a large range of other young men and women in a wide variety of settings, did I ever witness, or hear of, behavior that has been attributed to Kavanaugh. Call me naive, but I know what I saw and what I didn’t see. In college, women were friends and partners in a great experience. In high school, they were the girls we grew up with.
We need to distinguish. Boisterous adolescent behavior that looks immature, even scarily unwise, in retrospect is one thing. Clamping your hand over the mouth of a young woman while forcing your body against her qualifies, to me at least, as pathological behavior.
As in the Anita Hill case, I believe the accusers. They have everything to lose by coming forward except a hope for some kind of justice.
Kavanaugh is bad news. I’m sure the Republicans have plenty of other candidates in the wings. Let’s put this one behind us.
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Some key points: he was willing to put "rebate alumni" in his yearbook post. That means He had no concerns about his parents asking. He uses the term "i think ALL of us". I beg to differ. "All of us" did not drink our way through high school and college". Yes there were crowds who did this but not even a majority. He should withdraw.
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Why would Ms. Dolphin sign a letter in support of Kavanaugh knowing that Kavanaugh and his buddies wrote and recited offensive statements about her?
What's also disturbing is the timing of this letter. It came out immediately after Ford's allegations. How could 65 woman from high school connect up so quickly to write, sign and send it to Congress?
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@Debbie...Please feel free to actually read an article before asking a question that was answered in the article. The same goes for your obvious ignorance regarding the Letter of the 65.
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@Debbie
She didn't know about it, at the time she signed the letter
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@Debbie: I guess she thought he was a nice guy, who took her out once or twice and was a gentleman.
Maybe she isn't reading her high school yearbook from 1983 -- in 2018!!!
I don't even know where my high school yearbook IS....I think I looked it at briefly after I got it....made sure my photo turned out OK....a few friends signed it. I believe it got lost or thrown out when my parents moved a few years later.
If someone HAD posted that they were "an alumnae of having dated me"....I'd probably just laugh.
Well, well, well. A week ago Renate signed a letter vouching for the character of that fine upstanding young man about to be appointed to the SC oblivious to the fact that young man and his buddies had a totally different remembrance of her.
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It is ludicrous to try to assess anyone's high school "culture" from decades ago through the lens of today's society, particularly with regard to scribblings in a yearbook, and then try to use it as some sort of factor in whether a person qualifies for a job. What's happening here is an attempt to inject the current tyrannical attitudes of academic social thought into the mainstream, right down to the screaming leftist protesters who object to everything that doesn't conform to their rigid view of the world. Although it may be self-satisfying and even maybe instructional to play these games on campus, it's a mistake to translate them to the real world, where political pluralism can't be banned as insensitive, and actual peoples' lives can be destroyed.
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OK, then how about this? Judge Kavanaugh says “I behaved really badly while I was in high school. The culture of my school tolerated it, and my parents did, too, apparently because they sent me there. I did what I am accused of doing. I am not proud of it. I suspect I did things I no longer remember because I was drunk. In fact, I have been ashamed of my conduct for decades. I turned my life around and am now a happily married husband and father. I pledge to teach my children the values of respect and the dignity that I now strive to love each day. I hope that I can be judged in the totality of my life.”
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@Conrad Emil fantastic. This alone would have secured his nomination. The lying and hypcocrisy is the biggest issue for this liberal.
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@David Godinez: absolutely yes.
The left is a binge of accusations, like something out of the Arthur Miller play "The Crucible".
Saying you are a "Renate alumnae" just says you are one of many people who dated her. There is no presumption of SEX and nothing about "alumnae" says "SEX".
Both Kavanaugh and Dolphin agree they went out once or twice. He says they kissed briefly; she says "no". Not much of a big deal, is it?
The left is trying to make a mountain here out of a molehill. Renate Dolphin does not remotely claim Brett Kavanaugh assaulted her!!!!
There are now 535 yearbooks I want to see and a whole lot of phone calls to make.
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"They were fun, they were respectful, and they were safe"
And yet, they were smearing your name behind your back.
Maybe it's time to re-think what respect actually means.
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I have one simple question for Judge Kavanaugh: You have two young daughters. Would it be acceptable to you for a group of their classmates to make the same kind of published comments about them as you did about that teenage girl?
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@MplsMike
But... but... but... that's different! Renate was someone else's daughter so it was okay! Hopefully
Kavanaugh's daughters do not go to school with anyone like their father or his friends.
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Anyone who says that the "Renate Club" is an innocent, teenage, "boys will be boys" organization is incredibly ignorant. In fact, I would call them imbeciles.
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When little brett testifies again, I'm sure he'll have his explanation ready, already having been leaked to faux nooz.
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I'm surprised more people in the comments section do not understand what these young men were doing. They created a fictitious "club" around a human being -- a teenage girl -- that she had no idea about. They claimed themselves to be "alumnus" of this club. They gave themselves titles. And what were the activities in this club? It's clear they made her out to be a sex object ("call her late") and then essentially ganged up on her WITHOUT HER KNOWLEDGE OR CONSENT. This is hardly about the yearbook! It's a clear indication of Brett Kavanaugh's formative ideas about women: that they are objects upon which men render opinion and judgement; objects which men sexualize and/or use at will.
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[[The language from Judge Kavanaugh’s high school yearbook refers to the fact that he and Ms. Dolphin attended that one high school event together and nothing else.”]]
I don't believe that for a second.
Don't those fancy schools have some sort of honor code requiring students to tell the truth?
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@Third.coast
Why don't you believe it? Ms. Dolphin says she never even kissed Kavanaugh, so why do you think he did MORE than that?
Since we're all wildly speculating here, this is what seems most likely to me. Ms. Dolphin "hooked up" with enough members of the football team that it became a subject of locker room talk. Yet it is highly unlikely that this high school girl slept with 14 guys in high school. So the qualifications for considering oneself part of the "club" were probably low.
What am I missing here?
[[Econ101
Why don't you believe it?]]
I don't believe him because there's too much at stake for him to even admit to a hint of bad behavior. When he came out with his categorical denial of the initial allegation of assault a few days ago, I knew he was lying in order to preserve his nomination.
Also, this administration is full of bullies, liars, and abusers of women, so I'm basing my belief on that, too.
I hope Renate Schroeder Dolphin has the dignity to publicly withdraw her support of Kavanaugh.
It's just shameful that Judge Kavanaugh tries to hide behind a "good catholic boy who was devoted to church and public service" image.
His classmates know the truth. They need to speak up.
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Something tells me that if Renate Shroeder Dolphin was the one up for a Supreme Court Justice seat, that poem alone would end her run. Those same people excusing Kavanaugh's behavior as "innocent antics" would be shaming her and castigating her and calling her chastity into question to no end.
Conservatives, you have a problem. You don't seem to grasp what real respect means. You continue to move the goal posts as you see fit. It's getting super old and boring. Fine. Make excuses. But know that it's only to yourselves and your echo chambers.
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Judge Kavanaugh would have us believe that "Renate Alumnus" means that he once had a date with that young woman.
Right, Judge.
I went to high school too, and like everyone else who did so I know exactly what was meant by that shameful and disgusting reference. Interesting that his alleged ongoing admiration for that woman is now emphatically not mutual.
OK, it was high school. But the cruelty, dishonesty, and sense of unlimited privilege behind that yearbook comment reveal something fundamental about Kavanaugh's character, something that should in itself make us wonder about his fitness for the Court.
His victim said it best: she hopes that Kavanaugh's daughters never have to endure such abuse.
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This article and what it reveals should seal it. The misogyny jumps out at you. I feel sorry for the woman in question - having signed that letter and all.
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Ask any graduating senior male today to translate the references to then young lady and I doubt you will see flattering in their impressions
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Along with the larger issues raised in the article and accompanying readers' comments, there arises a question for Georgetown Prep: where was the yearbook committee's faculty adviser in all this? Did it not occur to him or anyone else editing the yearbook that these captions were disrespectful and shameful for their school?
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Georgetown Prep..,huh?
Prep for what?
Oh..,just ask Bret Kavanaugh.
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Underage drinking, in and of itself, is a crime without a victim. It's not good for the person doing it, but it does not harm others. Unless taken to excess, it can be excused as "boys being boys" or if it's co-ed, "kids being kids."
Abusing someone, whether you're drinking or not, is a crime with a victim. Someone gets traumatized, bullied, and possibly injured. It's an entirely different moral situation, not excusable as "kids being kids."
If many of these incidents happen while kids are drinking, it's because the drinking provides the opportunity and the courage for the offenders to commit the greater sin of abuse. So let's stop this nonsensical equating of teenage drinking with sexual abuse.
I'm fairly certain that the "Renate allumni" were sober when they chose to mention it in their yearbooks.
21
These people talk like the rest of us never went to high school and neither did our kids!
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Were this reading about Catholic priests being accused of pedophlia in their past but now set to become cardinals or other larger roles, the universal response would be so much different.
Yet, why? Why is the standard of questionable judgment, but perhaps not criminality (in Kavanaugh’s case), so different for those who would lead a regional congregation as opposed to those who would interpret the constitution and rule on cases based on the weight of that?
If Kavanaugh were truly a distinguished and fine professional and a gentleman (as well as patriotic), he would abandon his nomination in the face of all of these very questionable (at best) historic details, with many in writing and also verbally confirmed across a wide spectrum of his current and former peers. Instead he appears on Fox and whines like a fiction about how unfair it all is.
And at the bottom of all of this is one final question: if the levels of drinking during HS and at Yale alluded to by many people are true, how in God’s name COULD he even remember whether or not he was involved? He couldn’t and he can’t and that makes him unfit.
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My senior quote, upon my graduation from an elite Catholic (Jesuit) Preparatory, was a passage from Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats.
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"My senior quote, upon my graduation from an elite Catholic (Jesuit) Preparatory, was a passage from Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats."
Quotes can be reinterpreted when taken out of context.
Brett needs to withdraw, asap. Too many questions about his background and character. The senate can start over in january with the new membership in place.
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@Mike Ransmil: seriously...how stupid do you think people are?
And even if that came about -- unlikely -- what would stop Republicans from digging up dirt, like high school yearbooks or beer parties to slime the NEXT nominee?
This on it's own is not anything more then the signs of the time and the warped view of the world from within an all boys elite school. But how it applies to his current mindset is crucial. A hint of that continued mindset are his judgments since then, with his twisted version of precedence to force a bias of what he personally prefers.
Take this along with all of the other highly irregular and bizarre political moves by republicans to not want more information, to not want absolute clarity within the public and political eye?
In the face of factual and physically tangible evidence, only the most ill informed and extreme right would drag themselves on the coattails of this GOP stance to keep the FBI out.
Based on basic logic, BASIC HUMAN LOGIC, more information is ALWAYS the best derivative.
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@excessivegreed...Judge Kavanaugh answered 1,300 questions in his hearings before the Senate Judicial Committee. Not one Democrat asked him even ONE question regarding these allegations. BASIC HUMAN LOGIC would assume that Democrats had an ulterior motive for withholding this INFORMATION from the rest of the Committee and from the AMERICAN PEOPLE...Keep the FBI out? Kavanaugh has undergone SIX background checks in his career. Is the FBI so incompetent that it didn't delve into this alleged dark side of him? Have you ever undergone an FBI background check? NEVER TRUMP and RESIST are not BASIC HUMAN LOGIC. They are political polemics.
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