NOTE: I strongly disagree with Judge Kavanaugh’s political views. But he is entitled to them, and they are not in themselves reason to keep him off the Supreme Court. His probable perjury before Congressional committees, questionable finances, and inability to give a straightforward answer to simple questions on his judicial philosophy are.
I think (at least I *hope*) we can all agree that the vast majority of men are not sexual predators, perverts, or even creeps. But “Distinguished Man Treats Women Properly” isn’t going to sell any papers, so we’re constantly bombarded with stories of Men Behaving Badly.
The latest one has to do with a successful jurist being accused of an attempted rape that he is said to have committed over thirty-five years ago.
Whatever you think of Judge Kavanaugh or statutes of limitations, it shouldn’t be hard to see why a lot of men are nervous.
Picture this.
Like a lot of your fellow students back in the 80s, you partied hard in school and “sowed your wild oats”. But after graduation, you became a responsible adult, and put aside your inner Prince Hal. Now a King Henry, you’ve started a career, gotten married, settled down, raised children, and become a respectable member of your community. You’re starting to look forward to enjoying the fruits of your labors.
Now you see one of your brethren who has had a similar story arc (or perhaps the one you’ve aspired to have) suddenly, out of nowhere, accused of what even you (being a sane and rational adult) consider a heinous offense just as he is about to achieve the pinnacle of his profession.
Suddenly, he’s persona non grata, and his entire career and reputation are in jeopardy.
Whatever you think of him, you’ve got to be worried.
Can this happen to you?
You read about the things he’s said to have done in his youth. Not very different from what you’ve done. No one thought much of it at the time; it was pretty much expected that guys would be the drunken frat boy in college. Heck, it was even a media stereotype! (And anyone who tries to condemn the past for the sins of the present, let me remind you about ex post facto laws….)
Is it possible you did something back then that someone will find out about and use to ruin you? You don’t know! You’re a decent person now, to the point that neighbors trust you to babysit their children. But yeah, you were kind of wild back then.
How certain are you that you never did anything that was acceptable at the time, but is considered a capital offense according to today’s mores?
How can you be sure that no one will go rooting around in your closet and find enough pieces to make a skeleton?
No wonder men are nervous.
And they’re shouted down if they make any attempt at a fair defense of their gender….
Pure Blather 
When I first heard about this accusation against Kavanaugh, my reaction was exactly the same as yours: We all, male and female, did dreadful things as teenagers and, while most of us didn’t go so far as Kavanaugh evidently did, he wasn’t being that much stupider or more offensive than the rest of us.
But then the coverup started. And I concluded, as who wouldn’t, that there’s a lot more there that an FBI investigation — of the kind that is S.O.P. but that mercenary shit Chuck Grassley says has never been carried out before, despite his being on record as saying a few decades ago that such investigations were desirable — might reveal. There’s no other conceivable explanation for Grassley’s refusal to let such an investigation proceed.
Personally I feel there are so many other reasons for us to think of Kavanaugh as a substandard human being that adding an accusation of youthful attempted rape seems gratuitous,but then I’m not a Republican.
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Yes we all have skeletons in our closet. His changed stature in adulthood is not the issue. What did he do, if he did it, to the life of a 15 year old girl. Her life changed as well and she too has become an upstanding citizen but caries a scare which he may have inflicted. Young boys with priests has no time limit and shouldn’t. Mr. Kavanaugh deserves an investigation.
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