Brett Kavanaugh and blackouts: a Jekyll and Hyde story
FIRST THREAD, 26 Sep 2018
Kavanaugh comes across as completely sincere in his denials in this transcript (9/25/18) — no question about it.
Yet the incidents he denies undoubtedly occurred.
The likely — and reconciling — explanation is alcoholic blackouts.
Here are two links that help make this understandable — and entirely plausible.
Note that brain research has shown that some people are much more susceptible to blackouts than others.
This raises a different set of questions than the ones raised so far: e.g., is the misogyny and aggression against women that clearly emerged in Kavanaugh’s drinking binges to be taken into account even if he is exemplary when he’s *not* drunk? Etc.
And while blackouts wipe out memories about what happened during the blackout period, the blackouts, so far as I know, don’t wipe out memories of the events leading up to the blackout — so Kavanaugh’s denial that he has a drinking problem is not credible.
SECOND THREAD, 26 Sep 2018
Kavanaugh’s story is a Jekyll and Hyde story, but one that doesn’t require a strange chemical serum to explain it. It’s a psychological — maybe even a neurological — “story.” 1/9
Kavanaugh says he is mystified and even outraged by the allegations against him, and to some extent — but only to some extent — we must acknowledge that this is indeed the way it all seems to him. 2/9
In his interviews, Kavanaugh comes across as someone who sees himself as a thoroughly decent (though not perfect) human being. And importantly, THAT IS HOW EVERYONE WHO HAS ONLY SEEN HIM SOBER SEES HIM. Call this person BK1. 3/9
But many, many people who have seen him under the influence of alcohol have seen a very DIFFERENT Brett Kavanaugh. Their impressions and accounts cannot be discounted either. Call this person BK2. 4/9
Kavanaugh can’t have been 100% truthful (either to himself or to investigators) when he has *categorically* denied that he has a serious drinking problem. 5/9
BK1 and BK2 are NOT different, wholly disconnected beings, and Kavanaugh must be aware of that. He MUST have memories leading up to and after the events, and it is his lack of full disclosure about that which disqualifies him. 6/9
Kavanaugh has a self-image that must be deeply threatened by what he is like when he drinks. It is a part of himself that he has denied and repressed. And getting to the bottom of it all requires a psychological — not a congressional or legal or FBI inquiry. 7/9
What we know about Kavanaugh is enough to disqualify him. He needs psychological counseling, and if he gets it, probably does not deserve to be removed from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals — BUT 8/9
Until we — and Brett Kavanaugh himself — have sorted all this out, he certainly doesn’t merit a lifelong appointment as Associate Justice of SCOTUS. 9/9
PS1/ It is well-known and widely accepted that women who are traumatized can have repressed and even “forgotten” memories. No doubt a similar phenomenon can happen with men like Kavanaugh, who deny and repress parts of themselves (and events) that are too threatening for them.
