I’ve been sober for decades, but I was one of those immediately alcoholic drinkers who typically got smashed when I drank. Like the condition Kavanaugh was in as described during Dr. Ford’s recollections of that night in high school when she was sexually assaulted.
According to his own words, he was still a problem drinker years later, in law school, according to a speech he gave in 2014.
Mother Jones article
On the precipice of his confirmation to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh stands accused of drunkenly assaulting a 15-year-old when he was in high school. A friend who was allegedly present for the assault, Mark Judge, actually wrote a book about being an alcoholic in high school. Kavanaugh appears to make an appearance in the book under the name “Bart O’Kavanaugh,” in which he “puked in someone’s car” and “passed out on his way back from a party.”
In April 2014, Kavanaugh gave a speech to the Yale Law School Federalist Society in which he recalled drinking and partying in law school. The speech recalls innocent hijinks, but in light of the accusations now leveled against him, they provide context to Kavanaugh’s partying, though they happened several years after the alleged attack would have taken place.
I recognize that early propensity to drink to oblivion. It started for me when I was in high school. Mine was probably a mix of genetics and our birth father putting whiskey in our baby bottles to make us pass out. Evidently, I got drunk many times as a baby. But that’s here nor there.
Did Kavanaugh get sober? Because if he didn’t, the chances are near 100% he’s still a problem drinker. Speaking as someone who drank like Kavanaugh into my 20’s (with a whole lot of experience from working with recovered and recovering alcoholics in AA over the years) drinking gets worse with time. The only choices for someone predisposed to alcohol abuse are quitting completely or to continue drinking to excess.
A late friend was a federal judge with a drinking problem. It cost him his position after years of signs and warnings. Not an easy feat. His drinking while judging went on for years. Like Kavanaugh, he came from a family of means. Only when he was arrested for DUI for the 2nd time did he seek help.
America is putting someone into a lifetime position on the Supreme Court. If Kavanaugh is still a problem drinker — it’s easier for someone in his position to hide it from the public — questions surrounding his drinking are pertinent and should be asked a nominee for a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land. He’s admitted problem drinking. For years. People in such a high position need to be able to do serious work at full capacity.