Kavanaugh was asked about whether he ever had blackouts after drinking. He said something to the effect of having fallen asleep after drinking. Falling asleep is sometimes a more socially acceptable way of saying “passing out.” Obviously, lots of people do this.
Here’s the follow-up question that should have been asked:
Judge Kavanaugh, you say you sometimes fell asleep after drinking. Many people fall asleep after drinking. However, how do you know that once you woke up you hadn’t actually had a blackout and done things you didn’t remember doing while extremely inebriated?
Follow-up from Jimbar in comments: Have you ever been concerned that you were drinking too much? Have friends or family ever told you that they felt you were drinking too much?
tin41 adds another foloow-up:
Judge Kavanaugh, you seem very animated and some of your responses are almost inappropriate. Your demeanor today is very unlike all of our previous meetings with you.
When was the last time you consumed alcohol?
The answer is that the only way he could know this for certain is it there were witnesses.
If someone drinks heavily and behaves in anti-social ways during a blackout and then passes out, they may not remember what they did. The memories of people who behave in various ways while very intoxicated are notoriously unreliable.
Now we have cell-phone videos, often showing drunken people doing embarrassing things they don't remember in the morning. The proof is on YouTube.
In Kavanaugh's day, we only had the words of those who observed his behavior.
It is possible he thinks he fell asleep while in fact, that he was so drunk he behaved in ways he didn’t remember once he lost consciousness and woke up.
Addendum:
I was a general psychotherapist for 40 years and only treated a few alcoholics. However, I was a reserve police officer for 20 years in two cities, one of which (Mason, Michigan) won the state Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) award for most per capita arrests for drunk driving. I probably dealt with two dozen drivers whose blood alcohol was twice the legal limit. My hunch based on their behavior while being arrested and booked is that many of them wouldn’t have remembered their behavior while interacting with the police.