sexism

Brett Kavanaugh: Elitism on Trial

Try as they might, they cannot escape the fact that what is happening with Kavenaugh is a case of elitism on trial. Who, after all, is Brett Kavenaugh? Where did he come from?

He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His father was a rich member of one of the most corrupt professions in the United States – a “K-Street” lobbyist (for the cosmetics industry). Young Brett attended the elite Georgetown Prep and then Yale, where he was a member of the elite Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) fraternity.

He is also a product of his times, having come of age in the 1980s. That was the period of Reagan, the period when “greed is good” was the mantra, the period when selfishness was extolled. Among other things, this means that it is expected for the rich and powerful to use that power to trample on those with less power.

60% of sexual assaults go unreported. Wonder why? Consider what the survivor goes through if she reports it, especially if the assailant is rich and powerful.

Under capitalism, it is inevitable that means men trampling on women, among other things, and this is exactly what Brett and his crowd did. “What?” some may cry, “you are finding him guilty until proven innocent!” We are not talking about a court of law here; we are not talking about whether he will go to prison; we are talking about making a historical judgement. Anybody who has ever been the object of sexual molestation knows how ashamed that person feels, how they blame themselves. Also, after the disgraceful way that Anita Hill was treated, we know how a woman will be dragged through the mud if she exposes the sexist behavior of a powerful man. There is no chance that three different women would come forward to reveal Brett’s behavior unless it actually happened to them. No chance.

Brett’s elite, party-boy calendar.

Brett’s Party-Boy Calendar
All the circumstantial evidence also tends to confirm their testimony. Take the calendar he submitted in his defense. Contrary to his claims of being choir-boy squeaky clean when he was interviewed on Fox, that calendar shows the life of a privileged party-boy. (His lies on Fox are another issue to be considered.) The fact that the calendar didn’t specifically mention that particular party means nothing. Among other things, the party could have been a last minute affair. Or one of the other social engagements listed in the calendar could have been a reference to the party.

Or take his membership in DKE. This fraternity was known for its heavy drinking and for its mysogeny. (Contrary to his claims on Fox, Brett was also known for his heavy drinking, as his former roommate at Yale reported. Not only that, but he was a nasty drunk, an “aggressive” drunk.) In 2010 (after Brett had left Yale) DKE at Yale held marches at Yale intended to harass women, chanting “No means yes”, in other words supporting rape. Does anybody seriously believe that this wasn’t the atmosphere when young Brett was there at Yale? And why didn’t he drop his membership after that happened?

Kirkland & Ellis
In private practice, Kavanaugh became a partner for Kirkland & Ellis, which is probably the world’s most elite law firm, grossing over $3 billion in revenue, with a profit of $4.701 million per equity partner. This firm has represented BP in relation to their disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil rig fire of 2019, Volkswagen in relation to their laying about emissions of their autos, and GM in relation to their ignition switch scandal.

Now we have the spectacle of Trump saying that these revelations about Kavanaugh are all just “a con job”. Just like the

Kavanaugh on Fox News
The image he presented of himself as a squeeky clean choir boy was an outright lie.

revelations about Trump’s having groped and molested women are, according to Trump. This comes from a man who bragged about such molestation! Just as we have seen Trump’s normalizing of racist assaults (“There were some good people” among the racists who marched in Charlottesville), he is also normalizing sexist assaults.

Then there is the whole matter of the Senate Judicial Committee’s hearings on Kavanaugh. That man imitated Barry Sanders, one of the shiftiest and most elusive running backs in NFL history. Duck and dodge, bob and weave. The fall-back position among these politicians in black robes nowadays is that they cannot comment on any matter that might come before the court. The excuse is that all that matters to them is what is presented in the trial itself. This is an outright lie and should have been labeled as such. As far as women’s rights, Kavanaugh has already demonstrated in action what his views are on that. Nor is “the law” impartial; it always favors the rich and powerful. But even with that evasion, Kavanaugh ducked and avoided. For example, he clerked for a judge (Alex Kozinsky) who had to resign because of his obsession with pornography. (It’s no accident that this sexist was considered to be a “feeder” judge, meaning clerking for him was a step up the judicial ladder.) Kozinsky was also fond of sending pornographic pictures around. When Kavanaugh was asked whether he’d received any such emails from Kozinsky, Kavanugh “couldn’t remember.” In other words, yes he had but if he admitted it then that would open up a whole can of worms and if he perjured himself and said “no” that lie might be discovered at some point in the future.

Politician in Black Robe
Kavanaugh is nothing but a political operative in black robes. His most important political role was to lead the Starr investigation of then-president Bill Clinton. In that role, he insisted on asking the most detailed and intimate sexual questions of Clinton. He also sought to subpoena the president.

And that gets us to the heart of the question as far as Trump is concerned. Since serving on the Starr committee, Kavanaugh has written that he believes a president cannot be subpoenaed. In other words, the president is above the law. With the walls closing in on Trump’s criminal behavior, that’s all that matters to him. How completely natural that the politician he’s selected to fill the Supreme Court vacancy is also a sexual predator, just like Trump himself. That’s a bonus for him!

One thing we should thank Trump/Kavanaugh for though is this: They have helped pull the robes off the judges. People are starting to see the judges for what they are: Just representatives of the sexist, racist, hypocritical and lying system that it is. Representatives of capitalism, in other words.

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