>>BTW, the expression I was looking for and not finding (aging sucks) when I wrote "above suspicion" was "beyond reproach," which I think expresses my sentiment better.

Not wanting to perpetuate furore in a thread about Jet Blue being open-sourced, but:

- If the GOP is as venal as some believe, any future Democrat nominee for any post can now expect schoolgirls from decades ago to remember attempted rapes.
- As precedent I propose Professor Judy Munro-Leighton who also remembered Kavanaugh's sexual assault on her, but subsequently admitted it was fabricated to derail his nomination.
- If a female is nominated, either her religion or lack thereof will be attacked or schoolgirls will remember attempted rapes from decades ago. There are precedents including military murders if anybody tries to scoff at such a notion and as it's 2021, perhaps some schoolboys also will remember attempted rapes on them.
- If your Kavanaugh test is applied uniformly, it may prove impossible for any nomination ever to proceed again.

-Certainly it's true that things are heavily stacked against women regarding sexual assaults whose perpetrators are motivated to exclude potential witnesses. Hence reluctance to disbelieve complaints when things are already so heavily stacked. But today the kids tell me that devices mean they're never really alone. Evidence can be subpoenaed to confirm device proximity and buddy systems allow entire social groups to be mobilized to check bedrooms, gardens and dark alleyways if somebody isn't responding. With women more comfortable with their sexuality and society more supportive, the shame once attached to sexual assault is less likely to motivate suffering in silence. With implanted devices just around the corner, hopefully the whole issue of evidence and doubt can be consigned to history.

As for Kavanaugh: I grew up with Catholic boys of his vintage. I would not be surprised if the drunkenness compensated for social awkwardness that prevented anything more than platonic courtly interactions with women until his family- and church-sanctioned wedding. His friend I also recognize. Perhaps better another time... though for completeness, the attempted rape consisted of a drunken Kavanaugh throwing himself on her on a bed and then the friend piling on top, which apparently saved her. If you asked Kavanaugh whether it's possible he threw himself or fell on somebody through drunkenness rather than intention to sexually assault, he might agree.

Final point: I share your concern about his emotional response at the Senate. I would not want to be an involved Democrat with a case before him. However, people who advocate stacking courts with like-minded activist judiciary can hardly complain that a constitutionalist might not be strictly neutral.