Bayesian odds Brett Kavanaugh has a drinking problem at 70%: Josh Marshall: "Kavanaugh asks Sen Klobuchar multiple times if she's had alcoholic blackouts..." Jeet Heer: @HeerJeet: "For me, this exchange between Kavanaugh and Klobuchar was... I won't say triggering but it really made and impression and resonated...
...I have a few alcoholics in my family and I've often had to try—gingerly and diplomatically—to try to talk to a few of them about the problems. the Klobuchar/Kavanaugh exchange was very familiar on those terms, rather than as a Senate grilling. Klobuchar, whose dad had a drinking problem, was clearly drawing on her own experience in the way she approached Kavanaugh: her tact, her eschewal of judgement. And Kavanaugh's response to Klobuchar: the defensiveness, the chip-on-the-shoulder, the you-think-your-better-than-me comeback.
Although there are lots of stories about Kavanaugh's drinking, it's really impossible (and impertinent) to know from a distance if he's an alcoholic. Could just be a guy who, like he says, enjoys beer as a relaxant but is otherwise okay. We really don't know. What we can say is that when the issue of his drinking is brought up, even in the most tactful way possible (as it was by Klobuchar), Kavanaugh responds by getting testy, defensive and hostile. That's not good.
Just Another Crank: @thereal_crank_: He revealed who he is, and the accusations against him even more believable. Imagine that person, drunk. For a lot of people, he was scary sober...
#shouldread
