I know I’m not the only one.
As I watched Brett Kavanaugh’s last Senate Judiciary Committee appearance–following that of his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford–I couldn’t overcome the sense that this might be hard for “Saturday Night Live” to spoof. I mean, how to you satirize a parody? Is the “Honorable Brett Kavanaugh” an oxymoron?
It was obvious from the start that Kavanaugh was doubling down on the tactic that mattered most at sexual-misconduct-allegation crunch time. This was more than damage control. In short, this was about showing viscerally that Kavanaugh was a victim of a reputation-destroying Democratic witch hunt. Plus, he wanted the back-in-the-day theme to be beer for the cool guys, not babes for assaultive sorts.
The hearing was a “circus,” a “sham” and a “national disgrace,” he charged. Moreover, the Senate had “replaced ‘advice and consent’ with ‘search and destroy.’” In response, Kavanaugh had replaced judicial temperament with calculated anguish and anger. Wonder what RBG thought about a punk on the court.
Then it got worse. He was never a “boring Boy Scout,” as Ted Cruz had mischaracterized him. He was just one of the guzzling guys, only the one who was top of his elite, country-club-milieu, prep school class and Yale-and-legal-career bound.
He even worked in a conspiratorial Clinton reference. He was angry, belligerent, defiant and flippant. He liked beer; he liked girls. Who doesn’t? But he had never assaulted anyone, and he had never passed out, even if he had been a member in particularly good standing of the “Beach Week Ralph Club.”
He lacerated the process and all Democratic Party enablers. This was a job interview, and the committee and the nation had just heard the excruciating testimony of Dr. Ford, a relative avatar of authenticity. As a result, he was on the #MeToo ropes–and nobody was more important than his nominator, Donald Trump. Certainly not Christine Blasey Ford, playing the lead in an immorality play to take down his besieged nomination.
Given Kavanaugh’s defiant demeanor and sniffling, thirst-quenching, rage-against-the-machine manner, it was surprising that one of the Democratic senators didn’t ask: “So, Judge, how many beers have you already had today?” I’m even more surprised that “SNL” didn’t go with it.
The bottom line: It was an embarrassing circus, one that should be unworthy of this country and its pre-eminent, “advice and consent” deliberative body.
But, yeah, Matt Damon as Brett Kavanaugh pulled it off on “SNL.” “I’m still an optimist” wryly noted Damon as Kavanaugh. “The keg is half full.” But we’ve all had Kava-nough.