#RevThread #109
On Watching Brett Kavanaugh
1/ Lots of analysis is going on about Judge Kavanaugh’s testimony. What was going on there? What was being revealed?
On Watching Brett Kavanaugh
1/ Lots of analysis is going on about Judge Kavanaugh’s testimony. What was going on there? What was being revealed?
2/ I want to raise a different possibility. I don’t think the issue is where Judge Kavanaugh should be placed on some continuum of left to right in terms of legal philosophy. That might come later.
3/ Alcohol abuse was a big deal in my home growing up. I got a lot of help from Adult Children of Alcoholics. During my pastoral ministry, I was trained in Intervention and conducted several of those sessions to help suffering alcoholics get into treatment.
4/ Pastors deal with lots of alcoholism. There’s more of it out there than most of us can imagine. It’s a disease; it’s not a character issue.
5/ I’ve been thinking over Brett Kavanaugh’s testimony. His behavior during the afternoon made me wonder, “Is this man drunk?” I strongly suspect that he was. Here are some of the signs that alerted me to his possible intoxication:
6/ The grandiose claims that he and his family had been destroyed; the defiant claims that he’s not going anywhere; his frequent mention of his beloved beer; the sloppy posture; the exaggerated facial expressions; the furious flipping...
7/.. of the pages with only a few words on each page; the desperate struggle to stop weeping; the bizarre effrontery with Sen Klobuchar: “Do you have blackouts?”;
8/..the agony on his wife’s stricken face as she watched the man she loves humiliate himself; the frequent breaks so he could get out.
9/ Above all, there had been a noticeable change in his personality-- in the way he presented himself. The defining symptom of advancing alcoholism is that when alcohol is introduced to the body, the personality emphatically & quickly changes.
10/ All of this suggested to me that he had decided he needed some alcohol to brace himself before (and during?) his ordeal. And that suggests to me a classic cry for help.
11/ Maybe Judge Kavanaugh was brought to that moment not so that his family would be destroyed, but so that his family could be saved. He needs help.
12/ High functioning alcoholics have held many demanding positions. Grant, Churchill, & FDR all struggled with excessive drinking, but they did not hide behind a mask of self-righteousness. They allowed people who loved them to check their drinking, especially during a crisis.
13/ If my suspicion is correct, Kavanaugh can not be entrusted with this position until his cry is answered and he is secure in his recovery. I have compassion for anyone suffering like that, and I know they can recover.
14/ What is intolerable is the nearly unanimous Republican approval of Kavanaugh's out-of-control behavior. “They look and look and do not see. . .”
