Fucking Consent, How Does It Work

While the official public position of Republican elected officials is that Kavanaugh is innocent, a lot of support for Kavanaugh seems really to hinge on the conviction that even if he did what he’s credibly accused of it’s just harmless teenage hi-jinx and locker room talk:

Tony Gardner, a 60-year-old retired pipe fitter from Robbinsdale, Minn., flipped on Fox News on Thursday to watch Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh indignantly defend himself against an accusation of sexual assault from decades ago. If anything, Mr. Gardner said, Judge Kavanaugh was “too timid” in trying to refute the claims and fight back against senators examining his fitness for the Supreme Court.

“He’s probably perfect for the job, but the questions they’re asking are the wrong ones,” said Mr. Gardner, a supporter of President Trump. “How will he judge? Not, did he feel up a woman when he was 18? I don’t know any guy who didn’t feel up a woman when he was 18.”

And it’s not just the rank and file. Here, for example, is Mollie Hemmingway, identified by no less than David Brooks as part of a right-wing intellectual renaissance:

It’s outrageous that Brett Kavanaugh is being investigated for approaching a woman at a bar! Wait, what?

And, of course, it’s also Republican officials:

Hey, say this for Jim Jordan, he’s consistent about adhering to his principles of looking the other way from sexual abuses, which after all are not nearly as bad as someone protesting violence against racial minorities during the national anthem.

Republicans didn’t want a serious investigation of the charges into Kavanaugh in large measure because they just don’t care if they’re true.