Whatever your age, Death loiters just around the corner. You would be the first to concede that an unnecessarily grim reminder of life’s reality is better left unsaid in favor of a more cheerful outlook. But there is relevance to reality, considering that you and just about everyone else on the planet often prefers to escape from it. Brett Kavanaugh has experienced a peek at Death. One of life’s little deaths, to be more specific. One day not long ago his reality was resplendent, earned by decades of accomplishment. Today, in the eyes of millions who don’t know the man, he’s a scumbag and always will be. His wife will always be the wife of a scumbag. His children will always be the unfortunate offspring of a scumbag. Even his supporters in dark corners will whisper a nagging doubt. If he happens to win confirmation, the victory will always carry an asterisk. In every history book, he will be a SCOTUS Judge* (see scumbag). Kavanaugh’s big mistake was forging a squeaky clean image. Nothing’s more juicy than bringing down someone who sports an honorable reputation. Media loves skewering a good guy that may have a secret flaw — or alleged flaw. At the same time, Media loves a bad boy. Bill Clinton was (and is) a swashbuckling, serial scumbag and loves every minute of that reputation. The man was President — twice. Ted Kennedy was a playboy who made a deadly mistake, but, hey, he was a Kennedy and all the Kennedys were bad boys, even Papa Joe. Mafia kingpin John Gotti was a playboy murderer and the people loved him. Dozens of entertainment celebrities became more famous after taking a fall for some reckless, thoughtless, criminal behavior — confessing their sins and laughing all the way to the bank as their careers flourished. Unfortunately for him, Bill Cosby was a spokesman for family values. The lesson for wannabe leaders — if you want to be bad on the side, you gotta be cool bad, no excuses. Women especially like a bad boy, if he’s cool. While you can’t escape reality, your fantasy thinks Kavanaugh missed his chance at immortality. When he was asked about what happened — instead of tearfully showing his outrage — he should have made international headlines with something like this:

“Well, Senators, here’s the deal. All of us were almost blind drunk at this party. Yeah, there was a party and I was there. Everybody was talking trash. Chrissie was on her back wavin’ it around, if you get my meaning — and yeah, I pulled down her pants with the intent of gettin’ it on — but man, I physically couldn’t, no matter how drunk I was. I mean — have you seen pictures of her back then? After I sobered up, I went home, threw up and took a hot shower for at least an hour. I was very young then, but I look back at that as one of my most important life lessons — and am grateful for it. Nothing really happened, thank God; and I would hope, if she’s honest with herself and you, Chrissie would say she learned a thing or two about what mistakes to avoid when you’re a kid.”

The Kavanaugh circus was significant for only one reason. It further exposed the incompetence — and in fact, wickedness — of members of Congress. For the most part, these people are cheaters and thieves. They become rich for life doing nothing whatsoever of value. They have only one purpose — to do anything that will assure them a place at the public trough — to feed off the sweat, blood and tears of taxpayers. Honest lawmakers have your sympathy. Swimming in the Beltway swamp must take stamina and tolerance for foul odor.  And — everyday — a long, hot shower.