Fox: "Some new lunatic"

"The Democratic strategy is to delay and wait for some new lunatic to come out of the woodwork and accuse Brett Kavanaugh of some crazy new crime."

                                                                Fox News commentator, Saturday 5:40 a.m. PDT

The battle lines aren't just Democrat vs. Republican. It is also the weak vs. power and privilege. The GOP and Fox are scrambling to change that narrative by demeaning the accusers.

Georgetown Prep.

The big narrative is Democrats versus Republicans. Lindsey Graham's stopped the query of Dr. Ford and called the whole hearing a travesty of justice. But Americans could not help but see another frame, another battle line. Kavanaugh was a rich, white, frat boy. He exemplified privilege and entitlement. 

The good life: America has been learning about Georgetown Prep. We have also heard about high school summers spent at Country Clubs and at parties. These weren't summers of washing cars at minimum wage, nor of bucking hay bales on a farm. It was swimming and hanging out with friends. There were problems, of course, problems of too much alcohol, vomiting, blackouts, and maybe on at least one night, a sexual assault.

The party lifestyle continued into college, at least according to a roommate and an accuser. One of his accusers described a drunken penis-in-the-face incident as she awoke from an alcohol haze of her own. The story creates an image of Yale debauchery, a version of the parties at Jay Gatsby's home from the novel, where Tom and Daisy, careless people, smashed things up, damaging lives with their sense of entitlement. Or of the world Trump described. "When you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pussy. You can do anything."

Twice in the hearings Kavanaugh tried to revise that image of his youth and replace it with a modern day log cabin story of meritocracy, first with Senator Whitehouse:

Whitehouse: "So the vomiting that you reference in the Ralph Club reference, related to the consumption of alcohol?"

Kavanaugh: "Senator, I was at the top of my class academically, busted my butt in school. Captain of the varsity basketball team. Got in Yale College. When I got into Yale College, got into Yale Law School. Worked my tail off."

Then with Senator Hirono:

Kavanaugh: "I got into Yale Law School. That's the number one law school in the country. I had no connections there. I got there by busting my tail in college. . . . I studied. I was in Cross-Campus Library every night."

Kavanaugh is attempting to reposition. He earned his success. Not by privilege of birth, not by connections, not by partisan service on the Starr team, and not by taking the position that the President cannot even be investigated while in office. All of those affirm who he is, in a team of rich, white, male, Yale Republicans. Circle the wagons. 

Instead, "I worked my butt off."

It is undoubtably true that he worked hard and is highly intelligent, both. 

Wealth. Power. Alcohol.

But it is also true that he carries a biography of privilege. The FBI investigation of his high school and college friends may flesh out this picture, either of the entitled prince who--like Trump--can grab pussies, because if you are a star, as Trump noted. Or of the serious student who studied hard and partied well, and of course never would assault anyone.

Trump can get away with things that Kavanaugh cannot. Trump needed the affirmation of the voters and it was only for four years. Kavanaugh needs the Senate, and it is for a lifetime. 

Trump, in the Access Hollywood tape, revealed the vulnerability of the entitled, whether it be a billionaire or a handsome Yale student with a big future. They can get away with things, so some do. And for some, the past comes back to haunt them.

Meanwhile, Fox News and GOP Senators cannot allow the accusers of Kavanaugh to appear reasonable. Either they are cynical Democratic operatives, or they are lunatics. Kavanaugh is the victim, set upon by "lunatics."

The FBI investigation may uncover comments and testimony of classmates and people at the parties he attended. Possibly a strong clear image will emerge. Frat boy or merit scholar. 

If nothing clear emerges, then the tie will favor Kavanaugh. Republicans will close ranks.