I think I need to add this…

I wrote this post before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, and that hearing, and the actions of Brett Kavanaugh and the Republican Senators confirmed the worst of white male privilege.

Kavanaugh, Graham, Grassley, et al, screamed and yelled and lied with impunity, and, of course, did so with the assurance that none of them would face any consequences.

Kavanaugh, who has never had to face any consequence for his behavior in his 53 years, was consumed with repeating that he had “busted [his] butt" in high school and college — apparently unlike all those lazy lower class folks whose hard work could never get them to Yale, the White House, or the Supreme Court. He was “captain of the basketball team" for God’s sake, how could he possibly be accused of sexual assault?

One of the things cops and prosecutors learn is the art of the “tell,” actions when a person is answering questions that suggest false testimony, that they are lying. Kavanaugh’s testimony was chock full o' tells. He evaded every direct question. He attacked his questioners. He flatly refused to answer critical questions — but beyond all that, his facial expressions and body language changed completely from when, on one hand he was speaking about getting caught/being accused (and in these situations he appeared genuinely hurt/surprised), and on the other hand when he was evading the truth (in which he appeared to be playing the part written for him by Trump and team). No one with any experience in law enforcement could have watched Kavanaugh’s testimony and come to any conclusion other than he was lying under oath.

There’s something else. If you hear someone lie under oath about the least significant things — I never drank beers during the week, Renate Alumnius, FFFFFFFF — it is only logical to assume they’re lying about the big stuff too.

But, you see, none of these men — not Kavanaugh, not Trump, not Graham, not Grassley, not Hatch — has ever faced consequences, because their privileges have protected them all of their lives.

Which is different from the experience of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, or, say, an African-American teenager, the people who have no standing when white Republican men hold the power.

• Ira Socol