Judge Kavanaugh's High School Yearbook Has Become A Star Witness

NY Times- Brett Kavanaugh’s page in his high school yearbook offers a glimpse of the teenage years of the man who is now President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee: lots of football, plenty of drinking, parties at the beach. Among the reminiscences about sports and booze is a mysterious entry: “Renate Alumnius.”

The word “Renate” appears at least 14 times in Georgetown Preparatory School’s 1983 yearbook, on individuals’ pages and in a group photo of nine football players, including Judge Kavanaugh, who were described as the “Renate Alumni.” It is a reference to Renate Schroeder, then a student at a nearby Catholic girls’ school.

Two of Judge Kavanaugh’s classmates say the mentions of Renate were part of the football players’ unsubstantiated boasting about their conquests.

Judge Kavanaugh’s peers have given different accounts of what he was like. But his yearbook provides a contemporaneous glimpse of the elite Catholic school’s hard-drinking atmosphere — Judge Kavanaugh’s personal page boasts, “100 kegs or bust” — and a culture that some describe as disrespectful to women.

His page, in addition to the “Alumnius” entry, mentions his role as “treasurer” of the “Keg City Club.”

“Judge Kavanaugh and Ms. Dolphin attended one high school event together and shared a brief kiss good night following that event,” the statement continued.

Ms. Dolphin said she had never kissed Judge Kavanaugh.

Yesterday, Kavanaugh’s calendars were introduced as a major piece of evidence in this sexual assault case. Not to be outdone, his high school yearbook immediately pranced down to the courthouse and said “I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY!” And boy, it’s juicy.

First, the only thing that Brett Kavanaugh liked more than beer was talking about how much he liked beer. On his own yearbook page, he chose “100 kegs or bust” as the words that best exemplified his high school years. And one has to imagine that he kept a very meticulous record of the keg consumption, given that he was the “treasurer of the Keg City Club.”

I understand that this is a very serious matter. Sexual assault is not something to joke about at all. Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations are grave and momentous, and her testimony must be heard. Obviously. OBVIOUSLY.

But if you can’t laugh at the fact that we’ve nominated the “treasurer of the Keg City Club” to the SUPREME COURT, you’re dead inside. The SCOTUS justices are the most serious people on earth. In 2016, Clarence Thomas asked a question about a case for the first time in a decade. He doesn’t speak! And that bench is one hearing away from adding a guy who believes, at his core, that if you drink anything less than 100 kegs in a sitting, you’ve failed. Tremendous.

As for the Renate Alumni, I’d imagine they’re all lying. At least about having sex with her, if that’s the implication. Sounds like maybe Kavanaugh gave her a smooch once. If that’s enough to make you a Renate Alumnus, then I’m probably in the club too. I’ve never met a woman named Renate in my life, but I’ve smooched a ton of babes–in darkness, at loud clubs, in cemeteries, etc. There’s a chance that there was a Renate among them. We can’t know for sure. Is it disrespectful to start a club in her honor? Eh. If all the girls I’ve ever been with started a club and called themselves the Francis Alumnae, I’d feel honored. But maybe it’s different for a guy, even though it shouldn’t be, if you’re a proponent of gender equality.