WASHINGTON—Stars and Stripes had a damn fine Friday morning, one of which any newspaper would have been proud. The paper had a story about how the senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is under serious investigation by the Defense Department's inspector general for "a complaint of alleged misconduct."

The investigators found that during Tibbets’ command of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., in 2017, he made inappropriate comments regarding women on two occasions; failed to properly report information about suicide attempts through his chain of command four times; used a government vehicle improperly and failed to report the value of autographed photographs that celebrities gave him, Air Force spokeswoman Erika Yepsen said...

“Wherever he went on base, people felt nervous in his presence and his holier-than-thou personality."

The military doesn't pose. The military doesn't preen. The military doesn't accept spittle-flecked, half-mad tirades as dispositive evidence. The military has its own problems with sexual assault, and obstruction, and all the usual crimes and offenses. But, in these two cases anyway, it is plainly cleaning up after itself. Go back through history and take a look at what happens to republics when the military becomes the most trusted institution in the government. Nothing good, is what happens.

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Early Friday morning, the AP reported that, the day before, Judge Brett Kavanaugh "misstated" the drinking age in Maryland when he recalled his days of downing brewskis with P.J. and Squi. From Time:

The legal age in that state was raised to 21 on July 1, 1982; Kavanaugh did not turn 18 until Feb. 12, 1983. In a Fox News interview on Monday, Kavanaugh said, “Yes, there were parties. And the drinking age was 18. And yes, the seniors were legal.” In testimony Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he said all of his comments during the Fox interview were accurate and could be made part of the record.

In plain terms, for all his spleen and outrage, Judge Kavanaugh lies about everything. In his earlier hearings, he lied about his judicial philosophy, and he lied about his days as a Republican operative, both in and out of the White House. On Monday, he lied to Martha McCallum of Fox News. On Thursday, he lied about his entire adolescence and his college days.

He lied even when he didn't have to lie. He lied in preposterous ways easily disproven by common sense. (The "Devil's Triangle"? "Renate Alumnius"?) He lied like a toddler, like a guilty adolescent, and like a privileged scion of the white ruling class, which is a continuum with which we all are far too familiar. He lied and he dared the Democratic members of the committee, and the country, to call him on his lies. And now, he is a couple of easy steps away from having lied his way into a lifetime seat on the United States Supreme Court. This guy is going to be deciding constitutional issues for the next four decades, and the truth is not in him.

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The ballgame pretty much ended when Jeff Flake's endlessly tortured conscience led him to the completely predictable conclusion that, while Dr. Christine Blasey Ford was "credible," he would have to vote in favor of putting Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court because, as his official statement said:

"What I do know is that our system of justice affords a presumption of innocence to the accused, absent corroborating evidence. That is what binds us to the rule of law. While some may argue that a different standard should apply regarding the Senate's advice and consent responsibilities, I believe that the Constitution's provisions of fairness and due process apply here as well."

Lord, what a putz this guy is. Before the committee began its meeting on Friday, Flake was confronted by a group of women who had survived sexual assault. He tried to hide in an elevator. They followed him in there. This should happen to him every time he climbs into an elevator for the rest of his life.

All that's left in this sorry epic is to count the votes. We will have the next 40 years to count the cost.

And, an update: Intriguingly, the scheduled Sunday debate between Beto O'Rourke and Ted Cruz in Houston has been postponed. The stated reason? Cruz "will be in Washington, D.C. for weekend votes." The railroad is picking up steam.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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