Watching Brett Kavanaugh testify before the Senate committee last Thursday reminded me of Spencer Tracy in the movie Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Tracy played the character of a psychotically sick, middle-aged man, a mild-mannered, well-respected medical doctor operating within London’s elite society who had a very, very dark side when it came to substance abuse and abuse of women.

It wasn’t easy to watch Kavanaugh as he went on and on. He seemed to be on the verge of an emotional breakdown from beginning to end. Multiple times he came close to crying out loud. He must have reached for water 15 times. His facial expressions, what looked like his tongue constantly moving back and forth and up and down inside his mouth, as well as his over-the-top anger, did not come across well in the important category for a Supreme Court judge of “temperament.”

Kavanaugh was so upset because his cover was blown by three courageous women who charged that they had been victimized by him when he was a young man palling around with Mark Judge, an admitted former alcoholic of dubious character.

I don’t know if Kavanaugh’s apparent behavior in high school and college continued as he grew older. But it is a fact that he is a former clerk, a co-worker in the Bush administration and a long-time friend of former Appellate Judge Alex Kozinski, “known to sexually harass his clerks.”

Many talking heads and commentators on TV spoke about the wrenching emotionality of Dr. Blasey Ford’s and Kavanaugh’s testimony as if both were equally deserving of sympathy. People commented on the difficult circumstances for Kavanaugh’s wife, children and parents, which is certainly true. But in my non-professional, just-a-concerned-observer opinion, there is a world of difference between how the two presented themselves and what people who want to understand the truth of things should take away from the Thursday political/human drama seen by tens of millions.

I believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.

I believe that Brett Kavanaugh was lying and has been lying not just on Thursday and in his efforts to get a Supreme Court seat but for much of his life.

I believe that it makes sense that a son of elite privilege, going to elite schools, raised to think of himself as a future elite leader, when exposed as a drunk and a sexual predator while young, at least, would respond the way that he has. His hope for a position of supreme power in the US until very old age is in very serious jeopardy, so he is lashing out at those with the power to prevent that from happening. He is doing his best to obfuscate the truth and present a narrative that will maintain support from those with his political views who can get him over the finish line.

I believe that all men should take the #MeToo movement very seriously, and that all of us, men, women, of whatever gender, should help it to keep building and profoundly impacting our patriarchal culture.

And I believe that whatever happens with Kavanaugh in the month of October, the month of November must be the month when, on November 6^th, the politics and behavior of Kavanaugh, Trump and all the others are decisively repudiated as a massive upsurge of decent people votes the Republicans out in record-breaking numbers.

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist, organizer and writer since 1968. Past writings and other information can be found at https://tedglick.com, and he can be followed on twitter at https://twitter.com/jtglick.