Early Sunday afternoon I stopped by my local grocery store. One of my wants: a copy of the Sunday New York Times.
The slot in the rack empty, I asked the manager type if the Times already sold out. No, he replied, ‘we’re not going to sell them because we only sold one or two.’
I pointed out that they only got one or two each week, and, every Sunday they sold out before 1:00 p.m. In other words, the store only sold one or two copies due to only having one or two to sell. If they wanted to figure out how many they could sell the store would have to bring in three or five or whatever and see how many sold.
About that time I realized the newspaper rack understood my point better than the manager.
Meanwhile, in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, the leadership of Georgetown Preparatory School placed on their website a response to some of the comments made during the Brett Kavanaugh debacle…
The image that has been presented on social media and in various news outlets depicts recklessness, illegal conduct, and lack of respect for persons. Worse, many blame these faults on institutional indifference…But it is demonstrably false that such behavior or culture is tolerated, still less encouraged, at Georgetown Prep. In fact, our curriculum is designed to guide students away from these malignant influences…Certain individuals have recently presented themselves as representing the culture of Georgetown Prep authoritatively. They do not. The views they present may well represent their experience, but they do not represent our institutional or pedagogical goals…
Sounds good, at least until you look at Kavanaugh’s yearbook entry.
Note that Brett and his classmates got away with printing libelous statements (‘Renate alumnus’), testaments to illegal drinking (by Kavanaugh’s time the legal drinking age in Maryland for beer had reverted to 21 [ http://dcist.com/2018/09/local_laws_kavanaugh_hearing.php ]) sex (Devil’s Triangle is not a drinking game) and vomiting for fun. [https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/09/brett-kavanaugh-yearbook-devils-triangle-boofing-renate-ralph-club.html ]
Now, at my Catholic high school (Duchesne) in the early 1970’s we had a very nice nun who oversaw the yearbook. I just can’t imagine Sister Kathleen letting any phrase or word in the publication she didn’t understand…much less that Noel Coward quote, “Certain women should be struck regularly, like gongs” Brett’s pal Mark Judge proudly added to his entry. [ https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2018/09/kavanaugh-bff-mark-judge-wrote-in-his-yearbook-certain-women-should-be-struck-regularly-like-gongs/ ]
You see, at $37,215 for day student tuition ($60,280 for dorm boys) [ www.gprep.org/admissions/tuition ] you don’t get typical students, you get the sons of the rich and powerful. (Remember, Kavanaugh could be the second Georgetown Prep alum placed on the Supreme Court by Donald Trump.) You get boys from families where the sons know most of society’s rules don’t apply to them.
The faculty at Georgetown Prep had to know – at least in general – what their students did away from school. True, they probably didn’t get reports on every party but when 80 boys brag about the “100 keg club,” well, you know sobriety has become optional. The faculty and administrators could figure out that their institution enabled large scale delinquent behavior and they could not be surprised that one of their valued alums now stands accused of felony sexual assault on a minor.
So, if Brett Kavanaugh gets elevated to the Supreme Court, expect Georgetown Prep to happily commemorate the event. And, in the future, don’t expect quite as much truth in the yearbook. The boys’ behavior probably won’t change but the published history will be sanitized.
Submitted by Glenn Koenen, WCD Member