oddly, i had reason to believe the allegations against cosby the first time i heard them, because in 1997, my now-late best friend, an actors' manager, came home from a party where he had sat next to scott bakula, and told me (when i asked) that bakula was as nice as everyone said. then he said, "do you know who the nicest guy in hollywood is?" nope, i said. "denzel washington." he went into detail about why. then he asked me, "do you know who the meanest man in hollywood is?" nope, i said. "bill cosby." then he told me about the time one of his clients, an actress, called him (my friend) frantically from a hotel room on location for a film, saying cosby was banging on her door demanding that she have sex with him. i don't remember what advice my friend said he gave her, but when, years later, those allegations came out, i knew they had to be true. i'd liked cosby, too. what a waste.

now, i have no such regrets about kavanaugh. i like nothing about him. to me it's just disgusting, not saddening, that he is the kind of creep he is. it's saddening that creeps such as he exist, but i do not feel some kind of disappointment in him. you have to have expectations, even of simple decency, to be disappointed. i never suspected him of anything good, not even simple decency.

g