Biden says he owes Anita Hill an apology

[Sunlei]

Source: CNN

Washington (CNN) — Former Vice President Joe Biden says he owes Anita Hill an apology for not doing more for her during confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Biden chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee when Hill testified there in 1991. Hill said she was sexually harassed by Thomas while he was her supervisor at the Department of Education. Thomas denied the allegations, calling the questioning during the hearing a "high-tech lynching."

"And my one regret is that I wasn't able to tone down the attacks on her by some of my Republican friends," Biden said. "I mean, they really went after her. As much as I tried to intervene, I did not have the power to gavel them out of order."Biden added that if he could do it again, he would have gone forward with a subpoena for three women, whom he had sign affidavits saying they wouldn't testify.

"The reason I didn't, I was worried they would come and not corroborate what she said and make -- I mean, Clarence Thomas only won by two votes. And we still thought we had a chance at beating him." Regardless, Biden told Teen Vogue, "I wish I had been able to do more for Anita Hill," adding, "I owe her an apology."

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/14/politics/biden-anita-hill-teen-vogue/index.html

[Baitball Blogger]

1. Yes, he does. Long overdue.

[Hortensis]

2. He owes America a huge apology. Thomas was

extremely unqualified by every usual standard, in addition to being specifically unfit for any public office in others.

[yurbud]

14. Democrats in general rubberstamped and refused to block too many GOP judicial nominees

[Hortensis]

46. I wasn't offering opportunity to discuss profound ignorance

of how government works in general, and specifically in this case. This period is examined in a bunch of well regarded history books for those who want to understand it and in the process also learn something about how representative government works.

[yurbud]

51. funny, it seems to work differently for Republican & Democratic politicians.

[yurbud]

52. Democrats seem to be constrained by how government works, then the GOP does whatever

the fuck they want.

So either elected Democrats don't seem to realize that "how government works" isn't carved in stone, or they don't mind Republican obstruction using rules Democrats leave in place when they have the power to change them.

[DURHAM D]

3. Only took him 26 years to figure that out.

His excuse for his behavior is drivel.

[dlk]

4. Biden's Lame Apology is Much too Little, Much too Late

I'm glad Biden may have finally begun to realize what he did to women and this country by pulling the rug out from under Anita Hill and, thus, inflicting Thomas on SCOTUS and rest of the country. However, he made a political calculation and the collective damage has long been done. Forgiving him and forgetting what he did are two entirely different things.

[FakeNoose]

27. Yes! I have to wonder, why now?

Why did he even bother with this lame excuse. Maybe he's thinking about running for POTUS in 2020?
Otherwise it's way too little, and way too late. (just like you said!)

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

30. Yes... and tells you Biden IS running in 2020.

[Honeycombe8]

5. Oh, I had forgotten this. I watched a lot of that confirmation hearing, incl Anita Hill.

Yeah, that's a big blot on his record. But he didn't vote for Thomas, so that's one thing.

It was clear none of the men on that panel (and I think they were all men) believed her, or didn't think what she was describing was a big deal.

[WhiteTara]

6. The answer is No, Joe we still don't want you

as our President. This is the 4th NO...Don't embarrass yourself, fade into the sunset. Don't make us humiliate you by the official NO in the primaries.

[BannonsLiver]

12. Who is we?

[rainlillie]

16. I love Joe! He and Gov Cuomo are the only two Democrats I'd vote for right now..

[tblue37]

57. NOT Cuomo! nt

[rainlillie]

60. I like what he's done for the state.. especially with the gun laws.

I'm all in if he decides to run.

[WhiteTara]

25. Why. the Democratic Party.

He is a 3 time Primary Loser, comes with a TON of baggage and now I say, No Thanks.

[BannonsLiver]

37. I don't care if he runs or not.

But don't pretend you speak for anyone but yourself. Mighty presumptuous.

[WhiteTara]

38. He lost 3 times in primaries

I think that speaks volumes. I also noted I say no for the 4th time.

[RhodeIslandOne]

62. He lost twice

Both times prior to becoming a great VP.

If you are going to be so rather arrogantly adamant in repeating your position, at least be factually correct.

[WhiteTara]

64. So great VP doesn't equate to

our candidate for President. We need more youth...someone we won't fear will die in office.

[mountain grammy]

7. I really like and admire Biden, but will never forget this.

Finally an apology, but he should say more. Too little too late, Joe. Full confession time.

[LakeArenal]

21. Yes, I have had a problem resolving that persona

With this new one. I don't remember at all him being light on Anita. I was angry at him most.

But it's a new day. All apologies decades late are too little too late. Give Joe the benefit of the doubt.

Having said all that, I hope we find a young charismatic person to run next. That President can appoint Biden to the Supreme Court.

[mountain grammy]

23. And Id be fine with that because,

if nothing else, I don’t believe he would make those mistakes again.

[tblue37]

58. No. Any SCOTUS appointment a Dem makes needs to be young enough to hold that seat for a LONG time!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

31. I do appreciate Joe's loyalty to Obama.

[mountain grammy]

36. Many good things about Biden

far outweigh the bad. I just think it’s important for everyone to come clean with their part in the suppression of women. A big contrast to the smears of Al Franken. This was using power to silence women voices.

[Paladin]

8. The Thomas hearings were a nauseating spectacle.

Glad to see Biden coming forward with an apology; plenty of others need to do the same.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

32. Only decades too late... glad?

[JenniferJuniper]

9. Better late, than never, but this is very late.

[stonecutter357]

11. Joe Biden 2020 !

[steventh]

13. Biden owes an apology to women everywhere.

His behavior at the Anita Hill hearings was most revolting. He is partly responsible for every vile Supreme Court decision Clarence Thomas made all those years.

[rainlillie]

15. I don't think he owes her an apology..

Although I think she was telling the truth, IMO, at times she seemed out of it. She really wasn't a good witness.

[BannonsLiver]

39. I don't think he owes her an apology either.

It's cool to see millenials become aware of Hill's story (even though most make the mistake of thinking she is a feminist,even though she's not) but all that matters is how he voted. And it was a no.

[rainlillie]

40. Agreed. There's a enough crap to deal with now, instead of rehashing something

that long ago. We better get our shit together or we're going to lose again. I don't want a perfect candidate.. they don't exist, just like perfect people don't exist. I also don't want the flavor of the month or someone who had a good moment at a hearing.. Takes more than that to impress me. I want someone who can win and is qualified.

[BannonsLiver]

41. The Biden grievances have been done to death

I don't recall many people talking about Anita Hill in 2008 when he was selected as Obama's running mate. Suddenly it's an issue, 26 years later, for the guy who actually voted against his confirmation. Like you said we shouldn't need the perfect candidate. We just need someone who can win. Whether that's Biden, I don't know. But I do know this, he's a good man, despite the slurs that have been hurled his way by reactionaries in this thread. Most of the posters criticizing Biden are the type of folks who believe Leeann Tweeden has more credibility than Al Franken.

[rainlillie]

43. Totally agree!

Great point about not hearing about this stuff when he was Obama's VP. I'd hope we learned a lesson from picking apart potentially good, but not perfect candidates. There's too much at stake to worry about someones feelings being hurt over 20 years ago. Damn! We had Nazis marching down the street in 2017 and the whackjob in the White House may get us into a nuclear war.. Sorry, but I really don't give a crap about Anita Hill and an apology.

[DeltaLitProf]

56. She probably would be considered a feminist

I say that based on her writings and on her being a professor of women's studies. Check out her wikipedia entry for more.

[calimary]

17. Sure took you long enough, pal.

[apnu]

47. Sometimes people need an opening to speak

Just like all the women who kept silent for years until #MeToo broke it wide open. This isn't a man or woman habit, its a human habit. People find courage when they see other people showing courage. We humans learn from copying one another, which is a trait all primates share.

People can grow and see their past actions and mistakes and want to be better people today.

Joe Biden's liberal record shows he's one of the good guys. Not 100% perfect, but then nobody is. Biden is a thousand times cleaner in the morality department than Bill Clinton.

None of what I am saying excuses his past mistakes, but the fact that he's speaking up about this now, on his own says a lot.

If we are going to change all this, it will take privileged men like Biden to come to the light and be a part of the solution. Admitting wrong doing and apologizing is the first step.

[calimary]

67. Good points. And yeah, his overall record, like Franken's, does indeed show he's supportive

of women's issues.

I'd vote for him if he runs. Wish he was younger, but I'd support his candidacy. I think he'd make a great president, and a healing one, too, after this monster now. He could help us recover from this nightmare.

[Sienna86]

18. Too late

And I feel he’s only issuing this bc of his interest in 2020.

[nolabels]

24. Ding,Ding...........

and we have a winner

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

33. So transparent.

[ananda]

19. That's better.

It's honest.

[Borchkins]

20. Too little, too late.

[Raven123]

22. I watched the hearings

Though I don't remember a lot, it seemed to me at the time that Biden didn't believe Anita Hill. I don't see this statement as addressing his own doubt and I think it falls short of being an apology.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

29. Sure does... and the timing is a bit suspect.

[samnsara]

26. sooo are y'all saying he could have SINGLE HANDEDLY changed the course?...

is that why you're mad at him?... I'm sure he could not have.....but wished he could. I watched it as well.

[pnwmom]

35. He was the Chair. He himself said that if he had let the testimony about porn in

then he could have "decimated" Thomas. But he didn't think that would have been "right."

He ALSO made the decision to have Anita hand over her written testimony before the hearing, and then he passed it on to Thomas and let Thomas use it to prepare his attack on Anita. Knowing what she was going to be saying, Thomas spoke FIRST, and went on the attack.

Biden also decided not to call multiple witnesses who said they were waiting, expecting to be called. One was a porn shop owner whose attorney advised him not to testify without a subpoena, so he told Biden's committee he needed one. They never issued one. They wanted to preserve the dignity of the Senate.

But they allowed the Republicans to provide testimony about Anita having a made-up mental illness called "erotomania."

Those decisions of Biden's were deeply unfair.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

28. Bout time.

[Demit]

34. Sure. Next let's see him explain away his work on the 2005 bankruptcy bill.

The 2005 bankruptcy bill effectively prevents student debt from being discharged, rescheduled or renegotiated as other debt can be in bankruptcy court. …about 1.1 million people face student debt loans of $100,000 or more, and roughly 167,000 face student loans of $200,000 or more.

http://www.ibtimes.com/joe-biden-backed-bills-make-it-harder-americans-reduce-their-student-debt-2094664

And this story is from 2015. There will be even more potential voters being crushed by student debt. Read this story. Ole Joe isn't the sweetheart he looks to be.

[BannonsLiver]

42. Yes, Joe is a mean old terrible man!

The overwrought posts in this thread are priceless.

[Demit]

44. Read the story at the link. You might learn something you evidently are ignorant of.

[Skittles]

49. didn't you get the memo, Demit?

you're supposed to swoon

[Demit]

50. I know. Whatever is wrong with me, bringing up his Senate record!

I'm so mean.

[RobinA]

45. How Expedient

I like Biden, but it's a done deal. No apology. It's yours, dude.

[Skittles]

48. NO SHIT

how I have always despised this SWOONING over "Uncle Joe"

[walkingman]

53. He owes the American public an apology.

[Polly Hennessey]

54. Too little, too late.

Sorry, Joe. I admire you for many reasons but can’t forgive you for Anita Hill.

[GoCubsGo]

55. Indeed, he does.

I am happy to see him finally recognize this. Better late than never.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

59. He definitely owes her an apology, but his leadup is pretty self-serving.

"As much as I tried to intervene..." Sorry, Uncle Joe, we have the tapes. There wasn't a whole lot of that.

[Sunlei]

61. Finally media asks the questions our society needs to hear. I hope they ask more questions 'someday'

We have some good people in/recently out of our government. Willing to discuss & answer questions honestly, if only questions are asked in the first place.

[RhodeIslandOne]

63. Didnt realize Biden was under the bus now at DU

His behavior during the Thomas hearings merits harsh criticism, but this thread is apparently a chance for the Joe Haters lurking to have their three minutes on airing all grivences of a 45 year career.

[Sunlei]

65. LOVE Joe Biden, he's not under any bus- what behavior? The interview questions explained the BLOCK!

finally a quality interview question with an answer that will bring forth more questions & discussions.

The questions need to be asked of those on committee who allowed other woman to be silenced. Some of those same people are up for reelection in 2018.

[RhodeIslandOne]

66. Im not blaming you for posting his statement

Just noticing how many people are using it as a chance to throw their shots in completely unrelated it seems to the issue at hand.

[Sunlei]

68. Senate Judiciary Committee, some running in 2018/2020 ALL need to answer these questions.

Joe Biden won't mind at all bringing this issue forward, keeping it alive in the media.

Republicans who did railroad Anita Hill & several other woman, let a SCJ get away with lies need to stop running for RE-election in our government.