Joe Biden says he regrets he didn't give Anita Hill the hearing she deserved.

[pnwmom]

Last edited Wed Mar 27, 2019, 04:36 AM - Edit history (5)

But he seems not to recognize that as Chairman of the Committee, he was the one with the power to give her a fair shake.

He says he wishes he could have done something. But he could have done something. He could have called her corroborating witnesses -- the ones waiting in a hotel room, expecting to be called. That's what he should be apologizing for. There somehow wasn't "time" to hear those witnesses, but there was plenty of time to hear a Rethug witness claiming that Anita had "erotomania."

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/26/us/politics/biden-anita-hill.html?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage

Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Tuesday acknowledged his role in the Anita Hill hearing, publicly reckoning with a moment from his past that has drawn criticism as he considers a third presidential campaign.

In an emotional speech, Mr. Biden said he recognized the part he played in the aggressive questioning that Ms. Hill faced during the 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Justice Clarence Thomas, when she testified that Justice Thomas had sexually harassed her.

“She faced a committee that didn’t fully understand what the hell this was all about. To this day, I regret I couldn’t give her the kind of hearing she deserved,” he said, at an event in New York City honoring students who helped fight sexual violence on college campuses. “I wish I could have done something.”

His lament rang hollow to some on social media Tuesday night, who noted that Mr. Biden, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had considerable influence over how the hearing was conducted.

SNIP

Angela Wright, who speaks here starting just before the 2 minute mark, also doesn't think Anita got a fair hearing. Imagine how things might have turned out if she and the other corroborating witnesses had had a chance to appear at the hearing.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

1. No doubt... it was regrettable. At least Joe acknowledges that... gotta give him credit.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Join the revolution!!!

[pnwmom]

2. He's not taking responsibility for his ROLE in what happened to her. He regrets what happened,

but he acts as if he was powerless -- and he wasn't. He was the Chairman of the Committee and he made all the decisions about who to call and who not to call.

So he called, for example, Republican witnesses who testified about Anita's "erotomania," (a made-up condition if there ever was one), and he FAILED to call the three women who were prepared to tell their own harassment stories with Clarence Thomas.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

3. You might have a point... I'd be interested in Joe's response when it comes up in the debates.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Join the revolution!!!

[pnwmom]

4. Me, too. Because this is the kind of evidence he DID allow into the hearings

even though he said they didn't have time to allow her three corroborating witnesses to give public testimony.

https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/14/us/thomas-nomination-psychologists-try-explain-why-thomas-hill-offer-opposing-views.html?mtrref=www.google.com

What, many are asking, do the protagonists believe really happened? This issue came into sharp focus at today's hearings, with Republicans suggesting that Professor Hill was delusionary and with Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, saying that nobody the committee had heard was qualified to "psychoanalyze" the professor.

SNIP

The question of delusion has been mentioned repeatedly in the past two days, since John Doggett 3d, a lawyer in Austin, Tex., who knew both Professor Hill and Judge Thomas, and who signed an affadavit saying that Ms. Hill had an unreasonable impression that he was romantically interested in her. He suggested that she may have harbored similar unreasonable assumptions about Judge Thomas.

"Erotomania" is the psychiatric term for a condition in which otherwise competent and rational people harbor a fixed romantic delusion. The hallmark of this disorder is that the romantic delusion is plausible, although wrong, and the person's behavior is not otherwise odd or bizarre.

MEANWHILE, here is a highly credible witness Biden FAILED to call, even though she was ready and waiting. Don't you think she would have helped people believe Anita Hill? She starts talking here just before the 2 minute mark.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

13. It's troubling, I'll grant ya that... but, I don't think that alone is necessarily a deal breaker.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Join the revolution!!!

[karynnj]

16. I agree that he doesn't fully take responsibility because one message is that he had wished he could

have done something different. To me, this invalidates the apology because he is not apologizing for things he DID and things he DID NOT do. It might be because his image of himself is so at variance with his actions then. Therefore he emphasizes that he voted against Thomas, not that he chaired the hearing. Chairs have the power to do many things.

I would speculate that one thing that might have had some impact was that Biden was much younger than his peers with the same seniority and power in the Senate. (He was elected before he was 30, but became 30 before he was sworn in. This meant he was very young when he gained the seniority to be a chair. ) Could his willingness to go along have been a function of being a member of that very elite men's club? Remember he had already run for President in 1988 and clearly had ambitions to do so again. If he ran again, it would be in the lane of experience and gravitas.

To some degree, he was a product of his time and upbringing. There were some of the then younger Senators who were near Biden's age, who argued that there was not a full record. Here is a clip of Senator Kerry who argued just that - and made the case that extending the hearings would create no harm. https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4751436/senator-kerry-1991

I think that this apology will do no more than the last one. Hard as it personally might be, I think he needs to essentially reject HIS actions in 1991 and say that HE was wrong -- not that the process was or imply it was others who were responsible. I think this is tough because it goes to the heart of who he is and how he sees himself -- as a good guy, who has worked hard on women's rights issues.

It might be that he does not see his 1991 self as not progressive on women's issues. That might be fair and his action on the trial might have been more due to embarrassment over the hearings and his not wanting to stand against the "club". It could also have been that he was concerned because Thomas was black and defeating him could have hurt him in a future Presidential race? Ironically, times have changed enough that he actually is easily pictured as one of the villains here.

Biden, himself, likely needs to consider why he is reluctant to take responsibility for not having taken what might have been a bold, unpopular (on the committee) step that would have opened the committee to hear the other women. He needs to honestly state why he didn't - because otherwise he opens things up to speculation.

[BannonsLiver]

17. Well lets not kid ourselves there's really no threshold that he could meet with a lot of folks.

I’ve read enough of your posts here to know you can’t stand the guy.

[pnwmom]

25. I had no opinion about Biden before I watched him conduct those hearings.

I have seen nothing in the interim to change my opinion of how poorly he handled them. And he still doesn't recognize his own role in the process, so he hasn't learned anything from the experience.

And now, thanks to those horrible hearings, we still have Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court. It's a gift that keeps on giving.

[BannonsLiver]

26. My point is it really doesnt matter to you if he learns anything or not.

There’s nothing he could ever say or do to change your view anyway. I guess the good news for Joe is most people don’t live in 1991 and most people hold Clarence Thomas responsible for his own behavior, not Biden.
You need not like Biden, but give that a whirl sometime.

[Polly Hennessey]

30. True, Thomas is

responsible for his opinions; however, we suffer the consequences. I watched the hearings and Biden is responsible for Thomas sliding through. As someone said Biden gave us the gift that keeps on giving. Biden is a decent guy but I will not support him during the primaries. If he should win the nomination he will have my full support.

[BannonsLiver]

34. That reads more like an opinion.

What got Thomas through was his “high tech” lynching remarks. He was DOA up until that point. Biden voted against his confirmation, btw.

[pnwmom]

38. Did you watch Angela Wright's video in the OP?

If she and the other women had been called to testify, instead of John Doggett III, erotomania expert, that would have made all the difference.

The Democrats on the committee held the majority. Thomas wouldn't have won those votes in the face of MULTIPLE women making their allegations at the hearing.

[pnwmom]

33. He's had DECADES to show that he understands, and he never has. So yes, it would look phony

now if he finally said something that indicated a change of heart.

But no, this was never just about Clarence Thomas. It was about the wall of men on the Senate panel who decided to mistreat Anita Hill, or to allow her to be mistreated.

[BlueMTexpat]

5. FINALLY!!!

But it still rings hollow to me. He still has never apologized TO Anita Hill.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

14. I hope Joe does, showing that he knows how troubling that whole affair was.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Join the revolution!!!

[BlueMTexpat]

18. He's had plenty of

opportunity to do so since ... and hasn't yet.

Those events occurred 28+ years ago and he played a truly shameful role.

[Baitball Blogger]

6. I find his wording troubling, as well.

We need people in office who aren’t afraid to buck procedural rules, since the other side has learned to weaponized the process for their own purpose.

[pnwmom]

7. There wasn't even a procedural rule that would have prevented him from calling the women.

Just an arbitrary time limit; but he made the choice to allow time for witnesses speculating about her mental health instead of calling on the corroborating witnesses.

[DURHAM D]

10. Senator Biden was in complete control of the rules

and witnesses.

He deliberately setup the Clarence Thomas hearings to be a contest between Anita and Thomas; as if they were competing for the same job.

He did not want it to be a hearing about Thomas qualifications for the job - he had none but no one knows that. That issue was boring.

Biden wanted it to be a media circus. He was campaigning for the Presidency. He basked in the glory.

On the major anniversary of those hearings the press still refers to it as the Thomas vs Hill hearings. They never mention the fact that Thomas was wholly unqualified for the job, utterly without credentials.

Again, it was part of Biden's strategy for getting to the White House.

[Baitball Blogger]

12. Sounds like it turned into o a karmic backfire.

When he talked about the white male culture, I was thinking how his generation exemplified the era.

[pnwmom]

21. It felt that way at the time -- that he was enjoying his moment in the sun.

And so we got Clarence Thomas, and shoved Anita under the bus.

[DURHAM D]

22. Just yesterday Biden said he should of

given Anita a better hearing. Hello Joe, Anita didn't have a hearing. She was there to provide testimony, to witness.

Joe Biden was having a hearing. Clarence Thomas was having a hearing. Anita was not "having a hearing".

Clearly in Biden's mind it is still Clarence vs Anita applying for/fighting for the same job and he gets to be the overseer. He can not stop using the framing he setup for his big moment in the spotlight.

I am as offended by his comments yesterday as I was when he orchestrated Anita's public stoning for his political gain years ago. He is still using her for his political gain.

[Me.]

8. @MeToo

I also regret how he handled it

[WhiskeyGrinder]

9. Weak sauce. I like the person, but I don't want him to be president.

[mobeau69]

19. Yep. Time for some new blood.

[still_one]

41. Gee, where have I heard that before? uh, Nancy Pelosi. Thank goodness we have her as our speaker

This isn't a game for amateurs

[UniteFightBack]

11. THROW IN A 'I'M SORRY' .......JOE !!!! Always always always include a i'm sorry for fucks sake.

Lord knows I do it a million times a day for shit I had nothing to do with...and ya know what ...IT WORKS. Especially if you mean it and it LOOKS LIKE you CARE...even if you don't!!!! Is it that hard?

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

15. That WOULD be a better look... I'm sure an apology is coming, not to worry.

Joe's a smart guy.


Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Join the revolution!!!

[chimpymustgo]

20. Too little, too late.

It really looks self-serving. Go home, Joe.

[BannonsLiver]

24. Says who?

[workinclasszero]

23. Anita Hill: Joe Biden 'Hasn't Apologized to Me' for Handling of Thomas Hearings

https://www.thewrap.com/anita-hill-joe-biden-hasnt-apologized-to-me-for-handling-of-thomas-hearings/

[samnsara]

27. Bidens still my #1 choice.. i watched those hearings and i was one of the..

...few i my workplace to be on Anita Hills side. I was working for a Catholic Hospital that wouldn't even fill my birth control pills. Times back then werent the best for any woman. We have all evolved.

[JudyM]

43. Yes, fortunately times have evolved. But cutting short her marshaling of evidence wasn't even

ok back then, and we all knew it. No doubt he’s a nice guy and knows the ropes. But when he had power, what was his goal, that’s what I think about.

[Mike Nelson]

28. Well...

… he should have said, "...regret I didn't..." rather than "...regret I couldn't..." I'd happily vote for him, but he should and could recall his role better...

[pnwmom]

37. YES. That's the key distinction. n/t

[dlk]

29. Imagine That -- Biden Wants Women to Forgive His Mistreatment of Hill so He Can be Elected President

During the Hill hearing, there were other witnesses to Clarence Thomas history of sexual harassment. They were not permitted to testify and we've been saddled with Clarence Thomas and his awful SCOTUS opinions ever since. When someone shows you who they really are, believe them the first time.

[Autumn]

31. Love ya Joe but there's a lot you easily could have done to give her the hearing she deserved.

It was well within your power. You chose not to do so.

[still_one]

32. I get it, you don't like Joe Biden, then don't vote for him in the primaries. It is obvious from

OPs continued posts critical of Biden even if Biden got on his hands and knees begging for forgiveness, it won’t be good enough

According to the polls at this time Biden is the candidate most likely to beat trump

When the time comes to vote in the primary, that will be my criteria, who is best able to beat trump

[pnwmom]

36. The polls at this point reflect mostly name recognition

and, for Biden, a good deal of Obama's reflected glory.

When Biden makes news, as he did yesterday, I'm not going to ignore it.

[still_one]

39. Wel'l see

[Raven123]

35. Joe's had nearly 30 yrs. to reflect and address this issue. This is the best he could do?

[randr]

40. Very few have the opportunity

to make mistakes that effect the entire world. Way to go Joe. I think we need to take it from here.

[mobeau69]

42. I could see it in his "apology" today. Sad, but that's life.

“The truth is I'm getting old, I said. We already are old, she said with a sigh. What happens is that you don't feel it on the inside, but from the outside everybody can see it.”

Now take your grandkids fishing, Joe.

Well done, sir.