Anita Hill: Biden Did 'Terrible Job' Running Clarence Thomas Hearings

[DonViejo]

CAITLIN MACNEAL – MARCH 20, 2014, 6:08 PM EDT

Anita Hill, the woman who accused Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, on Thursday said that as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vice President Joe Biden did a "terrible job" overseeing Thomas' confirmation hearings in 1991.

Hill said on HuffPost Live that Biden failed to call witnesses and experts to testify who could have shed light on the sexual harassment claims made about Thomas.

“I think he did two things that were a disservice to me, that were a disservice more importantly to the public," Hill said. "There were three women who were ready and waiting and and subpoenaed to be giving testimony about similar behavior that they had experienced or witnessed. He failed to call them."

Watch the interview via HuffPost Live:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/anita-hill-clarence-thomas-biden-hearing

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[LiberalAndProud]

1. Yup. I knew that.

I always wondered what the backroom deal was. It was clear that Thomas was slated for confirmation. I'd like to know what Biden got in trade. If he wasn't ashamed of himself, he should have been.

[deutsey]

17. Me, too.

I know that the wheeling and dealing that go on in politics are not always for the faint (or pure) of heart, but sometimes there's a higher value that just can't be up for sale in the backroom. This was one of those times, imo.

[FarCenter]

21. Yes, it's a typical complaint of a minor participant who doesn't understand the "big picture".

[LiberalAndProud]

24. Looking at the composition of the SCOTUS today,

I wonder which of us understood the "big picture" least.

[The Magistrate]

2. I Agree, Sir

I still harbor serious dislike of the man over his performance in those hearings.

[Submariner]

3. Well Joe, what say you? Your presidential ambitions will be tied to your response to Anita

I watched those hearings and Joe did do quite a lousy job by blocking testimony.

[rhett o rick]

9. And his response when Bushy asked him to bow down and approve killing hundreds of thousands

of Iraqis. May all those responsible for that horror, rot in hell. Democrats, Republicans, Christians, everyone that decided that their political careers were more important than two hundred thousand innocent children that died horrible deaths.

Dont run Joe.

[Autumn]

4. Yes he did. What happened to Anita Hill was a disgrace.

Recommended

[surrealAmerican]

5. can't really argue with that...

... It was definately a low point in his career.

[MADem]

6. Yes, he did do a horrible job at that.

I think he's learned from his errors, though.

I think Anita Hill is a hero for these times.

[JHB]

7. Bush wanted a young, reliable Federalist Society conservative, and senate Democrats...

...didn't want a fight.

The reason Thomas was put on the SC was...

...NOT because he was the most qualified jurist. He wasn't.
...NOT because he was the most qualified black jurist. He wasn't.
...NOT because he was the most qualified black conservative jurist. He wasn't.

He was the most qualified black conservative with reliable but obfuscatable views on abortion & other subjects, and was young enough that he'd stay on the court for decades.

The Democratic senators were initially ready to give him a pass, since 1) they didn't look forward to another SC nomination battle, and 2) initially the black community was receptive to Thomas -- not enthusiastic, but not inclined to oppose -- and a fight against him wouldn't be well received.

At the time I thought Thomas should have been voted down just because of his lackluster record and ignoring conflict of interest (Thomas failed to recuse himself in a case involving the Ralston Purina company, where his political mentor Sen. John Danforth owned millions in stock and had brothers on the board of directors. Thomas' decision in favor of Purina directly benefitted his pals).

Black opinion didn't shift until later in the process, after Thurgood Marshall made his "a black snake is still a snake" comment. The senators were finally forced to take a harder line when the harassment charges leaked out, and giving Thomas a pass would piss off another Democratic constituency: women fighting workplace harassment.

But all that happened too late: by that point conservatives were ginned up in support and the rest of the establishment didn't want another highly-visible fight, so the Thomas hearings were kept to a he-said-she-said with Anita Hill (Angela Wright was shunted off to the side), giving the senators their excuse to just put it behind them.

So here we are, a quarter-century later, and he's still a lackluster jurist who ignores conflicts of interest, and is a reliable conservative operative in the courts.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024571481#post47

[2banon]

10. thanks for reminding me of the backstory on this.. well done.. eom

[Baitball Blogger]

8. I'm glad she finally spoke out.

I hope the tide is turning and Democratic leaders will begin to understand that we're looking for champions of truth.

[noiretextatique]

11. she is correct

but he wasn't the only one. the entire good ole boys network did a terrible job.

[UTUSN]

12. No, those hearings were the debut of the BFEE trick of using minority fronts to stymie Dems

The trick being, taking somebody ostensibly from one of the opposing party's constituent groups, a token, thereby putting the opposing party in the bind of seeming to be attacking the constituent group.

The bind was exacerbated by the sexual harassment, since Dems like Ted KENNEDY had their own histories to deal with.

They (all the Dems), back then, really, I believe, could not see a way clear how to counter-attack. The trick was superficial on the part of the BFEE, and they have used it over and over again ever since -- Miguel ESTRADA, Alberto GONZALEZ, Condo RICE, Colon POWELL, Linda CHAVEZ. How stupendously FAKE this tokenism is, was particularly obvious every time Orrin HATCH took the cameras, as in, "The Dems claim to represent minorities, so how can they oppose Mee-gwell ESTRADA?!1" Besides that his lying was always betrayed by his Shirley TEMPLE delivery.

The Dem strategy, or lack thereof, was to use the Uncle Tom attack, which is true in itself, but not effective enough.

In all the years since, I don't think the Dems at the strategy decision making level have settled on the simplest and most effective reply to the BFEE trick, which is this: [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]Openly DITCH the Uncle Tom attack, say, "Whether this person is betraying their own home group is for their own conscience to deal with. What matters in our political debate is that this person claims to be a Wingnut and we should take them at their word. And therefore we Dems oppose them on the grounds of BEING A WINGNUT. It don't matter their gender, race, ethnicity or anything else. It is enough that they are a wingnut and their policies are bad for the country".[/FONT]

What slides by, also, is that the Orrin HATCH rationale is RACIST in itself: He says a nominee should be supported BECAUSE of the race or ethnicity or whatever-issue. That's racist.

[UTUSN]

16. To clarify: Totally agree on the injustice to Hill, just noting the bafflement of the Dems

A common dilemma for Dems - being put over this or that barrel, as with DASCHLE under Shrub, most of the Dems during the phony Iraq hysteria (being called unpatriotic or weak)

[blue neen]

13. Agreed.

It was an infuriating debacle.

[MurrayDelph]

14. I remember being quite frustrated

with his high opinion of his skill.

When Star Wars introduced the horrible character JarJar Binks, I kept thinking of him as JoeJoe Biden ("Meesa Senator. Meesa clever&quot

[Cha]

15. I would think VP Biden has been kicking himself for this ever

since our country has had to learn exactly who this Clarence Thomas is.

[Paladin]

18. I hope he has, and continues to do so.

I'm a fan of Biden's, but the treatment of Anita Hill at those hearings was reprehensible. I'm glad she's speaking out about it.

[bigwillq]

19. Yup

I really have no use for Biden.

[bullwinkle428]

20. That was definitely the low point in Joe Biden's political career.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

22. a lot of people (including many liberals) failed her. nt

[Ichingcarpenter]

23. I watched it live and Biden

was a useful idiot for the republicans.