As We Rethink Old Harassers, Let's Talk About Clarence Thomas - By Joy-Ann Reid

[DonViejo]

The old men of the Senate lectured Anita Hill from the dais, scowling as she recounted in humiliating detail how Thomas taunted her with graphic tales of pubic hair and Coke cans.

JOY-ANN REID
11.17.17 9:57 PM ET

Long suppressed talk about the sexual predation of men, in Hollywood, politics, business, the news industry, professional sports and life in general has swept across the country, exposing decades of dirty laundry and putting an entire nation of men on notice and on edge.

“The discussion” in which the nation is engaged almost daily at this point, has exposed the rank hypocrisy of a right-wing “Christianity” that would sooner see a child molester stalking the well of the United States Senate than free its captive base to support a Democrat, and which still stands foursquare behind braggadocious predator-in-chief Donald Trump.

It has put on display the Republican Party’s radical lack of moral conviction as its leaders rush to condemn the gross, decade-old antics of now Sen. Al Franken, who has at least apologized for his past misbehavior, while they smirk from behind the cameras at Fox News where they are surrounded by anchor women in the required uniform of tight sweaters, mini-skirts, and four-inch heels. Among the Republicans ripping Franken for kissing a woman without her consent and snapping a juvenile “groping” picture in 2006: the great hypocrite Trump himself, of the “I just kiss beautiful women and grab ’em by the pussy” un-humble brag of 2005.

The national moment of self-reflection on the culture that produces such entitled men has compelled the left to indulge in its favorite ritual: curling into the fetal position as it self-flagellates over the eternal sins of the Clintons. It’s as if they’ve forgotten that the former president who left office 17 years ago indeed paid a price, including years of forensic investigation culminating in impeachment for his illicit affair with a 24-year-old White House intern.

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https://www.thedailybeast.com/as-we-rethink-old-harassers-lets-talk-about-clarence-thomas

[pbmus]

1. Yes, absolutely yes....

[Goonch]

2. Coke can

[loyalsister]

3. YES!!!

THAT is the time when policy makers and the rest of us should have shouted that it was unacceptable. Since he had a long history, there either might not have been a president Clinton or he would have behaved better if we had drawn that line then. There's no telling how that might have worked out, but a lot of women would probably have been spared a lot of pain if we had drawn that line with Clarence Thomas. Hmmmm what would the world be like if Newt Gingrich had been held to a higher standard?

With that in mind, it's worth rethinking what it means to give anyone a pass- past or present.

Sadly, I think that if Anita Hill had been white, she would have been taken more seriously.

[DesertRat]

4. K&R

[Honeycombe8]

5. I thought about Anita Hill, and how different her testimony might be perceived now.

I remember what Clarence Thomas said, when asked at the Senate confirmation hearing, why he thought she'd make those allegations against him. His response was something like, "I don't know why people write books like that." Note that he did not say, "I don't know why she'd lie like that." His reaction was about why she would TELL.

I saw a lot of that hearing. I totally believed her. I wonder about people who don't tell for years, and then suddenly come forward. Her explanation for that was that, simply, no one had asked her about Clarence Thomas before. Because he was up for S. Ct. Justice, someone had sought her out, to get her opinion on Thomas, how he was as a supervisor or boss (or whatever he was). She said she decided not to lie. Had anyone asked her before then, she would have been as truthful then.

It turns out that he's not a good Justice. He doesn't do much, I read. He almost never writes the opinions (if ever). He just agrees or not. He does what he was appointed to do: He goes along with the Republican position on issues. What I read implies he's lazy. Doesn't even ask many questions at the S Ct hearings, although he asks some.

[LakeArenal]

6. Sadly...

Our Joe Biden....

Goes to show how folks evolve. Love Ya Joe.

[Hekate]

7. Joy's last para is spot on, and being indulged in here

[pat_k]

9. Same people pouring money into "hunting" Clinton, poured money into destroying Anita Hill.

Once again, there is absolutely no parallel between Franken's conduct (even if Tweeden's account is a 100% honest account of the way she remembers it) and Thomas' harassment of Anita Hill, and history harassing others.

https://rewire.news/ablc/2016/10/28/new-sexual-harassment-allegations-taint-clarence-thomass-25th-anniversary-bench/