As Kavanaugh Storm Rages On, Biden Has To Reckon With Thomas-Hill Hearing

[DonViejo]

By Kate Riga
October 1, 2018 8:31 am

Former Vice President Joe Biden, who seems to be actively considering a run for the presidency in 2020, has largely stayed in the background during the hearings with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser, professor Christine Blasey Ford, due to his controversial role in the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings almost 30 years ago.

According to a Monday New York Times report, Biden has publicly apologized for some of his actions as then-Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, though he privately expresses frustration that his words have been taken out of context and the political moment of the early 1990s largely forgotten.

Now, as he mulls a presidential run in two years, he needs to figure out how to deal with that part of his past.

“If he handles it right, it could be a plus; if he handles it wrong, it’ll be a minus, former Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) told the New York Times. “And handling it right means stepping up to the plate.”

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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/biden-anita-hill-clarence-thomas

[nycbos]

1. Here how he can handle it.

He can say something like "No person is perfect. "Every person in public life as done things they later regret. I spend my life in public service and there are several things that if I could do it again I would. The Hill/Thomas hearings is one of the greatest regrets of my career. The question is do you learn from your mistakes going forward. And I have.

[EffieBlack]

2. He has never taken responsibility for his role in the hearings.

It's too late now.

[nycbos]

3. Maybe your're right.

I was only 4 when the hearings were going on so I don't remember them. I know Barbara Boxer got elected as a result of the hearings so if she thinks "iff he handles it right" it could be a plus, her opinion says a lot.

[EffieBlack]

6. So far, he hasn't handled it right and hasn't indicated that he will

Expressing regret that he didn’t do more to protect her from others is NOT an acknowledgment of his own role in the debacle. It’s a dodge.

[DonViejo]

8. Really, EffieBlack?....

So, I guess this is all fake news, huh?

Joe Biden apologizes again about Anita Hill during the Kavanaugh firestorm
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/21/17886484/joe-biden-anita-hill-brett-kavanaugh-christine-blasey-ford


Joe Biden Says He's 'So Sorry' For Anita Hill Treatment And Believes ...
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-says-hes-so-sorry-anita-hill-treatment-and-believes-allegations-710518

Biden says he owes Anita Hill an apology - CNNPolitics - CNN.com
https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/14/politics/biden-anita-hill-teen-vogue/index.html

Joe Biden Apologizes For Anita Hill Situation

I believed Anita Hill,' Joe Biden says of his role in the 1991 Clarence Thomas hearings

Joe Biden Says He Owes Anita Hill An Apology

[apnu]

11. In addition to all that, Biden has been a staunch supporter of women's rights

He wrote the Violence Against Women Act of 1994.

https://www.legalmomentum.org/history-vawa

So not only has he apologized to Anita Hill and taken responsibility on several occasions. He put his apologies into action and got important work done.

[EffieBlack]

13. Yes, really

"I am so sorry that she had to go through what she went through ... And my one regret is that I wasn't able to tone down the attacks on her by some of my Republican friends. 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."

Claiming that his "one regret" is that that although he did everything he could, he couldn't stop his friends from dragging Anita Hill through the mud is NOT an apology or an acknowledgment of his own culpability. It is, as I said, a dodge and a copout.

[DonViejo]

14. Shame on Joe Biden! He's not perfect! He's subject to being human and making mistakes!

[EffieBlack]

15. Seriously? I wasn't aware that Biden's humanity or lack of perfection were the topics of discussion

We were talking about how he handled the Thomas-Hill hearings and whether he had apologized to Anita Hill for his role in them.

But since I shot down your "Biden apologized to Anita Hill so all is well" claim, I guess huffing and puffing that someone had the NOIVE to suggest that poor Joe Biden is not a perfect human being is all you got . . .

[DonViejo]

16. You didn't shoot down squat, EffieBlack but, it's been a pleasure watching you think you have.

[EffieBlack]

17. Whatever

Regardless how you try to spin it, the reality is that most Democrats - especially women - have long and distinct memories and aren't as enamoured with Biden and forgiving of his behavior and failure to own up to it as you are. He can probably forget about being the nominee now that this has all been brought up again.

[R B Garr]

18. Obama apparently vetted that portion of Joe's past

and asked him to be his VP. I’m sure that came up in Obama’s decision process. Biden was a great VP. He is a face of the Obama administration.

[EffieBlack]

20. He's "the face of the Obama administration?" Really? To whom? Not to me or anyone I know

Biden's no more the face of the Obama administration that Hillary Clinton or anyone else who served in it was.

Barack Obama is the face of the Obama administration. Period.

If Biden wants to be president, he needs to earn it, just like anyone else. And part of earning it is owning up to his past mistakes. One of his biggest mistakes (and not the only one - I'm also still waiting for him to address his aligning himself with segregationists to fight desegregation efforts in the 1970s, but that's another issue) is his reprehensible handling of the Thomas Hill hearings and his failure to offer more than a mealy-mouthed "I did all I could but the Republicans were just too much for me" excuse.

[R B Garr]

24. There's nothing wrong with earning a nomination, but

on some level there is a patina of acceptability since Obama vetted him.

[EffieBlack]

25. It's part of the equation, but not dispositive. Obama vetted Hillary Clinton, too but that doesn't

mean she just got to be the nominee because of it. In fact, I recall quite a few Democrats trashing her for supposedly thinking the nomination was a "coronation."

But there's something different about Biden - the "face of the Obama administration."

[R B Garr]

28. It is a fact that Obama cannot run again.

He was elected to and served two terms. Biden was his VP and is eligible to run. That is what I meant by Biden being the current face of the Obama administration. Biden was his successor and it has been protocol that a VP is considered as top ticket potential. You keep trying to twist it to that I was saying Biden was better than Obama.

[kairos12]

12. Agree. I was in Washington during the hearings and was appalled.

This is speaking from the perspective of a white, male Army Officer at the time.

[Polly Hennessey]

4. I have tried.

But I cannot completely forgive him. He made an error in judgment and left us a constant reminder of that error — Clarence Thomas.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. So many Dems let us down in the nineties.

Lieberman on top of that list.

Back then, Dems were reaching across the aisle in order to appease the determined hard right surge that was resorting to dirty tricks. The Dems responded with Centrism.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. He should not be president.

[chimpymustgo]

9. Really, it is as simple as that. He should not be President. Can't make the tough choices.

And that one shouldn't have been that difficult.

[IluvPitties]

10. Great Vice-President, and a future great President if given the chance.

Nobody's perfect.

[R B Garr]

19. Yes, a different time and place. Obama trusted him and

ran with him. He is a face of the Obama administration.

[EffieBlack]

21. Barack Obama is the face of the Obama administration

But interesting that you and another DUer are both pushing that same claim in exactly the same language in this thread.

[IluvPitties]

22. Eh?

[R B Garr]

23. Obama was elected to and served two terms, so he

cannot run again. If he could, he would still be President. If anything happened to Obama while in office, Biden would take his place. So in terms of the current election cycle, Biden is the VP who was closest to Obama and who is eligible to run for the top ticket. That is what I meant by Biden bring the CURRENT *eligible* face of the Obama administration. I’m certainly not saying that Biden is better than Obama, yikes.

Obama vetted Joe and selected him.

[EffieBlack]

26. Obama "vetted" him so he's the "heir apparent"

Gotcha.

[R B Garr]

29. It's apparently not "gotcha" because you keep

trying to twist what I was saying. I’m saying that Obama must have vetted Biden and then chose him.

[aeromanKC]

27. OP is a Right Wing Talking Point

[R B Garr]

30. Yeah, they love this. nt

[Renew Deal]

32. From TPM?

Get serious

[Renew Deal]

31. Biden should spare us a lot of drama and stay out of it

It’s going to be disappointing when he loses the nomination. I hope it doesn’t take away from his legacy.