Have you figured out that way now, Joe? At this point, that may be the key question. You made a mistake. With the advantage of many years of hindsight, what did you learn from it and how will it apply going forward? (Note: You arenāt running for president of 1991.)
Hoagie just canceled his Prime membership. Josh is blowing it with his obsessive smearing of Biden, and while I have not come close to deciding who I prefer in this race, I donāt care to pay for a daily letās all dump on one candidate website. When, and if, there is equal dumping on other candidates, we can talk. Iād rather have ads than a slanted editorial focus.
I love the passive voice. Gee, itās a shame that the Man treated Anita the way she was treated.
Next up: A discussion about how Mistakes Were Made.
It is going to be a long, rough campaign, and the gloves are frequently going to be removed. We had all better be prepared, or keep ourselves in a coma until it is time to vote. As Bette Davis said in a classic line from āAll About Eveā: āFasten your seat-belts, itās going to be a bumpy night.ā (I understand that the usual ārideā instead of ānightā makes more sense, but isnāt the actual line.)
Biden apologized Friday for how āshe was treatedā and said he waited so long to call her personally because he didnāt want to āinvade her space.ā
āso longā = 28 years
āinvade her spaceā = sniff her hair.
Biden is the master space invader.
I think if he really feels heās done everything he could, then just be frank about it and say āIāve tried my best and I have no regretā instead of saying things like āIām sorry you feel that way/you were treated that wayā. People might have more appreciation for such authenticity even if they donāt agree with him.
Really, whatās with these guys and their inability or refusal to simply say, āIām sorry.ā I know a lot of men who do and maybe itās the age. I guess they figure that for every time they SHOULD say it, a woman says it three times too much so it all evens out in the end.
I am an old lady of 67 and I remember these hearings. Most of the women I knew, who had an opinion on Anita Hill, were distrustful of her. They wondered why she kept following Thomas to different jobs, kept showing up in the same places. She was not a great witness for herself because she was not all that smooth. They felt it was political. Today it would be different. There was no Me Too movement. The left did not care about Hill one way or the other. Most of the pushback on Thomas had nothing to do with Anita Hill.It had to do with his conservatism. He himself called it a high tech lynching. Baby boomers might have ended a war and supported civil rights, but we were not perfect. Unlike a lot of younger people out there today casting judgment, we can admit we made mistakes. Someday maybe they will be the ones explaining things themselves. No one is perfect. We can not undo our mistakes, we can only learn from them.
He did say he was sorry. He just did not sit himself on fire or whatever to make the point.
Heās still clueless isnāt he? Thatās pathetic, especially after Speaker Pelosi tried to help him out and show him how to handle it.
It ties in with that āHarsh, Butā¦ā reader post in Joshās EdBlog today about how Biden is such a lousy campaigner. Heās fine once heās in office, but getting there for him has always looked like that Upper Class Twit of the Year contest from Monty Python.
Itās also notable (pointed out in an article in the Atlantic), that of all the current 2020 candidates, heās the only one who apparently thinks Trump is an aberration. That if we can just get rid of him, things will go back to normal. Heās blind to the changes in the Republican party over the last couple of decades.
Sorry youāre so upset, hoagie. I will miss your gem comments such as:
I mean, if Biden had been Chair of the Judiciary Committee, maybe he could have managed the hearing better. Oh wait ā¦
It is interesting to compare the Clarence Thomas hearing with the comments of the reader whom Josh quoted about Biden as a lousy campaigner. Indecisive, waffling. That was on full display in the Anita Hill fiasco. This from the Washington Post:
"Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee planned to ask her about a former acquaintance named John Doggett, who said in an affidavit that Hill was prone to romantic delusions and had āa problem being rejected by men she was attracted to.ā
"Doggett had not been vetted by the committee, as the rules of the hearing required, and Biden said it would be best not to air his claims until aides interviewed him. But as Republicans applied pressure, Biden was unsure what to do ā changing his mind five times as colleagues, witnesses and a national television audience watched.
āāWe will wait,ā Biden said first, only to weigh in moments later with another idea: āWhatever the witness prefers.ā
āInterviews with a dozen people with firsthand knowledge and a review of the written record and interviews published with participants over the past three decades reinforce that Biden failed to use the powers afforded to Senate committee chairmen to conduct a judicious and thorough inquiry into Hillās allegations. He did not give full consideration to witnesses whose allegations seemed to corroborate her testimony or curb the attacks and innuendo leveled at her during the hearing. A former Biden lawyer told The Washington Post this month that the Democrats were outmaneuvered by Republicans, whose purpose was to damage Hill.ā
Indecisive. Canāt develop a strategy and stick to it. Why didnāt he simply explain to Hill what really happened rather than a lame non-apology?
Please drop out now, Joe.
Some people wonāt be happy until they suck all the blood out of Biden.
Get a grip, people. He is not a sexual harasser and he has apologized to Ms. Hill for the way she was treated.
Yes, we all make mistakes. but I usually donāt make a mistake in the first place when I have the power to prevent that mistake from ever happening.
āInterviews with a dozen people with firsthand knowledge and a review of the written record and interviews published with participants over the past three decades reinforce that Biden failed to use the powers afforded to Senate committee chairmen to conduct a judicious and thorough inquiry into Hillās allegations. He did not give full consideration to witnesses whose allegations seemed to corroborate her testimony or curb the attacks and innuendo leveled at her during the hearing. A former Biden lawyer told The Washington Post this month that the Democrats were outmaneuvered by Republicans, whose purpose was to damage Hill.ā
He was the Senate Committee chairman while the Dems were in the majority. Iām tired of Joe Biden acting like there wasnāt a thing that poor Joe Biden could do.
OOPS! Sorry, judygran! I didnāt see you had already pointed this out. Oh, well. The more, the merrier!
Using the passive voice instead of active makes a difference. It diffuses the blame, but go ahead and miss the point. I donāt hate Biden but this is something women remember vividly and havenāt gotten over. If he were smart, heād take responsibility and move on.
Bette Davis also said in a movie, āIād like to kiss ya, but I just washed my hairā.
That would be interesting, if nothing else.
Thatās ok. Joe would just bury his nose in and sniffit. Itās his way of showing affection.