Joe Biden has now taken responsibility for how Anita Hill was treated at the hearings.

[pnwmom]

In previous statements he seemed to view himself as a passive observer, though he was the key decision maker with regard to how she was questioned and who testified (and who didn't -- i.e., her corroborating witnesses.)

This statement is an important acknowledgement and I'm glad he finally made it.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/joe-jill-biden-respond-women-made-uncomfortable/story?id=62665123

Biden also spoke about his role in Anita Hill's testimony during Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' confirmation hearing, when he served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee. Biden said he took "responsibility" for the way Hill was treated.

"I believed her from the very beginning, but I was chairman. She did not get a fair hearing. She did not get treated well. That's my responsibility," Biden said. "As the committee chairman, I take responsibility that she did not get treated well. I take responsibility for that."

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. "She did not get treated well" is not the same as "I did not treat her well." NT

[CTyankee]

2. I think this story is out of treads. I don't know how much more anybody can make of it.

Let's see if Morning Joe will keep it up in its coverage of lead up to the nomination and the campaign itself. I notice if MJ still has a "story" it is working then the other MSNBC shows do also.

[Honeycombe8]

3. This is an old statement. He has been saying this for some time.

But people wanted him to apologize for how he treated her, and for questions others asked. The other Senators had a right to ask their questions, so he couldn't stop them, even as Chairman.

Anyway, I remember the hearing, and I don't have a problem overall with his chairmanship of it. This was a different era. They were all men. And they had the sensitive issue of an Af. American nominated to be a Justice.

[pnwmom]

6. No, this is the first time he's said that he was in charge so it was his responsibility.

Before he always acted like he was a passive observer.

And I remember the hearing, too, and it was painful to watch. He could have done a lot better, but at least he's finally acknowledged his part in the debacle.

[JustAnotherGen]

4. I've moved on from this issue

Short of drowning puppies and kittens for fun - there is nothing - not one thing any candidate did in the past as a legislator or leader that will convince me to not vote 45's maggot ass out of the white house.

[Demit]

5. He's still slipping into the passive voice.

I don't see how that's different from his past statements. He has said before that he takes responsibility, but what does that mean to him? If he could name just one specific thing that he now knows he could've done but didn't, that would go a long way to putting the issue to rest.

[WeekiWater]

7. Doesn't matter.

He answers respectfully when asked. It’s not the issue some want it to be.

[pnwmom]

8. It matters a lot to some of us. You've never cared so it doesn't matter to you. nt

[WeekiWater]

9. You make my point and then follow it up with a false assumption. NT

[leftofcool]

11. It matters to me too, pnwmom

I realize that Joe is going to get a pass on this with most people and that's okay. I have just decided to keep my opinions about Biden to myself and see where things go.

[rusty fender]

10. What does it matter, at this late date,

that he now takes responsibility for Hill’s treatment

It changes nothing.

[emmaverybo]

12. Because of Biden, she got a hearing

And he did not get to decide that Grassley, Simpson, and Specter would mistreat Hill or that Thomas would misappropriate racist history to his own rigged process.
Yes, be nice if Biden had told Thomas he was full of it when he denounced the hearing as a high-tech lynching. Be nice if he had been Hill’s defense attorney, but he wasn’t.
As transcripts show, and many of who watched the proceedings on telly will attest, Biden did not persecute and harass Hill. In fact, he landed some jabs, while the others shrunk back.
The Dems pulled their punches, true, failing to fully challenge Thomas. After all, he would become only the second African-American in history to sit on the SC, replacing Thurgood Marshall, ironically, a civil rights legend. How very craven and clever of the Repugs.
Dems were damned if they did and damned if they didn’t.
Biden did not create or design the hearing. He followed a protocol and an agreement with Republicans to make it fair to both sides while trying to give Hill a chance to tell a story which had no witnesses, no evidence, and was 10 years old, thus making it easy for Thomas to deny.
And A bad process yes. And still to this day.
But as to responsibility: How about if partisans had not chosen Thomas, knowing they would put
Dems in a bind because going hard on his far right ideology could be perceived as betraying their support for equal rights and opportunity.
Yes, another woman had a similar story of verbal sexual harassment, but she was reluctant to testify, signed a document saying she did not want to,and Biden, under legal advice, decided not to call her as a hostile witness.
How and why Biden ended up having to take the fall for a flawed process, Conservatives’ political games and blatant misogynistic antics, I wonder at. I wonder that Thomas has never had to account for covering up his lies by playing the victim, why he hardly gets a mention in the outrage. How about Grassley and gang?
It is easy to deconstruct events but harder to accurately reconstruct what really happened.
I wish Biden would not take responsibility for all of it.
In reality, the hearing was not Anita Hill vs. Joe Biden; but rather, Anita Hill vs. the conservative agenda as carried out by some very ugly Repugs AND a very ambitious (same as Kavanaugh) toady, Clarence Thomas. I’d love to see their apology. Obviously much easier to hound Biden