You will be lynched destroyed and caricatured by a Committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung by a tree said then-Supreme Court Nominee Clarence Thomas on October 11 1991 defending himself from the last minute allegations of sexual impropriety raised during his confirmation hearings.
From my standpoint as Black-American as far as I am concerned this is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way dain to think for themselves to do for themselves to have different ideas. And it is a message that unless you kowtow to the old order this is what will happen to you. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas October 11 1991
The decades-old high school sexual misconduct allegation was carefully timed by Democrats to be detonated at the most critical juncture of Brett Kavanaughs confirmation battle but after a tense 3 days of speculation and partisan tussling over what one top Republican called wholly unverifiable allegations the Kavanaugh nomination remains exactly where it started at the beginning of the week: neither closer to nor farther away from the 50 votes needed to give President Donald Trump a second high court justice in two years.
With the exception of Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein the nation and lawmakers at least on the Republican side of the aisle were blindsided by an anonymous allegation that a teenage Kavanaugh was overly aggressive during a high school party decades ago.
And its had exactly the effect Democrats intended who have remained mum while the media went into overdrive to to kill the Kavanaugh nomination.
Said Republican Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) a former Judiciary Committee chairman:
Every accuser deserves to be heard but the claims are wholly unverifiable and come at the tail-end of a process that was already marred by ugly innuendo dishonesty and the nastiest form of politics.
Politico now reports that the nomination is in limbo."The decades-old sexual misconduct charge detonated at the most critical juncture of Brett Kavanaughs confirmation battle sending Republicans into damage control mode and leaving Democrats unsure how or whether to capitalize.
Senator Feinstein of California who met with the nominee for a lengthy and extensive meeting weeks ago is in a bit of hot water over the issue after saying she sat on" the letter instead of bringing it up earlier. Her far left primary challenger for re-election State Sen. Kevin de Leon is up in arms and has torched Senator Feinstein for holding off on sending the womans allegation to authorities for nearly three months."
Meanwhile a handful of undecided red-state Democrats who are the middle of tough re-election battles in states the voted for Trump by double-digit margins remained tight-lipped. Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota Joe Donnelly of Indiana Claire McCaskill of Missouri Doug Jones of Alabama and Jon Tester of Montana have had no immediate comment.
Back in the fall of 1991 professor Anita Hill was the star witness brought forward by Senate Democrats at the last minute with similarly decades-old allegations against then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas a conservative African-American. Hill delivered testimony under oath regarding what she considered sexual harassment.
After Hills allegations riveted the nation in a divisive and weeks-long He said She Said battle Thomas was confirmed and has forever lived under the taint of what he himself called a circus a national disgrace.
Thomas boldly defended himself at the hearings saying:From my standpoint as Black-American as far as I am concerned this is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way dain to think for themselves to do for themselves to have different ideas. And it is a message that unless you kowtow to the old order this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched destroyed and caricatured by a Committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung by a tree.https://twitter.com/i/status/1041672254105563136 There are obvious parallels between the Clarence Tomas and Anita Hill situation and the current case. For instance Diane Feinstein sat on" the Ford letter and it didnt come to light until a publication called The Intercept uncovered it. That can be compared to 1991 and former Senator and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joe Bidens actions.
Biden had heard about the allegations but did not delay the Judiciary Committees vote on Thomas. It was only after the vote that Hill was identified in the press and under pressure from women in Congress Biden reopened hearings to allow Hill to testify.
As it stands today there are three possible paths forward:
- Judge Kavanaugh withdraws from his Supreme Court nomination
- The GOP moves forward with the nomination
- Or there is some kind of delay to review the allegations
