Dan Thomasson of Scripps: Anita Hill still craving the spotlight.

[edbermac]

WASHINGTON - Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, had a really bad idea. She asked for an apology from Anita Hill, the woman whose dubious allegations stigmatized her husband, set off a national debate over sexual harassment in the workplace and turned the Senate confirmation process into a late night comedian's dream.

The result of Thomas' mistake was utterly predictable. Hill, as she has in every instance, capitalized by making the request public, even turning a non-threatening telephone message into a police matter, referring it to the campus police who handed it over to the FBI, whose agents during an initial investigation of her original charges all those years ago laughed at them. Oh yes. She also took the opportunity to play the appeal to the national press.

Are you surprised? This a woman who stretched the normal 15 minutes of fame into years of iconic imagery as the champion of the downtrodden female -- a household name for millions of her fellow sisters seeking to redress the grievances of male dominance. And she did so on probably the thinnest of "he said-she said" evidence. Throughout it all she maintained a steely resolve and level of outrage that usually is reserved for a woman scorned, which she may have felt she was.

Hill was, of course, a tool in the hands of those who were appalled that Thomas, her longtime friend and mentor and benefactor, had been chosen for the court by President George H. W. Bush in the first place. The conservative Yale law graduate did not fit the norm for African Americans on such issues as affirmative action. In a pattern that has been repeated frequently in these confirmation processes, if you can't stop them on qualifications find something in their personal lives no matter how small and go from there.

Suddenly there was Hill, who had complained to a friend in California about being sexually harassed by someone in a law firm where she no longer worked. The friend thought she was talking about Thomas. The female friend contacted the Senate Judiciary Committee and the fat, as they say, was in the fire.

The story got leaked, and despite urging from some of his colleagues and a negative FBI report, Judiciary Committee Chairman Joe Biden, who some may recall is now vice president of the United States, reopened the Thomas hearings and summoned Hill to testify. She went on to glory, or lasting ignominy depending on one's point of view, on accusations of tainted Coke cans and pornographic discussions of the lamest, sleazy variety. Among the embarrassed senators in this tasteless nationally broadcast spectacle were those whose reputations could hardly stand the glare of a 20-watt light bulb let alone a spotlight, including Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

Missing from any of the allegations by Hill was the serious charge of physical contact with Thomas. In his years of friendship and helping her, he apparently had made no pass at her and never asked her out on a formal date. Whether he could have avoided her wrath if he had or if he had not married a white woman instead is the subject of pure speculation.

http://www.scrippsnews.com/content/thomasson-anita-hill-still-craving-spotlight#comment-29111

"My brain...hurts!"

[Happyhippychick]

1. "Dear Don Thomasson...."

FUCK YOU

[HillbillyBob]

4. Ditto

ditto infinitude

[Contrary1]

2. Readers aren't buying this hogwash, according to the comments. n/t

[boston bean]

3. They have made a calculated decision that it's better to talk about Anita than it is to have to deal

with the new book and his old girlfriends insights.

And the guy who wrote this article is a sexist pig.

[yellowcanine]

7. Maybe, but I don't think the new book alone explains this. I think something else is afoot.

Maybe another complaint is brewing from someone who works with Thomas at the SCOTUS.

[boston bean]

8. I certainly HOPE so! You could have something there! nt

[blogslut]

5. My goodness

Mr. Thomasson must have the brain of contortionist.

[yellowcanine]

6. So - Anita Hill wanted publicity so she wrote books, called and left messages on people's phones....

Oh wait - it was her detractors who were writing books and it was Ginny Thomas who left a message on Anita Hill's phone, wasn't it?

It is laughable that somehow this is all about Anita Hill craving publicity now because she made public the message left on her phone. Funny, I would think the best way to make sure that Ginny and other Thomas apologists do not continue leaving messages, aka stalking - is to make them public. And by the way, a message left on phone of a complaining witness by the wife of the person who was testified against is by definition, "threatening", regardless of what was said and how much time has elapsed.

[PassingFair]

9. Time for Dan to retire.

He's losing his shit.

His He-man Woman-haters Club credentials
are showing in this piece.

So sad.

[Vinnie From Indy]

10. WTF?

Thommason's column is bizarre and reflects his complete and total lack of honesty and integrity. This piece simply drips with lies, misdirection and innuendo. He is a scumbag of the first order.

[jobycom]

11. No one was sure it was Virginia Thomas until after Hill turned the tape over to the cops.

Until Thomas admitted it was her, Hill--who isn't a stranger to threats and pranks--wasn't sure who it was. Only after Thomas confirmed it did the story become public.

And Hill never sought the limelight the first time. She gave testimony to the FBI who was vetting Thomas. They came to her, and the Senate ignored her testimony at first. Thomas had already been confirmed by committee, and then a staffer leaked her testimony to the press, and that's when the hearings started. Hill never once sought attention.

Any network or print media outlet would have hired her as a legal analyst or journalist at any time over the last couple of decades. The idea that she would use this stunt to get attention is ridiculous.

[louis-t]

12. Ah yes, Anita Hill just CRAVES the spotlight.....

That's why she's not commenting to the press. That's why she 'forced' that mean ole' judiciary committee to summon her. That's why she never tried to exploit her sudden fame. She didn't start charging $100,000 speaking fee, she didn't go on Dancing with the Stars, she didn't go on SNL. She made a comment to her friend that she had been harassed and apparently didn't even mention a name? Dan Thomasson calls himself a journalist?

[11 Bravo]

13. Let him know what you think at [email protected]

I sent the following:

My favorite part of your little fantasy was "Whether he could have avoided her wrath if he had not married a white woman instead is the subject of pure speculation". Allow me to add a corollary: Whether Bossie the cow ceased to give milk as a result of repeated midnight attempts to mount her by an alcohol and crystal meth crazed Dan Thomasson is, of course, the subject of pure speculation.

[HillWilliam]

14. Best response on the page

"This is total garbage journalism, if that is what passes for it on the internet these days. Any idiot can write compelte crap and post it. This is a complete distortion of the facts and only proves the writer has an agenda to slander. Get off the internet, you are taking away band width from worthwhile porn sites."

FTW :rofl: