Unkind deeds and cover-ups are burning up cyberspace once again. This time it is the Hill-Thomas firestorm, the sequel.
He started it. It was a dead or semi-dead issue. Then he brought it up on national U.S. television last week. He talked about it in his freshly published memoirs. She stood up for herself with an article in the New York Times a few days later. Did a judge of the U.S. Supreme Court sexually harass another attorney when both worked for the U.S. government more than 20 years ago? Professor Anita Hill said he did. Justice Clarence Thomas said he didn't.
Is Justice Thomas taking advantage of a controversy to sell books? Or is he really that wounded that he is still trying to convince people that he did not sexually harass Professor Hill more than 15 years ago? What was Justice Thomas thinking when he stirred up this she said-he said game that most people on the planet never heard of?
Whatever Thomas's motives, Hill responded. In her own words, she refused to let him “reinvent” her. On national television, Thomas used words that throughout history have silenced women: “touchy” and “sensitive to slights.” He also said she is a hypocrite in her religious beliefs, and said she was incompetent enough to be “let go” from a law firm. In his book, Thomas said Hill was used by left-wing radicals, among many other charges. These words distract listeners from the main point, which is whether or not Thomas sexually harassed Hill. Distraction, name calling, and protestations of innocence are classic cover-ups. I think Thomas protests too much.
Thomas said all of this with an ironic smile on his face and in a gentle tone of voice as if everyone knows this is true of Anita Hill. In the New York Times article, Hill denied this depiction of herself and presented convincing evidence that Thomas's words are untrue.
If Thomas's words are untrue, then Thomas has committed unkind deeds and cover-ups. Rather than admitting that he was misguided as a young man about how to express romantic interests in a woman-or how to convince her to sleep with him, he smeared her character. If this is what happened, this is a classic case of being a shit, which is defined as committing unkind deeds and cover-ups.
Let's watch those books sales.
