美国国家公共电台 NPR Kavanaugh Allegations Recall 1991's Supreme Court Scandal, With Key Differences

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Allegations of sexual misconduct against a Supreme¹ Court nominee² have happened before. Twenty-seven years ago, another college professor, Anita Hill, accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment³. And while there are some similarities between the current allegations against Brett Kavanaugh and those against Thomas, there are also some key differences. Our own Nina Totenberg broke the Anita Hill story and is here with us now to discuss the parallels with today. Hi, Nina.

NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE⁴: Hi, Ari.

SHAPIRO: We just heard from Scott Detrow about the latest. What are you hearing from your reporting on where this nomination⁵ is going and whether people think Kavanaugh will still be confirmed?

TOTENBERG: It's really a moving target, but it's not - and you really can't tell. It's not like 27 years ago. Back then, there were two women in the United States Senate and none on the Judiciary Committee. The Democrats⁶ back then were not exactly anxious to probe these allegations. Joe Biden was then the chairman and didn't pursue Anita Hill's allegation when she first reached out to the committee. And after my story broke, including a detailed⁷ interview with her, Republicans really had one objective - to discredit⁸ Anita Hill.

The Democrats were caught flat-footed, and they really didn't help much. They listened to the charges of erotomania and were pretty silent. And they didn't call three other women with corroborating⁹ information. And that, by the way, is a decision that Joe Biden, the chairman of the committee - then the chairman of the committee - has since publicly regretted. Now contrast that with today. There are 23 women senators, not two. And there are four on the Judiciary Committee, all Democrats. The #MeToo movement is in its ascendancy¹⁰, and even the Republicans don't want to look insensitive and incurious.

SHAPIRO: You've reported that in the beginning Anita Hill did not want to go public either. Why not?

TOTENBERG: You know, it's not hard to understand. If you think you have information that's disqualifying for someone nominated for a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court, especially today with all of the social media in the world and certainly back then, too, why would you want to subject yourself to the examination, the invective¹¹, all of that? Dr. Ford¹² told the Post that when the details of her story started to leak and the hunt was on for this unnamed person, she was losing all the privacy that she wanted to protect anyway. And she wanted to control the situation.

SHAPIRO: Are these the only cases of eleventh-hour information popping up in a Supreme Court confirmation¹³ battle?

TOTENBERG: You know, it's not uncommon¹⁴ for new information to surface. And what usually happens, unless - against nominations¹⁵ is that the FBI investigates first, then the committee investigators¹⁶ take a crack. And often there are sworn interviews that take place of the nominee and others behind closed doors. And if they - if it turns out to be bad, you never hear about it. The nominee withdraws. If it's OK, you never hear about it. And the nominee's confirmed.

SHAPIRO: Through her attorney, Christine Blasey Ford has said she would be willing to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would obviously be high stakes and high drama. We have seen that before. How similar or different is this compared to the Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas scandal?

TOTENBERG: If I had to bet, I'd bet on confirmation. But it could get uglier and probably will, and there's an election coming up in eight weeks.

SHAPIRO: That's NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg. Thanks, Nina.

TOTENBERG: Thank you.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

3 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

6 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

8 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

9 corroborating   

v.证实，支持（某种说法、信仰、理论等）( corroborate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Neither can one really conclude much from a neat desk, unless there is further corroborating evidence. 实际上，我们也无法从一张整洁的办公桌中得出什么结论，除非还有其它证据进一步证实。 来自互联网

10 ascendancy   

n.统治权，支配力量

参考例句：

• We have had ascendancy over the enemy in the battle.在战斗中我们已占有优势。
• The extremists are gaining ascendancy.极端分子正逐渐占据上风。

11 invective   

n.痛骂，恶意抨击

参考例句：

• He retorted the invective on her.他用恶言讽刺还击她。
• His command of irony and invective was said to be very classic and lethal.据说他嬉笑怒骂的本领是极其杰出的，令人无法招架的。

12 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

13 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

14 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

15 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

16 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》