# SCOTUS Wife Virginia Thomas asks Anita Hill to apologize - WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 20, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798 "2010-10-20T16:56:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/321 "2010-10-21T16:40:09Z")
Oh, so your posts were relevant. Got it. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/322 "2010-10-21T16:42:01Z")
> [@villa](#): > > Oh, so your posts were relevant. Got it. The point to my posts was that YOUR posts were irrelevant to the OP. That hasn’t changed…but there’s no need to keep pointing it out… ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/323 "2010-10-21T16:42:23Z")
> [@wordman](#): > > the point to my posts was that your posts were irrelevant to the op. That hasn’t changed…but there’s no need to keep pointing it out… +1 lol!!! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/324 "2010-10-21T16:43:15Z")
> [@villa](#): > > +1 lol!!! Boy - you sure got me there. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/325 "2010-10-21T16:44:15Z")
Sorry - was just trying to contribute to the thread. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/326 "2010-10-21T16:54:24Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > The OP has played itself out. Nothing more to say. The thread has evolved as a living, breathing document. But so far lacking sentience. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/327 "2010-10-21T16:57:19Z")
> [@villa](#): > > And if you only accused the black one of being too stupid to form his own opinions, just slavishly following the others, then I would have to be suspicious of your motivation for so doing. How about if you only accuse the one who never asks a single question, then? Is _that_ fair? ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/328 "2010-10-21T17:12:38Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > How about if you only accuse the one who never asks a single question, then? Is _that_ fair? If you say why you think lower levels of participation in oral arguments are a sign of stupidity, that would be fair. When Thomas does ask questions, they are pretty incisive. Wrong of course, but incisive. Is asking a few good questions less a sign of intelligence than asking multiple silly ones? (Sorry, I didn’t check with **WordMan** if I was permitted to answer that. Hope I am ok.) ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/329 "2010-10-21T17:13:14Z")
> [@villa](#): > > Sorry - was just trying to contribute to the thread. +2 LOLz!!1! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/330 "2010-10-21T17:20:08Z")
> [@villa](#): > > If you say why you think lower levels of participation in oral arguments are a sign of stupidity, that would be fair. When Thomas does ask questions, they are pretty incisive. Wrong of course, but incisive. Is asking a few good questions less a sign of intelligence than asking multiple silly ones? > > (Sorry, I didn’t check with **WordMan** if I was permitted to answer that. Hope I am ok.) Marshall was also known for asking no questions. Of course, his habit didn’t stand out so much: > [@](#): > > A little more than a decade ago, the Court was a much quieter place. Most of the Justices were 75 years of age or older and quite content to listen to the arguments. Justices William J. Brennan Jr., Thurgood Marshall, and Harry A. Blackmun rarely spoke during oral argument, and Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and justices Lewis F. Powell and Byron R. White were sparing in their questions. Savage, David A., “Say the Right Thing,” pp 54-55, ABA Journal, Sep 1997. I’m guessing it was OK for Thurgood Marshall to ask no questions, because … hmmm… why would that be? ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/331 "2010-10-21T17:22:09Z")
To be fair, Burger was silent because he was dumb as a sack of rocks - a particularly stupid sack of rocks at that. A sack of rocks that got laughed at by the other sacks of rocks in the “Special Ed for Sacks of Rocks” Class at Sacks of Rocks Middle School. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/332 "2010-10-21T17:26:16Z")
> [@villa](#): > > When Thomas does ask questions, they are …Wrong of course There you go then. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/333 "2010-10-21T17:27:19Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Are you suggesting that the human race abandon the technique of argument by analogy, or that just the participants in this thread do so? I’m saying the participants in this thread should attempt to use analogies that are actually analogous. Humanity is on their own. How the fuck is Ginnie Thomas having to hear how her husband put a pubic hair on a Coke can 20 years ago remotely analogous to Elizabeth Smart being kidnapped, raped and held hostage for a half a year? And putting a proviso in your post asking us not to compare the two doesn’t count. You’re comparing the two. They aren’t comparable. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/334 "2010-10-21T17:28:11Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > There you go then. But Scalia’s questions are also wrong (and more numerous). So Scalia surely is ahead in the sum total of stupidity stakes? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/335 "2010-10-21T17:32:35Z")
> [@villa](#): > > To be fair, Burger was silent because he was dumb as a sack of rocks - a particularly stupid sack of rocks at that. A sack of rocks that got laughed at by the other sacks of rocks in the “Special Ed for Sacks of Rocks” Class at Sacks of Rocks Middle School. Well, I can’t say I’m too fond of Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg BoE, but I think your contempt reaches a bit too far. But the larger point remains. Was Marshall dumb? Brennan? Blackmun? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/336 "2010-10-21T17:33:38Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I’m saying the participants in this thread should attempt to use analogies that are actually analogous. Humanity is on their own. > > How the fuck is Ginnie Thomas having to hear how her husband put a pubic hair on a Coke can 20 years ago remotely analogous to Elizabeth Smart being kidnapped, raped and held hostage for a half a year? And putting a proviso in your post asking us not to compare the two doesn’t count. You’re comparing the two. They aren’t comparable. They are obviously very different. For one, “Thomas” has six letters and “Smart” only five. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/337 "2010-10-21T17:34:46Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > but I think your contempt reaches a bit too far. Since when did you become such a pussy? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/338 "2010-10-21T17:35:52Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > How the fuck is Ginnie Thomas having to hear how her husband put a pubic hair on a Coke can 20 years ago remotely analogous to Elizabeth Smart being kidnapped, raped and held hostage for a half a year? And putting a proviso in your post asking us not to compare the two doesn’t count. You’re comparing the two. They aren’t comparable. Since analogies that differ in intensity cause problems for you, you should know that nobody ever said Thomas put a pubic hair on a Coke can. Anita Hill alleges that Thomas made the unfunny joke, “Who put this pubic hair on my Coke?” ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/339 "2010-10-21T17:37:43Z")
Yeah I can see how that’s just like raping a child. Thanks for clearing that up for me. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798/340 "2010-10-21T17:39:09Z")
I remember that. I also remember he was a giant fanboy of Long Dong Silver. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-wife-virginia-thomas-asks-anita-hill-to-apologize-wtf/557798.md?page=18)