Call for men to ‘step up’ puts Sen. Hirono in the spotlight
WASHINGTON — Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono, one of only four women on the 21-member Senate Judiciary Committee, asked Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh the same questions on sexual harassment she has asked dozens of other nominees.
WASHINGTON — Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono, one of only four women on the 21-member Senate Judiciary Committee, asked Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh the same questions on sexual harassment she has asked dozens of other nominees.
Had Kavanaugh “made unwanted requests for sexual favors” or committed verbal or physical harrassment of a sexual nature since he became a legal adult? And had he ever faced discipline or settled with anyone over that kind of conduct?
Kavanaugh said “no” to both questions at his confirmation hearing earlier this month. But few in the room, or watching on television, knew at the time how relevant Hirono’s questions would prove to be.
A little more than a week later, a California professor named Christine Blasey Ford contended that at a house party in the 1980s, a drunken, 17 year-old Kavanaugh tried undressing her and muffling her cries on a bed before she fled. Kavanaugh denies that account.
Ford’s accusation has upended his previously smooth confirmation process for Kavanaugh — and thrust the often low-key Hirono, 70, into the spotlight as one of the most outspoken senators in Ford’s defense.
“I just want to say to the men in this country: Just shut up and step up. Do the right thing, for a change,” Hirono said Tuesday, stealing the show at a press conference that featured several high-profile Democrats.
Hirono told The Associated Press Thursday in an interview that her “shut up and step up” comment hasn’t just resonated with women.
“I have talked to a lot of men who are really happy I said that, because they want to be part of the movement,” Hirono said.
Hirono’s outrage — and her commitment to holding male nominees accountable — has a deep history. When she was a child, her mother fled an abusive marriage in Japan and took Hirono and her brother to Hawaii, crossing the Pacific in steerage of an American ship.
“There is an environment where people see nothing, hear nothing, and say nothing,” Hirono said this week about the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct. “That is what we have to change.”
Hirono became a state legislator in 1980, where she says she worked on improving sexual assault laws. The issue remained important to her as she became Hawaii’s lieutenant governor in 1994, a member of the House in 2007 and eventually replaced longtime Democratic Sen. Daniel Akaka in 2013. She has kept a mostly low profile in her 12 years in Washington, but that has changed in the past year.
At a news conference Thursday, Hirono and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand defended Ford and said the Judiciary panel is being unfair to her. President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans have rejected Ford’s request for an FBI investigation of her accusation, which she says should take place before she testifies. Gillibrand accused Republicans of “bullying her.”
As Hirono arrived at the press conference, people cheered her arrival, with several yelling her name. Her newfound political celebrity was also apparent earlier in the day, when protesters against Kavanaugh’s nomination greeted her with cheers and applause at a Senate office building. Some of the protesters snapped selfies with her.
“They knew who I was and came up and encouraged me, and I thanked them,” Hirono said. “It was very energizing.”
It wasn’t the first time Hirono has interacted with protesters. Earlier this year, she was one of just a few senators who mingled among a large group in the same Senate Hart Office building who were opposing the Trump administration’s separation of families at the border. Hirono often calls herself the only immigrant in the Senate, and she is the sole senator who was born outside the United States to parents who were not citizens, according to the Senate Historical Office.
She acknowledges her profile has risen in recent months, saying “The Trump administration gives me so many more opportunities to be verbal and vocal.”
Hirono’s public ascent has also come amid health troubles, as she announced last year that she had been diagnosed with kidney cancer. She is still undergoing immunotherapy treatment.
“She’s a badass,” said Christina Reynolds of the advocacy group EMILY’s List, which supports women candidates. “The fact that she’s getting up there and calling it out, I think it’s inspiring for us to watch.”
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says Hirono may have seemed soft-spoken over the years, but adversaries shouldn’t forget that she has a “spine of steel.”
Hirono is encouraging other women to be active in politics, predicting their frustration will be felt in the outcome of the midterm elections.
“We work really hard to get elected,” Hirono said. “Nobody hands anything to us.”
Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Dustin Weaver contributed to this report.
James Woods says it best:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9e9741754158bfff877e36ff754c47dc788eefb04f7f55291a6f1f62dbdbbb94.png
She is an absolute embarrassment. God she sucks.
So let me get this straight- not ok for a man to tell a woman to shut up but ok the other way around. OK. Yeah btw🖕that. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.
Had Kavanaugh ……….since he became a legal adult?
a drunken, 17 year-old Kavanaugh
So, to the AP, a 17 yr old = a legal adult? Nowhere 40 some years ago, morons.
Never mind this is all crap dreamed up by a feminazi and leftist operatives determined to “resist” President Trump and is likely all a fabrication.
These Assorted Propaganda writers are so stupid they write this sort of idiocy and get paid for it?
Mazie is an embarrassment to the state as was gung-ho Doug Chin. Local yocals trying to make a name for themselves on the national political scene and failing miserably.
The only thing to do this Nov. 6th is vote Ron Curtis
Once again, NO facts or proofs, but Hazie believes a man of this stature should be found guilty without a trial.
Boy, if every girl I made out with in High School came forward that there
was heavy “petting” with, Hazie would be calling me a criminal too!
BTW, they all told me I was a good kisser!
She truly is a light in the darkness. Thumbs up for her!
You realize that Antifa has been deed a domestic terrorist group by the DHS !
And are legitimate targets whenever we encounter a group.
You realize that US troops have fought fascists in WWII? And fascists are roaming the streets of the USA these days?
You realize that these radical Left groups are the reason why Trump won ! Trump 2020 👍
You seriously think he will make it that long?! ROFL
Mazie is a major loser grabbing her 15 mins. How dare she tell men to shut up –and furthermore to step up. And how dare she tell us to BELIEVE the invisible woman Dr. Ford who is still pissed that B. Kavanaugh’s mother, a Judge, foreclosed on her parents house! Funny how she can’t repress that one. Dr. Ford, I know you aren’t a psychiatrist, but why were you roaming the streets all alone at 15 looking for some party action?? You even had your swimsuit on ready to dive deep. You can’t remember where the house was, how you arrived, how you didn’t break any bones jumping from the upstairs bathroom where you ran to so call hide, and I wonder what heavy drugs you were on? How could you possibly tell if you were tussling with Brett or the family dog? Hate to tell you sweetheart, it was the dog. The ONLY thing B Kavanaugh ever did to you was be the son of the woman who foreclosed your parents home! You can’t get over that shame and you never will. The entire town knew you were losers. Now you want payback. Maybe, if you play this right, Dems will buy you a house you can finally call your own. If you ruin this man and his family, just remember this –you own it. Forever.
Mazie, you are all about talking points, but must feel proud of yourself. After all, so many of your radical friends and colleagues support you. Heck with the other 95%