She Said, He Said

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In the course of the hearing, which Thomas angrily characterized as "a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks," other witnesses would come forward. Some would try to buttress Hill's charges either by affirming that she had complained of sexual harassment at the time of the alleged incidents or by putting forward their own allegations of misconduct by Thomas. Others would seek to cast doubt on Hill's testimony either by dredging up recollections that conflicted with hers or by offering stories that aimed to weaken Hill's credibility.

But nothing was likely to match the devastating effect of both Hill's and Thomas' testimony. Cool and unflappable, Hill looked the Senators in the eye and handled every question without hesitation. Her hands folded on the lap of her teal blue dress, her demeanor polite, cooperative and never defensive, she painted a vivid and sobering portrait of what it means to be victimized by sexual harassment -- from the fears, embarrassments and humiliations she experienced to the repercussions it had on her work, health and career choices. Given the detail and consistency of her testimony, it was almost inconceivable that Hill, rather than describing her own experiences, was fabricating the portrait of a sexual-harassment victim.

No less poignant, searing or believable, however, were Thomas' anguished statements and adamant denials. In his opening remarks -- which he wrote himself, by a friend's account, after telling the White House to "butt out" -- he said he felt "shocked, surprised, hurt and enormously saddened" on learning of Hill's charges. While Hill would maintain that he had asked her out five to 10 times during the period in question, he denied that he had ever asked her for even a single date. Rather, he said, Hill was someone he had helped at every turn, someone he considered a friend. That accusations of harassment should come from her seemed to him particularly hurtful. "During the past two weeks," he said, "I lost the belief that if I did my best, all would work out."

Then Thomas enlarged his field of pain. He spoke of the long ordeal -- 105 days by week's end -- that he had endured since his nomination to the Supreme Court, of reporters picking through his garbage cans and poring over his divorce papers. "This is not American; this is Kafkaesque. It has got to stop. It must stop for the benefit of future nominees and our country. Enough is enough," he declared, emphasizing each word.

"No job is worth what I've been through -- no job. No horror in my life has been so debilitating. Confirm me if you want. Don't confirm me if you are so led." Said he: "I will not provide the rope for my own lynching. These are the most intimate parts of my privacy, and they will remain just that, private."

The tone of his opening statement was so bitter, in fact, that many listeners thought he was leading up to a withdrawal of his candidacy. But he stopped short of that, apparently determined to clear his name even if he could not salvage his place on the court. "I would have preferred an assassin's bullet to this kind of living hell," he said the next day. But still, he insisted, he would "rather die than withdraw."