I, too, was depressed by the recent Thomas Hearings circus and I also think Thomas did everything Ms. Hill accused him of.

There was no middle ground here: one of the two was lying through his or her teeth. I found Anita Hill's story and her general demeanor absolutely convincing. There was nothing implausible about her story and she had no motive at all for putting herself through that ordeal. Thomas, on the other hand, had an overwhelming motive to lie and a history of political expediency. His strategy of playing the race card and refusing to answer her charges in detail was despicable (but all too effective). The Democrats were ineffectual and the Republicans shameless. It was a sad day for justice in America.

[Incidentally, now that a little time has passed, I would be curious to know how the rest of you feel about this. Which one was lying?]

However, Drury, I cannot agree with your reaction to this spectacle. You draw the easy conclusion that all politicians are bad and so there's no reason ever to vote. What is commonly overlooked is that not all 100 senators believed Thomas and not all 100 voted for him. I listened carefully to the confirmation debate and, amidst all the nonsense and hypocrisy, I heard some genuinely reasonable and honest comments (on both sides). Granted, the speakers of integrity were in the minority, but they were there. And there would have been more of them if people like you would start voting!

I must say, the whole business would have been much fairer if there had been more women in the Senate. It's absurd that only 2% of the Senate is female. But how can this ever change if decent, caring women like you don't care enough to vote?