No matter what happens next Tuesday, Kamala Harris can pat herself on the back for having kept her dignity through an election campaign in which she faced "various and sundry racist, misogynist and sexist insults" as well as efforts to deny her "integrity, competence and accomplishments," Anita Hill writes at the New York Times. "No presidential nominees in modern history have faced such a direct challenge to the authenticity of their identity and by extension their qualifications to be the president," yet Harris has remained calm and collected throughout, argues Hill, a law professor who knows a thing or two about life in the hot seat, having been grilled by Republican senators while challenging Clarence Thomas' Supreme Court nomination over a sexual harassment claim in 1991.
She notes Harris' sitdown with Fox News was "more like a public clash" than an interview. Bret Baier's "constant interruptions and his talking down to and over Ms. Harris were irritatingly familiar," Hill writes. Yet through "her refusal to be thrown on the defensive by personal attacks," Harris is recognizing "the right of others to be treated with respect." This despite the double standard: "A man's leadership worthiness is assumed, while a woman has to prove herself highly competent to lead," Hill writes. Even with that high bar, Harris has "introduced an American political future that promises a recognition of human dignity as its bedrock" and "earned the opportunity to make that future a reality," Hill writes. (Read the full piece, in which Hill outlines how Harris can improve the country, and the Supreme Court, as president.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
