KAILUA-KONA — Democratic Hawaii U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, in the national spotlight for her blunt criticisms of male behavior surrounding the controversial Supreme Court nomination, said questions about one of her own male political allies with a checkered domestic past are nothing but “more manufactured moral outrage led by the Republican leadership.”
Hirono grabbed headlines around two weeks ago when she told men in the country to “just shut up and step up. Do the right thing for a change” in regards to investigating the high court’s nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, of sexual assault allegations.
Kavanaugh is accused of sexually assaulting Christine Blasey Ford when the two were teenagers. Since Ford’s allegation became public, two more accusers have come forward with reports that Kavanaugh assaulted them when they were students.
On Friday, President Donald Trump ordered an FBI investigation be conducted into the claim before the full Senate votes on his nomination.
Since the Hawaii senator’s direct call, she’s been featured on national TV news broadcasts and was a quoted source in the New Yorker article that last week brought to light Deborah Ramirez’s allegation that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her when the two were freshmen at Yale University during the 1983-84 school year.
During the firestorm, The Washington Free Beacon reported that Hirono took $1,000 in political contributions from Delaware senator Tom Carper, who admitted to slapping his wife in a 1998 interview.
It was an accusation that Carper often denied after it first emerged when he was running for election in 1982, but later admitted.
“Did I slap my wife 20 years ago? Yes,” Carper admitted to a Delaware political reporter in 1998. “Do I regret it? Yes. Would I do it again? No.”
Carper called the accusations when they first surfaced a smear campaign orchestrated by his political opponent and threatened to sue the New York Post, which reported on it, for libel.
Hirono, one of only four women on the 21-member Senate Judiciary Committee, took $1,000 from Carper’s First State PAC in June of this year, according to Federal Election Commission records, the Free Beacon reported.
The Free Beacon, an American conservative political journalism website launched in 2012, was the news-gathering organization that uncovered Carper’s 1998 admission in January.
Hirono, who declined to comment for the Free Beacon story, was called out last week by the Hawaii Republican Party for acting hypocritically.
Hirono told West Hawaii Today that the Republican Party was playing political games by calling into question any connection between the issues.
“This is more manufactured moral outrage led by the Republican leadership who have abandoned their moral compass,” Hirono emailed in a statement after West Hawaii Today asked her six questions about the topic.
“Republican Party officials are very busy supporting their sexual predator and liar president and his policies that hurt Hawaii families. Meanwhile, they have not a word to say about the attacks against Dr. Blasey Ford, and in some cases have encouraged and engaged in those attacks. Their manufactured moral outrage should be called what it is — fakery — and I will not be silenced or deterred in standing up for Dr. Blasey Ford and our Hawaii values of decency and fairness.”
Questions sent by West Hawaii Today included whether she was aware Carper admitted to hitting his wife when she accepted the money, and if she had plans to give it back.
Hirono was also asked what kind of forgiveness she felt Carper deserved for his actions and would she apply the same forgiveness to someone who admitted sexual assault, or Kavanaugh, if it turned out he was guilty.
The 1982 Post story that prompted Carper to threaten to sue reported that the domestic attack happened during a custody battle over his wife Diane’s two children.
Carper was accused of hitting his wife “so hard he gave her a black eye.” It said that Carper admitted the incident occurred during a 1981 deposition.
“Crazy Mazie’s self-righteousness and virtue signaling is pure hypocrisy,” said Hawaii Republican Party Chairman Shirlene DelaCruz Santiago Ostrov, in a press release. “If she’s serious about being a voice for the voiceless then she must return the wife-beater’s money.”
Amen – Let Hirono out to pasture. She’s a fool who is making a fool out of the entire State of Hawaii IN FRONT OF THE WORLD! The worst Senator in the history of our wonderful State!
Should we respect and attend to the namecalling done by someone in support of a racist, sexist, immoral, incompetent, religious bigot in the White House? I think not!
Good grief. President Johnson has been out of office and dead for decades. What are you going on about?
Name-calling as is the case with Shirlene Ostrov’s “Crazy Masie” foolishness is proof that where there was once a Republican Party there is now only the childish Trump Bully Party. It’s too late for them to stand up. Now they are back to where they need to grow up.
Not my Senator! Hinoro thinks she represents women of Hawaii but she does not. She only embarrasses many of us. Obviously she hates men. She made her mind up in the Kavanaugh hearing before either of them spoke. A hypocrite who loves power!
Glass houses!
Aloha Kakou,
“Crazy Mazie”, that’s just a start, and her claim that “I will not be silenced or deterred in standing up for Dr. Blasey Ford and our Hawaii values of decency and fairness”, apparently she ignores these qualities in Hawaii when it suits her political agenda.
Years ago when another doctor was falsely accused, it reminds of the current story of Dr. Terry Allen of Kalaheo, Ms. Hirono took the word of the adversaries and ran with the lies accepting them though they were the 1 sided, unverified, the Whole Crazy Truth, and Nothing but the whole Crazy Lies, and further harmed an honest hard working man without ever even asking the other side a single question.
Run with the Rumor Mazie, another nickname that will follow her wasted time in D.C.
What has Mazie’s Less than illustrious career done for the diverse cultures of people living in Hawaii. We should hope she would show at least more humbleness as to her acceptance of our American ways considering she is born into a different, perhaps stricter and less tolerant, culture in Fukushima Prefecture, with perhaps different mores than our native U.S. culture. Besides, isn’t she considered by her Senatorial colleagues to be just a “bench warmer”.
Is Mazie so naive as to think, that WE are all so naive, ALSO, to think that what teenagers do today, and did 40 years ago and on back through the history of man and womankind, in their exploration of their own youthful sexuality, that apparently Dr. Ms. Blasey Ford felt it was not important enough back then, but to come forward now, all these 40 years years later, with her story perhaps embellished for the news media, if not plain old exaggerated or a complete lie?
Many groped and ungroped men and women, as well as male and female gropers and non-gropers go on from their teenage years to become matured illustrious citizens and productive people in our society. 40 years ago? That was in another century, by golly.
The disappointment for some people is that physical touching by another person does not happen to every person, being touched by another, for whatever reason. But we do know, in men, there is a hormone volume not shared equally with women, that drive men to make the testosteronic aggressive advances spurned by some young women, teenagers, but not by others, who feel no need for complaint, but are charmed by the advance(s) made upon them, as a testament to their attractiveness. In many cultures it is to be expected, it certainly is in most youth cultures.
Isn’t most of, if not all of this “Me Too” hysteria, but not including the drugging of another person, at least part of the “15 minutes, to days and weeks and months, of FAME”, so coveted by some people, but not by others…! And then “poof” it’s s al gone…Fame to the Flame…bye bye…just a memory or a nightmare, depending on how far one tried to take it.
While Mazie has ignored finding the truth in important matters in the past, why now? Is she just an unthinking lackey for the Dems, sacrificing her reputation and effectiveness for the higher ups? We will need to elect someone more suitable next time…!
Many of us are not impressed by her actions these days, and for some, years past.
Mahalo
Charles
Oh Charlie, you got in the “boys will be boys,” skipped right over the “they were asking for it,” and then delivered “they actually like it!” What a vile piece of work!
Mahalo Pete, your the man when it comes to comments. Yep, tried to cover all bases, but when it comes to writing comments…there’s so little time to compose, to spell check, grammar, thought and content. It’s no wonder there are only wisps of dialogue in 99% of comments, its certainly not for lack of writer ingenuity.
Mahalo,
Charlie
Mahalo, Mazie, for your years of service to the community both here in Hawaii and on a national level. Who was it that said “Those who do not serve, troll.”? Oh yea, that was me, just now.
Time for a #HETOO Movement for men who have been falsely accused of sexual assault to come forward and name their accusers. Sorry Mazie, I won’t shut up!
Maize Hirono= another demoncrat willing to do ANYTHING for power. WHEN WILL HAWAII WAKE UP???Looking forward to voting STRAIGHT REPUBLICAN in November.
Shut up and sit down Maize! You are a lying fool and a disgrace to our great State of Hawaii.
So tired of seeing and hearing about her, such a shame to Hawaii. I hope there is someone more qualified in Hawaii to replace her, she rambles as much as Trump who she is constantly criticizing! Mazie give it a rest.
What has senator Hirono done for Hawaii lately?
Where was Mazie when Dan Inouye was groping his hairdresser? Oh ya, she helped get our airport named after him!
Maisy,the Maxine watters of the Pacific?
Mazie lazing in the daisies
While there’s work to be done…or don’t…!