I do and I don’t believe her. I don’t know if quite believe she was “assaulted” in the sense that she’s claiming, and I only say that because there are some inconsistencies that seem not to add up and nobody else has come out to corroborate what she said other than family.
But that doesn’t mean that she wasn’t violated either. I think she probably was violated in some way. If Biden so much as leaned in for a kiss or just made a soft pass at her and then used his power to injure her career after being rejected, that’s still being very, very violated - no fingers up skirts required. And she’d probably be justified in wanting a piece of Joe’s ass in court or or the court of public opinion years later.
And yes I’m probably splitting hairs when I use my own definition of violated. In the end, I will still absolutely bring myself to vote for Joe Biden and I will walk into the voting booth telling myself the Biden is not a rapist because that’s what I want to believe. And yes, in this one case, I’m being a hypocrite. But it’s for a good cause. As the great poet once wrote, a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, and it would be imbecility to allow my vote to be wasted.
This accentuates lamoral’s point, though: typically, when someone seeks the highest office of the land, oppo research goes into high gear. That continues even after someone’s served two fucking terms as a vice president.
On the other hand, in Reade’s defense, we live in the world of #metoo, and a lot has indeed changed since 1993, or 2008 for that matter. Maybe she finally felt comfortable telling her secret.
The only reason I keep living in a world of denial is the fact that no other accusers have stepped forward with similar allegations, and more often than not, predators fall into patterns of behavior, particularly ones who feel they have the ability to get away with abuses of power.
And it’s that on which I hang my hat for (public) support of Joe Biden: the lone fact that he’s not demonstrably a serial predator. I might still support the sonofabitch anyway. Yes, I’m eating my words and exposing myself as a hypocrite. Joe Biden might be a creep but the entire Republican party is a group of evil neoconfederate kleptocratic authoritarians. They have to be defeated.
I’ve been lurking here since the '90s I think. It’s actually been really sad watching this go from a place that I conceived of as “smart adults” to whatever it is now. It’s been interesting seeing what “older people” who are vaguely left-leaning think about things, because the conversations that occur in my own spaces are so different from what you all are talking about.
I’ve actually noticed your intense paranoiac dismissive tone in particular as a presence in nearly all politics threads and it’s one of the more aggravating things about attempting to glean any meaning from discussions.
If you can’t look at the Cryptkeeper hiding in a basement fading in and out of reality every time he appears on film, who has next to no enthusiastic support, who voted for the Iraq War, who tells people to “vote for someone else,” who writes off “millennial” and younger support altogether, and who has now been accused of sexual impropriety and Imagine Something Better than the failure lies solely within you.
I suggest that all of you currently opining that we are “stuck” with this absolute dried turd of a candidate tap into your own and the collective imagination and start looking for solutions to heading off the perceived “inevitability” of Senile Rapist #1 vs. Senile Rapist #2.
I will absolutely not be voting for him, as I have the luxury of living in a “blue state,” and most of the people I know socially aren’t going to either.
What can we do though? We can “look for solutions” but what can we actually do? Are you suggesting that an organized effort be made to persuade Biden to step down? That is the only conceivable path that I can discern you to be advocating. So just so we’re clear, is that what you’re suggesting we do?
I mean, yeah, that is the very bare minimum that you can do. It’s not asking much. Wield whatever influence you have to avoid running this catastrophically bad candidate who is uniquely positioned to lose what should be Lay-Up Election #2.
The Democratic Party is a real travesty at this point. I suspect it will need to be scrapped in the future but it’s what exists right now. Take the vehicle somewhere useful.
I don’t think thats accurate. I remember when people were saying that people were just making up accusations against Bill cosby to get his money. But endless people with way more money have 0 sexual accusations against them. Mitt Romney, Ned Lamont, Bill Gates, Tom Steyer, etc. You can make a very long list of millionaires and billionaires in business and politics with no sexual accusations.
Lots of politicians go their whole lives without a sexual assault allegation.
If this is true, I’m deeply disappointed in Biden for keeping it secret and still running for the highest office. We don’t need that kind of selfishness in our democratic politicians, willing to torpedo the entire party and its chances for an electoral win for their own careerism. Granted, thats a naive assessment of the kinds of people who run for president but still, its disappointing.
And what might that solution be? I can’t guess at all, surely no one who repeats Bernie talking points could possible think that now is the time to ditch Biden and nominate Bernie? Amazing it took all this time for you to unlurk.
I’m on the same page, I don’t see how sitting out an election where the democrat has 1 serious allegation of sexual assault (I would consider the rest of his behavior more creepy than an actual assault) to allow another candidate with 20+ accusations of sexual assault to win is somehow helping anyone.
The GOP is a neofascist party that hates democracy, and sitting an election out due to one sexual assault accusation isn’t going to protect democracy. It just sucks that this is the situation we find ourselves in.
On the right, they just deny all the allegations. A lot of voters felt the accusations against Moore and Trump were fabricated. I doubt that happens on as wide a scale on the left (people will more vote knowing Biden has done things they really don’t like), its just depressing that this is the best we can do.
I hope its false but in between the Larry king call and her neighbor, its not looking good. Has anyone other than Tara Reade verified the voice on larry King was her mom? Like any neighbors, siblings, etc or her mom?
Bernie won’t be the nominee. The private property worshipping reptilian Wall Streeter “we can’t have nice things” corporatists made sure of that.
Your general demeanor is so tacky and repellent. It’s no wonder you so often seem to end up talking to yourself after you’ve tamped down whatever discussion is ongoing.
Everything about the existing structure of our government will need to be reimagined, repurposed, dismantled, etc. to undo the idiocy of e.g. lifetime judicial appointments, SCOTUS, the Senate in general.
The Democratic Party itself is a loser’s institution that has no appeal to anyone meaningfully concerned about healthcare, climate change, wealth taxation, etc. Good riddance to it when it does go.
Not Bernie. Open up the convention. Show your conviction for the metoo movement and ditch Biden as your side said we should have shed Kavanaugh. Nobody on your side should pretend that it is now down to a choice between two. It’s not.
The reason dalej42’s demeanour is so tacky and repellent is because he used to be all in for Buttigieg, but some of Bernie’s online supporters were particularly mean about Buttigieg because they (correctly) identified that he was only in it for himself. Dale’s seething, unhinged hatred for Sanders isn’t based on anything Sanders actually stands for. It’s based on the fact that his boy Pete got owned hard on Twitter and dale took it personal. That’s literally it. Sad, but true.
This BS is the last reason that Biden shouldn’t be the nominee.
He shouldn’t be the nominee because he has a roughly 1 in 5 chance of dropping dead if he catches COVID over the next few years, a not unlikely occurrence as he has to leave that basement to campaign someday.
He shouldn’t be the nominee because he was the only candidate runnning in the primary who supported the Iraq War.
He shouldn’t be the nominee because he considers the opposition to be decent human beings who “will come to their senses” as soon as Trump is gone- one of the most dangerous delusions that he holds.
But he should not be replaced because of ancient unprovable allegations from a basket case who literally writes romance novels about Putin.
Of course, you reap what you sow. MeToo is currently blowing up in the Dems’ faces. If you believe every woman, you have to believe this one. Franken & Kavanaugh were already dragged through the mud over nonsense, so might as well do it to Biden too. Cancel culture is cancer and it has no place in political discourse, yet here we are. At least there is almost a bit of karmic justice to the whole thing now.
#MeToo isn’t about Democrats or Republicans – it’s about changing society as a whole, which largely still treats women like shit if they dare to speak out about their experiences with powerful men. Before about 2016 or so, the Democratic party was pretty much just as bad as the Republicans on this issue, routinely sweeping accusations under the rug to protect powerful men. But that they’ve made some progress and the Republicans have gotten worse doesn’t mean that it’s blown up in their face when someone accuses the prospective nominee.
#MeToo is still working and still doing good for the country. Taking this allegation seriously is still a good thing. Hell, even politically speaking, it’s very good for Biden that this is coming out now – after he’s wrapped up the nomination, but early enough that it’s likely to blow over before the general election, especially with everyone focused on COVID.
Did you just fall off a turnip truck?
I’ve despised Shitbag Sanders since October 2015. Before that, he was just a useless blowhard backbencher with no political clout.
Sanders supporters on Twitter were assholes to everyone. Unlike everyone, Pete won Iowa and tied for delegates in New Hampshire.
Bernie will be dead and rotting in a box within a few years, his only influence being that he raised a generation of trolls with no political power.
The mayor of a city that’s just over 100,000? Sure, Pete made a name for himself during this most recent election cycle and he had good sound bites, but until he’s elected to a national office, he will never become a serious contender for POTUS.