Nobody wants a traumatic experience turned into a weapon used to bludgeon them before jeering crowds, writes Caitlin Johnstone.
By Caitlin Johnstone
CaitlinJohnstone.com
Former Georgia state congresswoman and gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who is on the Joe Biden running mate short list and making no secret of her desire for the job, said on CNN Tuesday night that she did not believe rape allegations against the former vice president to be credible.
“The New York Times did a deep investigation and they found that the accusation was not credible. I believe Joe Biden,” Abrams said when pressed on further corroborating evidence that Biden’s accuser Tara Reade had been talking about a sexual assault by the then-senator way back in the nineties.
CNN’s Don Lemon pressed Abrams on the contradiction between her earlier “believe women” rhetoric about conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser, to which Abrams responded that Kavanaugh’s accuser was not given a fair hearing but Tara Reade was. Past tense. Over and done with now.
Lemon did not ask why Abrams considers The New York Times the official arbiter of who was and was not raped. He did not challenge her false assertion that The New York Times concluded Reade’s accusation was “not credible.” He did not point out that the investigation by the The New York Times took place prior to the emergence of the corroborating evidence in question. Abrams was allowed to coolly insert a false, baseless narrative into public consciousness and move on.
It’s gonna be a long six months.
— Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) April 29, 2020
In reality, The New York Times is not the authority on who has and has not been sexually assaulted. That’s not a thing.
In reality, The New York Times did not conclude that Reade’s accusation is not credible, only that they “found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr. Biden, beyond the hugs, kisses and touching that women previously said made them uncomfortable” (which they later quietly edited down to “found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr. Biden” at the instruction of the Biden campaign, a very blatant act of journalistic malpractice).
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In reality, The New York Times has smeared Reade with a scandalous hit piece dismissing her allegations because she has written approvingly of Russian president Vladimir Putin, implying that either (A) Reade is a Russian agent fabricating the allegations to help Trump, or (B) that it’s okay to rape women if they disagree with beltway consensus foreign policy.
In reality, two new corroborating pieces of evidence have been added to the growing pile since The New York Times published its “investigation” into Reade’s allegations: footage of Reade’s mother anonymously calling in to Larry King Live in 1993 during Reade’s last month of employment with Biden saying that her daughter was considering going to the press with a very serious allegation against a very prominent senator, and a former neighbor saying that Reade had told her about the sexual assault in the mid-nineties.
I have never been in the “always believe all women” camp; it’s a narrative that’s too easy to manipulate once you get enough people believing it. But at this point there are basically only two possibilities: either (A) Tara Reade was going around lying to her closest confidants in the 1990s with the very long-term goal of one day thwarting Biden’s third presidential bid decades later, or (B) a powerful man sexually assaulted a woman. One of these, in my opinion, is a lot more probable than the other.
Reach out to me directly and ask ?
I am not an " imperfect victim". I was lifelong Democratic supporter single mom that put myself through law school and I was raped by Joe Biden, my former boss, a Democrat.
There are no excuses for institutionalized rape culture. Thank you. https://t.co/hOQTxAzfa5— taratweets ( Alexandra Tara Reade) (@ReadeAlexandra) April 28, 2020
I’ve been avoiding writing much about Tara Reade, for a lot of reasons. Firstly, I’m a survivor of multiple rapes and it brings up a lot of ouch for me, especially since whenever I write about rape as a problem I always get a deluge of highly triggered men (and sometimes one or two highly traumatized women) calling me a man-hater and saying all kinds of nasty things to me. Secondly, I’ve been trying not to spend too much time on the details of an election we all know is fake anyway between two establishment candidates we already know are deeply depraved.
But mostly I avoid the subject because it’s just so goddamn gross. It’s gross to watch liberals going around pretending they believe that Handsy Uncle Hair Sniffer would never dream of shoving his fingers into a woman without her consent. It’s gross watching the language of leftism being borrowed to defend pure, relentless victim smearing. It’s gross watching people who’ve built their political identities around pretending to care about women try to spin these allegations as Reade being dishonest for partisan reasons, when in reality that’s exactly what they themselves are doing.
Due to my experiences with and sensitivity to the subject matter, going through this stuff feels kind of like getting punched in the privates over and over again. There are smears everywhere, from the establishment narrative managers to their brainwashed rank-and-file herd. Yesterday some “KHive” asshole told me that Reade is mentally ill and talking about her experience will probably drive her to suicide, citing a baseless smear by McResistance pundit Sally Albright as his evidence. There’s a Twitter thread with thousands of shares going around right now where some liberal combed through all Reade’s old tweets highlighting typos she made and claiming they show Reade tweeting “in a Russian accent.”
It’s really, really gross.
And it hurts.
And there are definitely a whole lot of rape survivors experiencing the same thing about this story right now.
going through all of Tara Reade’s tweets finding spelling and grammar errors in order to prove she’s a Russian agent
the democrats are not ok the democrats are UNWELL pic.twitter.com/dq4r32Dqkd
— june (@shoe0nhead) April 29, 2020
This is exactly the nightmare scenario that sexual assault survivors imagine when they contemplate coming forward. It’s why so many of them don’t. Especially when their attacker is powerful.
Nobody wants to have their name dragged through the mud by widely esteemed mainstream news media outlets. Nobody wants to have their entire past and entire social media history dug through to find anything that can be spun in the most negative light possible. Nobody wants to be told over and over again that they’re a liar, that they’re crazy, that they’re confused, all because they know they were sexually assaulted and said so. Nobody wants what can easily be the most traumatic experience of their life turned into a weapon to bludgeon them with before jeering crowds of millions all around the country.
And that sucks.
It sucks because if we’re to build a healthy world we’re going to have to get rid of all the people who shouldn’t be in power, and the very first lot we should eliminate are the ones who abuse their power to assault the sexuality of other human beings. If you use your power to rape people, you will with absolute certainty use it to do other unconscionable things as well, so eliminating those who do so is the first step toward health. That’s step one, and we can’t even get there, because blind partisan hackery turns pussyhat-wearing liberals into a bunch of snarling male supremacists.
I was 19 the first time I was raped. The last time I was 39. I never reported my attackers, for reasons the specifics of which I’m not interested in explaining or defending, but let’s just say that there are many messages you get sent by society telling you that if you report your rapist you are ruining a man’s life, destroying his family, career and future over one “mistake.” That it’s better just to suck it up because you’re strong and you can handle it.
You are taught that if you report your rape, you will be treated like the criminal, and the “investigation” that will take place will not put its spotlight on the accused, but on you, the accuser. You will have to defend your life choices and your character when you’re in the process of attempting to recover from a deeply harmful assault. You are taught that if you report these things that it’s you that will be shunned and shamed by members of your own tribe. And if the person is powerful, then you also know that this will likely end your career.
All these things are happening to Tara Reade right now. None of that has changed. Millions of young girls are being sent that message, once again, all across America, on screens large and small. They are being shown that if you accuse someone who has power over you of rape, you will be demonized and attacked, even by people who say they care about you, about a profoundly sensitive matter involving the most traumatic thing you’ve ever experienced.
And the thing is, that message is not a false message. You absolutely can be made the subject of vicious attacks if you accuse the wrong person of raping you. Attacks which press all your most painful buttons. Attacks which will try to convince you that you are insane. Attacks which will try to drive you insane.
And that sucks.
And I don’t know what can be done about it.
Caitlin Johnstone is a rogue journalist, poet, and utopia prepper who publishes regularly at Medium. Follow her work on Facebook, Twitter, or her website. She has a podcast and a book, “Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers.”
This article was re-published with permission.
The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
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The Democratic Party mascot may be the donkey but I don’t think the jackasses at the DNC have any intention of allowing Joe Biden to be the party’s presidential candidate beyond the convention. They will rejigger events to arrange an “open” convention that ends up nominating someone else. Joe was just meant as a placeholder to preclude Bernie Sanders from becoming the nominee. Joe’s conspicuous dementia alone would be enough to disqualify him from filling the office of the presidency.
The easiest way to “legally” ditch the guy would be to cancel all or most of the postponed primaries, meaning Joe could not achieve the minimum number of delegates to clinch the nomination with what he’s already got. All the vacant delegate positions would be ordered filled by the party apparatus in each state (rather than holding elections in the midst of a worldwide plague), with subrosa orders not to pick supporters for Biden. The first ballot would fail to produce a nominee and subsequent ballots would select whomever it is that the DNC favors.
If they want to win the general, I recommend they do not choose Hillary, as that would incite the Trump supporters she christened the “deplorables,” who would again be provoked to turn out in droves. To exacerbate the situation, they were the ones who lost their jobs to the pandemic, and they will not blame Trump–not as long as he successfully (though speciously) blames China.
Also ixnay on Michelle Obama, as the country has already dabbled too much in the realm of family dynasties, viz., the Bush Dynasty and the would-be Clinton Dynasty. Moreover, unless she’s willing to refute her warmongering husband, this country does not need another escalation in the Cold War with Russia that Barack Obama rekindled with disgusting gusto. By deliberately shaping his presidency into the 3rd and 4th terms of the Bush administration, Obama paved the way for a smooth transition into the not-so-different Trump administration. If Barack plans to be there in the White House coaching his wife to implement his policy, the country may just as well keep Bad Orange Man. At least the Russians, Chinese, Iranians and Venezuelans need not worry about getting their hopes up for peaceful relations with the United States: ain’t gonna happen under any circumstances. Not even if one of the dozen other clowns from the primaries get the nod from the Democratic Party mandarins. Too many neolib/neocon warmongers amongst them beholden to the small clique of oligarchs that own the party.
” If you use your power to rape people, you will with absolute certainty use it to do other unconscionable things as well..”
Such as force a foreign client state to give your son a job with an enormous income but no duties.
It really in incredible that Biden has lasted long enough for this allegation to be important. And it speaks volumes of the depth of the corruption in the US political culture- it reaches down not just to Stacy Abrams but to the countless low level community and church figures who swung the vote of the black community- the most deprived and worst exploited in the USA- behind this lifelong supporter of vampirical usurers. And even further to those voters to whom electability is more important than honesty or even commitment to policies which would benefit or win the approval of the elector.
We do know that our handy little communication devices are used for unauthorized audio surveillance. It won’t help Tara’s case, but maybe someday a decent lawyer will make such surveillance evidence mandatory during discovery to make a more objective case for the victim.
Doesn’t seem to be working that way so far and it will take a lot of integrity and tenacity to finally establish such a precedent. Seems so easy in theory but we all know why exposing powerful sellouts is difficult.
It´s the American way of justice. Attack the witness. Sow doubt. Destroy the accuser. Defence lawyer´s handbook. In rape cases , judges who are not so morally pure allow this behaviour. It might have to work for them as well. ( The Kavaneau case?)In a patriarcal society the men are believed, no matter how evil, and the women can just keep their silence, , grin and bear it, or bear the consequences. In the USA the rich and powerful are immune from attack from people of the lower classes that they wrong. What a country? USA,USA,USA. Kind of makes you want to vomit does it not?
When Joe became anointed I called the DNC’s office in D.C. and told them off. This powerful article speaks truths that will continue to reverberate for as long as Joe lives. Simply, Joe is a detestable person, unfit and an un-electable. Thank you CN.
It has just been revealed by a female Secret Service officer that Biden, whether at home or away, always swam in the nude.
It was very uncomfortable for female agents assigned to protect him, and indeed no one wanted to be assigned to his protection.
And, as we all know there are countless photos on the Internet of Biden pawing women and girls in public and often sticking his face, uninvited, into their hair.
Alex Cockburn was writing about this sick creep 12 years ago:
www (dot) counterpunch (dot) org/2020/04/28/biden-the-lout
I parted my ways with the Dem Party when they started with the “lesser of the two evils” baloney. To those who’d disagree with me I’d give the example of the ” Dem President Obama, who was the “lesser evil” because he, among other things, legalized most things Bushy had done illegally; bombed 7 countries with whom we were not officially at war with, thereby also killing many civilians and children; prosecuted more whistleblowers under sedition act than all previous presidents combined; assassinated American citizens, including a minor, without any due process, etc.
Now here is a new example. Thanks to the strategy of the “lesser of the two evils”, now we have the choice between two septuagenarian, both implicated in grabbing women by the *u$*y. There is a big difference though – one is Dotard and the other Retard.
Thank you Caitlin, for continuing to state the obvious (which so manyAmericans apparently do not get), and doing so very elegantly. I also admire your courage to address something that is personally painful. Thank you.
I too parted ways with the D-party and their LOTE strategy as the political system shifted / tilted to the right for too long – and we were expected to accept it as it became normalized. Now – take a good hard look at precisely where that shift has landed us — with two horrible candidates yet again. On top of it all we are not supposed to even criticize the D’s at all /ever. No thanks.
Biden has no credibility. He lies too much. He has lied about things both great and small during his entire political life. Biden could be the inspiration for the joke “How do you know when a politician is lying? When his mouth is open.”
There is never a good reason to trust Biden. And I am sickened by Bernie endorsing him.
mbob:
Bernie suspended his campaign. He has a chance to get more electors in his court with his name being on the ballots , and when he does, he will have more power to impact the Dem platform. Sadly, New York has decided to skip the primary—-how odd —how unfair–how devious. The more delegates Bernie has, the more influence he has on the platform for the Green New Deal, and Medicare for All and other needs of the People.
Maybe it would be more fair to be sickened by New York, who by skipping the primary eliminates Bernie on the ballot.
GMCasey:
Bernie dropped out, endorsed Biden, and is working with him to elect him.
The NY presidential primary is irrelevant. Being upset about it is silly. Biden already is going to be the nominee and Bernie supports that.
All this yammer about platforms is nonsense- the only purpose is to sheep dog folk who might not support a corporatist being tricked into doing so because of a bunch of lies by the corporatists about a platform. Platforms are jokes.
I’m amazed at how people get upset about things that don’t matter.
Maybe a third possibility/motivation/hand at work:
3) Doddering Uncle Joe, who was useful during a rather remarkable comeback to sideline Bernie, is deposed by another neo-liberal faction in the party to spend his days sniffing the hair of his caretakers. That faction’s leader will, “for the good of the country” come forth for a rematch to save us from Trump (and the Russians).
Would certainly be breathtakingly incongruous given that faction’s past history of preying on women–but hey–we must save the country at all costs from Trump (and of course, Putin)!
Perhaps that faction had op research done in 2008, but no need to deploy as Uncle Job whiffed quickly and was gone after Iowa, and anyway, might have a bit too close in time to 1998 to deploy without potential for greater blow back. Me Too, and its impact, in any event emerged well after 2008, and Biden’s time as VP.
Abrams, who will not be Biden’s VP nominee, is useful to show some cover for Uncle Joe. After all, there must be some kind of defense for him given how he was sold on Super Tuesday to the party. No doubt she will secure some senior sinecure post, promises for the future (always subject to being broken) if there was to be a restoration of the 1990’s.
Trump would be more than happy with that play. Re-match would be his ideal scenario –especially with Durham standing by with indictments. Collusion delusion/ failed coupe would be rolled out to drown out sinking economic numbers post covid.
Reade, the merits of her allegations being put to the side, unfortunately seems to be useful pawn in the long game to sideline the progressive wing of the party, and to allow for a rematch.
Putting morals aside, of which there are absolutely none, the level of machinations at play are certainly next level audacious. But when one is fighting her last battle, it is time to unleash every last weapon in the arsenal.
Biden has no credibility at all. He’s lied too many times. He lies about things both great and small and has done so for his entire political life — and presumably before. He’s the inspiration for the joke “How do you know when a politician is lying? When his mouth is open.” (OK, maybe not really, but close enough.)
There is no good reason to trust Biden on anything.
When will people finally wake up to they realization that we have all been duped by the mainstream media, politicians and big money? Russiagate is a hoax, China is not responsible for Covid19, Obama was not a “savior”, the dirty, old. bumbling man who is Joe Biden is not the remedy to the pervasive psychotic illness that is invading this world, our military is murdering people, at will, around the world while we watch the next episode of our favorite TV show, there are an estimated 120.5 civilian firearms per 100 persons in the US alone, the Democratic Party is NOT the People’s Party (nor is the Republican Party), we have a one party system geared toward the wealthy, billions of dollars are being poured into Wall Street and large corporations while everyday people go without jobs and a meaningful income? When will we come out of our drunken, greedy consumptive stupor and take a look at the natural world around us realizing we have destroyed the only thing that really matters in this life? There is no god – organized religion is designed to make the masses supplicate at the alter of the almighty dollar while instilling hatred and fear of anyone or anything different. We are lost in a fog of denial and self-imposed amnesia – I fear that we never recover from this enigmatic creation…
Susan,
I agree with EVERYTHING you have written with the EXCEPTION of four little words – “There is no God”. The remainder of that sentence, in my humble opinion, is about as perfect as humanly possible, for we are far from perfect. What I write below is just a modest attempt to get you to reconsider those four words.
You wrote, “organized religion is designed to make the masses supplicate at the altar of the almighty dollar (think about that, we call the dollar “almighty”!! Is that not idolization??) while instilling hatred and fear of anyone or anything different.” What a sentence, and you are speaking the complete truth! Good luck at getting the church leaders to believe that, though.
But, I will go over a few basics from the bible, and afterwards a few scriptures for your consideration. Our lives on earth are NOT what the people in the churches of men tell us.
First off, in Genesis, God gave man dominion (rule) over ALL the things ON EARTH. When Adam sinned, God told him, “because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife and (abbr. eatened of the tree), CURSED is the ground for thy sake; in SORROW shalt thou eat of it ALL THE DAYS of thy life.” What is the “ground”, is it not “earth”? Was Adam (means “man” in Hebrew) not formed from the “clay” of the earth? Is God not the POTTER? Can the potter not form, and even break, his clay vessels as per his desire?
Now I’ll jump ahead to a scripture which most do not see or discuss. In Isaiah 63:9-10 we see the following:
“In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and pity He redeemed them; and He bore them, and carried them all the days of old. But they REBELLED and vexed His holy Spirit; therefore He was TURNED TO BE THEIR ENEMY, and He FOUGHT AGAINST THEM.”
Think about that, Susan, the implications of those two little scriptures.
Now, consider what Jesus said and did.
1) He told the woman at the well (John 4), “You know NOT WHAT you worship, but we know what we worship”. Why did He say that, and why did He say “what” instead of “whom”???
2) When Jesus gave sight to the blind man, He dug up some dirt (the cursed clay) with His hand (divine hand), spit on it (with the living water) and put it over the man’s eyes (also of cursed clay) and the man gained his sight. This entire story is a metaphor for US. In Isaiah 42 God says, “who is blind, but My servant?” That is us!!
3) He taught us that “we reap what we sow”. Are we not reaping now the BAD fruits of the EVIL seed we have collectively sown as a nation (and peoples of the entire earth)?
4) When Jesus wandered the wilderness for 40 days, and was tempted by Satan, Satan made Him an offer. He would give Him (Jesus) dominion over the ENTIRE earth IF He (Jesus) would bow before Him. So, now consider – WHO did God give AUTHORITY to make such a statement??????
I’ll refer to one more scripture and say that this is “good enough” for now. In 2 Thessalonians 2:10-11, Paul writes:
“And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the LOVE of the TRUTH, that they might be saved. And FOR this CAUSE, GOD (note, GOD does this!!) SHALL send STRONG DELUSION, that they SHOULD BELIEVE A LIE. (!!!!).” Chew on that one for a little while, Susan.
Like I said in the beginning, your entire response was great!! What we now are seeing is the consequences of our actions, thoughts, and deeds.
I wish you all the best, Susan, and I pray for you, and for all.
In the age of Trump, being critical of Clinton and the Democratic Party, and the FBI/Mueller/DNC/MSM, McCarthyist, anti-Russian witch-hunt, etc., has resulted in being accused of supporting that unhinged, rightwing buffoon, by people who should know me better – by friends! (By one-time, self-described Socialists!)
And this is happening in Canada, where there is a slightly broader political spectrum – but not sufficiently broader, I guess, to grasp that there is no fundamental difference between the two wings of the American single-party system.
People (friends!) say things to me like “We shouldn’t talk about American politics, because we disagree so completely about Trump.”(!) When I reply “We don’t disagree about Trump, we disagree about the Democratic Party.” They roll their eyes and change the subject.
God, it’s even worse than being accused of supporting Saddam Hussein, when we opposed the Iraq “war”.
But back to Tara Reade. Both Ms. Reade in general, and Ms. Reade’s claims regarding Biden, are so much more credible than, say, several of the accusers of Weinstein or Trump… not to mention Woody Allen, and others.
I don’t subscribe to the notion that all women are to be believed automatically in these matters – actually I think that’s an outrageously stupid and dangerous idea – but if ever such an accusation has merit on the face of it, Ms. Reade’s does.
I wouldn’t vote for him in any case, but would I convict Biden of rape, or sexual assault, on the basis of what is known now?
No.
But, on the balance of probabilities, I believe her.
The left’s obsession with identity politics has destroyed itself so thoroughly that I have little hope for its revival in the short term – but maybe this is the moment.
I will not shy away from talking about this, holding out some faint hope that defending Tara Reade’s credibility will not be equated with supporting the clown currently being allowed to pretend to be running your country. I live in hope for a mass epiphany amongst those who once would never have voted, even holding their noses, for a Hillary Clinton, a Joe Biden – or a Justin Trudeau or even a Jagmeet Singh for that matter.
I tend to believe Reade, but I do question her timing. She brings forth these allegations when Biden is a presidential candidate, not when Obama picked him as his vice president, or at any other time during his political career after the supposed assault, so one does question her motives. When motives are in question people will tend to be skeptical. So I don’t think a strong case can be made against people who doubt her story.
Perhaps she didn’t on an earlier occasion because, as Caitlin points out very, very clearly, it is the accuser who is *always* in the dock, whose life is scrutinized under a microscope, who is *not* believed, who is viewed as having an ulterior motive – rather as you are suggesting in your comment.
Perhaps she chose now because – who could have imagined it? – Biden is the presidential candidate for the Blue face of the Janus Party, not just one among other potential nominees. That there is a real possibility that he will beat the Strumpet and become president, gaga though he may be.
When or if a victim of sexual assault/rape comes forward should not matter. It is – as Caitlin rightly, justly explains – exceedingly difficult, just about impossible, to be believed and not be treated like a liar, like someone out to destroy the life of this or that man for the heck of it.
In light of Biden’s hands all over females, Ms Reade’s accusations should treated seriously and she should be treated with full respect.
In ways akin to Caitlin, between the ages of 14 – 35, I was assaulted by men several times both in Britain and the US, some times with sexual intent. My experience with the police in both countries, on the three occasions I bothered to report what happened, I learnt all too quickly that I was the one targeted for disbelief, for “causing” the “problem.” Indeed, in the US the detective, who drove me home after I had been photographed and asked to choose the culprit from a bunch of photos, tried to come on to me…talk about sickening. Never heard anything more about it. In the UK, the cops decided that I had taken this bloke into my flat (working as an assistant warden in a large youth hostel at the time) and when he left, I had made up the story of his breaking in, while I was in bed, in order to cover for my “obvious” sexual looseness, in case anyone had seen him leave my rooms.
Accusers of other crimes are not subject to public and police harassment, disbelief; but always, always females accusing males of sexual assault/rape are always disbelieved or, at best, viewed as mistaking a male’s behavior, acts as conscious, deliberate assaults when they were, really, innocent, innocuous, made in error.
I want to reply to Annie R. I didn’t say it didn’t happen, what I did say is that her timing might leave many to believe, and understandably so, that she has underlying political motives now that he’s running for president. Was it not an issue for her when he ran on the same ticket with Obama for Vice President? The sexual assault of women needs to be taken seriously, but the men they accuse also have rights. Look at the McMartin case in the 1980’s, a total sham, and in my opinion there accusers, basically the prosecuting team, did it for their own personal ambitions. Remember Avenatti’s accusation that Brett Kavanaugh spiked the drinks of girls at parties for the purpose of allowing them to be gang raped when he was in high school? The accuser later said it was a lie, and claimed Avenatti had misrepresented her allegations. I believe all of this undermines women who have legitimate claims of sexual abuse. and undermines the Me Too movement.
Actually, Reade started talking back in 1993.
There are records of her attempts to have things addressed since, along with records of witness statements by a few others. Like a lot of sexual assault cases back then, Tara was quickly demonized and discredited to protect the accused.
Wow, that’s some whacky logic. If the facts are true (and the weight seems to be in Ms Reade’s favor) then what is important is the assault itself not timing or motive. That you would dismiss the foul act based on these is just shameful.
Timing? Hmm… I have not been following the story but Caitlin here mentiones that Tara Reade (or her mother) had brought it up in 1993. Sounds like Tara Reade is like Putin, who too supposedly started cultivating Trumpy decades before Trumpy had ever expressed his Presidential ambition (sarcasm).
Ms. Reade addressed the ‘timing’ issue already. When Biden was in the ‘VP Finals’ for the Obama presidency, Tara had a teenage daughter. She had no wish to expose her daughter to a media feeding frenzy. She also liked Obama and didn’t want to derail him.
It was after Lucy Flores spoke up in March of 2019 that Tara began to speak up too. It’s perfectly understandable that she did not reveal everything right away. Then, in January of this year, she tried to get help from “times Up” but was denied. I think that’s when she went to the (aptly named) Intercept.
There has been a lot of talk about this being so ‘out of character’ for Biden. I don’t see it that way. In Lucy Flores’ telling, he moved in on her unexpectedly from behind, while she was backstage waiting to give a speech. He gripped her shoulders with his hands. This is important — he had the element of surprise, and, being taller than her, he had the leverage to restrain her. Then he buried his nose in her hair, and finally ‘planted a long slow kiss on her head’. All while keeping his grip on her shoulders. That element shows me that he would have no problem pushing someone up against a wall and overpowering them.
It took 35 days for MSM to actually cover the story after Ryan Grim broke it (he also broke the Blasey Ford story) and Katie Halper interviewed Reade. It seems that Reade had been trying to get Time’s Up! , the #metoo pro-bono sexual harassment group, to help her for most of that’s group’s existence. She obviously didn’t know that Anita Dunn and Tina Tchen, had worked with Biden and his campaign. They finally refused to help.
The hypocrisy of the DNC Rapist Apologists (the term the same people used against supporters of Brett Kavanaugh) is mind-blowing. Reade has much more corroborating evidence of her claim and was a Democrat attacking a Democrat, unlike Blasey Ford who had an ideological ax to grind with Kavanaugh.
Let us keep advocating for our rights and needs until they are met by the collective human community. We need to take back the power from those who are using money to selfishly meet their carnal desires without thought of how their actions are affecting other people. Take back your motherland people!
In this age, the age of the anti-rationality virus, reasoning with people using logic is an uphill battle. It may be the case that people will not see the use in advocating for land rights and family homestead laws until they see what a beautiful country Russia is becoming and how rural Russian families are becoming much much happier because of the new family homesteads. It won’t be long before the world notices them.
There’s a very good comment I read recently.
Virtue signalling is not a moral stance.
Sums up the Democratic party.
What a horrific crew of geriatric monsters.
The trouble with America, is that if a rapist has a high enough income, or celebrity or political office—–then “no rape ever happened.” Politicians lie….who can forget Bill,”I never had sex with that woman, “Clinton lying to Congress? Then of course, there is Trump, with actual verified rapes which he paid money for to go away—–but then quite oddly, there is Al, once a senator from Minnesota, who took a snarky pix of a woman sleeping in the airplane—-and he wa suddenly no longer a senator. I remember all kinds of women yelling sexist remarks that senators don’t act that way. So Al is no longer a Senator. BUT—apparently Presidents and Vice presidents do act that way—and they seem to get away with it.
I certainly agree that the NYT story does not end the inquiry, and that it is ridiculous for Abrams to say it does.
However, I have to say that there are more than the author’s two supposed explanations. Another possible explanations is that Biden made a move on her, she didn’t like it, she complained about this “sexual harassment” at the time, and now she’s gone to the Trump camp she’s exaggerating what happened into a sexual assault. Another is that she made it up at the time hoping to get a payout and told her friends about it so she could use them as support for her attempt to get compensated. It would be very interesting to know if she contacted any attorneys about a possible claim. Further, some people can convince themselves that things that didn’t happen happened, and things that happened didn’t happen.
I’m a big believer in taking all accusations of sexual harassment and sexual assault seriously. That does not mean that you accept every claim at face value. I’ve investigated and litigated many sexual harassment and discrimination claims. Almost all come down to credibility. So you MUST look at all of the evidence and make a judgment on credibility. As in any other dispute of facts, you have to look at all of the evidence, and especially whether and how the story has changed over the years. Of course, you can’t automatically discount a claim simply because a few insignificant facts have changed from story to story over the years. That is just being human. In employment cases, especially so far back, one must also consider the general culture at the time and the enormous pressure put on women not to complain about sex harassment. Even today, as demonstrated in this case coming forward to make such a claim subjects the woman to vicious attacks. One must also look at the specific office’s culture at the time and talk to other employees about whether they observed any such behavior toward them or toward others.
And at least one article argues that the story has changed substantially over the years. www (dot) politifact (dot) com/article/2020/apr/30/tara-reade-has-accused-joe-biden-sexual-assault-he/
One must also consider possible motivations.
We will never know who is telling the truth unless the event was caught on video.
That is no reason to make ridiculous claims that there are only two possible explanations.
You know the very same thing was said about Blasey Ford right? That she just mis-remembered the not-assault and its being weaponized by the political opposition.
Yes, but anyone who has been following the DNC mafia knows exactly what happens to people who come anywhere near the facts. The notion that this trial, with the Presidency at stake, is going to based on Ms. Reade’s credibility is akin to believing in Santa Claus.
Well said, and I’m left indebted to your forthrightness.
I tend to think Biden is toast. He never was a worthy candidate in the first place.
The woman is believable and corroborated and we all know Biden is sleazy.
I think this matter just might sink Biden.
The woman’s claims carry some weight, given the confirmation that she had talked to someone else about them.
I would be glad to see foul-mouthed Trump gone.
But not replaced by always-been-sleazy Biden.