"Reade has said that in 1993, Biden pushed her up against a wall in the Senate complex, kissed her, and then digitally penetrated her underneath her skirt. In 2019, she told reporters that the former vice president had touched her neck and ran his fingers through her hair on several occasions, which made her one of over a half dozen women to say that Biden had kissed or touched them in ways that made them uncomfortable." NY Magazine – Intelligencer
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/04/new-evidence-in-tara-reades-allegations-against-biden.html
******
"Donald Trump Jr. tweeted several times about Reade’s allegations Friday evening. “Joe Biden isn’t sheltering in place in his basement bunker because of the pandemic, he’s hiding from Tara Reade,” he said." Politico
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/24/tara-reade-biden-video-207670
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Well, pilgrims, there ARE things that the Democrat and Republican politicos have in common. Who knew? Well, actually everyone in Washington knew. The long, sorry history of sexual and financial abuse of staff, interns, congressional pages and contractors is well known in the capital. Should we be surprised? No, such is mankind and as a species we will likely always be like that. People who can abuse power or the perception of power will keep on doing such things.
BUT. let us have an end to hypocrisy! In the political word both sides are equally guilty. pl
I do agree that both sides are guilty in regard to these types of allegations. One side, however, is more vocal about their belief that women MUST be believed, no proffs being necessary.
The “sexual revolution” of the 1960’s combined with the “feminist revolution” of the 1980’s and 1980’s led to openly aggressive and licentious conduct by women. Anyone who tries to rewrite the history of that ere is lying to more than just themselves.
Trump in fact was right – women did “let” men do pretty much what they wanted if women sensed it was going to be a fair trade for power. Not sure where this new burst of neo-Puritanism is coming from, which is not a bad thing. But don’t base it on outright lies about the past.
Women did try to prove they could have “sex” like a man. Social-distancing is a god send today for those who found they actually could not, without incurring huge emotional damage. The old truism remains remarkably true: women give sex to get love; men give love to get sex. Not for all of couse, but for far too many.
Deap
Sounds like you are blaming the victim in this case. If you knew Biden you would not be surprised. He is an tricky, nasty man. The Democrats may have brought this to the fore to see if they can drop him.
Sexual boundaries are a sticky wicket for humans (and other mammals). “I wanna” and “come hither” messages get garbled. Alcohol blurs boundaries. As is the case with other pack animals, power positions create opportunities and feelings of entitlement. None of this is surprising. All the “rules” that people break or bend aren’t built in. They are social constructs. A niece of mne worked in Biden’s office when he was VP. She never had problems. I have heard from articles and other sources over the years that he left a lot of bruised feelings in his wake over the years and he left tire tracks on people’s backs during his rise to prominence. But, he’s a politician after all…..
“… to see if they can drop him.”
The DNC outmanuevered Bernie so dropping Biden is not going to be a surprise to anyone. They are busy destroying the livelyhood of as many “deplorables” as they can to teach them a lesson and get everyone else in line. A few well placed tax funded bribes are on the agenda also, along with all the “thank you for your service” true heroes of the front line propaganda efforts we are seeing. Guess the seperate but equal, ah, “non-essential”, citizens better vote the right way, or else. I expect to see an over abundance of antifa antics this summer, all conveniently covered by mandatory mask orders in Michingan and other states.
The Democrats may have brought this to the fore to see if they can drop him.
Posted by: turcopolier | 25 April 2020 at 02:18 PM
another although less visible/less easy to recognize coup?
vig
Possibly. Cui bono? Cuomo? Hillary? Who else?
A. Pols
Few of them do everyone in the office.
Sir
Michelle.
Obama is the one in control of the Democratic Party. He orchestrated the Biden primary win with South Carolina and the older black vote. The Clinton’s days in the sun I believe are over.
Jack
You underestimate the fervor and deviousness of her still existing apparat.
The Lefty advantage – shamelessness. Think Biden’s conduct during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings and the comparative gravity of the allegations.
The last serious Dem politician I can recall who was driven from a candidacy for shame was Gary Hart.
Perhaps the most shameless politician in American history, if only because he combined abject shamelessness with being Top Dog, was Slick Willy. He destroyed the Bully Pulpit al least for the remainder of our life times. No Clinton, probably no Donald. Who is the most shameless, Slick or his soul mate, the Hildabeast? Could you make it up? The Beast thought that she was going to take out the Donald with a locker room tape demonstrating oafish behavior with hubby Slick standing clearly in the doorway of the door she had just flung open. And she blames the Russians for her losing!
I certainly agree that Washington if full of sexual abuses on both sides of the aisle. (Oh, for the days of Wilbur Mills …)
But so far as I can tell, Trump never claimed to have grabbed anyone; his remark was more of a wisecrack. Crass to be sure but not crime. And I’m not aware of any credible accusation against Trump.
Biden on the other hand is accused of actual physical sexual assault, and there is a growing body of evidence to support this.
So, I’m not sure you can equate the two candidates on this issue.
Neoliberalism is the dominant, deeply entrenched wing of the democratic party, and Hillary certainly still is leading it, and diamond joe biden is basically no difference policy wise from hillary.
Neoliberalism – with its full support almost 2 decades of bad colonial wars, its unseemly embrace of wall street, and its short sighted support of labor arbitrage in China – I do hope and pray will get the obliteration it deserves in the coming months.
Neoliberal democracts have stolen more from working class people here in Chicago than republicans could ever dare to dream to. Even before ‘the rona’ Hispanic democrats last november turned hard against some long term white democratic alderpeople here (some of them married to rod blegoyavich lol) but the democratic party is going to be a lot of roil and boil internally 2020, don’t think its all smoothed over now that diamond joe is the nominee.
Sir
I agree with you that it would be foolish to underestimate the deviousness of the Clinton apparat.
What’s your opinion of the Obama apparat? I found it interesting that Obama had a chat with both Amy and Pete prior to their withdrawal.
My sneaking suspicion is that Obama is in the catbird seat “shepherding” the Democratic party for Michelle’s run.
With Bernie technically still running, can they drop Biden and not pick him, without losing any credibility with Bernie’s followers? Bernie promised he’d back Biden, but that might not apply, if they go for someone else and certainly not if it’s Hillary.
Has anyone checked the scorecard to see whose nominee is on the lead?
My belief is that it’s not any sort of party affiliation that is responsible for Trump’s popularity or for his rise to office in the first place.
Think of how Trump pushed aside so many Republican stalwarts during his primary run. He was running against the very important Bush family. He ran on the Republican ticket, but it wasn’t party loyalty that earned him the nomination, since he had no real history of party loyalty.
What got Trump elected was the Protestant majority in our county in regard to citizens who are believers because they are also the ones who are operating the many small business in the many non-metropolitan small towns.
He was not, by any means, a normal believer. But, it is clear that a belief in “the Higher Power” like that of the AA movement that he must have been aware of because of his brother’s alcoholism somehow affected his ideas of right vs. wrong. He had been Democrat first. He ran as a Republican. His loyalty was not to any party, but to a “higher power” of some sort–one that was based on a belief in right vs. wrong, not one based only on party affiliation or on any sort of political “ism” that was popular at the time.
His status as a businessman rather than as a politician won many of the Protestant middle class over to support his candidacy. They knew of his history in regard to women–who couldn’t have known after his divorce from Ivanna and the subsequent marriage to Marla? Or of his ideas of how money and business words in the country because of his television show?
I witnessed many small businessmen during the Republican caucuses speak for his candidacy during the many levels of caucus meetings I attended. These men and many women wanted someone who knew the importance of private enterprise and who wasn’t as concerned about party affiliation or political loyalties or of any current “ism that was in fashion at the time. They wanted someone who did respect that mostly Protestant middle class in America: the men and women members of the Chamber of Commerce organizations in the many towns, large and small, across the country. These were people who ran small businesses, who served usually on the Boards of Elders in their many different Protestant churches in their communities. Trump had obviously learned that he had to go Republican since the Democrats at that time were (and are) still mired in their many, many different “politically correct” movements and often seem to forget that capitalism is the economic system in our country and the only “ism” that many middle class voters even think about.
Diana,
“…they are also the ones who are operating the many small business in the many non-metropolitan small towns.”
I saw the opposite in the democratic party from 2009-2016. There were few business owners, other than those whose source of business revenue was either directly from government (state or local). Equally the union leadership (UAW, IBEW, MEA, AFSME) was 100% behind democratic candidate within Michigan. The membership present at events and as volunteers at other events declined precipitously from 2008 to 2016. The leadership, a self congradulating and self replicating elite, has been out of touch with the rank and file for a long time.
Lawyers and legal admin, health care admins and professionals, education admins and professionals, liberal financial industry people – the neoliberal base might be small peoplewise but until now it was outsize donation wise. Assuming a lot of these more expensive admin health care, education, legal financial jobs will at least temporarily get cut, the neoliberal wing looks to be weakened going into November elections.
ST Harris,
Only the bottom of the Ivory Tower. There are a lot more K-12 teachers than their are well compensated university administors. I haven’t heard of too many teacher layoffs yet.
I have detested Trump since I first met him in the mid-seventies. Nevertheless, this piece of dreck from Nancy Pelosi cannot go unmentioned:
“I am proud to endorse Joe Biden for president: a leader who is the personification of hope and courage, values, authenticity and integrity,” Pelosi said in the video Monday. “With so much at stake, we need the enthusiasm, invigoration and participation of all Americans — up and down the ballot, and across the country.”
I fear there is very little hope for any of us.
Fred:
Agreed some of this will be a couple years shakeout. But that said, as somebody with a kid in the chicago public schools, in 2015 then mayor Rahm basically pulled off a minor miracle to open the schools that fall with a lump sum payment to stave off teachers pension default. 2015! A full 6 years after the great recession Chicago’s finances were still in utter tatters. Chicago, so dependent on domestic tourism dollars, will surely be in dire straits after this summer visitor shortfall. Will Chicago be able to meet its municipal pension obligations even in the very short term?
And thinking about those godforsaken neoliberals, what about the Hollywood & tech neoliberal base? hollywood is all but shutdown, tech continues to stay above the fray, will be interesting, democratic party is ripe for a significant reshaping in the coming months.