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Showing posts with label Sexual Misconduct. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sexual Misconduct. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

The President Slides Away


For John, BLUF:  The President has taken a tentative step toward saying Governor Andrew Cuomo must go.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From Mediaite, by Reporter Aidan McLaughlin, 16 March 2021, 8:40 pm.

Here is the lede plus two:

President Joe Biden said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo should resign if an investigation confirms the multiple sexual harassment allegations made against him by former aides.

“I know you said you want the investigation to continue,” ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos told Biden in an ABC News interview airing this week.  “If the investigation confirms the claims of the women, should he resign?”

“Yes,” Biden replied.  “I think he’ll probably end up being prosecuted, too.”

It was carefully couched, but it says that Governor Cuomo is in trouble.

We may be looking at Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul fleeting up soon.

Regards  —  Cliff

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Liz Backs Joe


For John, BLUF:  Maybe we are moving to a more balanced view of sexual misconduct, including sexual assault.  Maybe we are moving back to assuming innocent until proven guilty.  Hope springs eternal.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From The Boston Globe, by Reporter Jess Bidgood, 4 May 2020.

Here is the lede plus one:

Senator Elizabeth Warren on Monday defended former vice president Joe Biden in the face of a sexual assault allegation that has roiled the presumptive Democratic nominee’s campaign.

“The vice president’s answers were credible and convincing,” Warren told reporters, referring to an interview Biden gave Friday in which he denied the allegations. “I support the vice president, I support his campaign, and I’m proud to endorse him for president.”

Later in the reticle Senator Warren is quoted as follows:
“I believe that everyone has a right to tell her story, to be listened to, and treated with respect,” Warren said Monday in the halls of the Senate.  "I saw the reports of what Ms. Reade said; I saw an interview with vice president Biden.  I appreciate that the vice president took a lot of questions, tough questions.  And he answered them directly and respectfully.”
That seems like a pretty straight forward statement of support.

Hat tip to MASSterList.

Regards  —  Cliff

Friday, May 1, 2020

Views on Joe Biden


For John, BLUF:  This is the kind of messy thing that makes folks not like politics.  Nothing to see here; just move along.



Four blog posts, in order, by Law Professor Ann Althouse, on the Biden Affair:

Vice President Joe Biden Interviewed by Ms Mika Brzezinski:


The President Questioned at a Press Conference:


From the Mickey Kaus Kausfiles, "The Frankening":


Columnist Andrew Sullivan column at NY Magazine:


You pays your money and you takes your chance.  As the late Writer William Safire would tell you.

This may be a bit of a problem.  What are we judging this by.

  • Absolute:  The Law.  The statute of limitations has run out and thus there is no crime.  Thus Joe Biden can’t be guilty.
  • Relative to others:  To Donald J Trump, who Democrats presume has, in the past, raped one or more people.  Then it is a wash.
  • Relative to his own standards, as articulated as a Senator:  He helped set up the rules for college students.   He is guilty.
  • Relative to the Democratic Party.  It depends.
  • If it was your own Daughter?
Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Regards  —  Cliff

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Setting High Standards


For John, BLUF:  These accusations against former Senator Joe Biden are old, but they are old and ignored.  This is an area where the Republicans need to tread carefully, but, so too do the Democrats.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From The American Conservative, by Columnist Rod Dreher, 29 April 2020.

Here is the lede plus three:

Damon Linker says that there’s more confirmable substance to Tara Reade’s accusations against Joe Biden than Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations against Brett Kavanaugh — and that’s very bad news for the presumptive Democratic nominee.  Linker says that Biden can probably still have the nomination if he wants it, because even if these allegations are true, he’s still going to have the support of the party’s base.  But it will be a great gift to Team Trump.  Linker writes:
On substance, Trump will have zero moral ground to stand on.  But he won’t be taking a stand in the name of treating women with respect.  Neither will he be accusing Biden of being a sexual predator.  Instead, he and the entire Republican noise machine will constantly, relentlessly hammer Biden, leading Democrats, and the media for flagrant hypocrisy and double standards.  The moral content of the issue won’t matter one bit.  What will matter is that Biden has set himself up as a moral arbiter on issues of sexual harassment and violence, insisting we must “believe all women,” and that in the fall of 2018 he and many other members of his party sought to destroy the reputation of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh for allegations of sexual assault that were less convincingly corroborated than those Reade has lodged against Biden.

The Democratic nominee for president and his party are ruthless political operators who seek above all else to destroy their enemies and help themselves, all the while setting themselves up as impartial moral authorities.  This will be the message, driven home over and over again: that claims of purity and impartiality are pretense, transparent fakes.  Democrats might posture like they’re better than Republicans, including the president, but they aren’t.  They’re every bit as bad.  They’re just more dishonest about it.

Read the whole thing. Linker mentions Tara Reade’s mother calling Larry King, and he mentions her friend (a self-described “strong Democrat”) going public to say that Tara told her about Biden’s alleged sexual assault at the time.  I had heard about those, but until seeing Linker’s column, I had not heard about the 2008 Alexander Cockburn column in the left-wing web journal CounterPunch mentioning Biden’s reputation.
The Democrats have run up a box canyon with their mantra of "Believe all women" and with their condemnation of the antics of Candidate Trump.  They set a pretty high standard and now it appears they can't meet it themselves.

In defense of then Senator Joe Biden, in late 1980s by Cousin, an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel stationed in the Pentagon, told me her female Air Force contacts on the Hill told her there were three Senators to not get into an Elevator with alone.  None of the three was Senator Biden.  That is not direct evidence, but it might be an escape.

On the other hand, there is more information than we got during the Kavanaugh hearings.  More believable information.

Here is how Columnist Dreher points his examination:

So, let me throw it to the room:  if Biden is persuaded to step down before the Democratic convention, who should replace him? Who will replace him?

From a strictly strategic point of view, I think Andrew Cuomo should replace him, and probably will, as long as he chooses Elizabeth Warren as his veep.

Pretty insightful.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Monday, April 20, 2020

That Was Then, This Is Now


For John, BLUF:  It is like our State Rep.  Innocent until proven guilty, especially given some of DOJ's recent high profile cases.  Free to run again for his seat.  I am free to support Mr Martin Burke, but the incumbent is free to run.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From The Daily Wire, by Reporter Emily Zanotti, 16 April 2020.

I follow her on Twitter and so can you.

Here is the lede plus one:

Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus, who wrote a book about sexual assault accusations made against now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and defended Dr. Christine Blasey Ford in the pages of her newspaper, now says the “#BelieveAllWomen” and “#MeToo” movement are “dumb” — because a similar, but credible sexual assault allegation has been leveled against the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden.

In a shocking editorial for The Washington Post, Marcus lashes out not just at Biden’s alleged accuser, Tara Reade — who has now filed a criminal complaint against Biden and who has a record of contemporaneous claims made against the then-federal legislator — but at the anti-sexual assault movement altogether.

The former Vice President, Candidate Joe Biden, is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

And, I appreciate that a trial in a Court of Law is different from a Senatorial Advice and Consent hearing.  But, in the court of public opinion, shouldn't we the People, and our Press, strive to roughly apply the same rules?

Since we seem to be changing the rules, will this change be permanent, or will it flop back to the old rules if it could be applied to a Republican?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

`

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Media Plays Offense and Defense


For John, BLUF:  We are turning individual misconduct into political warfare, excoriating some and protecting others.  This is not fair and it is not conducive of good conduct by all.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From The Washington Examiner, an Editorial, 6 November 2019.

The Headlines says it all, but you can read more at the link.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Friday, September 13, 2019

Women in the Workplace


For John, BLUF:  The history of the relations of the sexes has been fraught and has includes solutions that have included separations and restrictions.  We need better ways forward or we will end up with very rigid rules for interactions.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From The Boston Globe, by Ms Katie Johnston, 3 September 2019,.

Here is the lede plus one:

In the two years since the #MeToo movement took off, igniting a firestorm over sexual harassment in the workplace, another form of less incendiary but more insidious gender-based harassment has been building quietly.

Women say they are being subjected to sexism far more than they used to be, according to a new study out of the University of Colorado Boulder Leeds School of Business — even as they report less overt harassment, such as sexual coercion (“sleep with me and you’ll get a promotion”) and unwanted sexual attention (ogling or fondling).

Women are facing a “massive increase in hostility,” said Stefanie K. Johnson, the business professor who coauthored the study.&nsp; Research shows that people in power feel threatened when other groups rise up, as women have during the #MeToo era, and that men believe their status declines when women’s rises, which could cause some men to lash out.

“It’s not that the need to subjugate women goes away, I just think it takes a different form,” Johnson said.  “Rather than make sexual comments about women, men who are prone to sexually harass will just accuse women of being incompetent.”

The key is understanding what is happening.  Are men, on average, just hostile to women in the workplace, do they perceive that women are inferior or are mores just different, misunderstood or incompatible?  For sure, our current laws and culture call for men to give women an even break, and visa-versa.  At the same time, concern about women using the tools for fighting sexual harassment to achieve other ends causes men to act defensively.  We know, from history and our own experience, that change engenders hostility.  Mutual respect and trust should mitigate the hostility.

We need a truce, but that requires good faith on all sides.

Should we all be frank about our concerns or should we just muddle through, showing our distrust in other ways?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Saturday, March 30, 2019

Who is Committing Sexual Assault?


For John, BLUF:  Sexual equality seems to include equality amongst perps.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




Here is the sub-headline:

New CDC report reveals troubling equality when it comes to sexual assault rates.

This is a USA Today article by Law Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds, Published 6:55 p.m. ET Sept. 22, 2014.

Yes, there is former Vice President Joe Biden, attracting attention to himself, but sexual misbehavior is not just a male thing.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Saturday, November 10, 2018

The End of #Me Too?


For John, BLUF:  The Stephen Colbert video on the encounter between Reporter Jim Acosta and the White House Intern trying to retrieve the White House microphone.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From The Althouse Blog, by Professor Ann Althouse, 10 November 2018.

Here is the lede, mostly:

This is an important cultural moment.  There is now a comic meme about being physically violent to a woman.  Notice how it's upping the violence that makes it funnier and funnier.  It ends with a "Road Runner" type image where a bag of "intern feed" is handed to the woman and then a giant weight falls on her.  Have we ever seen mainstream comedy like that before?  We're laughing at a woman getting crushed to death.
I didn't include the last part of the paragraph.  While it is spot on, it is a little indelicate.  Worth reading the whole thing, and the comments.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit, who sent me to the The Althouse Blog.

Regards  —  Cliff

Friday, October 12, 2018

Controlling Dissent


For John, BLUF:  "O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away"; But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play."—Rudyard Kipling, 1890.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




That would be "Untouchable" in the sense of the Indian Cast System.

Mr Tommy Robinson is a British Citizen who has been agitating against rape gangs in certain Midland cities and towns.

From PJ Media, by Mr Bruce Baker, 11 October 2018.

Here is the lede plus one and a part:

Day by day, it seems, Britain is descending even further into the madness of dhimmitude.

On October 8, Tommy Robinson was at a service station along the M1 [Motorway] in Northamptonshire when he encountered four cars full of young British soldiers in uniform.  They asked to take a picture with him.  He happily complied.  In the picture, they're all smiling.  It's a lovely photo.  Apparently all of the soldiers in those four cars (reportedly twenty-eight in all) knew very well who Robinson is, and apparently all of them were delighted to pose for a snap with him.  They also let him take a brief video of the encounter, in which they can be seen chanting his name.  Both the picture and the video were shared online.  Posting the video on Facebook, Robinson wrote:  “A moment like this makes it all worth while.  Today I met real British heroes.”

And then, of course, all hell broke loose.

First off, Mr Tommy Robinson is an activist, who has jumped all over certain sexual crimes being committed in England.  Second, the British Authorities have been on him for his supposed "Racist" views.

What is missing is the understanding that while Mr Robinson may well be over the top, being over the top should not be a crime.  Maybe, after Brexit, things will calm down again.  However, for now the treatment of the soldiers, as described in the article, seems a little harsh, at least by US Standards.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Thursday, October 11, 2018

Perverse Incentives


For John, BLUF:  "incentive", a noun, "a thing that motivates or encourages one to do something."  From the Latin incentivum "something that sets the tune or incites, from incantare "to chant or charm."  Nothing to see here; just move along.




Here is the sub-headline:

The October 2017 news article detailing accusations of sexual assault and harassment against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein boosted the #MeToo movement into the nation's awareness.  What's different in the workplace today?

From Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Here is a key paragraph:

"One troubling trend," [Johnny C] Taylor said, "is executives going as far as to not invite female colleagues on trips, to evening networking events or into their inner circles to avoid any situation that could be perceived incorrectly, thus reducing the opportunity for women."
One might think of it as the Pence Rule, named after Vice President Mike Pence, who does not meet with women alone.

Then, in the area of hiring, there is this:

Research continues to show that laws prohibiting employers from asking about a job applicant’s criminal record encourage employers to discriminate against young African-American males.
There is a term for this.  Heuristic.  If you can't get the information you want, you look for ways to approximate the information.  In this case it results in increased discrimination.

Then there is the question of California's requirement for Gender Quotas for Corporate Boards.

Lawyer Ilya Somin, writing 4 October 2018:

California's new law requiring corporate boards to have a minimum number of women is both unconstitutional and likely to do more harm than good.
The point about the three items is that trying to artificially change human action without the proper incentives is going to produce distortions in the system.  You may like distortions, because you see some social value, but not everyone does.  Some of us may actually find it kind of creepy, or may find it just plain inefficient and a little fascist.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Monday, October 1, 2018

Kellyanne Conway Wasn't REALLY Assaulted


For John, BLUF:  It isn't about assaults on women.  It is about politics.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From Lid Blog, by Mr Jeff Dunetz, 30 September 2018.

As Law Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds says:  "If it weren't for double standards they wouldn't have any standards at all."

The other way to look at it is that cis-gem females who self-identify as Republican or Conservative are not really women and thus can be excluded from the list of those (women) who have been sexually assaulted, who claim "#MeToo".

The other thing is that Ms Conway was talking about it happening to her on Capitol Hill.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Saturday, September 29, 2018

Danger of a Bridge Too Far


For John, BLUF:  Running out the clock and not caring who gets hurt.  Nothing to see here; just move along.



Notwithstanding the advice of then Senator Joe Biden that "FBI investigations into nominees are "inconclusive.'"

It was interesting, but consistent, that once Senator Flake proposed a one week FBI review of the allegations by Professor Ford, against then teenage Brett Kavanaugh, that Democrats, and Professor Ford's lawyers, claimed there should be no end date.  I guess they think it should go on until January 2019, or February 2021.

The danger in all this is that it might blow up on Professor Ford.  There is some small, but finite, chance that the FBI will come back and say that Professor Ford is an unreliable witness, or worse, that she made it all up.  That would be devastating to her mental health.

I guess, at the end of the day the Democrats can put the blame on the Republicans, for insisting on a further investigation, rather than just going for a vote of the full Senate.

But, back to the risk, there is this article, by Reporter John Nolte in the 28 September 2018 issue of Breitbart.


I just don't see this thing ending well.  Frankly, I put the blame on DiFi♠ and Chuck Schumer.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Speaking of Clowns, yesterday's Howie Carr Show had a Poll Question on who was the biggest clown on the Democratic side of the Senate Judiciary Committee.  In the initial version of the poll they listed all the Democrats, except for DiFi.

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Blumenthal For President


For John, BLUF:  The thing is, why do we believe Senator Blumenthal has ever told the truth?  Nothing to see here; just move along.



Watching Out Numbered just now on Fox News I heard Senator Richard Blumenthal declare Judge Brett Kavanaugh guilty of sexual crimes and state that if he denies it he will be lying.

With this certainty, why do we need an investigation?

My prime advisor suggests the Senator wishes to run in 2020..

Regards  —  Cliff

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Double Standards


For John, BLUF:  I would never suggest that Senator Hirono just shut up, but she thinks that is what I should do.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




Here is the sub-headline:

When it mattered in her own backyard, with a male Democratic senator, she turned a blind eye to sexual abuse

From National Review, by Reporter John Fund, 23 September 2018.

Sadly, for me, this story involves allegations against a hero of mine, the late Senator Daniel Inouye.

If it wasn't for double standards the Democrats wouldn't have any standards at all.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Thursday, September 20, 2018

A Sense of Decency


For John, BLUF:  The loss of civility in DC is appalling .  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From The Chicago Tribune, by Contact Reporter John Kass, 19 September 2018.

Here is a key paragraph:

You’d hear about it in tales told by history teachers to frighten children, about Republican Sen. Joe McCarthy and his wild, unsubstantiated charges without evidence, of communists hiding under America’s beds.
US Army lawyer Joseph Welch did ask of Senator Joseph McCarty, "Have you no sense of decency, sir?  At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"

Yeah, about that, there is the thought that the Venona Papers suggest that "Tail Gunner Joe" McCarthy wasn't all wrong.

But, yes, I am embarrassed for my Mother, a Democrat, that she lived her last years in Rancho Mirage, but not as an immediate neighbor of Senator Feinstein and her husband.

UPDATE:  Corrected Spelling error in title.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

I felt a great disturbance in the Force..


TRIGGER WARNING:  In which I suggest the SJWs have gone over the top, have jumped the shark.

For John, BLUF:  If we are not willing to explore ideas we differ with we are going to be going down an ever narrowing funnel, knowing less and less about the real world.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




Here is the sub-headline:

The editor sparked outrage after defending his decision to publish a lengthy essay by a former Canadian radio host who was accused of sexual assault by several women.

From Buzz Feed, by Reporter Ms Tasneem Nashrulla, 19 September 2018.

Here is the lede:

Ian Buruma, the editor of the New York Review of Books who sparked outrage after publishing an essay by Jian Ghomeshi, no longer works at the magazine, an NYRB spokesperson told BuzzFeed News on Wednesday.
So, these two names may be a little obscure, so here are the Wikipedia bios:

This is where we enter the realm of totalitarianism.  That is, limitations on free speech.  It is a shame.  It is a shame for Mr Buruma and it is a shame for the readers of The New York Review of Books.  It is a shame for thee and me.

Hat tip to the Drudge Report.

Regards  —  Cliff

Saturday, June 9, 2018

Sex on Campus


For John, BLUF:  When we try to engineer human nature we run into problems.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




Here is the sub-headline:

A Title IX case at the University of Cincinnati—rife with legal, anatomical, and emotional improbabilities—illustrates the potential excesses of policing sex on campus.

From The Atlantic, by Ms Caitlin Flanagan, 1 June 2018.

In summary, two students, one female and one male, got drunk and woke up and had sex.  He decided to protect himself (she had previously file a complaint against a third party) by blaming her for taking advantage of him.

Here is a key paragraph:

In other words—college students and administrators take note—the days of blaming one person (almost always the man) for a no-harm, no foul, mutually drunken hook up may be coming to an end.  It was a ridiculous standard, one that that infantilized college women, demonized male sexuality, and was responsible for harsh punishment meted out to an unknown number of college students, almost all of them male.  It trivialized something grave: sex crime.  And because it poured all of these experiences through an interpretive system that forced women into the role of passive victims and men in that of aggressive predators, it has helped stoke understandable resentment among young men on campuses across the country.
Yes, the vector of that approach was going to end up in males avoiding schools with female students.  This would be a higher education reversal of major proportions.

But, our author sees hope out on the horizon:

That time is coming again on American campuses, as the strongest and smartest and bravest among the students are beginning to realize that the beliefs and practices that dominate these places are irrational and hugely political.  These new students are waking up, resisting, fighting back, in all sorts of areas of college life.  The administrators want to crush them, but the wind is at their back.  The progressive left has all the power on campus, but this unfolding awareness on the part of these counter-revolutionaries has its own unassailable power: truth, logic, and reason.
I appreciate living in interesting times.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Separate Rules...


For John, BLUF:  A reference to Jack Kerouac.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




Here is the sub-headline:

For Clinton, the real story of the impeachment drama was that he did nothing wrong.

From National Review, by Mr Jonah Goldberg, 8 June 2018.

It is longish, but here is a good sample:

For Clinton — both of them — all of his or her misdeeds were scandals because other people, nefarious forces, Comstocks and prudes, vast right-wing conspiracies, talk-radio critics, et al., unfairly turned them into scandals.  For Clinton, the real story of the impeachment drama was that he did nothing wrong.  “I did the right thing,” he said.  “I defended the Constitution.”

Yes, that is totally how history will remember that chapter.

I wonder how many times Bill told one of his paramours:  “Lie back and think of the Constitution.”

Speaking of history, I particularly enjoyed when Bill snapped, “You think President Kennedy should have resigned?  Do you believe President Johnson should have resigned?”

Comstock?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Thursday, June 7, 2018

Not Talking About Bill


For John, BLUF:  I am thinking that the Democrats are not interested in talking about former President Bill Clinton.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From Twitchy, by Doug P, posted at 11:41 AM on 7 June 2018.

Here is the money tweet:

During a conversation with Chris Cuomo, Sen. Chuck Schumer said that #MeToo was very important to him, but just after that Cuomo asked about Bill Clinton, and Schumer slammed the door hard:

Burgess Everett
@burgessev

CUOMO:  What Bill Clinton said about Me Too, a lot of controversy.  Your take?
SCHUMER:  Not getting into that.
CUOMO:  Because?
SCHUMER:  I think it's irrelevant to what we need to talk about.
7:37 AM - 7 Jun 2018

What do they need to be talking about?

The $64,000 Question is if all this will have any impact come November.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff