Posted on 11/03/2011 7:22:05 AM PDT by Kaslin
Who wants to be Paula Jones? Or Kathleen Willey or Anita Hill? All three women have accused political icons -- Bill Clinton, Bill Clinton and Clarence Thomas -- of sexually harassing them.
And what did they get for sticking out their necks? Jones squared off against skater Tonya Harding on "Celebrity Boxing." Willey and Hill wrote books. They can't prove their allegations, and for the rest of their lives, they will have to live with the consequences. They are not in an enviable position.
On Sunday, Politico reported that two women had accused GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain of "inappropriate behavior" in the 1990s, when Cain was head of the National Restaurant Association. Both women received five-figure severance packages. Tuesday, a lawyer for one of the women told the media that his client was seeking release from a confidentiality clause so that she could come forward.
Big mistake. It's "he said, she said." The burden always falls more heavily on the accuser, not the accused. The reported payouts are not so large as to spell out whether the association ponied up to atone for gross misbehavior or because settling was easier. No woman wins in this game.
I could go on about the double standard. Democrats who excoriated Thomas conveniently discarded their indignation during Clinton's many scandals. Because Cain, like Thomas, is African-American, supporters charge that the Politico story is another episode in what Thomas referred to as his 1991 "high-tech lynching."
The original Politico story was weak. As The Daily Beast's Howard Kurtz wrote, "it is difficult to assess the potentially damaging allegations, as the article relies on unnamed sources, does not identify the women, and does not detail what is said to have happened." Because liberal pundits cannot even specify any misconduct, they have been reduced to writing that the real issue is Cain's evolving statements on the topic. It's the cover-up, they argue, not the alleged civil tort.
The thing is that it doesn't matter what Cain did or did not do during the Clinton years. Cain has no business running for president.
Cain's only political experience prior to 2011 was losing the primary for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia in 2004. Cain has a great personal success story. He also beat cancer, and he's usually good for a fine quote. But he never has had to deal with a hostile legislature, treacherous GOP allies or a foreign potentate.
As I write this, I see reports that a third woman has told The Associated Press that she considered filing a sexual harassment complaint against Cain. The next couple of news cycles are going to be too predictable. Partisans who like Cain will defend him. Those who don't won't. Facts won't matter.
Cain already had begun to lose some of his luster. He changed his 9-9-9 tax plan to a 9-by-9 model. He joked about his lack of foreign policy expertise by claiming he doesn't need to know the names of the leaders of flyspeck countries, such as "Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan." Cain told CNN's Wolf Blitzer he could see himself authorizing the release of all Guantanamo Bay detainees in exchange for one captive U.S. soldier. Then he said that he had spoken "in error."
Cain's presidential campaign always was going to tank. Now it's going to tank ugly.
Ah Debra Saunders.....what passes for a conservative in San Francisco
There is no ‘good’ way to handle this crappola. It is like trying to convince people you have quit beating your wife.... What we should be doing is excoriating the media cycle jerks who promote this stuff. They treat everything like it is Kim K’s wedding/divorce news...breathless, all important, and can’t repeat enough rumor.
Clinton was not 12 to 15 years away from his sexual dalliances. No one has suggested anything other than verbuage that made them ‘uncomfortable’. There were no court cases. At least one had a small payout of severance as she left the association. Cain has handled this the way that any ordinary citizen would have if asked about something that happened over a decade ago.
For example, what were you doing 11,7,2001? We have reports that you were involved in something very bad. Do you deny it? Why not?
There may indeed be no “good” way to handle this, as you say, but you can’t argue that Cain couldn’t have done a better job.
Debbie continues her tradition of attacking real conservative like Herman & James O’Keefe.
I guess she needed a break from promoting same-sex marriage.
This bitch has always been a cunning runt.
Once a year, this dyslexic may get a part of a story correct, but she claims to be a SF conservative.
Debra is from SF and she is a rino, but is not now, nor never has been, a conservative.
He discussed this with at least one campaign staffer (and now he is saying perhaps there were others) in 2004. If he’s that forgetful, he needs to take more Geritol and not run for president.
Also, the whole point is that if you’re running for President, you’re not just Joe Schmoe anymore, somebody who can get away with a memory lapse, real or feigned. This is especially true if you’re running as a GOP candidate.
He sure hasn’t shown himself to be particularly competent or on the ball on any of this, and his launching into attacks on his fellow candidates was completely inexcusable.
Herman Cain Leads in South Carolina despite attacks on him
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2802018/posts
I’m not sure how much of this attack is GOP driven. There is some evidence for it. But around DC, it is Politico and other MSM outlets (WTOP news radio) that relentlessly push the story day after day.
The only way Cain had to “clear himself” in advance from their slander attack is to violate a legal confidentiality agreement. So his only choice was to break the law thus opening himself to being sued in the midst of his campaign, or let himself be slandered.
Now because he did not choose to break the law to protect himself, he is now being accused by the GOP Establishment slanderbots of “botching the response”
How about this. Accusations have been made. Cain has refuted them. How about the accusers put up even 1 single shred of evidence to back up their accusations?
Now because he did not choose to break the law to protect himself, he is now being accused by the GOP Establishment slanderbots of “botching the response”
How about this. Accusations have been made. Cain has refuted them. How about the accusers put up even 1 single shred of evidence to back up their accusations? How about they do that before moving on to the next slander in their campaign against Cain?
Wilson also has ties to Rove. He use to work for him.
FYI..just breaking..woman claims that she spent the nigth with Cain, after they left the restaurant..several NRA staffers saw them get in a cab together...
Nein Nein Nein
Herman Cain is not your ‘standard politian’. It is one of the things I like most about him. He does not do what the Elites would suggest. All the Karl Roves of the world can go fly a kite. I will still vote my conscience.... No to Mittens No to Perry
Better than telling the truth....I have always found that to be about the best I can do. Sometimes I remember more things than others (and I have been told I have a very good memory). The fact is I do not remember all things at all times
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