This probably the first, last and only thing I’ll have to say about the Tara Reade issue, largely because I like to let a thing play out, so I can work with all the facts.
The “Me Too” movement was started by Tarana Burke in 2006, to raise awareness not on sexual violence, but on it’s pervasiveness. Because of the nature of the sexual violence & harassment, despite it’s ubiquity, it feels unique. It’s happening to you, to your body, to your mind. And it traps you there. Yet, sexual violence and harassment is pretty much something every woman has experience with and a lot of men as well. We live in a world where corrective rape is a thing, for god’s sake. When the #MeToo movement had a surge due to the hashtag’s use on social media and it’s connection to the Harvey Weinstein case, it really felt like a damn had finally burst and a lot of toxic silence as well as the enabling behavior of people towards powerful abusers was about to end.
Fast forward to 2020 and for a second time, a presidential candidate stands accused of sexual assault. Others have done a lot of work examining the accusation and it’s inconsistencies, so I won’t go into that. What I’m more concerned about is the idea that the accusation is enough to demand that Biden step down and more disconcerting, that investigating the accusation and finding inconsistencies is being a rape apologist. Me Too came about to shine a light on the prevalence of sexual assault & violence, particularly in being heard, believed and to have these crimes investigated so there could be consequences. At least, that’s what it means to me. Has it changed? And what does it mean if we should believe without question?
Interpersonal interactions are not easy to navigate. What one person says and feels will not be what another person says and feels. That’s partially why dealing with sexual harassment has been hard. As we evolve as a society, interactions that were ok by a dominant group to a sub group are now not ok. I’ve had my share of unwanted hugs from people who were huggers and could mandate that as an interaction. Frankly, I’ve always found touchy, handsy people irritating because there is no concept of “this is cool for me, but I should ask if it’s cool for you”. Is it easy to believe Joe touched in a way that Reade didn’t like? Sure. Does that equate to believing he’s a rapist? No. Does that mean her claims shouldn’t be investigated? No. Does it mean it’s impossible it happened? No. In fact, to know the truth of the matter, we must investigate. Whatever details she can provide, her full truth must be heard so we, the voters, can make a decision on whether or not this is credible and therefore, actionable. Yet, I am seeing that the search for the truth means you’re ignoring sexual assault.
Truth is the most important thing to base our decisions on. Truth must inform our actions. And even when those truths are inconvenient, we must listen to the truth. It’s disturbing to see that Biden has been condemned in multiple corners of the internet based on an allegation. It’s even more disturbing that inconsistencies and interference from some of the people who broke the story are being reframed as rape apology. Aren’t we on the left supposed to be focused on facts? If we abandon facts in favor of what we want to believe, then we’re in trouble. There’s also another troubling question. Why aren’t we supposed to ask questions and instead supposed to simply react? I do believe we’re witnessing right now the destruction of our country by an entire party that’s given up on facts, truth and only reacts wildly to everything. How would aping that benefit any effort to stop it?
When I started this, the Eva Murry accusations of Biden ogling her breasts when she as a 14 year-old attended the Gridiron Dinner in 2008 just hit Twitter through Sasha Pezenik of ABC. The accusations fell apart pretty fast, but it’s starting to show a pattern of weaponizing Me Too and the natural instinct to punish sexual predators in power. Today, Jacob Wohl & his partner Jack Burkeman have been exposed in an attempt to take down Dr. Fauci (I beg forgiveness for the Reason link), using emotional manipulation of the accuser, knowledge of her past as an assault victim and plain old cash payments. It’s incredibly typical to take good things, necessary things and twist them so they’re no longer good.
For far too many cases of sexual assault & harassment, corroboration with tangible evidence is not likely. Women have had to have the presence of mind to preserve things like torn clothes, nasty emails, voicemails – you get the gist. And that’s to be believed. Reade’s story seemed like she had corroboration – until we learned that they had been carefully helped to remember. Reade herself has shifted her story, multiple times. From just anger at unfair treatment, to now, a rape charge. But here’s the uncomfortable truth. It could be true. She could be a crook, a fraud, an attention hound and she could be telling the truth, for once. Due to the people who have latched onto it for entirely political purposes, we may never know. That’s the trap. Weaponizing Me Too for political purposes.
Any hope of justice is gone. The waters are too muddied. The people who want to believe Biden is guilty of rape – either because they can’t bear the idea that someone could lie about something as awful as sexual assault for attention or power or perfectly fine with spreading a lie for power – don’t want to hear anything except acquiescence. The people who don’t want to believe Biden is guilty of rape, well, kinda in the same boat. Vox’s latest article covers Laura McGann’s efforts for a year, to get the story from Tara – who maintained in her Intercept interview that no media would talk to her. Turns out a lot of media would & did talk to her. Many of the details McGann took from her initial statements changed. Many of the corroborating people said one thing at first, then updated statements later to match the new story. You can’t take down the powerful like this.
I feel the same knot in my stomach now as when I first heard of this. I’d like to know the truth. I mean, to a certain degree, I am always certain when I’m in the company of the powerful, I am in the company of people who have abused the weak. In small ways, in big ways, but in some ways. I guess I’ve seen a little too much to avoid having such a prejudice, but I acknowledge my prejudice and work to let people exist and judge only their actions. Biden will be fine, whether he wins or loses. I firmly believe if we win the Senate – supermajority style – and keep the House, the Presidency is less important. Disagree with me, I don’t care about that. What I care most about is that some on the left seem to have abandoned truth unless it services their purposes. The Biden story is just the latest iteration. It’s why there’s literally nothing the GOP does that isn’t met with “And Pelosi does nothing about it!”. If you push back on it, you’re a neolib moderate or rape apologist. If you say nothing, it’s tacit approval. We’ve adapted labels to stifle healthy discourse and intellectual approaches to tough issues. And I don’t know where this will lead. No one will bear a consequence for it. Too many factions who use internet bullying and courts of public opinion to control narratives. Controversy itself is a profitable brand. But we must make sure the Me Too movement survives and if possible, make it sacrosanct as a tool for gain. Women, men, non-binary people and all the marginalized groups who fit in those categories need it. It cannot be used like this. It’s too important. Everyone Me Too took down, went down under the weight of tons of evidence. Not flat belief. It took courage, it took persistence, it took years. That’s what the power of Me Too is. A demand to listen, support and investigate so every person is accountable. I’d love to believe this will be the last time anyone, at least on the lefty media side, does this. But I see the same people refusing to hear and I see the right wing media picking up the ball and running with it. All I know is, I’m furious and betrayed. I guess it might just be too much to ask that people stop reading content they want to believe and start reading content that presents enough facts to be believable. We’ll see what happens from here on out. I hope Ms. Reade finds peace, whether manipulated, or conwoman or both. It would be nice if many people familiar to us who immediately were sure Biden was credibly accused of assault said, “Hey, you know, I may have jumped the gun.” That won’t happen, of course. I hope we find the truth as much as we can even, as we focus on the goal of preventing more death and destruction in America. Because truth is worth protecting and fighting for.
ruemara
Boy, I really picked a doozy. Sorry I’m a downer, y’all.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Very thoughtful piece, Ruemara. Thanks.
Baud
This is an excellent essay.
WereBear
@ruemara: Don’t be sorry. It needed to be said and you said it well.
Very important.
Chetan Murthy
Ruemara, thank you for this. It’s long, and I’m halfway thru, but stopped to thank you for this. I’ll finish reading now.
SiubhanDuinne
Excellent piece, Ruemara. I appreciate all the care and thought you put into crafting this essay. Thank you.
lamh36
@ruemara: Not a downer at all. Very well thoughtout and clear and concise post Ruemara.
Thank you one of your best!
Citizen Alan
I went through a phase on Twitter of asking every Bernie Bro who yelled “Biden is a rapist” with abandon the same question: “If Tara Reade comes out and reveals that this was all a hoax, will you apologize on Twitter for saying that?”
I finally gave up after I asked that exact same question over 25 times and only got a single mealy-mouthed response.
Baud
@ruemara: .
Agree. Not a downer, but inspiring to see a thoughtful piece on the subject.
la caterina
Thanks for this well-written post, Ruemara. You’re a compelling essayist.
Major Major Major Major
Excellent post, thank you.
Chetan Murthy
@Chetan Murthy: OK, I finished it. Near the beginning, I thought I’d have something to say. But now at the end, I don’t. Your words are excellent. Again, thank you for this.
Roger Moore
The fundamental problem is that these accusations are being defended in bad faith. Whether the accusations have any truth or not, the people who are advancing them are doing so with the clear goal of knocking Biden off the ballot rather than seeking justice for Tara Reade. It’s telling that they are not a bunch of people who have shown a previous serious interest in #MeToo but have been interested in boosting Bernie Sanders. It’s a transparent political operation, so their sudden interest in believing accusers at all costs and fighting rape apologists ring hollow.
ruemara
Whew, thanks. Trust me, I am on the outs with people I know for my stance. But I can’t let go of the fact that the truth is the most important thing and we cannot let go if it because we like or dislike someone
@Roger Moore: Yep. See also, their stance on rapist Julian Assange.
PsiFighter37
The problem with this country is that too many people are simple-minded and see things in only black and white, without understanding the nuance.
Also, the media has a vested interest in the horse race, especially the FTFNYT, so they will flog any horse available, even if it’s one that is six feet under. And as long as there are willing tools like Megyn Fucking Kelly to give her airtime, it won’t die.
I think Biden’s best response here is to reiterate his original statement and just ignore Reade from herein out. It would also behoove his campaign to figure out which female surrogate can bring the gun to the knife fight when it comes to highlighting Reade’s ridiculously blatant changes to her ‘story’ over the course of time – because, IMO, they should be prepared if the press continues to give undeserved airtime to someone who is clearly an off-their-rocket BernieBro.
Sab
Thank you.
Martin
So, right now I believe her, because we know that you can’t get to the truth unless you believe the victims. I don’t rule out that it might be a political hit, but I don’t think the accusations against Kavanaugh were a hit either.
But we do have a binary decision here – Biden or Trump. But I also believe all of Trumps accusers. And Trump is not only unrepentant for any of his behaviors, he codifies that in public policy, where Biden at least for the last 20 years has been a reliable if imperfect advocate for women’s rights, fairness, due process, and the like.
So, this is not a variable that matters, because even if it proves to be true, the decision is unchanged, even in terms with how much energy I put behind Biden. What’s more, assuming Biden carries through with his promise of naming a female VP and knowing the contenders in the running, I put my trust in that candidate.
This can play out in the background. I hope we do discover the truth of the matter, either way, but it is not material to the decision we need to make now. If it’s a problem for Democrats, that’s why a good choice of VP is important – we can always demand he resign.
Ladyraxterinok
Thank you for this post. As usual, your comments are helpful and enlightening!
Ladyraxterinok
Thank you for this post. As usual, your comments are helpful and enlightening!
rikyrah
You wrote an excellent and thoughtful piece. Good post.
I am quite clear.
I DO NOT BELIEVE ALL WOMEN.
Not because I am a self-hating woman.
But, because I am a Black woman who knows the history of THIS COUNTRY and how a White woman’s accusations can be weaponized to cause you to lose your job all the way up to YOUR LIFE.
Cause, that is what we’re talking about, when they say
BELIEVE ALL WOMEN
They mean
BELIEVE ALL WHITE WOMEN
ANd, to that, I say…
Phuck Outta Here ?? with that nonsense.
Cause you can poo-poo me if you want to….
But, if a Black woman had come up with a story with as many holes and contradictions as Reade’s, and had a shady azz background as Reade does…
Come on, now???
Baud
@ruemara:
It’s hard to say “no” to people, and it’s one of the things our side in general is not good at.
Baud
@Martin:
“I don’t know but I will look at the facts objectively” is an acceptable position to have. You don’t have to “believe” or “not believe.”
trollhattan
At this point I believe this is the crux of the matter. The stirrers will continue stirring until either the straw or the glass breaks.
This morning I heard an AOC interview in which this topic, among others, came up. She kept referring to Reade as a survivor. I’m not sure that’s a word I would choose, because it presumes a whole lot.
From the other corner of our world, DeVos just unveiled her protect the accused (of sexual assault) measures for campuses–private and public. Because we all know who the real victims are. I keep wondering why it is all the self-proclaimed men’s righters have not leapt to Biden’s defense. Why, oh why…?
ruemara
@rikyrah: …I can’t deny this. I’ve been black all my life, not just yesterday.
@trollhattan: I can’t understand why there’s no energy devoted to this outrage.
H.E.Wolf
Adding my thanks to you for this thoughtful and cogently-written essay. Much appreciated.
And yes, let’s flip the Senate and hold the House, so that elected Democrats can act on behalf of the most vulnerable members of our community, and bestow consequences upon those who prey upon them.
Ksmiami
@Martin: Why with her very thin story and sketchy mental health does she deserve your belief? I think she’s a deeply damaged person but I really doubt the veracity of her story and I keep waiting for anything solid to come out but there’s nothing and not every woman deserves trust without verification. I think it’s a political hit and nothing so far has shown otherwise- in the meantime she and the Bernie bro’s have done a good job shitting on MeToo. As someone who was a victim of sexual violence, I find her story full of holes
Mary G
Thanks, rue. I also have struggled with this and regretfully don’t believe her enhanced allegations. Also Megyn F*ing Kelly has no soul.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@trollhattan:
I strongly suspect she’s a survivor and a victim, just not of Joe Biden.
PsiFighter37
@Ksmiami: I don’t think she’s a damaged person. I think she’s a BernieBro who cooked up this scheme by taking a passage out of Daddy’s softcore romance novel and saying Biden did the same thing to her. It’s as half-assed and hare-brained as the crazy Wilmer supporters online are.
japa21
Excellent essay.
This is so true in so many cases. The problem with this is that, if Tara Reade is making this up, or at best exaggerating a much less flagrant activity, and if this is discovered, it minimizes so many other women or men who report abuse.
In the 80’s and 90’s there was a major movement in the psychological world to “recover memories” of childhood sexual abuse. The reality is that childhood sexual abuse is a real thing. It is also a reality that many of the people claiming ti have been abused weren’t. Many women, and a few men, went into counseling for normal reasons and were convinced by their therapists that they had been abused. And they were told to confront the abuser and that if the abuser denied it, then that was proof the abuse occurred. (I know, sounds a lot like what we hear in the more current situation. )
There was a cottage industry including inpatient psych wards dedicated to this.
Ultimately, this hurt the efforts to help people with a real history of childhood sexual abuse. Tbhis is what is happening now, as well.
PsiFighter37
@trollhattan: AOC doesn’t fucking get it because she’s a Wilmer supporter. Read all her interviews since Sanders dropped out, and it’s all about reluctance to support Biden. Not helpful and next to useless. I will be very happy when she deludes herself into thinking she can primary Chuck Schumer and gets her ass handed to her.
Villago Delenda Est
@Roger Moore: Bingo.
And ruemara, thank you so much for such a thoughtful essay.
schrodingers_cat
This is a smear by the BS. campaign. It’s a beta test for the fall campaign. And no I don’t believe her. And ruemara is right सत्यमेव जयते
Villago Delenda Est
@trollhattan: The real victims are ALWAYS privileged rich white boys. ALWAYS.
Villago Delenda Est
@rikyrah: Dammit, this this this THIS. I’m a straight white male, and I can’t possibly experience this myself, but I know it to be a stark reality in this country that falls so appalling short of the ideals it claims to aspire to.
satby
@Baud: yes, this. It might even be a better way to get to the truth of something by starting out with no belief at all in one or the other person, just an open and transparent investigation of an allegation and the evidence that supports or contradicts the possibility that it occurred.
Renie
IMO – Reade was already losing credibility by changing her story but now by hiring a trump supporter, Manhattan attorney Douglas Wigdor, as her lawyer adds another element to her objectives. This type of bullshit makes it harder for other women to come forward with stories hoping to be taken seriously.
Roger Moore
@ruemara:
Outrage fatigue. Seriously, the Trump Administration has done so many outrageous things that it’s impossible for anyone to keep track and maintain an appropriate degree of outrage for each one.
It’s a huge part of how the Republicans work. Each of them is doing something awful, and together there’s more awfulness than we can deal with. And it’s not just a mater of our individual ability to keep track and remain outraged. We can only maintain the law because most people choose to obey, either out of respect for the law or fear of being caught. If society breaks down to the point that a enough people don’t obey the law, the whole edifice dissolves into chaos. We have a political crime spree on that scale, and I don’t know how we’re going to fix it.
debbie
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Seconded!
How the hell have lies become more important than truth?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I don’t know how anyone could read that McGann story and come away thinking Reade has any credibility, and McGann downplays the political aspect of her charges and the timing. One of her anonymous corroborating witnesses is now on record as changing their own story, fercrissake.
Rina99
@Baud: Thank you. Why work so hard to avoid stating the obvious based on the evidence? She is a liar. The only way con artists like this undermine real victims is if we let them. I see this as another area where well-meaning Dems need to grow up and move away from thinking they’re bad people for doubting a questionable, at best, story.
There’s no medal for being the bestest Dem ever who never sets a foot wrong. Accept that this woman is full of shit, and make sure any women who come forward in the future is allowed to have her say.
I have more thoughts, but I’ll save those for another post.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Believe is to accept something without facts. People believe in God(or here Baud), there are no necessary facts or proof required for a belief.
LeftCoastYankee
I love your posts. I meant to say that on the last one, but I read it late at night and my brain wasn’t cooperating with my phone.
This sums up things I’ve been thinking but then I have a healthy doubt that maybe I’m missing something, because I’m male, or haven’t read enough or whatever. I think that waiting is helpful to process thing if you’re looking for an absolute truth. And if this was about someone in the public eye where there is no particular time-window or urgency to the decision, I’d go that way.
I think that impulse to have more info, in a time-constrained window, makes the slow leakage of “new revelations” the Republicans’ “go-to” ratfking move. It doesn’t have to be true, as long as they can make the distracted voter eventually think, “this hasn’t gone away, there must be something to it.”
If our roles are solely as a voters, waiting is fine. If in our roles as citizens we have a responsibility to defend and reclaim our dying democracy, fighting these accusations directly and swiftly may be imperative. It’s a very ugly choice.
Sm*t Cl*de
The Reason piece begins poorly, describing Wohl & Burkman as “hoaxers” and “provocateurs” as if they are a pair of jolly japesters rather than serial defamation fraudsters. But then the transcripts… Burkman goes Full Metal Nazi.
Emma from FL
@Martin: No, you don’t have to believe her. You have to take the accusation seriously. Investigate and find out the truth.
Buckeye
@trollhattan:
She was an abusive relationship for many years, one started while she was working for Biden. It’s possible that’s the one AOC was referring to.
https://www.salon.com/2020/03/31/a-woman-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault-and-all-hell-breaks-loose-online-heres-what-we-know/
I’ll add that it’s hard for me to believe Reade on the assault claims, there’s too much going on with how often she’s changed her story, and who’s working with her to promote this.
sgrAstar
@rikyrah: agree x 10^1000. Grrrr!
Btw, I’m female and I have considerable experience with male predation.
?
Martin
@Ksmiami: I’m certainly skeptical, don’t get me wrong, and I’m not rushing to her defense, nor am I rushing to Biden’s. Of course this could be a political hit – there are plenty of those out there. But we need a process to air these kinds of accusations and that works regardless of the party affiliation of the accused. So, run the process, and if she’s lying or mistaken or whatever, then so be it. We tried to run that process for the accusations against Kavanaugh (and I was more skeptical of his defense) and that process was blocked.
Like I said, it only works as a political hit if you allow it to influence your decision. It doesn’t for me. So, do a proper investigation, let’s get the results and then we’ll deal with it. But it won’t change my vote or how hard I work for Biden. If you take away its ability to work as a political hit and it just falls away, and her supporters vanish, well, you’ll know what it was all along.
lamh36
Nope I don’t believe.
It’s a hit job with one purpose.
She won’t go under oath or on any record or file any police report or anyting…but she want Biden “step forard and be held responsible”. Joe Biden has already said in no uncertain terms that it didn’t happen.
So now she said he should step aside. IT’S A HIT JOB!
What’s that saying, “”When you hear hoofbeats, think of horses not zebras“.
Mike in NC
Bernie Bros are deeply invested in reelecting Fat Bastard.
zhena gogolia
@rikyrah:
Absolutely.
Soprano2
Good essay, thanks for it. You’ve captured a lot of how I feel about it, except that I’m convinced she’s a liar trying to do a hit job on Biden. I’ve got a Sanders-supporting friend on FB who keeps posting things about this, including that crap about how some Secret Service agent says Biden *gasp* walked around in his house naked sometimes, in an “Epstein-like” situation. I keep asking her “Really do you believe this? Think about Reade’s story logically, it has a lot of holes in it and she has a history of lying about things and conning people”. I think these Bernie supporters really believe that if they can just get an accusation to stick they can replace Biden with Bernie. I think some of them would rather have Trump than a Democrat in the White House. It doesn’t occur to them that if Biden were really like that, it would have come out a long time ago in his long public career.
Ohio Mom
I half-read a Vox piece earlier today by a reporter who has been working on the Tara Reade story for a year now and still has nothing solid to report.
It’s not possible to prove that nothing happened so those interested in keeping this story going, for whatever reason, can do so, there is no end point.
I get that truth is important. That is why I continue to value the Mueller Report and all the other documentation of this administration’s crimes even as these documents are having no effect.
But in the end, I can’t care about Tara Reade very much. She’s in the back of the line of many, many other concerns. If that makes me a bad personal, I’ll live with it.
Morzer
This is a well written piece and illustrates just how dangerous extreme positions are in politics. I think My Latest Name Is Tara Reade is a grifter whose story has changed and shifted as her aims changed and shifted. She’s got a track record of mostly failed deception and fraud. I don’t know whether she’s a survivor or not and I think we should be very careful of assuming that there is any past incident behind her various stories and claims. As far as I can tell from her Twitter past, she was a starfucker wannabe hoping to get attention and maybe some sort of job with a campaign. That didn’t pan out, for reasons which are now fairly obviously. Then she became Bernielusional and decided that she would turn her talents to harming Biden. It’s not an unusual or convincing story and if My Latest Name Is Tara Reade hadn’t gone after the Democratic nominee I doubt that it would have gained much attention at all.
hueyplong
The Reade stuff is crap and has always been crap. You can’t shine a light on any aspect of it without seeing inconsistency and political motivation.
The Russian angle is unmistakable. Because Putin pushed both Bernie and Trump last time, it could originate with Putin and be picked up by either camp, or both, either directly or as a smear of opportunity. And both camps won’t let obvious chicanery stop them from pushing the story. Trump pushed and pushed the Ukraine nonsense long after light had clearly been shone upon it.
If Biden wins, there should be an investigation (including IC) into the money angle of the Reade saga. These 3.5 years have taught us that the IC people do successfully find out stuff, though the more obvious lesson has been that a crooked president supported by a crooked party can keep that knowledge from being properly used.
Barbara
@Sm*t Cl*de: They can’t even do fucking math. 1% of 325 million is 3.25 million. But I can’t get angry at those two because they are so evidently clowns. I could almost but not quite believe they are double agents secretly working for the other side. The coup de grace was the Mueller press conference where Burkman’s fly was down for the whole thing. It’s like performance art.
debbie
Someone here shared this tweet a while back. I think it closes the door on the veracity of her allegations.
Zelma
Thank you ruemara for a very cogent and convincing description of this mess. And it is a mess. I have to admit that I lean towards not believing Reade. There are too many suspicious inconsistencies in her story. And there is no doubt that it has been weaponized politically. First by the Berniacs and now apparently by the Republicans. That she hired a Trump-supporting lawyer does not look good. Nor that she chose to go to Fox News and then backed out because she would face one of the few semi-real journalists on the network.
Biden says it never happened. I’ve “known” Joe for 30 years and this seems wholly out of character. (I actually have a friend who grew up with Joe and knew him in Wilmington. She has nothing but good things to say about him. She doesn’t believe this.). You can’t say the same about the men like Weinstein or Lauer. And there were multiple accusers of Cosby and Rose.
If other credible women come forward with similar accusations, I may change my mind. This kind of behavior is rarely a singular instance. But a complaint that Biden hugged someone who didn’t like it or made some “insensitive” remark won’t do it for me. Joe’s my contemporary. Even the most “woke” amongst men of my generation were often clueless when it came to this kind of stuff. Joe has done good things for women. That matters.
So thank you ruemara for a very thoughtful piece.
Starfish
@Buckeye: People who change their names to escape an abusive next are usually not accusing public figures of assault because then they are no longer maintaining their privacy.
Juice Box
Very well put. In another venue I tried to say something similar a few years ago with respect to Franken or Ansari or one of the others and was called “rape apologist”, “not really a woman” and “a men’s rights guy” by someone who is now busily posting defenses of Joe Biden. These were, of course, false allegations.
This election season we’ve seen Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg falsely accused of impropriety as well as Biden. It’s easy to make false accusations whether of sexual, financial, or other impropriety and whether or not those allegations are true, the damage is done. Powerful people are not saints and they do do bad things, but they’re also magnets for these kinds of accusations. Both Trump and the foreign bots are going to weaponize this.
trollhattan
@Buckeye:
Did not know that detail. Adds a bit of nuance to things, but one would hope she doesn’t consider this evening the score or somesuch.
trollhattan
@Sm*t Cl*de:
“Hoaxers” in this instance are criminals with good lawyers.
Villago Delenda Est
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Baud does not exist. If he did, a cat would have knocked him over the edge of the world.
Roger Moore
@Sm*t Cl*de:
So in addition to being despicable people, they also aren’t so good at math. 1% of the population is about 3.2 million people, not 400,000. But what’s a factor of 8 between genocidal maniacs?
Barbara
You can’t coach witnesses and continually change your story and be believed. When there is zero evidence all you have is inherent credibility. Not being able to remember everything is understandable, indeed, it is normal. But coming up with new details that are inconsistent with the story you’ve told for years isn’t credible.
MisterForkbeard
@ruemara: I really like this essay. It’s important and encapsulates so much of what I feel about this whole Reade episode and how #MeToo is being weaponized in general.
I’d love to repost it on facebook/twitter, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be the same exact experience you spoke about – getting attacked for being a rape apologist because it’s important to examine allegations. But it’s a valuable lesson all the same.
Annie
I have worked for law firms and courts for 35+ years.
there are people who will lie.
some of them are women and some of them lie about sex.
just off the top of my head, without any research or looking at case files, I can recall 5 cases where the person who reported a sexual assault turned out to have fabricated it completely. If I dug through files there would probably be more. I am not talking about minor inconsistencies.
i don’t automatically believe anyone.
And I don’t much care for the idea of Biden being forced to decline the nomination because of something from 1993.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@ruemara: Excellent post, thanks.
John Revolta
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I think you’re confusing belief with faith.
senyorDave
Hard hitting interview by Ms. White Jesus. Let her interview Jean Carroll, or the other two dozen women that have sexual assault claims against Trump, who only happened to brag about sexually assaulting women. Maybe the Democrats should have putting any of the women who would like to participate and they could discuss their interactions with Trump. Because sometimes the best defense is a good offense. Trump is a serial sexual assaulter of women and that has to be at least mentioned.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Villago Delenda Est: Heretic.
MisterForkbeard
This is not a statement I agree with. You need to believe that the victim CAN be telling the truth and not dismiss them out of hand, but that doesn’t mean you ‘believe’ her.
Gvg
It would be awfully convenient for male abusers if a few women accusers were really publicly found to be liars, so why not find a few obvious liars and help them blow up? It doesn’t even have to be republicans because until we get it fixed into our culture that it does happen and it does need to be stopped, they can get us to give up and back off justice. So we need to say, the slogan was too glib and point out who benefits by discrediting women accusers. Every group of humans has bad actors, no group is perfect. It should always be understood that some of any group will be unreliable and embarrassing. If you are trying to be an adult, you just deal with it, follow the rules and be fair.
Back when the rabid republicans were hunting Bill Clinton, I actually started to understand why a sitting President maybe shouldn’t be accused in court. There were so many people and parties that were tied to one side or the other of the power of the Presidency, that as that stupid witch-hunt of a trial unfolded I realized nothing fair or resembling a normal trial could happen. Everyone had a stake in that trial and the power and not in the truth. I needed Bill to remain President because he kept vetoing Bills that threatened my rights (women’s) or other marginalized like gays or black Americans. He wasn’t personally perfect, but he was a reliable defender against the worst impulses. The republicans and some others seem set to make another circus like that. They’ll keep trying. There is a lot of power in the Presidency and a lot of people have been going hog wild under Trump and don’t want to stop.
lamh36
Biden says its not true. She said something did. She has no real proof and some sketchy details, not even counting “reminding” witnesses and refuses to go under oath or file any reports explicitly mentioning Biden and the “incident” , let alone have her story outright changing.
Biden still maintains it’s not true.
So now what? I maintain that if you already just a resigned soft supporter of Biden then I you’ll be more likely to believe her regardless if there is NEVER anything concrete.
Lord help me, but I am agreeing with Matthew Yglesias here:
There is a certin faction of “Dems” who want to believe allegations even in the face of conflicting evidence and sketchy corrobortion. And IDK, man or woman, I think if you are gonna torch someone’s reputation…you at least do so with more facts than “emotions”
?BillinGlendaleCA
@John Revolta: Different sides of the same coin.
UncleEbeneezer
Wonderful post.
bluehill
@Zelma: I don’t know about credible, but other women will come forward. Without expressing belief or disbelief in Reade’s story, I think the Trump campaign needed something to draw Biden out because Trump’s daily press briefings were hurting him and Biden was fine to let Trump flounder in the spotlight.
This allegation shifts some of the attention back on Biden and seems well-timed with states starting to reopen and the focus on the coronavirus lessening. I would not be surprised to see more allegations emerge in order to keep this story going. Trump is terrible at defense and much better at offense. It’s going to be a long, hot summer.
piratedan
i kind of think that there’s a lot of point missing going on here..
These accusations didn’t spring to light because now is the time to seek the “truth”…
that, plainly put, is complete and utter bullshit.
this is being promoted with one true aim and lots of side benefits….
the true aim….it harms Biden, period.
and the benefits….Biden has to take the time to respond to it (as it takes away attention from the freak show that is unfolding day after day)
It allows a certain element of the media to play the both sides card (that they seemingly have in endless supply, whether they are applicable or not)
It allows certain Rose Warriors to be “relevant voices” once again and be their usual disingenuous selves
It allows Trump a breather from his catastrophic policies and decisions
It bleeds attention away from the continued theft of our nation that is underway
It harms all people who have actually been abused and harassed that have taken time to gather and present their receipts
not saying Ms. Reade may not have been harassed, or even “assaulted” but if she feels that she has been wronged and feels that Biden is guilty, then file a suit and lets go to discovery and do an investigation. I’m not gonna be distracted and fall for this bullshit again. You want to eliminate sexual harassment with public office holders, feel free to start with the guy who confessed on tape. That should be easy.
Another Scott
@Roger Moore: This is pretty much where I am.
ruemara put up an excellent essay and covered the bases on the Me Too side and the problems with her story.
Unfortunately, as horrible as sexual assault and abuse of the weak by the strong is, the passage of time and the lack of evidence means that evidence is circumstantial here. (Prosecutors have said that they would never bring charges based on what has some out so far.) And so many of the circumstances look to this reader like this is overwhelmingly likely a political hit-job with little if any substance behind it.
This story is nothing like Kavanaugh – who never held elective office and never faced the public scrutiny that Biden has endured multiple times. Kavanaugh showed who he was when he was confronted with his (well documented) past. Biden is nothing like Kavanaugh.
Yes, let’s keep looking for facts, fact are vital. But there comes a point when “believe women” means that extraordinary claims – from a single woman that are not corroborated by any other women – supports the conclusion that her claims are incorrect.
tl;dr – excellent essay, ruemara. The complexity of this case doesn’t have to kill Me Too – if we keep our wits about us.
Cheers,
Scott.
Omnes Omnibus
“Believe women” means listen and take accusations seriously. It does not mean suspend judgment and common sense.
MisterForkbeard
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yep. I just read this. I can’t read that article and come away with the impression that Reade is telling the truth.
Basically, she doesn’t have any real evidence and both she and her corroborators stories have changed significantly. Her attempts to explain that her past statements hold up to current allegations are stretched beyond belief: “this is not about sexual harassment but about abuse of power by staffers” is secretly “Biden sexually assaulted me because sexual assault is about power” is a ridiculous assertion to make.
Likewise, her corroborators have changed their story at the urging of Reade and at least one point after urging by a reporter who dislikes Biden and stood to gain professionally by pushing the story. And finally, Reade has gone all-in on Sanders and Putin, the two people besides Trump who would benefit the most from Biden being damaged.
It’s sad, but she has destroyed her own credibility, lied about her own experience coming forward, and the nature of her accusations (non-specifics, etc.) make it impossible to ever know for sure. And when it comes down to “untrustworthy person with a lot to gain who’s coordinating and biasing testimony” and “public official who has been vetted within an inch of his life and has no history of even accusations of this behavior” I’m clearly coming down on the side of the 2nd person.
Miss Bianca
really good piece, and I may just have to come back to it from time to time.
geg6
@Ksmiami:
Totally agree, also as a survivor. I’m willing to bet awful things happened to her in her life, but I do not believe Joe Biden was responsible for them.
senyorDave
@piratedan: not saying Ms. Reade may not have been harassed, or even “assaulted” but if she feels that she has been wronged and feels that Biden is guilty, then file a suit and lets go to discovery and do an investigation.
A million times thumbs up. She wants to put it out there and let hard hitting reporters like White Jesus Kelly toss her a few softballs. If she goes public than file suit and have it investigated. Biden is not president and they would have to follow up.
Buckeye
@Starfish:
That’s not my point, it’s just pointing out that AOC may be referring to that relationship, which Reade has written about, when AOC says Reade is a survivor.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@debbie: when I first saw that tweet, I became very skeptical of her claims, and I feel like subsequent revelations have only confirmed my skepticism, and then some. McGann alludes to it, Michelle Goldberg quotes it, but doesn’t really give any context, and those are the only places I’ve seen any mention of it in frontline media. I’d love to hear Chris Hayes or Rebecca Traister address it
Kathleen
@schrodingers_cat: Yup. The thugs on the left and right will do this to every Democratic Presidential candidate forever, and any other Democrat that they fear. This is a psy ops, no doubt in my mind and it’s not going to end.
Kathleen
@lamh36: Thank. You.
James E Powell
@Emma from FL:
Do I have to take it seriously forever? Can I decide at some point that it sounds like bullshit and I can say so without being a bad person? Asking for a friend.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
one thing, kind of related, from the (presumably) written and revised and edited published piece by McGann:
Why did she want to believe a source making an unproven allegation?
Brachiator
With Trump remaining president?
No.
Most of the other points were magnificently stated. I can’t really disagree.
I do not have an opinion on the issue. I don’t need to yet. I think that every accusation should be treated seriously. But I do not automatically believe anyone, apart from a few members of my family and a couple of close friends.
ruemara
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: If you’ve ever been at the mercy of the powerful, it makes sense. For once, you got a bastard who’s been abusing someone. It also makes sense for an ambitious reporter. It’s great story, it could affect the course of history. And as a woman, yeah, it’s a big thing.
hitchhiker
This is the bit from that Vox piece that finally tipped me over for good. This story is about something, but it’s not about Joe Biden behaving like an entitled Harvey Weinstein.
Imagine being a reporter who definitely followed up, has notes from multiple interviews, and wanted desperately to publish this story — and hearing that.
The Post worked hard on the story. It’s just a lie to say that they “never really followed up.” So the Vox reporter goes to Reade and asks what the fuck …
Can anybody parse that for me? My take is that Reade’s position is:
And with that, I’m out. If evidence exists that Joe Biden is guilty of anything remotely close to what she alleges, show it to me. Until that day, I’m going to assume his visible record speaks for itself.
AWOL
@rikyrah:
As a Mid-Atlantic Elitist Leftist Older WM, this is the greatest fucking retort to a questionable stance that I have ever read.
Thank you.
Calouste
@lamh36: Let me guess, Tara Reade didn’t call in the next sentence for the shitgibbon to step down from the race? You know, to show solidarity with the 23 women who have accused him of sexual assault.
HumboldtBlue
@ruemara:
That’s one of the finest pieces I’ve read on this blog filled with extraordinary people.
And I think this is something recognized by everyone here, women carry as much or more the weight as the men here just as in life and the perspective, the lessons taught in front page posts and even more so in the comments from women about women and their experiences are one of the overwhelming reasons it’s our daily drug.
Salty Sam
I love it when I come across a piece that forces me to look honestly in the mirror for a reality check. That is especially important in these days, when I bounce from white hot rage to apathetic buzz, sometimes multiple times a day.
This was such a piece. Thanks Ruemara.
Darkrose
@rikyrah: Some women have always been believed. Carolyn Bryant Donham was believed when she said that Emmett Till grabbed her. Now she’s admitted that she lied, but it’s far too late for the boy who was tortured and murdered because of her lie.
Anathema Device
This is the most thoughtful response to the Reade mess that I’ve read. Thank you.
burnspbesq
You were doing fine until you got to “her full truth.” That’s bullshit.
There’s only one truth: the truth. Tara Reade doesn’t get her personal truth, she gets her personal story, which may or may not coincide with the truth.
Truth can be difficult to discern, and there may be competing tentative, incomplete versions, but there is never more than one
in this case, as near as anyone can tell, the truth appears to be that Tara Reade is a fabulist and a fabricator, whose motives remain obscure.
J R in WV
@Soprano2:
Gasp! In his own house!?!???? My dad was uncomfortable after I got married, because he couldn’t walk around naked in front of my wife. Because he walked around naked in his house all the time, before my wife showed up all the time.
There’s nothing perverse about being naked anywhere, much less than in your own house!!!! If you think being naked is perverse, there’s something deeply perverse about your own mind, deep inside, YOU ARE PERVERSE if being naked offends you that much.
How does one shower? Without being naked in one’s own house? Or go to bed? Because many of us do that naked, too!!!\
Ms Reade is pretty much a proven political operative, or a Russian stooge, or, why not, BOTH!!! Just like Senator Sanders…
ETA: Thanks for the great essay / B-J post ruemara !!! well done!
neldob
The question is not whether Tara Reade is sincere or not. We will probably never have proof either way. The issue is honor and ethics in government. The Republicans have so lowered the bar that any of their complaints about Biden’s behavior are like their concern about the national debt- completely disingenuous.
Republicans elect Trump (many rape allegations, still haven’t seen his taxes, etc.) and try to elect Roy Moore (of the “Three women alleged that he had sexually assaulted them: two were minors at the time of these incidents” , etc.) meanwhile Democrats eject Al Franken from the senate for a squeeze of the waist allegation and a bad joke when he was a comic.
Are Republicans trying to say we need to run someone who is 100x more honorable than Don the Con? 1000 times more honorable? Yes, because Democrats are the standard bearers of honor and ethics, unlike the Republican party which has coined the term virtue signaling as an insult. Republicans have lost the moral high ground. Biden, like Obama, can claim it.
When will Republican’s dangerous foolishness be stopped? In November and by January we hope. If it happens it will be a victory not just for our country, but also for virtue.
Pass the wine.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
oh come the hell on
PJ
@Martin: That’s utter horseshit. You can get to the truth without necessarily believing anyone; truth exists outside of one person’s telling – that’s the foundation of our legal system, of science, of our society. We have developed sophisticated systems to test hypotheses and scenarios. As citizens, as human beings, we have to make judgments every day about the credibility of the things that people say to us and the credibility of those persons as a whole. If we suspend this function, and accept whatever errant bullshit is thrown at us, we will not survive as individuals or as a society.
Soprano2
@J R in WV: I was being sarcastic, I guess it didn’t come through well enough. The article was full of paternalistic crap about how they supposedly had to protect female Secret Service agents from seeing Biden’s naked body. It was a big steaming pile of crap and lies. The statement about it being a “Weinstein-like situation” was over-the-top stupid. And she posted it like she thought it was true. I’m done with Bernie supporters who would rather have Trump as president for 4 more years than see a Democrat be elected.
Sally
Are we to discover eventually that she was paid, like several others, by the likes of Wohl and Burkman ? Who trumped up charges against Fauci and Mueller.
Barb 2
Good and thoughtful discussion.
Biden is not my favorite male politician.
However, lies have been told about men. Not that common but it does happen.
This accuser/Bernie supporter is willing to do whatever it takes to get B.S. elected. She is also getting attention and she likes the attention. Those are two reasons I find her story impossible to believe.
I cannot believe that I would ever write anything in support of Biden. So why is this accuser speaking out now? Biden has asked for any existing records to be released. Her story has been examined by women looking for the truth, for example, Amanda Marcotte at Salon. There will always be those who can build up a nothing happening with someone famous into a lifelong relationship.
Note – My spell checker doesn’t like Amanda’s last name.
Anathema Device
@neldob:
It’s tiresome to see this BS repeated. Eight women came forward before he resigned to say he’d either forced unwanted sexual kisses on them or other inappropriate behaviour during photo ops, and another came forward after he resigned to say he’d groped her. It’s on Wikipedia for god’s sake. This is in addition to the stupid photo that showed him apparently about to grab a woman’s breasts (which was indeed, obviously, a joke. Just a very very tasteless one.)
Whether it was enough for him to resign over is another issue, but please stop minimising the offences he was accused of. This is how men who harass women, skate without consequence for their actions.
Betty Cracker
Rue — terrific essay. Thank you.
@hueyplong:
The IC itself should be investigated and restructured, IMO. We don’t give it billions in funding and a worrying amount of investigatory leeway to protect its own agencies, sources and methods; its remit is to protect the country, and it failed catastrophically.
@Anathema Device: Thank you.
Eric
Word search on this essay and 109 comments for “Ford” = zero results.
I can’t believe how the Left refuses to acknowledge the horrible character assassination attempt they made against an innocent man, who had to explain to his two young daughters that he wasn’t a rapist.
Now there is documented evidence that Tara Reade told her husband in 1996 about something happening in Biden’s office in 1993. These are the rules that you guys set up with the Kavanaugh inquisition and you can live by them.
Eric
@Another Scott: “This story is nothing like Kavanaugh”
No kidding. Biden has a long history of touchy-feely behavior; he had to apologize for his behavior to Lucy Flores earlier this year. Meanwhile, his accuser has five contemporaneous corroborating witnesses along with a court document revealed last night that she told her husband in 1996.
Christine Blasey-Ford could never present any evidence that she and Kavanaugh had ever MET.
Oh, they’re different all right….
tam1MI
If the Bernie Bros thought that this was going to bring Biden down, so far it certainly seems to have backfired. I’m even seeing some Bros start to CT that the whole thing was a false flag operation by the Biden camp itself to inoculate Biden against any future ratfuckery.
grandpa john
@Another Scott: And yet curiously ,non of our dirty laundry airing members of the media believe even one of the 25 women who have made accusations against trump.