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Sexual Harassment


Ms. Spam
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I'm confused. You called her his girlfriend, but the most recent post makes it sound like a one-time thing.

 

Either way, I can't believe there's a situation where any adult would actually believe that a 14 year old is also an adult.

He didn't know his girlfriend was 14?

I am sorry. I should be clearer on the internet plus it was about 20 years ago. This is the story the court appointed lawyer spun as part of his strategy - He figured the guy was going to jail and it would be better to get a lighter sentence if he didn't say he knew her. They were boyfriend and girlfriend and did go to a bar but because of the forbidden love of a 14 year old they really didn't tell anyone and the lawyer thought if he said he just met her and didn't know the judge would go easier on him at sentencing. Which he did. The dude only did 5 years. And he had to register as a sex offender.

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Guest El Chalupacabra

To be sure, if someone is in fact guilty of rape or sexual misconduct, they deserve all the bad press and applicable legal woes they get.

 

However, what I find disturbing is it seems like at this point all someone has to do is say "I was groped," and the accuser is assumed to be telling the truth (even if it was 20+ years ago), and the accused is assumed guilty in the court of public opinion. This is getting dangerously close to mob mentality. Seems like due process is out the window.

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The senior Bush allegations are what makes me think this has gotten a mob mentality that you mention. Like cat calls or bad jokes like Bush senior did, I think we have to learn to forgive and move on. But it is pretty blatant. Maybe as an ugly woman I'm at a loss to feel more empathy but I feel like Bush's thing he's being accused of is something my Grandpa did in his time. They're the same type of people that probably blow their paychecks at a strip joint. I believe the way Franken approached it is best. Let's get that ethics investigation going!

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Guest El Chalupacabra

The senior Bush allegations are what makes me think this has gotten a mob mentality that you mention. Like cat calls or bad jokes like Bush senior did, I think we have to learn to forgive and move on. But it is pretty blatant. Maybe as an ugly woman I'm at a loss to feel more empathy but I feel like Bush's thing he's being accused of is something my Grandpa did in his time. They're the same type of people that probably blow their paychecks at a strip joint. I believe the way Franken approached it is best. Let's get that ethics investigation going!

I am not a Bush fan or supporter. That said, the thing I find ridiculous about the Bush allegation is that the guy is in his effing 90s. At that age, it is very rare that someone is firing on all 8 cylinders. Papa Bush has had multiple illnesses, and has nearly died more than once. That has HAD to take a toll on his brain at some level, and if I were a betting man, I'd say he is likely senile. Maybe not all the time, but much of the time. We are talking about the same guy, who as president, was flabbergasted at laser bar code scanners at grocery stores in the early 1990s. It's doubtful things have gotten better for Bush, mentally speaking. I'm not saying he has a pass to do or say whatever he wants, but come on. If this woman feels that a decrepit old (and possibly senile) wheelchair bound man has that much power over her, and doesn't have the sense of humor and/or the empathy for an old man that isn't all there to brush it off, then I have to say I question the motive of her press conference in the first place. Timing of her allegations suggests to me, at least, this was something she blew out of proportion for some kind of personal gain. If this is the new standard by which sexual harassment is going to be judged, then every nurse or nurses aid who hears any incoherent babblings of the senescent, or gets their fanny grabbed by any half stroked out geezer has a $ multi-million lawsuit.

 

Now, I don't mean to minimize true cases of sexual assault or rape or intimidation. That needs to be dealt with swiftly and severely. But if someone is going to wait years before announcing Celebrity X or Public Figure Y told them a dirty joke, or accidentally stared at their cleavage a microsecond too long, I have to say I call BS on that. In cases like that, I suspect a good deal of the time it is either opportunism, or hypersensitivity. Or both!

 

As for Al Franken, the guy is a jerk and total pompous ass. I never liked the guy. He's spent decades accumulating enemies, and now that he is a senator, I suspect this is political payback. The problem is, because he is such pompous, arrogant prick, I can see him actually doing and saying the things he is accused of. And considering how full of himself he is, he may actually believe he did nothing wrong. But again, that is just an opinion, and right now he hasn't been convicted of anything. Due process means he is assumed innocent until proven otherwise.

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<shrug>

 

I look at that as proof of media bias. Despite O'Keefe's many flaws, he's been successful in catching people on camera many times. But for this one the Washington Post manages to get wise, and that's receiving more coverage than all the other times put together on these outlets.

 

It's the media taking an opportunity to bury a thorn in their side.

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The inconsistencies were too much though. When pressed and because they double check her details it all came apart. The best lies are the ones closest to the truth.

 

I think I should find the ACORN posts we had. All this nonsense started there with news bias I believe.

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Oh, no doubt that it's amazing that anyone falls for this stuff. O'Keefe's more than a bit of a sloppy hack. But people seem to fall for this stuff. Not sure why the Washington Post deserves a medal and for not falling for it any more than a guy who doesn't proposition the vice cop should be running a victory lap.

 

It sorta reminds me of like how the Clinton leaks were ignored during the campaign, but became the all-important everything afterwards when they could be used as a club against Trump.

 

Anyway, think we've reached the peak with Matt Lauer?

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re: O'Keefe - I think he won. He didn't need to actually plant the story, because he really just needed to create a link in Alabama voters' minds: Moore - False Allegations. Especially with all of the coverage.

 

re: Lauer - We're nowhere near the end or the peak. But people need to understand that just because Lauer used his real name, he was still playing a character. Everyone on TV is, to some degree, playing a character and putting forth a version of themselves designed to sell themselves to an audience. So the idea that the character isn't the same as the actor shouldn't be shocking or upsetting: it's life.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest El Chalupacabra

I am going to make a random, uninformed prediction here: considering there are some in Congress that are resigning over sex harassment (Conyers, Al Franken, Trent Franks among them), yet you still have Roy Moore not only running but still winning and Trump even stumping for him (Hell, Trump is a story about all this unto himself!), I think we are going to see a back lash from congress people being accused of sex harassment, and they will likely think twice before resigning, or possibly straight up refuse to resign, in the near future.

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Sheesh, I'd say it's about 70/30 Moore wins. Gonna be interesting how the Republicans in the Senate handle this, or if they can even do anything. Congress has never rejected anyone based on past crimes. Heck, Alcee Hastings has been in the House for almost 25 years despite previously being one of only 8 federal judges ever impeached, convicted, and removed by Congress (by a Democrat controlled Congress no less).

 

My guess is that he doesn't get any committee assignments and that will have to be enough until he does something crazy as a Senator and he can be removed the same as he was in Alabama.

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Guest El Chalupacabra

Franken is resigning. It's like the only one who doesn't get it is Trump as he throws a rally for Roy Moore but not quite because it's a state over and that Moore doesn't resign.

Franken's resignation speech was hilarious. Basically, he said he was resigning, but didn't admit wrong doing, nor apologize to anyone, and even said what he was accused of "wasn't how he remembered it," yet complained how people like Roy Moore kept running and Trump stayed in office. I always knew Franken was a douche nozzle, but that speech highlighted how big of one he is!

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I think it was creepier that Moore's supporters had a 12 year old do a televised interview with him.

 

Now it's in the food business. Mario Batali is leaving his restaurants over sexual harassment. I mean I expect this in the food business. Lots of babies have come out of work relationship "accidents".

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You think that's bad? Try any teen comedy from the 80s.

 

Breakfast Club and Revenge of the Nerds are actually pretty problematic.

 

It's a reflection on how what's considered "problematic" changes over time. Thirty years from now, people may well look back on this era the way we looked back on Victorian era fainting couches and referral to furniture 'limbs' instead of 'legs' to avoid any potential sexual connotation. Cyclical phases of libertinism and moralism are nothing new. Already there are a few - scattered to be sure, but a few wondering if things haven't gone too far.

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