2020 Democratic Primary

[Cindy Claveau]

Women keep secrets for all sorts of reasons. My 9 year old sister kept hers for nearly twenty years.

Was her assailant running for President of the US? That seems to make a huge difference here because of the power imbalance. The worrisome part to me, though, is that Reade publicly supported him for years after this supposedly happened. And changed her surname 3 times.

Is it coincidence that Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton both come out with highly visible endorsements and a women's conference the same time that more pieces of this puzzle emerge?

The timing of their endorsements is entirely logical. We're entering summer and the DNC convention. Nobody else seems capable of challenging Biden's support.

Why do his records need to remain sealed Biden Should Release His Papers ? Why so many barriers Tara Reade Tells Her Story ❧ Current Affairs ?

Why did none of her friends step forward to support her story (like they did with Ford)? Why did she originally claim that Biden's actions weren't " sexualization" if he actually stuck his finger inside of her? I understand the various reasons women won't talk about being molested and coming out later. But there's no denying that the timing of her accusations smacks heavily (to me) of an effort to torpedo his campaign. And, of course, Trump will scream it from the rafters - probably via proxy since he has NO room to talk.

Why didn't the DNC and the media air out this story before the entire Democratic power structure lined up to support Biden and make this a game of roulette against Trump and a woman with a sexual assault claim?

Maybe because there was no evidence and her story smelled fishy?

There was a grocery list of candidates to choose from and most of the people here liked someone else better than Joe Biden. Why were we lead to such a dirty choice when it never had to be this way? It was no accident that were are here right now. It was designed this way. That's what I really want to know. Why?

Maybe not designed, but certainly a confluence of events. The DNC were afraid of putting Bernie up because they knew the "socialism" tag would stick and hurt. Personally, I voted for Bernie in '16 but I think he was beyond his political prime this year. I voted for Warren this time and I expect either her, Kamala, or maybe Stacey Abrams to be his VP. Personally, I want very much to see Abrams in office. She's a dynamo waiting to be unleashed and it might help mobilize more black support for Biden.

I never cared that much for Joe in the beginning, but the fact remains that he cornered more than enough delegates to take the nomination under existing rules. Besides the dirty politics against Bernie, I fail to see where there's a conspiracy here. And with Abrams on the ticket, I don't think Trump stands a chance..

I'm voting Biden if I have to crawl over broken glass. My heart and soul cannot take another 4 years of our current doofus. Biden will be a million times better President than Cheetoface. My dog would be a million times beter President!

"Vote blue, no matter who" is more than a slogan for me. It's a vow, a promise because I love my country with all its warts and holes and stupidity. We all deserve a better President than this one, and bickering over a 27 year old unsupported allegation is not helpful.

 

[Romana]

:tinfoil hat:

Was that aimed at me?.
I know what I see, and what I don't see. I don't watch CNN, MSNBC, Fox, OANN, or Newsnax. And I'd rather eat broken glass than believe "Q" or Alex Jones, right or left wing wackos.
So you can take that tinfoil hat and use it to cook something with.

 

[Casey Pelous]

Where do they keep these levers these shadowy (or not so shadowy) figures are always pulling?

 

[Aeon Jiminy]

Was her assailant running for President of the US? That seems to make a huge difference here because of the power imbalance. The worrisome part to me, though, is that she publicly supported him for years after this supposedly happened. And changed her surname 3 times.



The timing of their endorsements is entirely logical. We're entering summer and the DNC convention. Nobody else seems capable of challenging Biden's support.



Why did none of her friends step forward to support her story (like they did with Ford)? Why did she originally claim that Biden's actions weren't " sexualization" if he actually stuck his finger inside of her? I understand the various reasons women won't talk about being molested and coming out later. But there's no denying that the timing of her accusations smacks heavily (to me) of an effort to torpedo his campaign. And, of course, Trump will scream it from the rafters - probably via proxy since he has NO room to talk.


Maybe because there was no evidence and her story smelled fishy?



Maybe not designed, but certainly a confluence of events. The DNC were afraid of putting Bernie up because they knew the "socialism" tag would stick and hurt. Personally, I voted for Bernie in '16 but I think he was beyond his political prime this year. I voted for Warren this time and I expect either her, Kamala, or maybe Stacey Abrams to be his VP. Personally, I want very much to see Abrams in office. She's a dynamo waiting to be unleashed and it might help mobilize more black support for Biden.

I never cared that much for Joe in the beginning, but the fact remains that he cornered more than enough delegates to take the nomination under existing rules. Besides the dirty politics against Bernie, I fail to see where there's a conspiracy here. And with Abrams on the ticket, I don't think Trump stands a chance..

I'm voting Biden if I have to crawl over broken glass. My heart and soul cannot take another 4 years of our current doofus. Biden will be a million times better President than Cheetoface. My dog would be a million times beter President!

"Vote blue, no matter who" is more than a slogan for me. It's a vow, a promise because I love my country with all its warts and holes and stupidity. We all deserve a better President than this one, and bickering over a 27 year old unsupported allegation.

You 're probably right. At worst, it's not as bad as anything the Catholic Church hasn't accepted. He didn't even fuck her. People made a vow to the Catholic Church and we've praised them for that. It's kind of like we're being religious, in a way. It's probably making us better people.

 

[Free]

Where do they keep these levers these shadowy (or not so shadowy) figures are always pulling?

They're usually pulled out of someone's ass, so likely they're stored there, as well.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Women keep secrets for all sorts of reasons. My 9 year old sister kept hers for nearly twenty years.

Yes, indeed so. Because of my job in the UK's criminal justice system before I retired, I've attended very many trials of rape and sexual assault concerning allegations about events said not to have been reported at the time, and each time I've heard the direction to the jury that judges are required to give in cases of delayed complaint, essentially telling the jury that they should set aside their preconceptions about why people don't complain at the time, since everyone is different and experience has taught us that victims don't always complain, perhaps because they're frightened, or embarrassed, or fear they won't be believed, and that a delayed complaint no more means the allegation is false than an immediate complaint means the allegation is true.

Nevertheless, the simple fact remains that Biden denies the allegation, the evidence, such as it is, is hardly persuasive, and there's no way of properly investigating the matter and testing the allegations in a criminal court.

Unless something else happens, or comes to light, I don't see what more there is to discuss.

 

[Salome]

Reade has not been consistent with her story over time (see the link below) and right now this feels way too much like a convenient slime job by the R's or the Russians or someone to try to do to Biden what they did to Hillary for 25 years and what they failed to do to Hunter. Throw enough mud at the wall, and something will stick.

It isn’t just that she’s been inconsistent. We’re now finding out she defrauded a non-profit and racked up deliberate debt before declaring bankruptcy to avoid creditors. She’s demonstrating a history of erratic behavior where she goes all-in on wildly different political positions. And the head of the horse rescue that she cheated says she’s one of those people who convinces herself that her lies are true. I suspect this is a case of BD or something similar and she’s an easily led person being deliberately exploited by Halper and other opportunists.

I've been hesitant to speak about this, because yes - women should be listened to and there are reasons women wait for even decades to speak. But, that doesn't mean that every account is always truthful.

Victims should be heard and should get the benefit of the doubt. She’s been heard. I find her wholly non-credible. There are no perfect victims and problematic people can still be abused, but it‘s slowly coming out that she also has a track record of fraud and lies. This is what makes the faux-left’s attempts to compare her to Ford so insulting to survivors. Ford handed over her therapy records and took a polygraph, ffs. Her credibility was pristine.

Besides just the timing, the account of what happened has changed several times.

It hasn’t just changed. People that knew her have made it clear that in the past — when any trauma would have been freshest — she openly and consistently bragged about working for Biden, sung his praises, and exaggerated her role in working for him. Then as she became enamored with Putin, internalized anti-American propaganda, and grew more socialist, the story of what happened has grown to assault.

Secondly, every time we see issues like this, other women come forward with similar stories. They aren't doing that with her. Yes, Biden has a creepy touching problem, but all the other women that talked about that said it never went past that - and specifically said it wasn't sexual assault.

This is a problem for me as well.

ETA: For anyone that is interested, here’s the account of the woman who runs the non-profit that Reade manipulated and defrauded:

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Unless something else happens, or comes to light, I don't see what more there is to discuss.

Fox News: "Hold My Beer".

 

[Salome]

Fox News: "Hold My Beer".

Unfortunately it’s not just FOX. With Nate Robinson admitting he advised Reade on legal matters and coached her alleged corroborating witnesses on how to answer other interviews while writing about her story professionally, we now know that at least one of the journalists that have been sensationalizing this story the most violated basic ethics and tainted the credibility of all involved. That some of these people are the ones that outed Ford against her will makes it clear these people only care about their agendas and don’t actually give a shit about women or victims.

 

[Lexxi]

Yes, indeed so. Because of my job in the UK's criminal justice system before I retired, I've attended very many trials of rape and sexual assault concerning allegations about events said not to have been reported at the time, and each time I've heard the direction to the jury that judges are required to give in cases of delayed complaint, essentially telling the jury that they should set aside their preconceptions about why people don't complain at the time, since everyone is different and experience has taught us that victims don't always complain, perhaps because they're frightened, or embarrassed, or fear they won't be believed, and that a delayed complaint no more means the allegation is false than an immediate complaint means the allegation is true.

Nevertheless, the simple fact remains that Biden denies the allegation, the evidence, such as it is, is hardly persuasive, and there's no way of properly investigating the matter and testing the allegations in a criminal court.

Unless something else happens, or comes to light, I don't see what more there is to discuss.

Did Biden directly deny the allegation? Everything I've seen says that the campaign, as in people working for it, and/or people who worked for Biden back in 1993, have denied it, but that Biden himself hasn't addressed the allegation directly.

I'm not sure if this has been posted yet, but here's a timeline of the allegations: A Timeline Of Tara Reade’s Sexual Assault Allegations Against Joe Biden

Two things I lift from the article:

While Biden's campaign has refuted Reade's claim, the former vice president has yet to address them directly.

and the part I saw in the first article I read about the allegation a month ago - the brother's story changed. Which caused a 'need to be cautious here with this story' flag to raise in me.

The Post spoke with Moulton, Reade's brother, who said Reade told her in 1993 that Biden had touched her inappropriately by touching her neck and shoulders - but not the alleged sexual assault. In a text message days after the interview, Moulton sought to clarify his remarks and told the Post that he also recalled Reade saying Biden had put his hand "under her clothes."

The article mentioned the phone call from Reade's mother to Larry King, but another article had this quote from the mother: "I'm wondering what a staffer would do besides go to the press in Washington?" the woman asks King. "My daughter has just left there after working for a prominent senator, and could not get through with her problems at all, and the only thing she could have done was go to the press, and she chose not to do it out of respect for him."

Joe Biden just missed a golden opportunity to address the Tara Reade allegations | CNN Politics

When Joe Biden's campaign announced Monday that the former vice president would hold a virtual town hall on Tuesday focused on how Covid-19 is impacting women, it seemed like the perfect opportunity -- whether naturally arising or created by the candidate or his staff -- for the de facto 2020...

www.cnn.com

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

And we all know Twitter is super consistent with its standards.

jfc twitter

 

[Innula Zenovka]

The article mentioned the phone call from Reade's mother to Larry King, but another article had this quote from the mother: "I'm wondering what a staffer would do besides go to the press in Washington?" the woman asks King. "My daughter has just left there after working for a prominent senator, and could not get through with her problems at all, and the only thing she could have done was go to the press, and she chose not to do it out of respect for him."

What the article actually said was

Last week, The Intercept discovered a 1993 call to the talk-show host Larry King from a woman who Reade says was her now-deceased mother. The call, which refers to “problems” that the woman’s daughter had while “working for a prominent senator,” does not prove that Reade is telling the truth.

Biden Should Release His Papers

His senatorial records may contain evidence relevant to Tara Reade’s accusation.

www.theatlantic.com

That is, some unidentified woman phoned a talk show making allegations about unspecified "problems" her daughter had while "working for a prominent senator," and Ms Reade says, "That was my mother, and the prominent senator was Joe Biden and the problem was he assaulted me sexually,"

All this may be true but it's of absolutely no probative value whatsoever. How do we know it was her mother, and even if it was, how do we know she was telling the truth?

 

[danielravennest]

Do they really think this will force the Democrats to choose Bernie?

Well, Ohio voted yesterday 72-16% for Biden over Sanders (with 86% of the vote tallied), so it appears not.

My personal view is Biden may be flawed as a person, but he's a hell of a lot better than Trump. He will also assemble an administration that knows what its doing, rather than all campaign contributors, toadies, and idiots. The US government is way too big and complicated for one person to run it.

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

Seems to me any reasonable male is screwed these days - either they admit they did something they are accused of doing and they ruin their careers, OR they deny it and it looks like they are encouraging people to dismiss such accusations out of hand, and get lambasted for -that-.

Just saying. We need to treat sexual crimes the same as any other crime - innocent until... oh, nevermind - these days, we just make a netflix show and tell people whatever we want them to think.

 

[Lexxi]

What the article actually said was

Biden Should Release His Papers

His senatorial records may contain evidence relevant to Tara Reade’s accusation.

www.theatlantic.com

That is, some unidentified woman phoned a talk show making allegations about unspecified "problems" her daughter had while "working for a prominent senator," and Ms Reade says, "That was my mother, and the prominent senator was Joe Biden and the problem was he assaulted me sexually,"

All this may be true but it's of absolutely no probative value whatsoever. How do we know it was her mother, and even if it was, how do we know she was telling the truth?

We don't, and, since she's dead, we probably won't be able to have proof unless someone did a voice analysis of the voice on the phone and some verified (how?) recording of the mother.

Not sure how they figured it out, but some articles noted that the call came from a certain location in CA (that's the part I'm not 100% sure how they figured it out), and that the mother lived in the same location at the time the call was made. Not that that proves anything either.

Nor, if somehow it is proven to be true that it was her mother, that what her mother said has any basis in fact.

Only reason I included the phone part is a reason I didn't complete - 'even the mother', if that is the mother, thought Reade had issues. Which is why I bolded that 'could not get through with her problems at all' part. Which read to me, maybe wrongly, that the woman thought that her daughter (Reade if Reade's mother, or some other mother and daughter) had developed 'problems' that she is now not able to get through. To pass by, to get on with her life with that hanging over her.

 

[Lexxi]

Seems to me any reasonable male is screwed these days - either they admit they did something they are accused of doing and they ruin their careers, OR they deny it and it looks like they are encouraging people to dismiss such accusations out of hand, and get lambasted for -that-.

Just saying. We need to treat sexual crimes the same as any other crime - innocent until... oh, nevermind - these days, we just make a netflix show and tell people whatever we want them to think.

Eh, I just kind of want Biden to just outright and directly refute the allegations.

And didn't laugh about it later (like he did when he apologized a while back, reported in the article below from April 5 2019, when it was 8 women accusing him of inappropriate touching (but not sexual assault).

Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Friday twice jokingly referred to complaints from several women that he had made them uncomfortable with his physical contact, and then offered a convoluted apology about their concerns and his behavior.

But the public joking by Mr. Biden struck a nerve among some of the women who had expressed discomfort with their interactions.
“Biden’s consent joke is a clear indication Biden doesn’t get it and doesn’t take the voice of the women who have come forward seriously,” said Amy Lappos, who told The Hartford Courant that Mr. Biden had crossed “a line of respect” in their 2009 encounter at a fund-raiser in Connecticut.

Joe Biden Jokes About Hugging in a Speech, Then Offers a Mixed Apology (Published 2019)

“I’m sorry I didn’t understand more,” Mr. Biden said about his hugs and kisses to women over the years. “I’m not sorry for any of my intentions.”

www.nytimes.com

 

[Pamela]

America is on fire. It is becoming a failed state. Tens of thousands of lives are being sacrificed to some insane Sadistic agenda.

I would without hesitation vote for Harvey Weinstein over Trump.

 

[Aeon Jiminy]

If we can just get past this Tara Reade bumpy, It's going to be smooth sailing.
Joe Biden's non-apology to Anita Hill casts long shadow over 2020 run

 

[Essence Lumin]

I agree with everyone else that Biden is vastly preferable to Trump but that isn't saying much. This article from Current Affairs was written when Sanders was still in the running. That doesn't change the information it provides about Biden though. Just because he is our best hope doesn't mean it is necessary to ignore his vast shortcomings.

The article is long. The following quotes are meant to give an idea of the topics the article touches on.

Democrats, You Really Do Not Want To Nominate Joe Biden

We urgently need to remember who Biden is and think carefully about what would happen if he were chosen.

www.currentaffairs.org

The rest of this post is quotes from the article.

But Biden is lying when he says he never tried to cut Social Security benefits for the elderly. You can even watch him brag about it. Biden has proposed raising the retirement age and eliminating cost of living increases, and has said of Medicare and Social Security that “you’ve got to put all of it on the table.”

In 2003, Biden was “a senator bullish about the push to war [in Iraq] who helped sell the Bush administration’s pitch to the American public,” who “voted for—and helped advance—the Bush agenda.” He was the war’s “most crucial” senate supporter.

Just look at Biden’s stances on healthcare. Health insurance industry stocks have jumped thanks to Biden’s recent success in the primary, and early on it was reported that the industry seemed “to see Biden as their best chance

He “supported banking industry consolidation and Too Big to Fail Banks” and “supported the elimination of protections that limited Wall Street speculation.”

Since 1974, when Biden gave the rather shocking quote that he “didn’t think a woman had the sole right to say what happened to her body,” Biden’s record on women’s issues has been deeply disappointing. In the 1980s, he voted to let states overturn Roe v. Wade

The American criminal punishment system is hideously unjust. The “freest” country in the world has the most people locked up per capita—2.2 million total. Biden contributed significantly to that problem. He was one of the key Congressional figures in refashioning the Democratic party as a “tough on crime” party.


Civil Liberties — Biden voted for the infamous PATRIOT Act, which he called “measured and prudent.” In fact, “he would have liked it to go further, regretting that measures handing police more extreme powers had been removed,” and he has even bragged that the PATRIOT Act was based on a bill he himself wrote long before 9/11, but hadn’t been able to get through thanks to the opposition of civil liberties groups.

As Teachout notes, while “bankrolled by the credit card industry… [Biden] delivered for it by spearheading a bankruptcy bill that made it harder for Americans to reduce their debts and helped cause the financial crisis.”


Biden’s campaign is stuffed with fossil fuel executives. His climate adviser is a former board member of natural gas company Cheniere Energy, one of his fundraisers co-founded natural gas company Western LNG, the pro-Biden Super PAC has a former gas lobbyist on its board, and his national campaign co-chair, Cedric Richmond, “has one of the most pro-industry voting records on fossil fuel issues among all congressional Democrats.”

Biden also voted for Reagan’s tax cut, which Marcetic calls a “lopsided giveaway to the very richest that led almost instantly to ballooning deficits and widening economic inequality,” and pushed for the reduction of federal spending on social goals, saying the government should be “less involved in direct social questions like day care, education or health.”

 

[Ranma Tardis]

I have lost most of my interest in the 2020 election. The Democrat for District 2 is going to get creamed in the fall election unless a miracle happens. Mullin is a complete GOP asshole and the little trump supporters love him for his trump ass kissing. There is no Democrat running for my local state representative. So now Lepak can support a another republican. As for the Presidential race, while I will vote for Biden have no passion. I will do what I can for the cause but if Biden can win Oklahoma it will be a Landslide victory for him. My only worry is trump will not leave office.