What do you make of the accusations against Biden?

We’ve all just waited for him to run and expected him to get #metooed immediately due to all of the public groping he has done.

I’m not a fan of his politics, but even if I were – he needs to stop considering a run. The fact that there are apologists coming out in support of him and doing some victim-blaming is disgusting.

If they had a problem with his actions then, why didn’t they bring it up then?

Even the #metoo-ers are beginning to understand the damage they are doing.

I think this will go away.

@elbanditoroso I do think demanding purity is a losing game.

I think that hounding Al Franken out of office was a terrible mistake.

There was a very interesting article in the Atlantic recently about Al Franken, that we shouldn’t lump all of these people into one group and that we shouldn’t have pushed Al Franken out of office. I’ll see if I can find it.

I do not know. The problem is, I like the guy. He has never given off creepy vibes like trump and Kavanaugh and many other men have. But it may still kill his political career.

@chyna, “Why didn’t they say something then,” is never a good argument. But usually women who are abused are also mentally traumatized and ashamed that’s the reasons they may not bring it up at the time.
However, him dropping a kiss on her head is not traumatizing, and nothing to be ashamed of. A little creeperish, but not traumatizing, IMO.

@jca2 I’d be very interested to read that.

@Dutchess_III That’s part of the problem with the #metoo movement. It treats every action as morally equivalent. Raping someone is the same as putting your hand on someone’s knee. Not saying the latter is acceptable, but the fact that it results in the same kind of reputation death as the former is a problem. That’s how all “zero-tolerance” phenomena work, though.

Here’s the article @jca2 was talking about: Democrats Shouldn’t Have Pressured Al Franken to Resign

The current hullabaloo might cost Biden the nomination. But if he survived to race against Trump, a convicted rapist could run against the dummy and DARE the fool to mention the fact.

Over blown.

I completely understand @Demosthenes, and I agree. There will always be those who abuse the spirit of the intention.
However, as a woman who was constantly on the receiving end of unwanted sexual harassment, including physical harassment (sneak attacks in a crowded bar or on a dance floor,) during a time when it was just shrugged off by other men, and society in general, as “boys will be boys,” I know what it’s supposed to accomplish. Biden ain’t it.

However, overall I agree wholeheartedly with #metoo. I think it’s doing some good, too.

The pendulum has swung to a far extreme. Yes, Joe can seem like Mr. Inappropriate, but he is really a sensitive, caring guy.

I believe the extreme is only temporary. I do. The movement is relatively new and we just need to get our sea legs under us.

The article contains this quote:

“What kind of misbehavior deserves a professional death penalty? Any.
How much proof is necessary? Accusations suffice.
What investigative and adjudicative processes are the accused owed? None.”

I do hope the extreme is only temporary.

Yes that’s the article, @Demosthenes.

Who said that @Demosthenes? I find those comments in the article, but no attribution.
That’s complete bullshit and I’m sure everyone here agrees.

It’s not something someone said, it’s an observation based on how these #metoo cases have proceeded.

Oh. I see. Well, it’s bullshit, obviously. If anyone should have had their career derailed it was Kavenaugh. But it didn’t happen.
I don’t even know of any other #metoo cases.

The accusers have certainly been Biden their time…hahahahahahahah <hiccups>

He definitely puts one in mind of the classic “creepy uncle”

He might find it tough to live down the nickname Gropin’Joe.

Some of the videos that are now all over YouTube are pretty interesting- and creepy.

Expect more of this from the Bernie camp.

^ “Creepy Uncle Joe” has been his nickname and has been a popular meme for years (at least since 2013 or earlier). This whole “problem” has been public knowledge for a long time.

I have never heard it until this thread.

Nor have I. I think Biden, like some other candidates, is an old white guy whose time is probably past to run and that he has a lot of baggage but I don’t see him as a sexual predator and nobody is accusing him of molestation. He certainly should have gotten the memo a while ago to keep his hands to himself but I do not see him as a intentional molester.

I agree with @janbb. He is intelligent, and sensitive enough, to change his behavior going forward, and for some old coots, who were raised in an atmosphere of accepted “casual” sexual harassment, that’s about all you can ask for.

I have yet to hear back on any other unfounded #metoo lawsuits.

The thing about him grabbing the woman’s head and rubbing noses with her I might find slightly annoying but not worthy of all this fuss about abuse.

Exactly. It’s not like he grabbed their….. Oh. Wait. That’s no big deal.

@Dutchess_III: “I have never heard it until this thread.”

You have never heard of Biden’s “issue”? It was all over the place for so many years. Do a search for Biden groping or smelling hair or Biden endless Hillary hug. Even The Daily Show did a thing back in February of 2015.

This is not something that just appeared this week.

Whether this will derail his campaign or not is still a question. But it’s interesting that “trust women” a few months ago has now turned into “well, not those women” or “it’s not that bad”.

No, I’ve never heard anything about this.

They are making too big a deal over what Biden did . What if a female politician behaved that way? Are the rules different for them? Would people be upset if a woman kissed a guy’s head or touched his shoulder? What if a woman kissed a guy’s cheek? It seems to me that women do this all the time and nobody thinks twice about it.

@LostInParadise I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard of a woman politician doing that.

Well, there is this picture. Not sure why it started circulating on FB. I asked if that was the woman who made the allegation, but haven’t heard back.

@LostInParadise I think, generally speaking, women do not kiss men on the cheek or any where else, knowing that it would invite an even stronger come back. Any female over the age of 15 knows that.

It’s all about intent.

^ @Dutchess_III – That’s one of the 7 women who have come forward. Her name is Lucy Flores.

It is being floated as a blame-the-victim tactic.

Christ, you would think in 2019 – especially after the who #metoo thing – that people would be the slightest bit sensitive to brushing off this type of thing due to political allegiance. I mean, come on – it wasn’t that long ago that we all cringed at the videos of him smelling Stephanie Carter’s (wife of defense secretary) hair.

This guy isn’t even officially running for president, and people are tripping over themselves to minimize the whole thing.

I honestly thought it would come up when he announced, and everyone would come out to support women. But now that this is clearly not going to happen, I’m happy to start discussing his actual record and politics, which is far worse than any gropey shit we’ve been watching for years.

OK.