Four years ago, I pleaded for the (liberal) media to stop derailing Hillary’s campaign with irrelevant stories about her “stupid e-mails.”
What do you think FOX News, the BBC, The New York Times, The Guardian, and other news organizations would do if Assange were leaking hacked e-mails of their anchors and reporters – purportedly to expose bias in the media? The obvious answer only hints at why my disgust with the news media compelled me to write commentaries like “Journalism Is ‘Having a Very, Very Pathetic Moment,’” November 13, 2013.
(“Hey Media, Wikileaker Assange Is Still a Self-Promoting, Bail-Jumping Rape Suspect!” The iPINIONS Journal, August 29, 2016)
Clearly my pleadings were to no avail. More to the point, though, it’s self-evident that none of those media elites bothered to reflect on how their misleading reporting on Hillary helped clear the path for Donald Trump’s march of folly right into the White House.
Only that failure to reflect explains the willful way they now seem hell-bent on doing to Joe Biden’s campaign what they did to hers.
Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Friday denied an allegation of sexual assault by a former Senate aide. …
Sounding emphatic and at times agitated in an interview on MSNBC, Mr. Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, tried to address concerns about Ms. [Tara] Reade’s claim by saying that she had a right to be heard while also insisting that he had not assaulted her. ‘No, it is not true,’ Mr. Biden said. ‘I’m saying unequivocally it never, never happened.’
(The New York Times, May 1, 2020)
Agitated? Hell, I thought he remained remarkably composed under the circumstances. And, despite interviewer Mika Brzezinski’s nagging, there’s simply nothing more Biden can say or do to clear his name.
He has already invited a forensic examination of personnel files from his 36-years in the US Senate — complete with staff interviews. Yet Brzezinski kept goading him to authorize “a commission” to go on a rabbit hunt through his non-personnel archives (even from his tenure as vice president) to see if Reade’s name pops up.
But imagine the potential for “dirty tricks” if all it took were a stale allegation like Reade’s to force a presidential candidate to submit to all that. This would set an all-too corruptible precedent. Get a friggin’ grip, people!
Actually, this story is so absurd, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s just the storyline for American Pie Part XXX starring Tara Reid.
Meanwhile, the Times found Reade’s allegation against Biden so weak, it made the allegation Christine Blasey Ford famously made against Brett Kavanaugh seem like testimony by the Virgin Mary herself. Yet what good did that do Blasey Ford, or those championing her cause?
In any event, even if everything Reade alleges is true, the statute of limitations bars any criminal charges. And, her allegation notwithstanding, she reportedly prefers Biden to another four years of Trump in the White House.
So what’s the point? The point, of course, is that this is all about brass-balls politics – as every Republican seems to know all too well. Which compels the question:
- Besides generating short-term ratings, what political advantage do Ms. Reade and the liberal media hope to gain from making her story a cause celebre at this point?
Granted, liberal-media elites like Brzezinski might not mind having Trump to make fun of and make money off for another four years. Because, for them, even the idle-minded conflicts that have defined his presidency generate clicks, which generate ratings, which generate revenues they all crave — journalism, and even the welfare of the country, be damned.
But, trust me, it speaks volumes that Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is leading the chorus of those defending Biden against this allegation. After all, this is the same Sen. Gillibrand who led this chorus:
More than a dozen Democratic senators, including the top Senate Democrat, on Wednesday called on Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to resign in the wake of multiple sexual misconduct allegations against him.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was the first of Franken’s fellow Senate Democrats to take that step and was quickly followed by more than two dozen others. The first batch of resignation calls came from female senators.
(Politico, December 6, 2017)
Liberal anchors may not have reflected on the error of their ways, but liberal politicians clearly have. And it hardly matters which is motivating Gillibrand more:
- seeking redemption for cannibalizing Franken; or
- seeking to oust a sexual predator from the White House – who makes Franken look like a choir boy.
I just wish the liberal media, Democrats, and (all) women would keep their eyes on this latter prize … for the sake of all humankind.
That said, I know Joe would not want me to end without encouraging any woman who has a credible claim of sexual harassment or assault to file a complaint. Don’t just tell your girlfriends or your mom, follow your employee handbook. Almost every workplace has one these days. If not, document your claims and present them to the human resources department or your workplace grievance panel. Of course, if you think it’s serious enough, you can go straight to the police.
Whatever you do, do not wait 27 years to “tell your story” – as Reade is attempting to do. No doubt civil and criminal justice failed many victims of sexual assault (a la Bill Cosby, Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein). But, if they did not fail you, the only person who should be hearing your story at this point is your therapist.
Still, this is what journalists are presenting as a long-overdue break from their groundhog-day reporting on the coronavirus pandemic? Talk about a pathetic moment!
And they probably wonder why sports journalists are enjoying unprecedented ratings merely by presenting classic moments in sports. Most notable of course is the Michael Jordan documentary The Last Dance, which is proving a greater antidote to Covid-19 than any of the miracle cures President Trump has been peddling from the White House.
Related commentaries:
Hillary’s emails… Blasey Ford…
Donald J. Trump… Biden-Harris 2020…
Cosby… Epstein… Weinstein… #MeToo…
last dance… hydroxy and lysol cures…
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