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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSomeone Recently Urged Mr. Biden To Respond To Reade's Lies
With particular reference to the recent claim a neighbor says she was told several years afterwards of the final version of her lies Reade is passing out today.
Here is how his campaign ought to do so, if the matter ever really is brought up in serious fashion. There is no need for Mr. Biden to do anything but make an occasional stern noise, if this course is adopted. It should certainly be the line pressed on social media of any sort.
Whether the neighbor is simply passing on lies the liar told, or a similar flake to the liar, lying on the other lying flake's behalf, in either case the operative strategy is the same. Assail, attack, and smear the person peddling the lie. Allow not the least hint of concession there could be any possibility the lie is true, and keep up the assault, being as vicious and unfair as is not just humanly, but demonically possible. Do not bother with mere denial of the charge, attack the person peddling the lie, and anyone biased and craven and sensation-seeking enough to pass the lie on, and keep on doing so no matter what.
"Can't nobody here play this game?"
"Defeat of a dangerous enemy is something to be for."
jmg257
(11,996 posts)still_one
(92,164 posts)unidentified caller who doesn't identify any grievance or charge against anyone, yet alone identify a specific person
mzmolly
(50,985 posts)for the Senator. Doesn't quite fit.
George II
(67,782 posts)Demsrule86
(68,555 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(107,922 posts)"This happened, and I know it did because I remember talking about it," LaCasse said.
"I remember her saying, here was this person that she was working for and she idolized him," LaCasse continued. "And he kind of put her up against a wall. And he put his hand up her skirt and he put his fingers inside her. She felt like she was assaulted, and she really didn't feel there was anything she could do."
LaCasse also identified herself as a Democrat in the story and said she planned to vote for Biden for president.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/woman-says-tara-reade-told-her-of-biden-accusation-report/ar-BB13hEXG?li=BBnb7Kz
This part I find odd.
Reade says she filed a complaint with the human resources office in the Senate about the allegations of inappropriate touching but did not file a police report at the time.
Media outlets have not been able to locate the human resources complaint. Reade filed a complaint with the Washington, D.C. police department earlier this month.
As I pointed out on another thread, 1993 was about the time Senator Bob Packwood was bounced from the Senate for sexual misbehavior.
The year before that in 1992 my Senator Brock Adams (D-WA) decided not to pursue re-election because of accusations by one female acquaintance that he drugged and molested her. The woman had filed a report with the DC police.
Patty Murray went on to win election that year to that seat.
My point in all this is to show given the circumstances if Tara Reade had made a complaint to human resources back then it likely would have been taken seriously.
Demsrule86
(68,555 posts)Gothmog
(145,130 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)mzmolly
(50,985 posts)Which is curious.
If Reade is as manipulative as some claim, this isn't convincing to me - personally.
The Magistrate
(95,247 posts)A useful detail....
mzmolly
(50,985 posts)She's reportedly 'reminded' others of her tale, as well.
Mike 03
(16,616 posts)In a situation like that, with something this serious, it's very embarrassing to have to say, "I don't remember that." One could get manipulated into affirming a bogus story to preserve a friendship.
maxsolomon
(33,314 posts)Pretty sure we're supposed to be better than that, even if the GOP sees that as a weakness to gleefully exploit.
I'd like to know the truth (which is probably impossible), and let the chips fall where they may. This will not go away; President Shameless Sociopath will have her front and center at any debate no matter what tack the Biden campaign takes.
UTUSN
(70,683 posts)And, "This will not go away..." --------- soon every BIDEN appearance will be focused on this - every daily headline being "BIDEN denied" or "He refused to answer" or "He lashed out at the questioner".
The Magistrate
(95,247 posts)Last edited Tue Apr 28, 2020, 03:47 AM - Edit history (1)
Imagine the following conversation:
'Colonel, you want to take your tank column through that gap on the enemy flank, turn in behind them and cut them off from the rail-head.'
'I can't do that, General!'
"Why not?'
'Nazis make flank attacks, Sir! Nazis curl in behind and cut off soldiers from supply and retreat! I'm not going to act like a Nazi! We're better than that. Sir!'
The conversation is not a whit more ridiculous than placing moral posturing in the political arena above sound strategy and tactics. Fights are not supposed to be fair, the goal is to make a fight as unbalanced as possible in your favor, both before you begin it and while you conduct it.
We are better than they are because our goals are better. Not because we refuse to use means known to be effective in manipulating public opinion. That just cedes the field to the enemy, who won't even give you a little kiss for the assistance.
"A liberal may be defined as a man who won't take his own side in a quarrel."
"Defeat of a dangerous enemy is something to be for."
mzmolly
(50,985 posts)hear!
maxsolomon
(33,314 posts)Perhaps women who were vehemently in support of Dr. Ford will step forward to opine on the wisdom of Ad Hominem in a #metoo accusation.
mzmolly
(50,985 posts)and both accusations, one can conclude Ford is/was a far more credible individual.
maxsolomon
(33,314 posts)This is a sticky wicket.
mzmolly
(50,985 posts)book with her contradictions and past reported history?
Amishman
(5,555 posts)'believe all women' was a popular mantra with the Kavanaugh mess. Unfortunately sexual assault accusations have become a political weapon and now 'listen to all women' is probably the best we can do.
We need to hear out each story, consider the evidence, and decide if they are credible.
Boomerproud
(7,952 posts)Yep.
maxsolomon
(33,314 posts)We are in a post-truth world.
The Magistrate
(95,247 posts)Finding a charge made by one person to be credible does not require me to consider a charge made by some other person to be credible. Charges of criminal behavior should be assessed individually, and the credibility of the person making the charge, as well as the credibility of the charge itself, must be weighed.
Some claim falsely it does, that because some span of time elapsed between the acts alleged and the woman's reporting of same, all should be viewed as identical. It is true that persons subjected to sexual assault sometimes take their time to come forward. It is also true people will often wait to launch a lie till the time seems right.
In the case of charges against Trump, Moore, and Kavanaugh, the persons laying the accusations are solid and credible, as are the accusations they make. They are not solitary accusers, in each instance there were multiple people coming forward. In each instance the accusations were consistent with known behavior, from the well documented media circus of 'Trump, the playboy', to what everyone knows is common behavior at beer-bash jock parties of the sort Kavanaugh himself documented attending, to the foul odor of pious fraud Moore has always reeked of, in his extreme denunciation of perversion in others. which so often betrays a guilty secret trying to break out in confession.
Reade has not just altered her claims over recent years, but has made them more extreme as each version failed to excite much attention. That is not a pattern of a truthful person, coming forward after a lapse of years, but the pattern of a calculating liar who is seeking to find what level of charge it will take to win notoriety, and damage the target of the lie. Even more telling is that when Reade finally swore out a police complaint, she omitted to include the name of the person she accuses. If someone will not swear to a charge under penalty of perjury, there is no reason whatever to believe that person making the charge when not under oath. Note that none of this makes reference to the well-evidenced flakiness of Reade, which opens the possibility she is simply a fabulist, or to her adherence to Putin and Russia, or to the obvious axes to grind which every person promoting her story has. These are, however, things which damage her credibility further.
It should be noted, too, that hypocrisy is dead as a charge of any weight in political life. No one is, and no one ought to be, deterred by a charge of hypocrisy from pressing the line best suited to the political needs of the present day. Well-meaning, good-hearted people who tend to the left need to learn not to allow their better natures to be taken advantage of by vicious scum on the right, and splinterest wreckers on the far left, who enlist them in their charges against figures of the center left, by exhorting them to 'be consistent' and telling them 'don't be hypocrites'. The proper response to attempts at this is a hearty "Fuck off! Nobody cares what a rancid piece of dogshit like you thinks!" Or words to that effect....
Only attack the enemy, the christo-fascist right.
Never, ever, attack people who are on your side.
If you want one quick reason why the right wing wields power well out of proportion to the popularity of its policies, it is that they adhere to this rule, and we on the left do not.
"Defeat of a dangerous enemy is something to be for."
Tipperary
(6,930 posts)No apostrophe needed. Plural, not possessive. As in: I am one of the grammar Nazis here.
Pet peeve.
The Magistrate
(95,247 posts)Sometimes the fingers just do something, and it's easy to slip up proofing your own stuff when you are in a hurry. Thanks for noticing.
DFW
(54,358 posts)It is not German, but often at least as confusing. As a brief guide:
EXCERPTS FROM THE OFFICIAL DICTIONARY OF REPUBLICANESE
In Republicanese, many words that sound alike may be spelled differently at random. A few prominent examples:
In Republicanese, the following words may be spelled at random using any of the three ways given:
A.) Two, Too, To
B.) Their, They're, There
c.) Your, Yore, You're
The Republicanese version of Robin Hood therefore starts with "In days of you're...."
The only rule is that the correct use of them as in English is never permitted twice in a row.
Words with single letters that change meaning when that letter is doubled must never be used in correct English context. The classic example is lose vs. loose. In Republicanese, if you do not win an election, then you loose that election. Conversely, if your (Republicanese: youre) belt is too tight, you need it more lose in order to be comfortable. Another example would be the Republicanese, I met Donald Trump, and he was rudder than I imagined, vs. I grabbed the ruder and was able to steer the boat to shore.
In Republicanese, as opposed to English, an apostrophe is used to form a plural. But it must be done at random, never systematically. For example, Bill and Hillary are "the Clinton's," but Bill, Chelsea and Hillary are "the Clintons." The other way around is also correct. In Republicanese, either form is correct as long as it is not spelled the same way twice in a row.
HarlanPepper
(2,042 posts)Sour grapes masquerading as concern.
aikoaiko
(34,169 posts)I don't believe Reade and I want Biden to win, too.
Having said that, your advice to "Assail, attack, and smear the person peddling the lie." is indistinguishable from people "Assail, attack, and smear the person asserting the truth" when dealing with nonverifiable things.
Whether Biden wins or not, powerful men will be assaulting women and it will be difficult for them to come forward and many won't until they can't stand watching the powerful men attain great heights of public standing. We must support their right to voice their grievances but we can still make good judgments about consequences.
We need to remain ethical.
To riff on your analogy:
'Colonel, you want to use mustard gas and crush the enemy?'
'I can't do that, General!'
"Why not?'
'Using mustard gas is unethical. We're better than that. Sir!'
Colonel, us uber alles.
The Magistrate
(95,247 posts)The point depends on refusing to do something the enemy has done with great effect, on the grounds this would 'make us just like them'. In point of fact, when poison gasses were introduced to warfare, the side they were used first upon set out immediately to retaliate in kind, and evidently did so without the slightest concern with whether this 'made us look just like them'. Subsequently, such munitions have only been used against enemies who lacked any capacity to retaliate in kind. All parties who possessed the ability to retaliate in kind made clear the consequences of first use by an opponent, and none dared make the first move. The course many seem to favor in matters like this amounts to voluntarily placing oneself in the class of combatants who lack any capacity to retaliate in kind. That is to invite attack, and assist the success of attacks upon you. Unilateral disarmament in the midst of a fight is a mug's game.
To make it perfectly clear. I am convinced this accusation is high-test barnyard product, but if I did have some doubts it might be so, or even if I strongly suspected it was, I would advise the same course --- destroy the accuser, by all means available, and never allow the least hint there could be truth in the scurrilous lies by which a flaky liar bought and sold by the enemy, with the aid of a biased press, is attempting harm the best damn candidate the country ever saw for high office. And I do not even like Mr. Biden very much. The fact is the christo-fascist right, and the cheap thug they prop up under a hairspray crown, simply must be defeated, and that is so urgent a need that it is not only right as a matter of practicality, but right as a matter of ethics and morals, to do whatever is necessary, and do it with a smile and a conscience clean as a baby's.
"Defeat of a dangerous enemy is something to be for."
sammythecat
(3,568 posts)Unless I'm not understanding the post, Biden's supposed to use the very same tactics as Trump. Attack, smear, demonically. If we're to act just like them, don't we become just like them? And if that's what it takes to win the American voters, well, maybe they're not worth winning. They elected Bush twice! And they might very well elect Trump twice. The phrase "my fellow Americans" doesn't make me feel all warm and tingly as it is and if we have to choose between Trump (R) or Trump (D) well, I won't really give a shit at all anymore.
The Magistrate
(95,247 posts)Last edited Tue Apr 28, 2020, 03:50 AM - Edit history (2)
In a fight, one fights. That is all.
We are better than they are. We do not 'become them' by doing what is necessary to vanquish them. We are better than they are because our goals are better than theirs. We want to improve people's lives, they want to beggar most to feed a few plutocrats. Achieving our goals requires defeating the enemy. That requires doing what it takes to prevail in the fight against them. This really isn't rocket surgery, it is not complex or intricate at all.
"Americans love a winner! And hate a loser!"
"A liberal may be defined as a man who won't take his own side in a quarrel."
"Defeat of a dangerous enemy is something to be for."
ibegurpard
(16,685 posts)"We are better than they are because our goals are better than theirs. We want to improve people's lives, they want to beggar most to feed a few plutocrats."
We cannot forget this. And in order to do this we actually need to have the reigns of power.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)ibegurpard
(16,685 posts)Who have questionable and inconsistent stories, histories, and allegations. The "going high" part is what we want to do with our power. Hypocrisy was murdered by Republicans in 2016.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)If they have dubious histories, only when forced to distract from important issues people care about, you speak truth about them. Then move right back to why a majority of those who do vote vote Democrat.
ibegurpard
(16,685 posts)We can be as vicious, ugly, and nasty as necessary but that doesn't mean we have to lie.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)If you look at definitions of smear, you'll see the word means something bad that immoral people do. People of honor and integrity do NOT smear. Biden and Pelosi as examples do not smear.
Smear: SULLY, BESMIRCH specifically : to vilify especially by secretly and maliciously spreading grave charges and imputations
Smear: to publicly accuse someone of something unpleasant, unreasonable, or unlikely to be true in order to harm their reputation.
Smear: to attack someones reputation with false information, to defame someone
#character assassination#politics#religion#smear campaign#tab#yellow journalism
ANTONYMS include clean, purify, honor, laud.
https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/smear
Etcetera, etcetera. For techniques of smearing, check Republican training manuals. As constant, long-time targets, our party leaders are intensely familiar with them all, but don't copy.
not_the_one
(2,227 posts)This is the problem with democrats. We are so busy going high we get our ass handed to us, more times than not. The exceptions of Obama and Clinton are twice in almost 30 years?
IF Biden did not do what he is being accused of, he should land on her with both feet. Sometimes it takes being blatantly honest to get the point across. That may be interpreted as mean, cruel, smearing, but if it is the truth, it is none of those things.
Why would we EVER NOT want to tell the truth about someone if everyone needed to know they were lying?
We can continue to be spineless, milquetoast democrats, taking the high road, and we will deserve what we get.
Those who refuse to take a knife to a knife fight can sit back and smugly tsk tsk. They will still be losers.
Biden needs to do what it takes to shut this liar up. I have no sympathy for those who will lie just to win. That is the turd in a nutshell.
There is no longer a high road to take. It is the road of truth, "high" or "low" be damned.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)behaviors, contempt for honor and embrace of ruthless dishonesty are dangerously spreading on the left.
If continued to its end, like the Republicans we'd be admiring and electing people for their dishonorable behaviors, people who by definition were unfit for positions of trust.
That's not close to happening now. We see that in the choices most of our voters have been making for decency and liberal values, and repelled by those who don't embody them. But it's very unfortunate behavior even in a few because voting margins are so narrow and the other side has all the ruthless dishonesty anyone who came to admire their results could want. The almost guaranteed end if standards continued to decline on the left would be an authoritarian conservative takeover -- since they do it so much better and already have a very large voting bloc.
HarlanPepper
(2,042 posts)that is the truth.
ucrdem
(15,512 posts)and suddenly there were "eight women" and as soon as Al resigned they vanished. I think that's what the GOP uses "walking around" money for.
still_one
(92,164 posts)republican.
This story has trump/republicans, and Russia fingers all over it
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=13357797
ucrdem
(15,512 posts)poor Al.
monmouth4
(9,694 posts)lawyer, that's what I would do.
ucrdem
(15,512 posts)But Reade worked for Biden in 1993 and Casse lived in the same complex as Reade in 1995-96, per Huffpo. So she doesn't remember anything but what Reade supposedly told her two years later and she's clearly lying.
This says much more about Huffpo than about Biden.
mzmolly
(50,985 posts)to recall the supposed conversation.
She's recanting a list of "facts" about something that never happened, not talking about an actual memory.
still_one
(92,164 posts)Last edited Tue Apr 28, 2020, 03:23 AM - Edit history (4)
happened from the accuser, whose story has changed multiple times.
It doesn't prove anything. This neighbor says she knows it is true because Reade told her. Reade who has credibility issues herself.
When a longtime friend of Reade's was contacted, she did not believe Reade's allegations:
"We were able to contact a longtime friend of Reades who wished to remain anonymous, but they said they do not believe her allegations, claiming she has always been one to seek attention. Note: We reached out to Ms. Reade for comment but she refused."
https://medium.com/@eddiekrassenstein/evidence-casts-doubt-on-tara-reades-sexual-assault-allegations-of-joe-biden-e4cb3ee38460
What is perhaps most confusing is that this neighbor said she is voting for Biden regardless, and yet both Reade and this neighbor are going out of their way to destroy the Biden candidacy this late in the process, and know very will that serves to help only one person, and that is trump. If they think this will propel Sanders to the nomination, they are extremely deluded.
and it is important to bring this up also. In 2017, Reade was attacking Russia and Putin on Twitter, yet in 2019, she praised him beyond belief, before trying to back out of her praise in March of 2020, just as she accused Biden of sexual assault.
Yes, Reade's credibility should be questioned, and her recent praise of Putin should raise a red flag, especially based on the Russian involvement in 2016.
Since right wing blogs, along with the far left blogs are pushing this, to me that implies that trump/republicans, and Russian trolls have their fingerprints all over this.
Not surprising since the latest polls indicate trump and the republicans are in trouble.
There is an interesting series on Smithsonian channel called Spy Wars, and the episode entitled "A Perfect Traitor", which covers how Robert Hanssen, who no one suspected, was responsible for the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history, and the cause of the death of hundreds of agents in the Soviet Union.
After the Russian involvement in 2016 in our election, I suspect there is a link in 2020
Not a surprise that Glenn Greenwald's Intercept not only doesn't believe in the Russian interference in 2016, but they have been pushing this story to the hilt
Butterflylady
(3,543 posts)still_one
(92,164 posts)WheelWalker
(8,955 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)Gothmog
(145,130 posts)lamp_shade
(14,828 posts)ucrdem
(15,512 posts)Except in Mara del Lunatic
kentuck
(111,079 posts)The response needs to dig a little deeper in the well.
honest.abe
(8,678 posts)Something like this...
"This person was on my staff for a short period of time back in the early 90's. Her allegations are false. Based on our records she never filed any kind of complaint or ever suggested anything of the sort she is alleging now decades later. I have always been a supporter and fierce leader of protecting woman's right's in the workplace. However this case is not credible and is a false accusation against me. I do not know what her motives are but she should stop peddling this lie."
redgreenandblue
(2,088 posts)Last edited Tue Apr 28, 2020, 08:02 AM - Edit history (1)
Assuming for the moment that Raede is not telling the truth, then the whole purpose of this stunt is to promote a false equivalency. We all know the accusations that were made against Trump in the past. The current tactic of the right is to promote that "both sides are bad".
Coming down hard against Reade has the potential of backfiring. It may create a public perception of liberals being hypocrites. And perhaps ultimately this is what Trump and his supporters are really aiming at: A long drawn out public drama in which Democrats publicly attack a (perceived) rape victim, thus invalidating their own principles, all the while keeping the story in the public mind.
Or as someone has put it: If you try to wrestle a pig in the mud, you get mud on yourself and the pig likes it.
I'm thinking the best thing to do is simply put out a strong denial and then move on.
The Magistrate
(95,247 posts)Hypocrisy is dead as a charge of any weight in political life. No one in the enemy's ranks is, and no one in our ranks ought to be, deterred by a charge of hypocrisy from pressing the line best suited to the political needs of the present day. Well-meaning, good-hearted people who tend to the left need to learn not to allow their better natures to be taken advantage of by vicious scum on the right, and splinterest wreckers on the far left, who enlist them in their charges against figures of the center left, by exhorting them to 'be consistent' and telling them 'don't be hypocrites'. The proper response to attempts at this is a hearty "Fuck off! Nobody cares what a rancid piece of dogshit like you thinks!" Or words to that effect....
"Defeat of a dangerous enemy is something to be for."
Vinca
(50,269 posts)when she rebuffed him was "C'mon, man . . ." and that just doesn't ring true. If anything. a guy from Biden's generation who was acting like a pig would refer to the woman as "honey" or "sweetie" or say something like "you know you want it." Then, it seems the first allegation didn't get her any traction so she upped the ante to "digital penetration." Baloney. It's reported she's been a Bernie supporter. The only thing I could find on the political contribution database was a recent contribution through ActBlue which would prove to the world she's a Democrat. Her neighbor witness isn't listed as a contributor, but a whole lot of people with her last name contributed to Bernie and her last name isn't a real common one. IMO, this stinks to high heaven and is probably sour grapes.
scrabblequeen40
(334 posts)I don't care to advance their goal.
Biden's doing the right thing and not giving Reade/GOP the counterpunching headline they want to distract us from the death toll.
Look, the story is Trump is a rapist. He pays off his victims.
There is no other story.
HarlanPepper
(2,042 posts)mvd
(65,173 posts)Its like having a rapid response team. Not even the mainstream media, which is prone to infotainment, will give this lie any time. Joe should not let this gain any traction.
I saw on the other thread you are doing ok. Happy about that. This pandemic is not fun at all.
The Magistrate
(95,247 posts)I am glad that you do.
Happy Hoosier
(7,294 posts)I don't believe a word she says. Her "tic toc" tweet suggests a political motivation to the timing of this accusation, and her ridiculous OTT Putin-loving posts tell me she is probably not the mentally stable person in the world.
mzmolly
(50,985 posts)LaCasse: Just recently. Tara called me and said, "Oh my gosh, this Joe Biden thing is coming up again." I said, "Oh my God, that." I had forgotten about it.
...
LaCasse: Well, you know, I live a kind of a quiet life. So I didn't really even think about coming forward. And I didn't really want to. But if she needed me to, then I thought, well, I guess I will. I have a really drama-free life. And so I didn't want to bring a bunch of stuff on myself, and I loved Tara to death. But she has some drama.
...
McHugh: Who initiated that conversation, and what was the context?
LaCasse: I think she did. She mentioned that she had come forward with it, and so I said, "Oh my gosh. Yeah. I do remember that."
https://www.businessinsider.com/the-former-neighbor-of-joe-bidens-accuser-on-coming-forward-2020-4
The Magistrate
(95,247 posts)Practically directed memory....
mzmolly
(50,985 posts)Very manipulative.
Sugarcoated
(7,722 posts)We can put this in action for him right now: Biden is getting deluged with (mostly) Bernie people on his Twitter page pounding this smear. There needs to be push back ASAP. There are a fair amount of people there defending him, including me, but there needs to be more:
https://twitter.com/JoeBiden