Joe Biden, Senator from Citibank (oops, DELAWARE), to Run for President

Have you made up your mind, Simon?

only that I've made up my mind not to do this:

Does it make sense to you that someone would come up with a false claim, tell her close ones about it but remain otherwise silent for over 25 years, and only then speak about in public?

Saw the interview in The Hill. The story changed again. I'm sorry, I don't believe this.

Also, whatever else it is, it's really bad journalism.

Here's where I stand at the moment. Quite a few media outlets could have been selected over The Intercept and a notorious Russia denier (and doesn't Jeremy Scahill face his own assault allegations?); any them would kill for the chance to destroy the Dem prez frontrunner.

Also, to think these allegations wouldn't have been known in 2008 when Biden got vetted as vice president stretches credulity. You'd think a hint of this behavior would've scared the people around the first black prez nominee in history.

Sorry -- I meant Taibbi, not Scahill.

The reason to do a second interview is to find out if her story is consistent. Letting her do it on Skype from her home means we don't know if she is using notes. It's useless. I'm kinda horrified by how leftist outlets are handling this.

Sounds like me too was a waste of time

1. Blasey Ford never changed her story

2. Al Franken had eight allegations of specific behavior, including a photo; he had to step down and rightly so.

3. Reade's story has changed three times.

4. Reade wrote a (deleted) Medium piece in which praised Putin, then appears with Taibbi, who has his own baggage.

Let a credible newspaper investigate, by all means. At this moment it looks like Russian ratfucking.

Eh, no need to involve Russians.

If a credible newspaper doesn't investigate there's nothing there, yes, and anyway it's Putin. Ok.

You mean would I take it a little more seriously if Ronan Farrow had interviewed Reade instead of Halper and Taibbi? Yes. It's not even a question.

Reade is interviewed by Halper and co-host Taibbi, the latter with his own baggage. Now touching the neck (inappropriate, creepy; not what Brett Kavanaugh, Al Franken, and Trump were accused of) has changed to sexual assault. I'm dubious.

I'm not sure Taibbi was involved in either interview?

yeah, should've written "whose co-host."

Letting her do it on Skype from her home means we don't know if she is using notes. It's useless.

Jesus fucking christ lmao, even youtube/yahoo news comment sections about Michael Jackson's accusers don't go as low as this. And of course allegations of sexual misconduct against an old white man who's enjoyed positions of extreme authority over countless people, many of them women, for many decades, have to be more irrefutable evidence of the dastardly skein that is the RuSsIaN CoNsPiRaCy. Just no way at all that the lecherous old creep that sucks his wife's fingers in public, laughed off Anita Hill's similar accusations against Clarence Thomas, and sent Barbara Boxer a box of roses for winning her first senate primary (ugh) could ever POSSIBLY have done something like what he's being accused of! Not until the "credible" new outlets (who've done such a bang up job in all aspects when it comes to covering this primary's candidates and presidential candidates accused of sexual misconduct in general...) the true arbiters of all factual opinions have spoken thusly are we allowed to believe women. Not like they have anything to lose or risk coming forward with allegations against the former vice president of the united states of all people. Probably just an actor with a teleprompter telling her what to say...

...Like do y'all even read the shit you post?? I get that this site's demographics trend something obscene like 10-1 Men to Women in terms of the ratio of posters on here, so you don't get checked nearly as often as you should when saying inexcusably dumb shit like this, but still. Do better man.

She is definitely consulting a written account during her interview on The Hill. And right around the time where she changes her story from what she told Katie Halper. No, this is not true.

trevor, I'm friends with female journalists who try to do these stories. You don't do them like this. It's not fair to Tara Reade either.

https://youtu.be/ZmVUQ7ii3_4?t=421

The next part after 'You're nothing' was supposed to be that Biden then says 'You're okay, you're fine'. Instead she says he walked away, then becomes confused, checks her notes. https://www.reddit.com/r/OurPresident/comments/foyfxy/transcript_of_joe_bidens_accuser_tara_reade/

And that is why you don't do these things on Skype.

Who needs Ronan Farrow when you've got Fred on the case?

I'm really not in the mood for doing this. Can we please just comment on the facts?

Big change in overall tone here on this board and elsewhere when it isn't a rapper, filmmaker, indie rocker, or pundit being accused of this disgusting shit. Suddenly "believe women" has an asterisk. I guess this is the end result of Vote Blue No Matter Who? Frankly pretty despicable imo

Just doing facts tho'.

Seriously, stop that bullshit. I didn't believe the Avenotti Kavanaugh accusation either. When women were coming forward against Peter Aalbæk - Lars von Triers producer - there were eight stories that seemed true and most of them were corroborated. Then a ninth story was much more serious than the rest, the accuser was anonymous, and there was nothing to back it up. I doubted that story too. This story seems false.

What's despicable is ignoring the facts of this accusation, ignoring the underlying hypothetical sexual assault, and using the story to score points.

My baseline assumption is to believe women, but if there's red flags, I don't ignore them.

using the story to score points.

hmm

Fred B., Letch Detective

Nice frontrunner you have there. Be a shame if something happened to him.

Has anyone other than me seen the video? Have any thoughts?

No, you are the only one. Congratulations!

And of course allegations of sexual misconduct against an old white man who's enjoyed positions of extreme authority over countless people, many of them women, for many decades, have to be more irrefutable evidence of the dastardly skein that is the RuSsIaN CoNsPiRaCy. Just no way at all that the lecherous old creep that sucks his wife's fingers in public, laughed off Anita Hill's similar accusations against Clarence Thomas, and sent Barbara Boxer a box of roses for winning her first senate primary (ugh) could ever POSSIBLY have done something like what he's being accused of!

I completely believe a habitual fabulist if not outright liar and lecherous creep used his power to massage shoulders and touch the necks of women, yeah. Plenty of women have said so. But to believe Obama's vice president assaulted a woman and have the incident never emerge during the vetting of the first black president in American history is, again, dubious. The GOP would've been all over this. I can see the headlines: "Kenyan Muslim and Rapist Senator win Democrat Nomination."

If we start seeing more of these allegations in credible outlets, then let's have it.

Fucking hell.

More of these stories are inevitable.

But to believe Obama's vice president assaulted a woman and have the incident never emerge during the vetting of the first black president in American history is, again, dubious.

I certainly can’t speak to the veracity of these claims but it’s going to be wild as hell watching a bunch of well-heeled ilx libs quickly find the limits of Believe Women

I don't believe women when the story is unbelievable. That is not anti-feminist. A bunch of guys here are getting really really serious about these things when it politically suits them.

This story is just not credible. Sorry. I don't think I have personally attacked the accuser in any way? The journalists who mishandled this should burn in hell, though

She absolutely could be lying. Lots of people lie.

The original story corroborates everything we know about Biden, and I find it credible, creepy, and gross -- among the many reasons for which I preferred Warren and Sanders as the nominee. She had told family and friends at the time, the same people whom campaign vetters would've spoken to. Now she's talking to Katie Halper.

I mean, Clinton had several accusations against him as president, not to mention Lewinsky, and it didn’t stop him. Had the rumours been against Obama, that would have killed him, but sexual assault allegations aren’t taken anywhere near seriously enough as it is, let alone against powerful white men. And it doesn’t surprise me that she was reading from notes.

As though women don’t constantly question or doubt themselves in this situation especially when subject to repeat questioning over a traumatic experience? Accusing a powerful politician of sexual assault is a fucking terrifying prospect, and I’m not sure I would do it in her shoes. Millions of women make that same calculation every day against people far less powerful than Joe Biden, it takes a lot to go through with it.

And you might think when you’re going through this with a toothcomb that you’re providing scrutiny or whatever, but you’re doing it in the context of the above.

Don't you think I know that?

Not how you or anyone else is coming across, never @ any of us with your feminist credentials again.

You can't have a witness read from notes unless you disclose they are reading from notes. It destroys the credibility. And she still got the story wrong.

I don't care what any friend of xyzzz thinks about my feminism, no matter their gender.

She had told family and friends at the time, the same people whom campaign vetters would've spoken to.

She absolutely could be lying. Lots of people lie.

So are we all voting for Trump?

If you subscribe to the specious notion that not voting for Biden means voting for Trump then...yes?

I don't believe women when the story is unbelievable. That is not anti-feminist.

it's a fair point but Fred, again...what is up with this insistance on these things? You're like a full month out ahead on this story, making these claims like you have a serious personal stake in the fate of Joe Biden

it's just...weird

insistence