“What should happen is the woman should be given the benefit of the doubt and not be, you know, abused again by the system. I hope that they understand what courage it takes for someone to come forward and relive what they believe happened to them and let them state it, but treat her with respect."
"For a woman to come forward in the glaring lights of focus, nationally, you've got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she's talking about is real, whether or not she forgets facts, whether or not it's been made worse or better over time." Joe Biden, one of the authors of the Violence Against Women Act (which expired in February of 2019).
I just read this article called “On the Perils of Ignoring Tara Reade’s Sexual Assault Claim” in The American Prospect. In this article, the author wrote about Tara Reade, the woman who is accusing Joe Biden of sexual assault.
Alexander Sammon writes:
One of the more vexing developments in the recent news cycle has been the impact, or lack thereof, of the sexual assault charge levied against Joe Biden by his former staffer Tara Reade. In a podcast interview released on March 25, Reade catalogued a series of transgressions by her former boss, and claimed that he touched her in ways that made her feel “like an inanimate object.” She related numerous instances in which Biden sexually harassed or inappropriately touched her, including an encounter in which he allegedly held her against a wall and put his hands up her skirt.
Two weeks later, those allegations, which are extremely serious, haven’t made the waves one might expect. So far, the story has been largely confined to left-wing media. The Biden campaign issued a blanket denial on March 30, with Communications Director Kate Bedingfield saying simply: “Women have the right to tell their story, and reporters have an obligation to rigorously vet those claims. We encourage them to do so, because these accusations are false.” No statement has been made by Biden himself. But more mainstream outlets have yet to take Bedingfield up on the offer.
All of that changed today. Tara Reade recently filed a criminal complaint with the Washington Metropolitan Police Department. There is now media coverage here and here, but nothing in the New York Times or Washington Post. Why?
In Reason, Robbie Soave asked:
Ideally, all media outlets—mainstream or otherwise—would tread carefully with respect to decades-old accusations. They would not rush to publish unverified rumors, instead carefully vetting them to the best of their ability. They would consider whether every salacious or scandalous detail of an important person's past is worth revisiting.
Perhaps that's what reporters at The New York Times, TheWashington Post, and other outlets are doing. (I have heard it third-hand that various stories might be in the works, but nobody at those publications would confirm anything to me.) But Reade has already come forward. She has already identified herself and told her story. At this stage in the process of the Kavanaugh accusation's public reveal, the mainstream press was already actively covering it.
As I wrote last week, there's a case for taking Reade's accusation more seriously than Ford's, since the behavior described by Reade (penetrative sexual assault during Biden's Senate years) is even worse than what was described by Ford.
I’m following this story closely to see how it all unfolds. You can listen to her story below.
Something Interesting
Clayton Craddock is an independent thinker, father of two beautiful children in New York City. He is the drummer of the hit broadway musical Ain’t Too Proud. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard University’s School of Business and is a 25 year veteran of the fast paced New York City music scene. He has played drums in a number of hit Broadway musicals including “Tick, tick…BOOM!,Altar Boyz, Memphis The Musical and Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar and Grill. In addition, Clayton has worked on: Footloose, Motown, The Color Purple, Rent, Little Shop of Horrors, Evita, Cats, and Avenue Q.
Clayton is the chair of the New York chapter of the National Parents Organization and is focused on promoting shared parenting, where both parents have equal standing raising children after a separation or divorce. He is writing a memoir and writes for various local and national publications.
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