I saw this headline on HuffPost this morning Assault Victim Advocates Expected More From Biden
The guy who championed the Violence Against Women Act isn’t doing enough? Read the story of Joe Biden’s fight for this legislation here: obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/…
Forget the DNC investigating this, or a bunch of men in the Senate that no one is going to believe. Women’s advocacy groups should take the lead on examining the evidence and engaging the public. After all, they are a stakeholder in this story. If someone is taking cover behind the movement, they may want to be the ones to discover this. They hold the top credibility card here. It should be about getting it right and not how many powerful men fall. We are on track for a stalemate and that does not serve the cause.
I am a feminist man. My partner says I am more militant than she is. I am pissed, pissed that Ms. Reade may be undermining the progress, setting the movement back. We need more vetting of this claim. As things stand, Biden is just left twisting in the wind right now, a wounded ally for women if he is innocent. What if this causes him to lose to Trump? Well there goes Ginsberg’s seat for one. This is not a choice between bad and worse. These are two very different kinds of men, of human beings. Good men can’t be left as collateral damage.
The media seems reticent to look too deeply in to Reade’s credibility for fear of trashing the victim. Someone needs to ask the tough questions. Who better than the front line of #Metoo and #TimesUp? “Believe the women” shouldn’t mean “never look any deeper”.
Should we question the reliability of someone’s testimony? If a person has multiple aliases, is being accused of scams and cons by those who say they were victimized, should we just throw those aside, not investigate them? In criminal cases, checking the credibility of the accuser is standard protocol. Joe Biden is being accused of a serious crime.
For example, Ms. Reade, who has a law degree, may have a litigious side, a record of lawsuits against people for a variety of reasons. What were the genesis of those lawsuits? Has she accused others of similar acts? The owner of an animal rescue non-profit said she stole and scammed her out of money and stole items at a silent auction. Is that not worthy of looking in to? Lynn Hummer, founder of that organization www.pregnantmarerescue.org stands by her allegations even though she has been threatened by Reade with legal action. She is willing to provide the documents as proof. Is that even relevant? In a criminal investigation motives are evaluated, as is the veracity of the people involved.
I understand that praising Putin, constantly changing one’s story, previous assault claims, allegations of scams and suing people are not proof of anything. It is evidence of a history of behavior however. No one receives the benefit of the doubt in a crime. You may agree, or not. That is your prerogative.
We do know that Ronan Farrow rejected writing about her story. Maybe he’s busy, I don’t know. If news reports are to be believed, the legal defense fund associated with Times Up decided to pass on her legal funding request. That may have no relevance here.
The #metoo movement and women’s groups may want to look in to Ms. Reade’s claims themselves. They have a stake in making sure that they are not being scammed, used by an possible opportunist.