Biden Speaks out on his Groping Problem

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I posted these comments about that video on today's Evening Blues, so I'll just paste her.

Women have complained about hair inhaled and kissed for too long, an arm around a woman's shoulder that slid down her back while a photo was being taken, a hand on a thigh. Youtube videos abound of Joe exercising his entitlement to be handsy and kissy with women and also with little girls and positioning a little girl so that her shoulder met his crotch. Just the usual.

Speaking of youtube videos, Unca Joe, with whom we'd all feel comfortable having a beer, has just released a video of his own. In it, he claims that he has always shown affection to both men and women by grabbing people around their shoulders. However, he gets that standards of personal space have changed. He gets it. He gets it. (Did he mention he gets it?)

Wow. Talk about copping a plea to grabbing people by the shoulders while ignoring the hair, thigh and claims and all the videos. Talk about creating a shoulders straw man to knock down while leaving the real issues untouched. I haven't heard anyone complain about him grabbing any adult by the shoulders.

You?

This isn't pizzagate. He's been caught by photos and videos and named by humans we actually know. If the Democrats anoint this guy, it will be proof positive that, despite all the blather and bloviating, they are quite happy to have Trump in the Oval Office.

If so, I won't be surprised. After all, he's doing a bunch of stuff from which they will benefit, yet they don't have to take any heat for it. To the contrary, they can make political hay from it while, in their hearts, they are grateful.

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snoopydawg's picture

@HenryAWallace

Yep. He says that he gets it. But... But what Joe? He had to know that people were talking about this for years. That others he has been around felt uncle watching him doing what he does. Or is he so self involved he didn't see how the girls reacted to his touching them or where he placed his hands? I don't accept this as any type of apology. He does act like he knows how seriously he's eff'ed up.

This is just one issue that would Dawg his campaign of congress, but it's the one that should derail it from the get go. IMO only. Seems others don't have a problem with it.

Peter Dau (?) wrote about this. I'll find his tweet. If you've lost Pete...

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@snoopydawg well, yeah. Not uncommon among high-level pols. He could only see things from his perspective. Standard attitude for pols in his position.

Overall this is an effective sorta apology non-apology response from Biden. He comes off as sincere in changing his behavior, and he didn't go over the top with his loyal wife Pat sitting beside him in her humble Democratic cloth coat, nor make any reference to his dog Checkers which, regardless of what they say, he is going to keep.

Actually the likable Al Franken should have done something like Biden's video. All I recall were groveling press release apologies "if anyone was offended" which obviously were too little to hold back the torch-carrying pitchfork mob.

I suspect Biden might have begun to turn the tide.

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snoopydawg's picture

@wokkamile

that most of us had to back in the 90's? Joe is just getting the hint that his actions are wrong when most people knew that 20 years ago.

I didn't follow the Frankenstein saga closely so I don't know what he was accused of doing. I thought he was going to go before congress and go from there? Next thing I heard was that he quit. And that Gillibrand pushed him out?

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@snoopydawg @snoopydawg to Biden's uncomfortable touching proclivities. And one unfortunate photo from his comedy days which suggested far more than what really happened. Early on there was briefly a plan to take the matter to the senate ethics committee. But that quickly got forgotten in the rush to judgment against him as some senate Ds like Gillibrand publicly called on him to resign. Other Ds followed. He got no public support that I recall from any major D in the senate, not even from his fellow D senator from MN, Klobuchar.

He must have felt persona non grabba and that he would not be getting proper due process with a proper investigation through committee and therefore, alone, had no choice but to resign.

Pat Leahy later meekly allowed as how he regretted not pushing to have the matter taken up by the proper ethics committee. Thanks again for your courage, Pat. So typical of Dems in the post-60s, post-1980 era.

EDIT: Again I feel Al should have fought harder to keep his job, made a direct video appeal addressed to his MN constituents. Teddy Kennedy once did that, effectively, in order to save his job. Given that all we heard were the overstated prosecutorial charges in an overheated MeToo atmosphere, he essentially put on no defense. I wonder who was advising him, if anyone.

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snoopydawg's picture

@HenryAWallace

He also asks if he has to explain it to people why it was wrong for Biden to place his hand on a woman's thigh just after she just got done talking about being sexually assaulted?

Some dude..

No...he should run and let the people decide.

This is how the left destroys itself

Peter..

"The left destroys itself" by rejecting inappropriate contact with women?

Yeah SMDH here.

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Wally's picture

@snoopydawg

. . . and/or still a Hillary stalwart, no?

So is it surprising he's piling on Biden?

We'll wind up with either Biden or even Hillary unless . . .

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snoopydawg's picture

@Wally

with what Biden's done just because they hate Bernie? This doesn't seem like he's going out of his way to help Harris to me.

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Wally's picture

@snoopydawg @snoopydawg @snoopydawg

. . Daou's fellow of Men for Hillary, is saying about Bernie on his twitter. And Watson seems to be retweeting lotsa favorable stuff about Harris who otherwise seems to be laying low these days.

Good cop, bad cop maybe?

It seems like Daou is being nice to everybody except Biden recently. My guess is that he is buttering them up to get them to eventually support Harris and/or Hillary.

He's even being nice to AOC, maybe just maybe to make sure she doesn't endorse Bernie?

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@Wally will keep her from endorsing Bernie? I can't connect those dots.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Wally's picture

@on the cusp @on the cusp @on the cusp

Bernie has asked supporters not to get on her case.

arendt has ventured his ideas about her possibly selling out or even already being aligned with certain powers that be. I don't think the latter is true, but who knows about what this or that politician will do to further themselves? She might not endorse anyone before Super Tuesday or whenever the NYS primary is going to be scheduled when she is up for reelection.

EDIT/ADD ON Paragraphs: There have also been reports that she has been threatened with a primary and further on up the road the gerrymandering of her district. It seems logical that's a big consideration for her in making a decision to endorse or not endorse Bernie and it's timing.

The Dem Party leadership is not an undifferentiated mass. I think it's safe to suggest there's a Biden-Obama wing, a Clintons/Harris wing, and a Bernie wing. I don't think either - and/or Daou and Watson are supportive of Biden or Bernie. And I don't think the other candidates other than Tulsi (and Gravel) are all that independent of the first two wings mentioned.

Again, think of Daou and Watson as a heavyweight wrestling tag team, good cop, bad cop giving us smoke signals. And the same kind of gameplaying is going on with other political operatives and candidates in secret behind closed doors. That's politics. It's duplicitous and nasty AF.

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snoopydawg's picture

@Wally

He is not piling on Bernie. He's telling people not to excuse what Biden did just because they hate Bernie. I don't think this has anything to with Harris or Hillary either. It's about Biden's actions.

I'm not sure who that person is but if you provide a link I'll read it.

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Wally's picture

@snoopydawg

Do you know about Daou and Watson and their involvement going way back when to the days of Men for Hillary?

Just google Tom Watson twitter.

Google Men for Hillary.

And Peter Daou and Tom Watson.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@HenryAWallace

This isn't pizzagate. He's been caught by photos and videos and named by humans we actually know. If the Democrats anoint this guy, it will be proof positive that, despite all the blather and bloviating, they are quite happy to have Trump in the Oval Office.

If Joe Biden gets the Ds' nomination, I will be quite happy to have Trump in the Oval Office. Not that I think Trump is worthy of that job, please mind; but, as with Her Heinous heretofore, I will maintain that our nation dodged a fatal bullet at the cost of taking a hit from a maiming one.

Bad

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

detroitmechworks's picture

No concrete action, no acknowledgement of wrong doing. Just... "Trust me, I'll do better from here on out."

That ain't a fucking apology. That's a "I'm sorry they feel that way."

Here I was, asking myself, how can he make this worse? There's no fucking way he can make this worse.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRJJDxe0fgc]

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Bollox Ref's picture

when dealing with strangers?

Growing up in the '60's, I don't remember people randomly sniffing hair and kissing heads.

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

OLinda's picture

@Bollox Ref

Smile Bollox.

See my post below, posted at the very same time as yours.

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Bollox Ref's picture

@OLinda

His interactions with these women and children seem like some weird take on the medieval 'Droit du seigneur'.

(Edited)

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

@Bollox Ref

Either he's a liar or so out of touch and entitled that he is unfit to be President either way. The little girls he touched should put him in jail.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

thanatokephaloides's picture

@Bollox Ref

Growing up in the '60's, I don't remember people randomly sniffing hair and kissing heads.

I remember just such goings on back then.

However, LSD was involved.

Wink

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

janis b's picture

@thanatokephaloides

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OLinda's picture

"Social norms are changing."

The social norm that has changed is that women are speaking out. It has always been creepy to kiss the back of a woman's head and stick your nose in her hair. That is not a norm that changed, Joe.

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Pricknick's picture

@OLinda
I just snorted (a good laugh).

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Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

snoopydawg's picture

Polish the fork he's done.

Nevada County woman says Joe Biden inappropriately touched her while working in his U.S. Senate office

A Nevada County woman has added her voice to a recent spate of allegations that former vice president and possible presidential candidate Joe Biden touched her when she worked in his U.S. Senate office.

Alexandra Tara Reade said that in 1993 she was in her mid-20s when Biden, then a senator from Delaware, touched her several times making her feel uncomfortable. Reade said her responsibilities in the senator's office were reduced after she refused to serve drinks at an event — what she called a desire of Biden's because he liked her legs. Reade said she felt pushed out and left Biden's employ in August 1993 after some nine months.
....
"He used to put his hand on my shoulder and run his finger up my neck," Reade said. "I would just kind of freeze and wait for him to stop doing that."
....
"He used to put his hand on my shoulder and run his finger up my neck," Reade said. "I would just kind of freeze and wait for him to stop doing that."

Listening again to this video of Biden talking about this it doesn't seem like he really gets what he did and why so many people think his actions were wrong. Listen to his tone. It's upbeat, not conciliatory. "Yeah I did that, but hey come on I came from another generation." It's almost like he is channeling Obama.

"I touched some folks"

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The Liberal Moonbat's picture

21st-Century feminism is 20th-Century anti-feminism. You can't solve sexism as long as you insist on preserving the concept of gender...which is what feminism tries to do. It was a step in the right direction, but it turns out that's all it was - now that it's obsolete, it's forgoing a dignified ride off into the sunset in favor of an outright-Orwellian sundowners syndrome.

I NEVER thought my generation would have to deal with this garbage. Up until circa 2014, this was one of the few arenas where things were going WELL...but some people just HAVE to impose Order on Chaos, no matter how well Chaos is going. The methods and mentality of Prof. Umbridge from Harry Potter meets the aesthetic and ideology of Ms. Barch from Daria.

I think this is the single best thing I've seen on the matter - particularly the closing paragraphs:
https://www.sott.net/article/370791-Burn-the-warlock-MeToo-has-morphed-i...

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In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

detroitmechworks's picture

@The Liberal Moonbat Course, I got my first bullshit harassment charge in 1993, so I've been on eggshells since. There's something kinda cool about being ahead of the curve on that one. Half tempted to do a stand up routine about it. (1st Draft, so feel free to be CRUEL, only way it gets better...)

"Look, I'm not a good person to go to a hotel room with. Just FYI, there. I acknowledge that fact. So if I invite you up to my hotel room at 2 AM, I'm don't really think I need to add... FOR SEX. I't kind of obvious at that point. Yeah, I'm a straight guy and I really just want to invite an attractive woman up to my room to talk about facial expression tips during a punchline. I mean, I am as awful as you say I am, really... You know DAMN well that's not where this is going, so please don't put yourself in that situation with me. I'm NOT a nice guy, never have been, and I will hit on you. If you don't like it, feel free to say no, laugh about it, threaten violence, whatever floats your boat, and we'll move on to talking about your career... preferably not in a dark room with incense and romantic music playing."

(Nope, not kidding. Matter of public record. U.S. Navy decided that the way to get rid of a crappy sailor was to throw every charge at me and see if any stuck. And I was a crappy sailor, but I learned REAL fast about the power of those charges, because every piece of "Evidence" was contradictory recollections Of bad dirty jokes that I and a female Marine were tossing back and forth at each other. Offense was taken by a third party on her behalf. Decided to demand a court martial instead of Captain's mast, which is what the Navy wanted. Got out with a General Discharge... which is now Honorable because I decided to be a clay pigeon almost 15 years later.)

Pence rule? Not as needed since I am already Poly. Smile Trust me, if you can't communicate, you have no business being Poly. Half the time I'm already working on issues of EMOTIONAL consent, so trust me when it comes to the physical aspect, it's been COVERED. Extensively. Often with a calendar and appointment book.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaNbm6bwid4]

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

The Liberal Moonbat's picture

@detroitmechworks ...all this time I thought you were female.

I basically thought the tattoo in your avatar was meant to be YOU.

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In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

detroitmechworks's picture

@The Liberal Moonbat Apparently to AI, and casual observers my writing style is distinctly "Female", whatever that means. Hell, even when I write male perspective scenes EXPLICITLY, people make the assumption.

Kinda cool actually. Again, more material for the mike if I ever get back on it. Smile

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

snoopydawg's picture

Stacey Abrams Defends Joe Biden: ‘We Cannot Have Perfection As A Litmus Test’

“I am friends with Lucy Flores and I appreciate her bringing her story forward,” Abrams said, referring to the former Nevada assembly member who alleges Biden smelled her hair and kissed the back of her head without consent in 2014. “I also have deep respect for Vice President Joe Biden.”

She continued: “We cannot have perfection as a litmus test. The responsibility of leaders is to not be perfect but to be accountable, to say I’ve made a mistake, I understand it and here’s what I’m going to do to reform as I move forward. And I think we see Joe Biden doing that.”

But as dkmich reminds us it wasn't only women he dd this too. Let's hear him defend his hand placement on them.

Then this this

‘Unspoken Sexism’ Dampens Fundraising For Women Running In 2020

????

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snoopydawg's picture

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