The flags don't make us believe you.
So, y’all, I’ve been meaning to say something about GOP frontrunner Herman Cain. He’s your garden-variety entitled, creepy, aggressive sexual harasser—there’s little question about that. There were multiple complaints and multiple settlements by his employers over the years, well before he was a politician. Now other women have come forward who claim he harassed them, and, not surprisingly, they’ve been bashed and had to defend themselves.
Herman Cain’s defense has been deny, deny, deny, most notably at a press conference where he stood in front of no less than five American flags and swore up and down that absolutely nothing had happened and these women were all liars. Shockingly, the sight of all those stars and stripes didn’t convince people, so his lawyer warned that if more women were thinking of coming forward with similar allegations they should “think twice.” It was an obvious threat—Cain and his lawyers are going after his victims with the same “little bit slutty and little bit nutty” offensive that was used to smear Anita Hill when she accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment 20 years ago.
I wrote about Anita Hill—my hero—and my own experiences with workplace harassment last year, and what I said in that post holds true here as well. Herman Cain’s harassment scandal is just confirmation that while we’ve made progress in those 20 years, a lot of shit has stayed the same, specifically the male entitlement, the less-than-credible denying and deflecting, the victim-blaming, and the outright attacks on the victim’s characters, which led Karen Kraushaar, one of Cain’s previously anonymous victims, to get angry enough to go public, telling the New York Times that: “Anyone should be able to report allegations of sexual harassment without fear that their lives and careers will be put on public display and laid open to public scrutiny.”
It’s bullshit. It’s the Patriarchy. It’s the Republican Party. Again. ‘Nuff said.
But please enjoy this most excellent comment from Jezebel commenter Seize. It’s true, it’s hilarious and it made my day: Yes, it’s Honey Badger Herman Cain! Imagine it in Randall’s voice:
THIS is HERMAN CAIN. Watch him smile in slow motion. He’s a creepy pervert. LOOK, he’s ALL OVER THE PLACE. “Whoa, watch out!” says Michele Bachmann. EW, he’s got a press conference! Oh, and now another one? OH my GOSH. Oh, Herman Cain is just CRAAAZY.
Herman Cain has been referred to by Politico as the most fearless black guy in the Republican Party. He really doesn’t give a shit. If he wants a Presidential nomination, he’ll just- EW WHAT IS HE TRYING TO DO TO THAT WOMAN!? OH he’s trying to grope her? OH he can grope people backwards in TIME? Now watch this, look, it’s a White Christian Republican Lady. Herman Cain don’t care. Hermain Cain don’t give a shit, he just fondles whoever he wants! Whenever he’s horny he just – EW! – he commits SEXUAL ASSAULT! Oh my GOD watch him SPIN IT. Look at him trying to SPIN IT like it was consensual! Herman Cain says he doesn’t even REMEMBER those women. Probably because he’s never had any regard for any woman EVER.
Look at him just lying and – EW! – CREEPY SMILE! What’s that, ANOTHER WHITE REPUBLICAN LADY? And she likes ANIMALS!? Press conference! He’s refusing to stop his shitty Presidential campaign! And he says he’s 200% MARRIED TO HIS WIFE? Oh, that’s NASTY. Whoever she is, she’s NASTY. But SMART because she didn’t go on TV for this DICK. I hope she runs away with all the alimony and is like, “Thanks, Stupid! Thanks for the house! See you later!” Herman Cain is a huge jerk and she deserves money for dealing with his CRAP. So do these other ladies. And guess what we’re ALL going to talk about for the next few weeks? These other ladies!
HERMAIN CAIN. Look at that creepy fuck!
I legit saw someone say “well, maybe if 10 or so women came forward with credible stories, *then* it would be believable”. Oh, because 5 isn’t enough — there’s actually a material difference between 5 women and 10 women doing so in terms of how likely the accusations are to be true. The entire female population of the mid-Atlantic states could come forward saying Hermain Cain had harassed them and it wouldn’t be enough for some people.
Amanda Marcotte had a good take on this — that some people honestly just don’t think sexual harassment is that bad. Another example I saw:
“My thing is, who really cares if he is innocent or guilty? He didn’t fuck them, he didnt father illigitimate children, they weren’t men. Theres really no scandal here.”
Oh, I see, because a man sexually harassing men in the workplace would be more of a scandal?!?!? Aaaaargh.
I have been waiting for this arrogant, sexist jerk to go down in flames since they trotted out one of the Cheney ladies to say that the harassment issue “wouldn’t decide the election.” It’s just the continued abuse of many ladies, that is way too unimportant an issue to derail a presidential campaign! Not for a GOP candidate, at least.
These allegations should be the capper on the Herman Cain campaign’s decent to the crapper, but knowing how the average GOP voter does not like to admit there can be anything wrong with the person they have picked and their belief in everything the GOP tells therm about the mainstream media, it’s just making him stronger. Face facts: before this stuff even came up, his stance on things was ludicrous, and he was about as polished as an elephant turd in the jungle heat. If anyone listens to these multiple accusations of sexual impropriety and still wants him to be President, then may I retire to bedlam.
The way this is going down, it’s like we’ve learned nothing since Anita Hill. Jerks are still harrassing and assaulting women in the workplace, and then trying to backpedal and do some character assassination on the victims. WTF world?
Aaaaaarrrghhh and then he called Nancy Pelosi “princess”.
I suggest we refer to him as “the godfather of grope.”
@Ms M: I do think we’ve made progress since the Thomas hearings. At that time, virtually no one in the press or in Congress would give credence to Hill’s testimony. Now charges like this are examined with a lot more seriousness. For anyone but a die-hard right-wing nutcase, Cain is done. His behavior is entirely unsurprising-blame the victim, smear the victim, and deny will always be the favored calls in the Patriarchy Playbook. But this time we have the Daily Show and Rachel Maddow and Gloria Allred daring Cain to bring it on. I feel a lot better about things this time around.
“before this stuff even came up, his stance on things was ludicrous, and he was about as polished as an elephant turd in the jungle heat” Yeah, that. The man is a joke. A horrible, offensive, tasteless joke that isn’t funny in the least, but I can’t even be bothered worrying about him. Sure, put him up against Obama. I’ll sleep fine.
I would actually love it if he won the nomination and had to debate against Obama. SNL wouldn’t even have to get people to play them, they could just roll the footage as a comedy routine.
“Oh, I see, because a man sexually harassing men in the workplace would be more of a scandal?!?!?”
I suspect the argument is actually that consensual sex (or flirting) between men would be more scandalous than sexual harassment of women by men.
In no small part because this kind of mindset can’t fathom the idea of sex being between equals. Or of women being deserving of respect.