The Sordid Sexual Past of the Next President

Unfortunately it doesn’t matter who will win the next election. Either way the White House will be occupied by sleaze come next January. The President’s sleazy past is well known. The sleazy past of presumptive Democrat running against him is less well known, but coming to light right now.

A few months ago, Joe Biden had been accused of some strange behavior with women he had come into contact with in the past. He had a habit of physically kissing, hugging, or touching them in ways that had made them feel uncomfortable. He has apologized for that; claimed he never meant anything sexual by it; and didn’t realize he made them feel that way. He said he would no longer do that.

OK.  But Tara Reade, one of the women that made those allegations is now claiming that what he did to her was a lot more than just innocent touching. Reade, a lifelong Democrat who worked for then Senator Biden (in the early 90s) accused him of sexual assault. The details of which are serious and too sleazy to repeat here.

Predictably, Biden has denied this ever happened. True, this is a ‘he said/she said’. And true that the presumption of innocence until proven guilty is the American way. (At least in a court of law.) But if there is one thing that has been made clear by the #Metoo movement (and by survivors and their advocates) it is that allegations of sex abuse are rarely false.  And in this case, Ms. Reade has corroborating statements from her brother and a friend who both claim she told them about the incident back in the 90s, but feared the repercussions of making her experience more public.

I think it is safe to say that neither George W. Bush nor Barack Obama ever did anything remotely like that. I’m sure any allegations of that sort would have come out by now. Whether one agrees with their policies or not, one thing is clear. They were (are) honorable men whose character is what the leader of the free world should be all about. 

It is easy to say you support #Metoo and women’s rights. As do both Biden and Bush’s predecessor, Bill Clinton. But our country is much better served when our political leaders have the moral character to match their words. Neither of which either of those two have. Nor does the current President.

I just wish there were other realistic choices come next fall. Choices with the moral character of the President’s 2 immediate predecessors. Unfortunately we are going to be stuck with one of these two sleazebags for at least the next 4 years.