It's not the right who's running the hit job on Joe Biden.

[Drunken Irishman]

It's the left.

They're the ones who trotted out Tara Reade, despite the fact her story had inconsistencies.

They're the ones who gave her a platform to air out her allegations.

They're the ones who are quick to reply to anyone who dares question why her brother's story has changed twice to different publications (telling ABC that he was made aware of these allegations THIS spring, before sending a text message and clarifying Tara had actually told him back when it happened - to telling the Washington Post that Tara had come to him about Biden touching her neck and shoulders and that she did feel harassed, to clarifying, via text message again, a few days later that, actually, Tara had told him she was sexually assaulted) rape apologists or women haters or fascists - without even accepting the small possibility Tara might be lying.

They're the ones who conveniently ignore Tara's 2019 story. Or respond in nasty language when you mention the fact Tara has given three reasons for leaving Biden's office - that she left when her then husband (boyfriend?) relocated to the midwest to work on a campaign, which changed to her being let go by Biden's staff for refusing to serve drinks at a party (and even admitting that it's possible Biden didn't even know why she was let go) to finally, Biden firing her because she complained about him to his staff (and made a formal complaint, which no one can find) about the assault.

They trot out evidence that actually contradicts her story - like the Larry King interview, which, just back in March, Tara Reade was claiming existed (she was right) but the content of what existed was entirely different than what she was alleging (she stated, back in March, her mom called into Larry King and talked about how Tara was sexually assaulted by a senator, and then fired shortly after because of it). The Larry King call did mention a senator, and potential harassment, but nothing about the person being fired (or any type of retaliation) or the sexual assault. In fact, Tara's mother even said she didn't want to go to someone out of respect for the Senator.

They freak out when you mention Tara's support of Biden in 2017, as if that's not relevant, often recounting their own sexual assaults.

They inundate you with the idea of #BelieveAllWomen, even when you have no history of ever stating such claim (which I haven't - despite being told over and over I have by these liberals), when you poke holes in the story of the other supposed corroborating witness, a woman who only mentions Tara felt she was being sexually harassed - and didn't mention anything about the sexual assault.

They call you sexist, a hypocrite, rapist, rapist defender, when you ask why, in almost every universal early account, the topic had nothing to do with assault but instead some form of workplace harassment. And the one person who magically remembers (beyond the dead mother), openly states she hadn't spoken with Reade for a while until recently, when Reade called her to ask if she remembered that story she told about Biden (also, this person heard that story, believes Tara, believes it happened ... and yet still manages to vote for Biden?) - triggering someone's memory by asking if they recall something is an easy way to manipulate what they actually remember.

To be sure, the GOP and Trump supporters have no problem running with this story. A certain subset of liberals have given them the ball at the one yard line and told 'em to go run it into the end zone.

I even had to unfollow a staunch liberal on twitter today because he tweeted at the GOP and Tucker Carlson to get them to see a tweet about Biden. Imagine thinking of running to Tucker Fucking Carlson just to smear Joe Biden.

And the right will run with it because they realize the Hunter Biden thing didn't stick.

I'm okay with that. I don't give two shits what the right does to smear Joe Biden because I trust he can overcome it.

What amazes me is how fucking dumb some on the left are to be consumed with an obviously error-filled story. But then I realized - they're not dumb. I bet, if you really got down to it, most these people probably have severe doubts about Tara's story. How could you not? There's more discrediting it than anything that makes her credible. The problem isn't their stupidity - the problem is THAT THEY DON'T CARE.

They are so bitter and upset over Biden being the nominee that they will do just about everything to bring him down. This is their motive. And it's co-opted the #MeToo movement and that is fucking disgusting.

It's not the right running this hit job. They will eventually. But fortunately for them, all the dirty work will have been done by the far-left activists on Twitter and other areas of social media.

And these people have their little slogans like the MAGA freaks to help identify them.

Every one of these assholes has as 🌹 next to their twitter name.

A 🌹 for bullshit, underhanded, slimy, cowardly, Roveian like tactics.

Fuck them.

And if you want to go down the rabbit hole of liberals promoting this bullshit story because you somehow can't buy that 'they' would do such a thing, have it:

https://twitter.com/search?q=rape%20apologist&src=typd

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23BlueMAGA&src=tyah

[Iliyah]

1. True, but the right is helping to spread the smear . .

But alas, the backfiring of this leads directly to shithole tho. It brings his sexual assault cases back front and center.

[Gothmog]

2. Joy Reid has a theory

Link to tweet

[Major Nikon]

70. It's not hard to tell what's really going on

She told one story and when it got no mileage and Biden started moving up against Bernie, she told another. And now I think she has another GoFundme and the previous one set up under dubious circumstances just disappeared after being up for years.

[Sogo]

81. I live in a town which is a hotbed of Bernie supporters....

....and Joy Reid is spot on!

They're all over this like flies on dog doo....

They're trying to "Al Franken" him.

[underpants]

3. The Delaware documents are the new "but her emails"

We aren’t going to see them before the election and that’s the whole point.

[Squinch]

4. Oh, bull. The few involved from the left are the same morons who were manipulated by

Putin and Cambridge Analytica (i.e. Trump and Kushner) into thinking Hillary's emails were the end of the world.

They are useful idiots. They're the ones who read Jackpine Radicals. And they are neither the brains nor the majority of the ones who are doing this.

This comes from the right.

[Drunken Irishman]

6. It started on the left.

Don't be fooled. It absolutely was a left-driven plot that started in March.

[Squinch]

7. I'm not the one being fooled.

[Drunken Irishman]

12. Prove it then.

The first person to push this story in any substantive way was a former Bernie supporter.

All you have to do is go check the hashtag #IBelieveTara

It was started by former Bernie supporters and that's what got this story going.

The right-wing wasn't even touching it in the early days.

[Squinch]

15. This has been floating around for a long, long time. Trump needs a distraction.

This was ALWAYS going to happen. The only question now is whether we follow their script and eat our own over it.

[Drunken Irishman]

26. It hasn't been floating around a long, long time.

Because this story is only a few months old.

Even Tara's tweets only started showing up a few months ago. They were not looked into because she's a crackpot ... until a former Bernie supporter ran an interview with her and it blew up.

[Cha]

36. Katie Halper?

[ehrnst]

43. Yep. Katie Halper "broke" the latest version of Reade's story, where she changed it to "rape."

[ehrnst]

42. The interview where Reade changed her accusation to rape was with Katie Halper

Late March, 2020: In the interview, Reade claimed that then-Senator Joe Biden “penetrated” her, against her will, with his finger, in an encounter that took place in ‘93.

In April of 2019, Reade originally said that Joe Biden’s handsiness made her feel uncomfortable when she worked as a Senate aide in 1993. At the time, however, she said that she did not consider Biden’s actions to be sexualization, instead comparing her experience to that of being a beautiful lamp.

[Cha]

63. Thank you for that, ehrnst.. oh it started

with those people.

[octoberlib]

9. I believe that GOP opps people handed this information over to Halper and Grim

and the Chapo Traphouse crowd is using it to try get Biden knocked out.

[ehrnst]

44. Could be, but likely she would be more impelled by a source closer to her heart.

[Cha]

22. BJG and Sirota have been pushing this and they were BS'

staff. And, the red rose trolls have been pushing it all over twitter for awhile now.

I've seen it myself and it's disgusting.

[Cha]

25. Oh and The Intercept and cenk's justice dems, too..

[Squinch]

30. The exact same people Putin and Cambridge Analytica used last time.

[Cha]

32. One of Reade's "coach's"...

Link to tweet

[lapucelle]

49. Where was the DSA when Masha Mendieta blew the whistle?

Be Your Own Hero — Because Bernie Is Not It

https://medium.com/@mashamendieta/be-your-own-hero-because-bernie-is-not-it-c4add2e08029

[Cha]

53. Being hypocrites..

If you take the "@" out of the url.. the link works.

https://medium.com/mashamendieta/be-your-own-hero-because-bernie-is-not-it-c4add2e08029

Mahalo

[subana]

46. I think so too!

we've all been hearing how he was freaked out last week from the polling data. This is one more attempt by donnie to try to reverse that. yes, it comes from the right!

Anyone who tries to make a big deal out of this, whether it comes from the left or the right, has clearly chosen donnie as their candidate!

[octoberlib]

5. They don't care about sexual assault. This is all about getting Biden removed to make way for

Bernie. This is their agenda. As I documented here: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213376562

[empedocles]

8. Past is prologue. In the past BS himself has been implicated. Have to doubt whether

BS has changed his stripes.

[Caliman73]

16. Are you implying the Bernie Sanders is part of this situation?

That is a pretty serious allegation if so, which I believe would violate the TOS. You may want to rethink your post.

[octoberlib]

19. Bernie's not a Democrat so it would not violate the TOS.

[Caliman73]

29. Suggest you read the TOS

Democratic figures include people who caucus with Democrats and named Sanders as an example. You can certainly criticize his policies and some of his decisions, but that is different from accusing him of a smear campaign.

[Drunken Irishman]

33. Irrelevant. I am not talking about Bernie.

I am talking about some of his former supporters.

[Caliman73]

41. I am not responding to you in the reply above.

Certainly answer back to me when I ask you a question.

You are not talking about Sanders but the posters I responded to did. I know you are saying it is some of his supporters. I have no problem with that although I did ask a clarifying question on the thread directly to you.

You don't have to jump into every reply, I am asking different people different questions or making comments. Like with smirkymonkey where I said it was a shame that one of their Facebook friends has turned into a brainless leftist tankie.

[Drunken Irishman]

23. No. I am saying a good amount of his supporters are the ones behind this.

[Caliman73]

39. But do you mean people with any real power?

Or just assholes on Twitter.

The link you put on another of my replies took me to "rape apologist" as a search term and yes, there were a bunch of idiots calling people rape apologists and some had Communist symbols on their user ids. Some suggested that Bernie was awesome, but again, these are random idiots on Twitter, who may in fact be just bots or sock puppets trying to instigate.

There is certainly buzz and there are many stupid people out there, but you implicated an entire movement of people.

[Drunken Irishman]

45. This whole story became a thing because one had the power to publish her accusations.

Katie Halper was the one who brought the story to light.

Who's Katie Halper? Well, here's her profile from Common Dreams (you know, the liberal news site):

Katie Halper is a writer, comedian, filmmaker and the host of "The Katie Halper Show," a weekly WBAI radio show and podcast (become a patron of the show on Patreon here). Her writing has appeared in New York Magazine, Common Dreams, Rolling Stone, Salon, The Guardian, and The Nation, and she has appeared on MSNBC, Sirius Radio, Fox News Radio and "The Young Turks." Follow her on Twitter: @Kthalps

She's the one who started this. She's the one who decided to give Reade a platform without even checking Reade's sources or questioning the allegations.

That's the problem. And any time ANYONE has tried to question the allegations, they're attacked for it as rape apologists.

Here's Katie's twitter:

https://twitter.com/kthalps

Read through her twitter page. It's RTs of nothing but anti-Biden attacks and smears.

SHE is the one who brought Tara Reade's accusations to light.

Not the right.

Katie.

Maybe the right would have eventually, but Katie did a helluva job getting it out there and not allowing for any questioning.

Of course, why would she question? A tweet she RT'd said it all: accusers don't have an obligation to explain anything - only those accused.

And that's what many of these people believe.

Biden could literally have Tara Reade on tape saying it didn't happen and if you asked about that, Katie would accuse you of being a rape apologist.

[Caliman73]

56. Thank you!

That is some hard evidence of someone on the farther left with a level of influence, starting and/or spreading the rumor. octoberlib also showed some other evidence of Krystal Ball (who is damned annoying) and unfortunately Mhedi Hasan, who I respected, also giving the story wings.

The sad thing is that ideology from any side right, left, or center, can blind people and make them do stupid things. They paint Biden as this monster, when in fact he is just a pretty decent guy who has done some dumb things, but really does not have the kind of track record that would substantiate Reade's allegation.

I would say that Sanders should say something about his opinion of the allegations, but I don't even think that it would change anyone's mind. He would likely be labelled a "sell out" or something to that effect and this mindlessness would go on.

[BGBD]

121. Let's not

let Ryan Grim get off here. He was pushing this story on The Intercept the moment that Halper put the podcast out. He was also the one Reade was tweeting her infamous "tic toc" message to. This was clearly orchestrated for everything to come out at once.

If these people were of a different political lean they'd be working at Breitbart, The Federalist, and Daily Caller. Krystal Ball would be on OANN asking Trump is he's the best President ever or just of his own lifetime.

[empedocles]

28. Suggesting that given BS's history, would absolultely not simply rule out BS present

or future involvement in such troublesome behaviors.

[RandiFan1290]

10. Bullshit

0/10

[Cha]

17. Prove it.

It's dead on.

[Drunken Irishman]

24. Either respond or buzz off.

What's bullshit?

https://twitter.com/search?q=rape%20apologist&src=typd

Have fun reading all the tweets from Bernie supporters calling everyone a rape apologist because they don't believe Tara Reade's bullshit story.

Also, go ahead and look up #BlueMAGA.

Have fun!

[procon]

11. Who are all these unnamed "they" people

that you repeatedly reference? Are these anonymous keyboard warriors jousting on internet forums, or recognizable personages of esteem or infamy?

Like any conspiracy theory, I can't use unsubstantiated opinions, but it you have any validation let's examine the source, yeah?

[Drunken Irishman]

18. Sure.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Hell, if you're really interested in seeing who 'they' are, which I assume you're not, have at it:

https://twitter.com/search?q=rape%20apologist&src=typd

You'll find plenty of liberals who call into question Tara's story 'rape apologists'.

[procon]

37. Twitter? So your entire rant is based on stuff you

read on Twitter? Since none of your sources can be identified, how to you know they aren't Trump's minions, or rightwing trolls, Russian bots, or just some leftover Biden haters?

Sorry, his gets a definite NO on my score card. Passing around these undocumented comments from social networking accounts really doesn't add anything to your waning credibility.

[Drunken Irishman]

48. I am not asking for your validation.

This whole story was started because Katie Harper interviewed Tara Reade and allowed for her spread her lies unchecked.

Katie Harper is NOT a conservative. She's a liberal progressive who has turned any question into doubting Reade's account as being a rape apologist.

The only reason this is a fucking story is because of a liberal.

[LanternWaste]

84. Tell yourself that had Katie not picked it up, no one else would.

And further maintain your pretense that it lies on her. I get it... bias and irrational thought are comforting.

[Drunken Irishman]

87. I didn't say that, either.

But she certainly laid the groundwork for it and gave the GOP a talking point without them even having to lift a finger.

I'm so glad Katie is there to continue to slander the Democratic nominee.

[Historic NY]

98. yup

[Caliman73]

13. That is a very long post with a lot of "they" and not many details.

Who is involved in this "Left" conspiracy? Why no names? Just a general "they" which is unfortunately how the right wing often puts their allegations out there.

It is seen a great deal on Fox News. O'Reilly was the master of it, "Some are saying...." Hannity does it, as well as other hosts.

If we are going to condemn people let's talk about who we are condemning.

I know Chris Hayes was in the firing line. With him we have actual statements we can look to. I don't know who "they" are, so some names or maybe some general information like networks, etc...?

[Drunken Irishman]

21. I am not going to hold your hand and walk you through this.

If you don't want to believe it, I don't give two shits. But this whole media storm started when a former Bernie supporter gave her story airtime.

https://twitter.com/search?q=rape%20apologist&src=typd

Have fun reading about 'they'. I am not going to link to every fucking twitter account who uses it just to prove to you 'they' exist.

[smirkymonkey]

14. I rarely go on Facebook, but lately I have been checking in just to see what is going on

politically. I have a "friend" who is a rabid Bernie Bro and who seems to hate Biden and Cuomo more than he hates Trump and has been doing a major smear job against them.

I have countered his arguments a number of times, as have many others, but he is just insanely devoted to Bernie to the extent where he considers moderate Democrats more of a threat than extreme right republicans. There is no getting through to this guy. It's like a left wing cult with him and some of his followers. I used to think he was very smart, and he is, and he is very well educated, but he has completely gone of the deep end. I can't tolerate him anymore.

[Mz Pip]

20. I've had several Bernie supporting friends

post articles and comments about this.

[Caliman73]

27. That is a shame. There is a segment on the far left who see moderates as the enemy.

It was seen during the Russian Revolution where the Bolsheviks went after the Mensheviks even as both were fighting the Tsarists and Fascists. The common expression is, "You get the bullet too". Some people want to tear down society and remake it out of the rubble. The problem in practice is that a lot of things crawl out of the rubble and most of the time it isn't the most humanistic ideas that win out but the most forceful. Soviet Russia under Stalin is a prime example, though Lenin and Trotsky were almost as bad and extreme in their ideas on maintaining and spreading the Revolution.

People can get sucked in to extreme positions and lose rationality.

[WinstonSmith4740]

55. Been saying this for a while.

And unfortunately, I think your former friend fits the mold. I really think an awful lot of these hardcore Bernie supporters are just plain drawn to authoritarianism. How else can they possibly justify voting for Trump, which a lot of them did in 2016, and will again. Bernie had the same tendencies, only from this side of the aisle...and I don't care which side it comes from, we can't allow it.

[HarlanPepper]

31. Excellent piece

I share your frustration and disdain for the purity left dead Enders.

[NRaleighLiberal]

34. my how we eat our own. perfect the enemy of the good...etc

[AtheistCrusader]

52. We always have.

It's in our nature to be self-critical and to hold ourselves to standards.

Our opponents are not similarly constrained.

[LanternWaste]

86. Valid self-criticism brings discipline.

Invalid self-criticism is simply self-flagellation... which though comforting to those who enjoy that sort of thing, is the height of irrational thought and self-righteousness.

Crusader, indeed.

[padah513]

54. It never fails

[Cha]

69. The extremists who started this are not my "own"

Or are you talking about those who have been spreading this all over the internet about Biden being "rapist"?

[ancianita]

35. NOT. It is the right RUNNING a false Left. Parscale's try at triggering Democrats. The Doubt Machine

working against everyday Democratic liberals, lefties, and just decent people.

This is NOT the official Democratic Left. It just isn't.

Not when it comes through fuckin' Twitter.

"The right will run with it?"

NO. The Right made this shit up to begin with. They message test digital reaction before they move it into mainstream right wing media that echoes "public movement."

Do NOT believe the hype.

[Drunken Irishman]

50. Katie Harper is not the 'false left'.

SHE is the one who brought this up and pushed it without fact checking Tara Reade's claims or asking Tara about her inconsistencies. She's the one who continues to attack Biden. THIS has nothing to do with Parscale.

[ancianita]

57. Then say that. Dis her and dismiss her. How is she a real Democrat.

Nothing Democrats are triggered by has nothing to do with Parscale? The guy just got threatened with a law suit.

But believe what you want. imo, you're not helping.

[Drunken Irishman]

76. I didn't say anything about Democrats.

[ancianita]

105. Your OP said "You."

"They freak out when you..." "They inundate you"" They call you sexist"


If one uses the "general you" too much, one can lead readers to be included in one's claims, and make one think they are the "liberals" being accused of here, or being "divided against" here. And those readers would likely be the Democrats here.

Key example:

then I realized - they're not dumb. I bet, if you really got down to it, most these people probably have severe doubts about Tara's story. How could you not? There's more discrediting it than anything that makes her credible. The problem isn't their stupidity - the problem is THAT THEY DON'T CARE.

Or here.

And if you want to go down the rabbit hole of liberals promoting this bullshit story because you somehow can't buy that 'they' would do such a thing, have it:

https://twitter.com/search?q=rape%20apologist&src=typd

If you, as the poster, are going to entertain the possibility, right now, in a General Election, of divisive attacks on liberals, just because these characterizations came from a liberal, characterizations that include someone who "realizes" that "

The problem isn't their stupidity - the problem is THAT THEY DON'T CARE.

. Yeah, that's a liberal talking point grounded in fact and history, and now flipped back at liberals. It's some projection, that right there.

Which leads one to think that what sounds like liberal wedging hype is what one is invited to be drawn into, which gives a fair impression to me and Democrats here that perhaps you, the poster, expose us Democrats here to hype that the rest of us here won't be drawn into.

This post is posted to Democrats. Though the word Democrat isn't used, that liberals here could be "informed" by some self-claimed liberal that "they both do it" and "they just don't care" is less solidarity and more manipulative. Forget Democrats. No self-respecting liberal here would buy that.

I repeat. The Left is not divided. The Right wants to convince the Left that it's divided. Buy that, and they win.

Twitter "liberals" will get people to think that both extremes are the same.
The next leap: both parties are the same. The next leap: the election will be so close!

Liberals and Democrats are not divided. There is no similarity in their extremes.

Don't believe the hype.

[Drunken Irishman]

107. I didn't say anything about Democrats spreading this.

It's not complicated.

It was a liberal, Katie Harper, who first gave Tara Reade an interview, without ever questioning her story. It was a liberal, Krystal Ball, who turned around and started spreading this story on twitter and talking about it on her web series on the website The Hill. It was Sanders' former spokesperson, another liberal, who spread the story in those early days, too.

This was not a story pushed by conservatives. They've latched onto it but it was liberals who started it. That's a fact.

[ancianita]

108. Name the liberal who started it. The self-proclaimed liberal, Katie Harper?

If she's the one, she may not speak for liberals in the Democratic Party.

No, it's not complicated. The Democratic Party is 100% liberal. It's so liberal that we argued for at least a year whether a Social Democrat like Bernie should even be accepted in it. We even argued whether we Democrats want national social services he wants because of all the Leftist baggage that he drags along with that.

You posted this on the Democratic Undergound. 95% of liberals are in and sympathetic to the Democratic Party. 5% of liberals are actual Lefties. Lefties don't reflect the Democratic Party. Your post implies that we Democrats are caught up with Lefties who would divide this liberal party. We're not.

I don't care about your arguing that conservatives didn't push this. Citing Krystal Ball,The Hill and Bernie's "spokesperson" is telling enough. Fine. However. The fact that you buy into the Lefties' idea that liberals are divided just won't wash with Democrats. You can't slip out of that reality by claiming you never said the word Democrat.

I'm okay that we have this back-and-forth about what makes a liberal liberal. Maybe it's even helpful in laying out who the source and audience are, and that Lefties are not really liberal. But I won't believe the divisive implications of this post.

I'm a Democrat first. And a liberal. They go together. The rest here -- is slickly constructed, conflict driven, divisive rhetorical hype, no matter where it came from. I won't buy what you post here.

Neither do clear thinking Democrats.

We are not what we are called. We are what we answer to. Now is the time for solidarity. Democrats have solidarity. This doesn't help.

[Drunken Irishman]

109. I did name her.

Whether you want to classify her as a liberal is your prerogative. She's clearly a liberal.

[ancianita]

111. You did.

Clearly? I'm clear. You're not. She's no liberal. She's a self-interested opportunist who uses the liberal cache to obtain a platform. The more exposure, the more money, the more ad buy.

And you not only incorrectly amplify her here as a liberal just because she calls herself that, you defend her indefensible divisiveness.

But you're the one who believes what she says. You posted it, "you's" and all.

She does not speak for liberals here. She's just trying to scare liberals into thinking that they have stupid, uncaring people among them. So why you present that here, I don't know.

It's almost as if you're afraid she's right.

She's not right. In that sense, she's Right.

None of this helps us. It's hype. Right wing hype trying to get traction as liberal thinking. It's not.

It won't be a hit job on Joe Biden if you don't elevate it as such. It's noise.

[stillcool]

38. reminds me of Robert Mueller..

and the Russian unit he described. It is the amplification of information, that is convincing. I don't much care who is behind it, but recognizing that it is being done is crucial. Thank You!

[ismnotwasm]

40. Libertarians have picked it up

Certain independent activists, apparently without research, want to know why “the same energy” put into Trump or Epstein or Franklin by Democrats isn’t there for Biden. Ignoring that the Reade story is hard to follow, hard to fact check without facts Lots of energy there, it just goes nowhere

[emmaverybo]

47. K+R

[garybeck]

51. Bullcrap. It's posts like this that are dividing us. Nt

[Cha]

66. It's the truth.. how can the facts "divide us"? It's the

extremists who are doing this. There are no "extremists" around here.

[Mossfern]

58. It's the goddam

media.

[yaesu]

59. Started from the left? Them liberals? Is this an Onion article? nt

[Cha]

104. Yeah, the extremists..

Link to tweet

[LAS14]

60. Be sure to read Biden's statement.

I can't believe how little attention this is getting on DU.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213376230

[Cryptoad]

61. who?

Caution: Russians at Work!...... u can buy lots of sexual assault with that Oligarch $$$$$$$

[robbedvoter]

62. Like with other smears in the past, lefties start it, RW puts it out there

I learned from the Hunting of the President that conspiracies such as Mena Airport drug dealing blamed on Clinton, was cooked this way. Same with Wes Clark - attacked with wild stories by the left before even running, then Rove, Roger Stone would amplify. It’s an old trick. I don’t think Nader invented it. But Russia has been feeding the left longer than we know ( now they feed both ends)

[rockfordfile]

64. More like the right-wing and far-left

[SharonClark]

68. Agree. It's contant on FAUX News

FAUX News reaches more people than the radical left (or whatever they are).

[The Magistrate]

65. Very True, Sir

We must make sure everyone knows we are having none of it, shame any on our side who try and pretend there's something to this swill, and blanket 'news' outlets who try and peddle these lies with angry protests and threats of boycott --- anything short of actual threats of lethal violence.

Show-boat talking heads playing 'balance' as if the Golden Mean were not a logical fallacy need to learn fear of social consequences. There are a damned sight more of us than there are of them, and we need to come together and make this plain.

The time for this sort of crap is over. They cannot ruin our leaders without our help, and we need to get this through our collective heads. Well-meaning, good-hearted people who tend to the left need to learn not to allow their better natures to be taken advantage of by vicious scum on the right, and splinterest wreckers on the far left, who enlist them in their charges against figures of the center left, by exhorting them to 'be consistent' and telling them 'don't be hypocrites'. The proper response to attempts at this is a hearty "Fuck off! Nobody cares what a rancid piece of dogshit like you thinks!" Or words to that effect....

Only attack the enemy, the christo-fascist right.

Never, ever, attack people who are on your side.

If you want one quick reason why the right wing wields power well out of proportion to the popularity of its policies, it is that they adhere to this rule, and we on the left do not.


"Defeat of a dangerous enemy is something to be for."

[ancianita]

67. The Left is not divided. The Right wants to make the Left think it's divided. Buy that, and they win

They will get people to think that both extremes are the same.

They're not. Don't believe the hype.

[Hav]

71. That's true, it was the Bernie left that was pushing it

when even Fox News wouldn't touch it. But on this topic is not always easy to differentiate between the radical Bernie supporters and the maga aholes. The rose helps though. You see a rose and you know you are going to read some deranged, brainless shit.

Not sure why some here act so surprised about the claim that a subset of the left is pushing this. It was literally Bernie's staff amplifying this bs. It was their last hail mary to beat Biden.
And you can also see posters on DU trying to make all kinds of apologies for all the inconsistencies in Reade's story. They just want it to be true, no matter what.

[DenverJared]

72. Sanders needs to expose the whole conspiracy

He must be aware of it

[Ellen Forradalom]

73. This is intended to drive a wedge into Biden's base

Between white suburban women and black voters.

I do not speak for black Democratic voters; they spoke for themselves at the polls, and they overwhelmingly chose Biden.

The other pillar of Biden's support is suburban women, and this is directed straight at them.

If the primaries are relitigated in any way, it will have been a profound betrayal of the Democratic Party's rock solid base: black Americans.

[crimycarny]

74. OMFG--Mika on Morning Joe

Did you see her grill Joe Biden with the fake outrage? I felt like it was a performance designed to show what a “hard hitting journalist” she is. She kept insinuating that because Joe sealed his records from the University of Delaware that means he is hiding something. Joe kept repeating over and over that there would be no point in opening up those records since any complaint she filed would be filed in the US Senate records. The University of Delaware records are years of position papers, speeches, etc that could be fodder to be taken out of context in a political campaign. It is routine for anyone running for office to have these types of papers sealed. But she just kept harping on it and asking “why not just allow a search of her name?”. Joe looked genuinely perplexed at her logic. Why search those records when it doesn’t include any personnel records? She asked over and over about the search and Joe finally said “By who? Who would perform a search like this?”. She stumbled on her reply, and no real answer.

The upside is that Joe held up really well under her questioning and came out on top.

Anyone else see this interview? Sorry, I can’t figure out how to link the video. It was on Morning Joe. https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe

[Bucky]

75. This post is participating in the circular firing squad

The reality is you don't know who is behind it. You can pretend it's your favorite bête noire, but you have no evidence for this outlandish theory.

In fact, the way that you blame at all on "The Left" (so scary!)--as if progressives are some mindless monolithic mob--tells me you ain't got squat to back up your claims.

[Drunken Irishman]

78. We kinda do know who's behind it.

Katie Harper is the one who was the first to push these allegations with her unfiltered interview with Tara. She allowed Tara to make all her claims without even really checking her dubious claims. Then an extension of the left got wind of it and ran with it.

Then Krystal Ball went with it and started spreading it. Ball then brought the attention to her daily (or whatever) webcast on The Hill, which is a pretty mainstream, and that only added credibility to the damn thing.

Near universally, back in early April, this story was being pushed by those who associate with the left. Monolithic or not, some prominent supposed liberals are now peddling this bullshit.

I expect it from the GOP. But I didn't expect liberals to do their own damage.

[JI7]

110. we have seen who is pushing it and who/what they supported/opposed before

But i disagree with the OP in that those people actually care about getting any liberal policies through. They may claim to be progressive , left or whatever the fuck but their goal is always to help republicans win.

[BlueIdaho]

77. Populists share common tactics.

Regardless if they wear MAGA hats or Bernie badges. That is all.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

79. Yeah it's the "Bernie or Bust" crowd.

The timing of her accusation was a dead give away.

[johnthewoodworker]

80. I'm a leftist, liberal, union, socialist, retired asshole who has voted democratic since 1980.

Obama was the only candidate I supported in a primary that became the nominee, yet I voted for the democratic candidate every year.
I did not create, support or lend credence to the Tara Reade story. I really liked Liz Warren, voted for Bernie in the primary after she dropped out, and will happily vote for Biden in November.

Can we stop with 'the left' created this problem. There are those, like me, who identify as 'the left'. You probably want to try and not generalize in your criticism as we are 6 months away from the most important election in our history.

[Drunken Irishman]

92. Maybe when the prominent socialists stop pushing the story.

It's not Democrats who are pushing it.

Now it's Trump supporters and socialists.

[johnthewoodworker]

97. I'm a socialist.

[The Magistrate]

96. All Of Us Here Are On The Left, Sir

And some on the left hew to the view that the first need is to overthrow center-left leadership in the Democratic Party, and these, whether they like the thing being bluntly stated or no, and even whether they are quite able to realize it or not, constitute an auxiliary arm of the christo-fascist right, which is the sole beneficiary of their efforts.


"Defeat of a dangerous enemy is something to be for."

[ancianita]

114. We are all liberals on the Left, Sir. But not all the Left are liberals.

The Left that is outside the Democratic Party does not speak for this 100% liberal party or any Democrat.

I only say this in pursuit of clarity.

Solidarity, Sir.

[The Magistrate]

115. True Enough, Ma'am

My personal views are a good deal more to the left than might be supposed, and I consider myself a member of the Democratic Party as a part of a Popular Front, which ought to include all on the left here in our country. I have no patience with people on the left who see revolution in accord with obsolete Marxist prophecy as their chief aim, and take accordingly the center-left as their chief immediate enemy. It is the duty of every leftist first to balk the efforts of the reactionary right to beggar the people in the interests of a few plutocrats and preachers, and once that is done, we can indulge in quarrels over how best to improve the lot of our citizenry. Even then I do not expect miracles, but the accretion of successes showing clearly the benefits of left policies to all. As one of the founders of the original Fabian Society said more than a century ago:


"We should have had Socialism long since, were it not for the socialists."

[KG]

82. I lulz'd

[Cha]

103. You also kicked the thread..

Link to tweet

[LanternWaste]

83. Don't conflate a few useful idiots as The Left.

There are enough stupid people of all political persuasions to realize that laying this turd on our doorstep is irrational... despite anecdotal evidence and predicating your entire conclusion on three logical fallacies.

[Drunken Irishman]

90. A few useful idiots is how we got into this mess.

They elevated Reade's story. Katie Harper allowed her an opportunity to spew her story without even a cursory investigation into what she said. That then allowed for Krystal Ball to use her web series on The Hill to bring it even more into the MSM.

These liberals wanted Biden to be defeated so badly they bought a lie, ran with it and now attack anyone who questions the allegations.

[warmfeet]

85. Vote for Joe.

Just vote for Joe. The alternative, ugh.

[Paladin]

88. Trust me, I will. (nt)

[betsuni]

89. K&R

[demmiblue]

91. Yes it is (I didn't bother to read your wall-o-text).

So much concern!

[Drunken Irishman]

93. Too bad. It's probably the best thing you'll ever read.

Just so you know, this original story was published by Katie Harper, and pushed by Krystal Ball - not anywhere near 'the right'.

[demmiblue]

99. Lol... nah.

I ignore the cray.

[Cha]

101. But you did bother to get on This thread to show how much Concern

you don't have.

Link to tweet

[Progressive dog]

94. Smearing real Democrats is what many

leftists do. That's why we have "left" candidates who want New Yorkers to risk their lives in a meaningless primary vote.

[Historic NY]

95. THEY ARE the ASSHOLES who were never Biden...

Sanders couldn't rein them in so this is what we got. Thrown in the socialist and greens and where will we be. They sabotage their free college, health care, 410 chances. They will if they don't move to some exotic paradise be stuck paying for the last 4 year and God forbid more,Swayed by soothsayers and dreamers or unicorns and rainbows. A pox on them and their kind....along with their celebrated morons. The Moores, Steins, Sarandon's, & the rest of the Uber Left Wing jackasses.

They now aligned themselves with Trump Jr and that ilk. Fuck them All.

[PurgedVoter]

100. Nope, The sock puppet fake left is doing this.

Posts like this are dangerous all inclusive nonsense. There may be a few facts here but the conclusion is divisive.
Yes, as I have said on DU long before this, Tara is the worst witness you could possibly ask for.

But when you brand the left as the problem, you are playing into the Russian sock puppet narrative. Yes, there are sock puppets out there manipulating people. There may be individuals who have been compromised by these sock puppets. If you look at Tara's various political contortions, she is almost certainly part of the Russian sock puppet narrative. Don't be fooled by this. Division is part of the plan.

[Cha]

102. Anybody find it telling that 🌹 Twitter is peddling this hit job..

Link to tweet

[dalton99a]

113. +1. The Big Lie will be repeated by trolls and operatives until it becomes truth

It's despicable

[Galraedia]

106. The BernOuts were pushing this crap for a while

It's like none of them realized the irony that these allegations were release before Bernie Sanders endorsed the person they're pushing false sexual assault allegations on. So if Biden is a rapist, Bernie Sanders is a supporter of rapists. Seriously though, Tara Reade is so uncredible that even conservative media didn't know whether or not to promote it because it was so batshit crazy. And you can tell the difference between the Bernie supporters pushing it and the conservatives because the conservatives will always bring up Kavanaugh. Tara Reade seems to have been obsessed with all the attention that she was getting that she felt like she needed to change her story, giving very different versions of what she claimed happened, in an attempt to appease Bernie's cult like followers.

[tavernier]

112. No disrespect to you, but I'm trashing all the Tara stories from now on

because Joe spoke his peace.

[ancianita]

116. I'm with you. This just does not help us or Joe. We're solid. We need to act that way.

[betsuni]

117. Here are two examples from Jezebel, supposedly a feminist progressive site.

Disgusting. I guess they want to lose readers.

http://theslot.jezebel.com/biden-just-wants-you-to-take-his-word-for-it-1843198882

http://theslot.jezebel.com/maybe-rethink-this-one-dude-1843185032

[zak247]

118. Its the Bernie bros too

Go on YouTube and see ex-Bernie supporters all piling up on Biden on this story hoping against hope to somehow derail Biden and slink Bernie in. From the Young Turks to Krystal Ball and her stupid sidekick and Glenn Greenwald on Twitter who are promoting this story.

And other " Liberals" who hate Biden and want a revolution or who knows maybe they like Trump for their own career purposes.

[VarryOn]

119. If this issue was going to crop up...

I'd rather it happen now. Better now than on October 29 where it could gin up with pre-election emotions on hair triggers. It's a good scrimmage for Biden and team to deal with dirty politics.

[DFW]

123. Biden is running against Republicans

By definition, that means dealing with dirty politics.

[VarryOn]

124. Never pretty....

Still, better now, than then.

[BGBD]

120. I'm keeping a list

Ryan Grim
Katie Halper
Nathan Robinson
Krystal Ball
Chris Hayes

These are all supposed leftist who have been more than happy to try to ratfuck the Democratic Nominee and help Trump based on some hairbrained idea that they can install Bernie as the nominee instead.

I have news for them. If they had succeeded in forcing Biden out, the delegates, mainly the superdelegates would have got to pick the nominee. It would not have been anyone they'd have liked any better.

There is a 0% chance that Bernie is now, or is ever in the future, the Democratic Nominee for President. It's never gonna happen.

I'll also remember this in future primaries.

[lamp_shade]

122. kick