Politico: New evidence surfaces in Tara Reade allegation against Biden

[Takket]

114. Thanks for this thread.....

The first time I heard about Reade was a few weeks ago when I saw many Sanders "supporters" (i put that in quotation marks because it is hard to tell the real thing from Russian trolls amplifying anti-Democrat messages) saying they would never vote for Biden because he is a rapist and "justice for tara".

Didn't think much of it..... because I know you really can't take anything you read on twitter seriously without a reputable news source to back it up, because Russia is EVERYWHERE.

Then I saw this today and the headlines made it sound like the mom said her daughter was raped on Larry King but having actually heard the clip it is NOTHING of the sort. For all we know the "daughter" of this caller could have left her job because Biden winked at her and she complained and it went nowhere...... We know he was "touchey feely" but I've never seen that as anything he does maliciously, and I believe since #metoo has changed the culture people have felt more empowered to say they don't like having their personal space invaded, even if it is by something that was once considered culturally acceptable like hug given without asking. and since Biden was "called out" on that a year or so ago and educated on it, I haven't seen him do it. I consider the matter closed. Maybe Biden rubbed her shoulders? Made her feel uncomfortable? That certainly isn't assault.

At the same time I am very distressed hearing rape culture/GOP dog whistles like "why is she only coming forward now?" being used on DU. This is the EXACT SAME shit we had to hear and explain during Ford's testimony.

It doesn't matter WHEN a victim chooses to come forward. In Ford's case she considered her assault behind her in her life until such a time when her rapist was suddenly about to take a seat on SCOTUS, and she felt, before he gained that much power, that she had to say something.

So if Reade sees Biden about to be president and feels now she needs to come forwards, and we democrats are truly to practice what we preach, then we need to "believe women". But to me "believe women" doesn't mean "they are always telling the truth", it means "don't just dismiss women for rape culture excuses." don't toss them aside and say "why now?" or "what was she wearing?" or "was she drinking that night?" Nor do i think other vices in life mean you weren't raped (stealing from the charity). That's GOP bullshit.

Reade deserves to have her story heard. Ford did. She had tons of credibility, she had a witness, she had the timeline in place, she had a consistant. and the GOP denied her a fair investigation and rammed Kavanaugh through.

Reade on the other hand, from what I've seen so far, doesn't have any credibility. The story about the CNN call is misleading, and her story keeps changing. Ford had a consistent and believable story from the beginning. I believe every woman should be heard, regardless of the political party of the accused, but ultimately their credibility and evidence is what makes a case, and I don't see that from what I've read about Reade so far. Especially if she won't even name Biden in a police report.