I’ve got my already bitchy panties in a bunch this morning so I need to rant. We had a story a couple of days ago of a woman, Lucy Flores who described an inappropriate touching incident with Joe Biden that made her feel very uncomfortable. Here’s what she said:
“As I was taking deep breaths and preparing myself to make my case to the crowd, I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze. “Why is the vice-president of the United States touching me?”
I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified. I thought to myself, “I didn’t wash my hair today and the vice-president of the United States is smelling it. And also, what in the actual fuck? Why is the vice-president of the United States smelling my hair?” He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldn’t process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused. There is a Spanish saying, “tragame tierra,” it means, “earth, swallow me whole.” I couldn’t move and I couldn’t say anything. I wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me. My name was called and I was never happier to get on stage in front of an audience.
By then, as a young Latina in politics, I had gotten used to feeling like an outsider in rooms dominated by white men. But I had never experienced anything so blatantly inappropriate and unnerving before. Biden was the second-most powerful man in the country and, arguably, one of the most powerful men in the world. He was there to promote me as the right person for the lieutenant governor job. Instead, he made me feel uneasy, gross, and confused. The vice-president of the United States of America had just touched me in an intimate way reserved for close friends, family, or romantic partners — and I felt powerless to do anything about it.
Our strange interaction happened during a pivotal moment in my political career. I’d spent months raising money, talking to voters, and securing endorsements. Biden came to Nevada to speak to my leadership and my potential to be second-in-command — an important role he knew firsthand. But he stopped treating me like a peer the moment he touched me. Even if his behavior wasn’t violent or sexual, it was demeaning and disrespectful. I wasn’t attending the rally as his mentee or even his friend; I was there as the most qualified person for the job.”
I added the emphasis on that last paragraph. Lucy Flores never claimed that this was a sexual assault. She is describing an incident that she felt was inappropriate and then sharing how it made her feel. And she’s been attacked relentlessly by “liberals” on Twitter for it. Claims that she’s a “Bernie Bro” trying to hurt Biden because she wants to help Bernie, pictures of her with her hands on Bill Clinton have been posted with claims that perhaps she’s the sexual assaulter, and a picture of her with Bernie where he has his hand on her shoulder. It’s all been quite despicable.
I earnestly don’t understand how so called liberals can behave this way. These people are dismissing this woman’s feelings because they’re still fighting proxy wars over the 2016 primary. I can’t think of a more craven reason to demean a woman than that. At least Trump supporters aren’t claiming to be anything but neanderthals, proudly standing behind Trump, Kavanaugh, and Roy Moore. But these people are the ones who claim to be “woke” supporters of #metoo.
Now there’s another woman with another story. Amy Lappos has a similar story that I won’t get into because you can look it up and that’s not the point of this post. I do want to share one quote that I think is important from her, “Biden’s statement in response to Lucy’s article was not only disturbing, it was disgusting.” This is apparently what prompted her to tell her own story.
She’s not going to be the last. Wanna know how I know? Because we’ve seen Biden being too touchy with our own lying eyes. Google “Biden creepy” with a custom date range that starts any time and ends before Lucy Flores came out with her story. You will find several videos. He’s got a history here.
Am I saying that this should disqualify him from being president? No. Am I saying that no one should vote for him because of it? No. You need to make that decision for yourself. But you have to do it honestly, and by acknowledging that Biden is sometimes an inappropriate toucher. He’s just a little too familiar and friendly in his touching for some people. You can’t deny that. Do I think this rises to the level of sexual assault? I personally don’t, but I certainly wouldn’t dismiss anyone who feels that it does.
The truth is that I think that some of this is generational, and that Biden genuinely doesn’t feel as if he’s done anything inappropriate. But that’s my problem: his inability to (after several women have spoken out over the decades) acknowledge that his barometer isn’t the only relevant barometer in gauging these situations. He doesn’t seem to even be considering the idea that his behavior makes some people feel uncomfortable. That troubles me.
None of this may trouble you, and that’s a perfectly reasonable position to defend. But attacking every woman who has had an uncomfortable interaction with Biden because you don’t want to defend that position in an intellectually honest way is just flat out despicable.
Sadly, there seem to be a lot of despicable “liberals” running around who are only “woke” when it’s politically convenient for them.
