It was only a matter of time before some liberal news outlet elected to approach the Tara Reade albatross by engaging in a little victim shaming. The short straw evidently fell to Politico, whose Natasha Korecki interviewed — to borrow her words — “aggrieved acquaintances in California’s Central Coast region who say they remember two things about her — she spoke favorably about her time working for Biden, and she left them feeling duped.” All have the same sense of Reade — that she was a “manipulative, deceitful, user.”
One of them, 79-year-old author and psychologist Harriet Wrye, recalls:
Reade had spoken highly of Biden, the former boss who employed her as a staff assistant from late 1992 to August 1993, and never mentioned assault or harassment.
Reade’s relationship with Wrye, the article explains, was that of tenant to landlord. Does author Korecki really expect that a woman — especially one who has been a lifeslong Democrat — would toss out in casual conversation with her landlord the information that the U.S. senator she had worked for raped her?
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
But never mind that. Ask yourself instead whether readers of the Politico column would believe it. For “conservative” Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin, the answer is yes. As RedState’s Sister Toldjah writes:
The latest example of Rubin’s utter clulessness comes by way of her commentary on new media hit pieces from Politico and PBS that predictably trash Joe Biden accuser Tara Reade’s character (because they must Protect the Precious at all costs, even if it means buhbye to #BelieveAllWomen). Here are two tweets Rubin posted on the stories:
I think we are done here https://t.co/c3n7XbvJDJ
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) May 15, 2020
Reade ingratiated herself, explained she was down on her luck and needed help, and eventually took advantage of their goodwill to extract money, skip rent payments or walk out on other bills. https://t.co/RBryGCEI32 We are REALLY done with this
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) May 15, 2020
In so stating, Rubin joins other satisfied customers, including Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in declaring Joe Biden’s reaction to the allegation “sufficient.” Time to move on.
Of course, there’s still the other albatross to contend with. The one hung around their necks by Christine Blasey Ford, whose tale of sexual assault by a young Brett Kavanaugh had zero corroborators. Ford herself was hazy on when and where the alleged attack occurred, but Democrats were more than willing to accept the veracity of her account.
Maybe it’s time for the Democrats to revise their credo in alleged victims of sexual assault from “Believe All Women” to “Believe Some Women.”
