So 3 Women Say That Donald Trump Has Been A Naught Boy In Sexual Groping Etc....

[DTCwordfan]

Are we surprised?

Any comments to him?

BBC intermediate news at 9 the source.

[jim360]

I suppose that the comments about how "people back then were expecting it", or "those who weren't groped got a little upset", or "why are they only complaining now?" are not entirely unexpected, but strike me as a little disturbing. It seems to place most or all of the onus on dealing with and stopping sexual harassment on those who are harassed, rather than, you know, those doing the harassing.

Whether or not Trump himself actually sexually harassed any individual women is debatable, but what isn't remotely up for debate is that he abused his position of power in other ways that amount to the same thing:

//Well, I'll tell you the funniest is that before a show, I'll go backstage and everyone's getting dressed, and everything else, and you know, no men are anywhere, and I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant and therefore I'm inspecting it... they're standing there with no clothes. 'Is everybody okay?' And you see these incredible looking women, and so, I sort of get away with things like that.
//

https://soundcloud.com/user-735086019/101g1

[mikey4444]

Bathy....I am against a bit of flirting around the photocopier, but most of what has now come out about Weinstein, etc has been indefensible.

[Mamyalynne]

Not sure you have understood my reply Baths, but as you used a 'smiley' I'll accept your reply as humour.

[tamborine]

Chase a bee for honey & you will get stung!

[ummmm]

How insulting Baths!!!

[Mamyalynne]

Best left.

[jim360]

I was wondering how long it would be before someone got around to making a link between attractiveness and being groped -- with the implication that not being assaulted is somehow a slight on one's desirability. How pathetic.

[anneasquith]

Who honestly is surprised at the newish allegations about Trump? I'm ashamed that people especially women would rather question the honesty of the woman as opposed to admit Trump is a disgusting human being .

[naomi24]

anneasquith, //I'm ashamed that people especially women would rather question the honesty of the woman . //

Oh dear. Ashamed eh? That's a bit dramatic. Do you think women never lie then?

[pixie374]

Trump himself has boasted about groping.

[mikey4444]

Anne ....well said !

Naomi...why are you coming down on the side of the perpetrators of abuse, and questioning the motives of the (mostly) women that coming forward with complaints ?

[mikey4444]

Pixie....indeed he has...I posted a link earlier to that effect.

Hoisted by his petard it would seem.

[jim360]

The problem of false allegations is clearly real but somewhat exaggerated. Most reports are likely genuine -- which should hardly be surprising since most people who doubt these claims also tend to freely admit that it happened to them regularly -- and there's no particular reason to suspect that these aren't, at least partly, true.

As I linked earlier, to a direct quote from Trump, it's not difficult to find hints or examples that he used or abused his position of power to connect with women he found attractive. It's not exactly a giant step to imagine that Donald "If Ivanka weren't my daughter I'd probably be dating her" Trump might have crossed the line on occasion.

As to the timing of the allegations: these women came forward last year when Trump was a candidate, so they aren't "new". Clearly it's connected to being a candidate and then a president. And why not? The most powerful man in the world, or one of them, deserves to have a great deal of scrutiny applied to his actions. And once one woman comes forward, others will also, encouraged or inspired by others to share stories they might otherwise have suppressed. There's no great mystery there. Victims can be embarrassed into silence, convinced that it happened to only them until they learn otherwise; or they can be scared until the fear is lifted, as happened clearly with Weinstein et al.

There's clearly some chance that the allegations are all false, but at the very least the only way to establish the truth is to take the allegations seriously enough to investigate them.

[Hazi-Hammenuhoth]

So he's another Bill Clinton then?

[jim360]

"Ah ha! Got you! Trump isn't the only man in power to grossly abuse his position! See, it's all right that he does it!"

[Khandro]

Has anyone ever heard of J.F. Kennedy ?

[tamborine]

Trumps grope comment was among males....females usually refer to such as wet dreams & locker room chat. WHereas females might check out his car/house/wealth but rarely his wife or kids

[naomi24]

Mikey, //Naomi...why are you coming down on the side of the perpetrators of abuse, and questioning the motives of the (mostly) women that coming forward with complaints ?

I’m coming down on no side, but I could just as well ask you why you’re coming down on the side of people who may be lying in order to destroy a man? Like many people, anneasquith included, you’re only too happy to stick the boot in regardless of the truth. I wonder what happened to that highly coiffured, surgically-enhanced shrinking violet who managed to squeeze a tear or two out for the cameras just after Trump was elected …. or all those women who marched in protest, supposedly at his treatment of women, when in fact their march was clearly politically motivated. I’d like to think you’re naïve, Mikey – but that would be too kind.

[jim360]

"Trumps grope comment was among males..."

Not necessarily. If you play the file I linked to earlier you'll clearly him boasting implicitly about sleeping with Miss Universe winners/contestants, and walking in on them naked, in front of both a man (Howard Stern) and some woman called Kate Bohner. This isn't always male "locker room talk" -- which anyway shouldn't exactly be an excuse.

[Deskdiary]

Mikey "...nice to see you defending the abusers, and not supporting the victims, who are mostly women!"

This would surely get this week's Leap of Logic award if there was one!

Questioning the motives of some women who have waited years to make their allegations most certainly is not a defence of the (alleged) abusers.

I am concerned that irrespective of how long ago an alleged act occurred, and/or irrespective of how 'minor' the act alleged to have happened was (where most people with even an ounce of fortitude would have been able to deal with it at the time) comes with an automatic assumption of guilt. If this automatic assumption of guilt doesn't concern people, well it bloody well should.

spathiphyllum "He has no right to be in the White House..."

Err, yes he does.