It’s odd how a person’s bad behavior can be common knowledge for decades, and then suddenly it becomes an issue. Bill Cosby’s treatment of women was an open secret for decades, until comedian Hannibal Buress talked about it in his stand-up act. For whatever reason, that got the ball rolling. Now Cosby is in jail. He didn’t change. The world around him changed.
Just look at what’s happening to Joe Biden right now. For months he’s been running a “Will he or won’t he?” presidential campaign, but now I guess it’s official, because the muck is being raked. A New Mexico politician named Lucy Flores is now claiming Biden touched her inappropriately during a campaign event in 2014, saying he “inhaled [her] hair” and “proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of [her] head.” She didn’t like it. She thought it was weird and creepy, and it grossed her out.
I believe her, and not because we’re supposed to #BelieveWomen. I believe her because Joe Biden does that stuff all the time! It’s a cliché at this point. Everybody’s got their favorite (or least-favorite) picture of Joe getting a little too snuggly in public with a female he just met.
And most of the media has just waved it away. Look at the Today Show‘s coverage of that viral pic where Biden was basically grabbing a woman’s breasts during a 2013 Christmas party:
The gregarious vice president known for going off script is now getting attention for acting a little too jolly at his annual holiday party.
In a light-hearted photograph taken with The Hill’s White House correspondent Amie Parnes, Vice President Joe Biden can be seen with his hands high on the reporter’s waist — and Parnes with her hands firmly on top of Biden’s…
“He’s a gregarious guy. It doesn’t seem all that inappropriate to me but I don’t know what the moment was,” said Matt Lauer.
Well, if anybody’s an expert on appropriate workplace behavior, it’s Matt Lauer. Hey, whatever happened to that guy?
Note how they waved it away: “Gregarious.” “Jolly.” “Light-hearted.” Oh, that’s just Joe bein’ Joe. Don’t mind him. He’s harmless.
Some of the old guard is still defending him today:
Mika Brzezinski Defends Joe Biden: ‘Extremely Affectionate, Extremely Flirtatious in a Completely Safe Way’ https://t.co/SJqWLRqfKR pic.twitter.com/kyTGLmkSTk
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) April 1, 2019
Joe and Mika, also experts on appropriate workplace behavior.
But not everybody is so sanguine about it. Gloria Steinem is ticked off, although I suppose that’s nothing new. The Dem candidates for president are getting cornered about it, and some of them are calling Biden out. This guy was a heartbeat away from the presidency for eight long years, but suddenly he’s a problem.
It was fine for Joe to do this stuff when he was Obama’s VP, because calling him out would’ve hurt the Dems. Now a lot of Dems are suddenly concerned about it, because not calling him out could hurt them.
That’s what it all boils down to: power. They don’t care about women. They only care about having the power to tell you what to do. If they see Joe Biden as an impediment to that power, they’ll cast him aside just as easily as they covered for him all those years.
Hell, Hillary Clinton’s husband allegedly did a lot worse things than Biden ever did, a lot worse things than Trump ever did, and she allegedly helped him get away with it. And the Dems went all-in for her. They still haven’t recovered from that loss, and they’re terrified of letting it happen again.
Welcome to 2019, Joe! It ain’t gettin’ any better from here. #TimesUp.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member