I guess this must not be an important story, because both the NY Times and the Washington Post have buried it in small articles far down on their pages…but it seems like it ought to be a big deal. Donald Trump is being tried for the rape of E. Jean Carroll. The leading Republican candidate for the presidency has been credibly accused of rape. Maybe we ought to care a lot more about that? Everything in the account is consistent, and fits with what we know about the man. Carroll has testified:
In a heart-wrenching testimony, Carroll told her story once again: She hung out with Trump on a whim. They bantered. Then he raped her. She was so scarred by the experience, she said, that she was “unable to ever have a romantic life again.” This, too, is consistent with her first public recounting of this story, published in her book and in New York magazine in 2019: “I have never had sex with anybody ever again.”
Donald Trump is the cure for desire. I believe it.
While Carroll has been present and bravely telling a story that clearly hurts her deeply, Trump is not present in the courtroom. His lawyers (who are scum-sucking creeps, whose only defense is to slander the victim) have wisely chosen to keep him away.
Of course, there’s a pragmatic reason to keep Trump away, which is that he’s too undisciplined. He can’t keep his story straight regarding sexual abuse, and whether he’s for it or against it. During the deposition, for instance, Trump tried to stick to his story that no encounter happened. But, being the sexist pig he is, he kept veering very close to contradicting himself in order to invoke another sexist myth about rape, which is that victims are asking for it.
“She actually indicated that she loved it,” he grumbled during the October 19, 2022 testimony, referring to a CNN interview he watched with Carroll. “In fact, I think she said it was sexy, didn’t she? She said it was very sexy to be raped.”
Carroll’s attorney almost caught him, by replying, “So, sir, I just want to confirm:· It’s your testimony that E. Jean Carroll said that she loved being sexually assaulted by you?” Seemingly realizing his screw-up, Trump back-tracked and started dithering about how he was merely speculating about her mental acuity based on a cable news program. But one can see from this, and from Trump’s social media posts, why his lawyers are so worried he will let some damning detail slip if he’s under the pressure of cross-examination.
He’s a corrupt fool and a rapist, but he’s still running for the highest office in the land. The Supreme Court has been packed with corrupt and untrustworthy lickspittles to the rich. There is no justice in America.
Can Hannibal Burress be persuaded to do a new comedy tour or special?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2018/04/26/hannibal-buress-unwittingly-reignited-the-bill-cosby-firestorm-heres-how-he-dealt-with-the-aftermath/
In a nation with rapist founders, he wouldn’t be the first to be president.
I fail to see why historical heads of state being rapists matters. It’s not like Trump should get a pass just because he never personally led an army that raped and plundered a city and took a few slaves there for his harem.
When the early Christians stole the God of the Jews, they cast Him as a rapist. And they worship Him not in spite of that “character flaw”, but because of it.
Obviously Christians weren’t the first with a rapist god — there must have been one or two of the polytheistic gods who had had indiscretions with mortals — but I suspect anyone who actually made household shrines to the worst offenders would be on the receiving end of some funny looks at the very least.
“He’s a corrupt fool and a rapist, but he’s still running for the highest office in the land. The Supreme Court has been packed with corrupt and untrustworthy lickspittles to the rich. There is no justice in America.”
There is still plenty of work to do, reelect Biden and vote blue.
@4 this^
“She said it was very sexy to be raped.”
Literally, I am at a loss of words for this. It’s like saying that it’s very comforting to be abandoned, or very enjoyable to have your hands cut off. No one would say those things, and to suggest that they would…
jimf: no one would say those other things, but lots of people DO say what Trump said — which could be one reason Trump said it.
And one can find at least one or two women who have said they have fantasies of being raped; which, to say the least, doesn’t help here.
Also, there’s at least one other woman — girl, actually, IIRC she was about 12 at the time — who has credibly accused Trump of raping her.
And while no one has actually alleged this, I would not be at all surprised to find Trump is, or was at some time, raping Ivanka. His well-known treatment of women, plus his “grab ’em by the pussy” boasts, plus his “I can shoot someone in broad daylight and not lose any votes” demeanor, plus LOTS of photos of Trump touching his dolled-up underage daughter in very inappropriate ways, all add up to a deep and credible suspicion that Trump is even worse than the known rape allegations show him to be.
@ ^ 8. Raging Bee : Yup. 26 women at least that we know of. Including one of Trump’s wive’s and yes, a child.
See :
https://www.businessinsider.com/women-accused-trump-sexual-misconduct-list-2017-12
Plus this article :
https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2020/10/21/trump-sexual-assault-allegations-share-similar-patterns-19-women/5279155002/
Decided against including more potentially triggering references to sexual assaults that follow here. So yeah, WARNING
In addition to :
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-sexual-assault-allegations-all-list-misconduct-karen-johnson-how-many-a9149216.html
There’s even a wikipage : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_sexual_misconduct_allegations
As well as Trump’s own boastful admissions before he was elected POTUS.. after which he really should have been arrested or at least investigated as a self-confessed serial sexual criminal. But hey, HRC had some funny emails or something?
@ bluerizlagirl : “..there must have been one or two of the polytheistic gods who had had indiscretions with mortals.”
Er, Zeus and Apollo and their Roman counterparts spring immediately to mind and that’s before we get to Pan, Priapus and Bacchus.. Pan at least had the decency to die. Which I guess defied Roman God emperors including ..was it Vespasian .. definitely NOT Caligula ironically… also technically did Iguess but still.
Some people say that they want to be killed and eaten by another human, with one conviction for doing just that.
Because, despite what a potential victim says, crimes are still illegal, murder is still murder and rape is still rape.
What amazes me with Trump is that nobody’s family members have pumped him full of lead yet.
@ ^ wzrd1 : Amazes me that Melania hasn’t murdered him in his sleep. Proof they sleep in different rooms maybe?
We should have believed Anita Hill and bounced Clarence the Corrupt out on his criminal ass instead of seating him on the court.
And, I think we should believe E. Jean Carroll, too. Some will say she has bad ulterior motives (money, fame, revenge, etc.) But, given that the Yuge Orange Magat is the proven, undisputed master of lies, revenge and grabbing women by the pussy, I find her more credible.
especially as doonesbury pointed out https://doonesbury.slate.com :
“That’s Marla, yeah. That’s my wife.”
— Trump, being shown a photo of W. (sic) Jean Carroll after saying in a deposition that she wasn’t his “type”
@12 StevoR said: Amazes me that Melania hasn’t murdered him in his sleep.
I suspect there is probably a ‘prenuptial agreement’ that prevents that, saying she would be out on the street without a dime if she did murder the Yuge Orange Magat.
Or Australia for rape victims either. Watched tonight’s episode of the Asking For It documentary :
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/apr/20/asking-for-it-is-urgent-difficult-viewing-on-australias-consent-crisis
Plus today’s news :
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-27/south-australian-coroner-wont-hold-inquest/102271908
Oh of course the Luhrman (NOT Higgins) trial :
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-17/inquiry-to-examine-points-of-conflict-in-lehrmann-prosecution/102234130
then we had the HC “Justices” letting convicted by a jury beyond reasonable doubt child rapist Pell go and so much more.
@10. Damn. I stuffed up the italics close. Yay. It was Vespasian I was thinking of! See :
https://www.thoughtco.com/vespasians-famous-last-words-119621
Even if not exactly his last words and probly apocryphal anyhow.
Dear PZ, SteveoR and others. I would love for there to be fairness and justice in human society. But, it makes me sad to realize (based on too many experiences and observations) that human selfishness, dishonesty and deceit almost always preclude fairness and justice as the outcome. As a manager I worked for once said, “Who the hell ever promised you fairness?”
Of course, we do also have the case of Tara Reade :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden_sexual_assault_allegation
Who I think we should also believe. Tho’ like most of Trump’s sexaul assault victims seems to have been long forgotten – or has she?
If only credible rape allegations were the immediate disqualifying from any sort of powerful office factor that they should be.
@5 stuffin
Re-electing another old white man who can’t keep his hands off women isn’t a solution to this problem.
@ 17. shermanj : Yup. Depressing. Infuriating. True. Far too often true anyhow even if not always so.
The Just World Fallacy?
See :
https://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/06/07/the-just-world-fallacy/
+
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Just_world_hypothesis
&
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-just-world-phenomenon-2795304
If the world is to actually become Just then we’ll have to work to make it that way ourselves.
@19. beholder : Yes but what are the realistic alternatives and options here? Besides hoping both current front-runners for the .. FFS .. 2024 USA POTUS election kick the bucket before they take power again? Two parties, too similar but what will and can be done and if it isn’t what then? Fucking depressing really.
@21 SteveoR regarding POTUS candidates said: what are the realistic alternatives and options here
I reply, currently there are no acceptable alternatives. Ron, the hateful bigot in White High Heel Boots sucks. Kamala Harris is a wishy-washy crapitallist nightmare. At this point I would vote for the ticket “Randy Rainbow and RuPaul”. They are at least witty apparently not corrupt.
Besides, Randy Rainbow and RuPaul as pres. and V.P. would at least make some Rtwingnut Xtian terrorist heads explode!
@20 SteveoR said: If the world is to actually become Just then we’ll have to work to make it that way ourselves.
I am compelled to reply: WHAT A BEAUTIFUL IDEA! I and my organization are focused on that in our own small and not very powerful or wealthy way. I know we are greatly out numbered and outspent by the hateful, bigoted selfish powers that be. But, we must continue to work to those ideals of Honesty, Fairness and caring and encourage that in others.
Which is why so many moralistic Democrats never elected Clinton. Or reelected him. Or Biden.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/28/joe-biden-sexual-assault-allegations-why-has-media-ignored-claims
This hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth is merely a politically partisan performance. I’d hope that no actual leftists would fall for it.
@5
I don’t think I can vote for the lesser of two
evilsrapists again.First, who else WOULD you vote for, if not the lesser of two evils? Some perfect imaginary saint? That won’t improve a damn thing, no matter how righteous it makes you feel inside.
And second, please stop pretending that calling Biden and Trump “rapists” makes them indistinguishable. Even if all the charges against Biden are true (not a tenable assumption), they are far fewer and far less severe than the charges against Trump. Also, Biden has consistently shown far better character than Trump.
Headline from the article cited by drew above:
Why has the media ignored sexual assault and misbehaviour allegations against Biden?
Answer: they didn’t ignore them at all, and anyone who says they were is a fucking liar. I remember those allegations being covered during the campaign — and covered more extensively than the far more serious allegations against Trump.
The entire argument is bullshit anyway.
First, there are two parties, whose multi-billion dollar campaigns are paid for by the same wealthy special interest groups, yeah, we can expect loads of change there. And for pigs to fly.
Then, let’s say for shits and giggles, we get an absolute saint in the Oval Office as POTUS. Whammy, it’s done! Yay!
What laws can such a saint enact alone? I’ll wait, the sun will go out first, as the POTUS doesn’t create, craft or write in any way laws, that’s the legislature. Whoops, now we need to replace 535 people with saints. I’d have trouble finding that many throughout the entirety of human history.
Then, we get another wonderful idea, disqualify upon accusation. Good job, saint runs, saint gets accused falsely, the other candidate also accused, we have no leadership whatsoever.
How about we try useful suggestions?
@27 Raging Bee
The rape apologetics are strong from partisan hacks…
You may have to search far afield for candidates who aren’t rapists, but it’s a worthwhile endeavor. I assure you plenty of non-imaginary people qualify.
“Far fewer” and “far less severe” rapes doesn’t make it better. Nominate a less monstrous candidate and I may be inclined to vote for them.
Seems irrelevant to the rape allegations, no?
Tara Reade’s allegations against Biden were indeed quite extensively covered in the media (including the New York Times, Vox, Business Insider and CNN), although mostly after the date of the article drew linked to (28 March 2020). Reade seems to have a fairly extensive record of making claims (about her qualifications) that are not true, and although that doesn’t mean her allegation of sexual assault against Biden is false, it is clearly relevant information. Aside from Reade’s, there have AFAIK been no other allegations against him of sexual assault, but there have been a number of credible allegations that Biden touched women, in the presence of others, in ways that made them uncomfortable, but that would not amount to sexual assault. Such behaviour is unpleasant, creepy and wrong, but far from equivalent to even the behaviour Trump has boasted about, let alone what he is credibly accused of by multiple women. I’d much rather Biden was not proposing to stand for a second term, for multiple reasons, but any pretence that he’s even remotely comparable to Trump are simply dishonest.
Yes, it’s all about you and how you can’t sully your pure soul, isn’t it?
So, you’re going to leave the presidential selection blank? Or vote for third party? Voting is not an endorsement of their character. Voting is literally helping choose the direction of the country. Sitting home and not voting may give you the appearance of not helping a rapist get into office, but your inaction leads to the same outcome as inevitably as voting for anyone else, and not voting for the lesser evil does mean some real and appreciable increase in the chance of the worse outcome happening. Inaction is just another kind of action, and the action that you choose leads to demonstrably worse outcomes. You’re hurting other people through your choice to note vote for the lesser evil.
And if you really care this much about the issue, then get off your butt and do something about it. Get involved in local politics. Join your local Democratic party. Be active. Attend meetings. Get your friends to attend meetings. Make change. Make it better. All with the eventual goal of going to party list voting so we can have many more real choices when voting so that we can vote for even lesser evils compared to the evil choices presented today.
GerrardOfTitanServer, the answer is already present. Leave all slates blank, due to accusations rolling in to disqualify everyone.
Then, piss and moan that there is no government to uphold any laws or respond to any emergencies.
Until then, vehemently piss and moan about all being evil, everyone needs disqualification, rinse and repeat.
It reminds me of what an attorney said of litigation. “You can sue a ham sandwich”, as litigation is an accusation before a civil court, to some, the ham sandwich is disqualified too.
Maybe we can try nominating a boulder.
@33. GerrardOfTitanServer : For once we are in complete agreement and very well put and seconded by me.