The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    Cain’s Damage Control of Sexual Harassment Allegations Opens the Floodgates

    By MuddyPolitics on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 4:13pm |

     

    It appears Herman Cain has brought this new wave of media scrutiny upon himself.

     
    Not because he’s being accused of sexually harassing two women in the late 1990s, and not because his responses to these allegations have appeared “Clintonian” at least and scattered at most, but because in his public statements about these charges Cain made “disparaging remarks” about one of the alleged victims, which may be a violation of the confidentiality agreement he signed.
     
    According to The Hill:
     
    Attorney Joel Bennett told CBS’s “The Early Show” on Wednesday that his client hasn’t spoken publicly because of the confidentiality agreement, but that Cain’s comments might have cleared a path. … “She would like to speak out for the record, only because Mr. Cain has stated that he didn’t sexually harass anyone, that there wasn’t any substance to the allegations, and basically made it look like she was some type of frivolous claimant looking for money.” According to Bennett, one of the stipulations of the confidentiality agreement was that neither party could make disparaging remarks about the other. Bennett said Cain violated that agreement on Fox News on Monday when he said that he had been told that the accuser’s performance in the workplace “was not up to par.”
     
    I cannot say one way or another whether these allegations are true. But at this point, it doesn’t matter. It is incidences like this that influence elections, and as unfair or ridiculous as that may be – that allegations yet to be proven as factually accurate can destroy a man’s career or political prospects – that’s the nature of the game. Politics is politics, and sex scandals sell more newspapers than policy debates.
     
    Looking ahead to what a sensation this story will become in the next few weeks, I can’t help but think not only of the effects on Cain’s campaign, to say nothing of his reputation, but also the fallout for the alleged victims.
     

    I’m reminded of an early episode of “Sports Night,” when associate producer Natalie Hurley was sexually assaulted by a football player. She had to accept that doing the right thing – reporting the crimes to the police – would inevitably make her a target of intense media scrutiny, or worse.
     
    “We all remember a Boston Globe reporter who was strong,” she said. “There isn't a female sports journalist that didn't learn their lesson from it. She had death threats. The FBI had to open her mail. Every loser who knew how to dial a phone was calling talk radio, saying ‘she was a bitch who shouldn’t have been there in the first place.’ And when it was all said and done, she had to pack up her life and move to the other side of the planet.”
     
    “Sports Night” is a fictional TV series, but like any quality piece of art (or entertainment, for that matter), this particular episode highlighted the consequences of, in this case, doing the right thing.
     
    Shame, embarrassment, fear of public ridicule – these are realities for victims who report injustices of any kind. Obviously, the blowback is worse when they are sexual in nature and involve public figures.
     
    Think back to Donna Rice, Monica Lewinsky (who eventually moved to London), Cindy Hampton, and of course Lisa Olson. Their stories are all different, but they were all dragged through the mass media mud for being involved, in whatever capacity, with high-profile news investigations.
     
    It doesn’t appear that the women who accused Cain of sexual harassment had to deal with this type of blowback at the time. News reports have confirmed that one woman was given a $35,000 severance (about $45,000 in 2011 dollars), which the New York Times reported was “was not common, especially for an employee with the woman’s relatively short tenure and her pay grade.” But the incident remained private. At least at the time.
     
    Now that Cain is a national celebrity, now that he has come forward admitting that one woman received a monetary settlement (not a legal settlement, mind you), and now that he made allegations about one woman’s “sub par” work ethic while defending himself against what he claims are false allegations, that woman must either come forward and defend herself or brush it under the rug.
     
    Either way you slice it, this is a tragedy in the making.
     
    It says something about our national media that this is what we focus on when gauging the electability of a candidate. Here too, though, it’s a double-edged sword. If Cain were to win the nomination, or the presidency, and the allegations of sexual harassment came out afterward, the public would be incensed. Rather than being praised for exercising some level of self-restraint, the media would be accused of failing in its obligation to keep the masses informed.
     
    It’s a lose-lose situation across the board, and yet it will dominate headlines for weeks...and we will all tune it to find out the latest details.

     

    Comments

    I don't believe that Cain is actually running so much as looking to increase his motivational speaking fees (much as Doc Cleveland suspected of Palin). If that is the case, these charges just add red meat to his narrative.


    by Donal on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 4:21pm

    Now there is #3 showing up on the radar screen:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/02/herman-cain-sexual-harassment_n_1072275.html?ref=politics

    This one claims Cain asked her back to his hotel room. hahhahahah


    by Richard Day on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 6:46pm

    Cain Says Perry Is Orchestrating a Smear Campaign

    By JEFF ZELENY, JIM RUTENBERG and MICHAEL D. SHEAR, New York Times, 5 minutes ago


    by artappraiser on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 10:27pm

    Well, if it's not Perry, it's the liberals. Go ask Coulter. 


    by MuddyPolitics on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 10:55pm