Why Are We Not Talking About Tara Reade?

In September 2018, the nation had their ears glued to every word spoken by Christine Blasey Ford at the at the nomination hearing for now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. So many of us felt for this woman and couldn’t stand to see her tell her story in front of the U.S. Senate. We also couldn’t stand to see Justice Kavanaugh get through to the Supreme Court. The American Left was disgusted.

This was during the height of the #MeToo movement.

This era of #MeToo has changed American discourse. It has changed the very nature of American culture. Americans have become much more mindful of their own words and actions when interacting with the opposite gender. Primarily and most importantly, it has provided a culture where survivors of sexual assault and harassment are capable of coming forward and sharing their stories.

Back in 2018, Democrats were so adamant about hearing from Ford. They appeared to be strong advocates for victims of sexual assault. So many Democrats understood that when charges like these are brought up, especially against a high-profile government official, that they are to be believed.

Now, fast forward to 2020. An election year. Amid Coronavirus panic.

WHY. ARE. WE. NOT. TALKING. ABOUT. TARA. READE.

Now for those of you just hearing about this story, Tara Reade, who worked as now-presidential candidate Joe Biden’s staff member back in 1993, has accused Biden of sexual assault. Biden’s campaign has come out and denied the accusation.

In a statement to Fox News, the deputy campaign manager for Biden, Kate Bedingfield,

“Women have a right to tell their story, and reporters have an obligation to rigorously vet those claims. We encourage them to do so, because these accusations are false.”

However, back-track to 2018 during the Kavanaugh hearings, Joe Biden was asked about the famous Anita Hill claims in the 90s against Clarence Thomas. Biden told reporters,

“For a women to come forward in the glaring lights of focus, nationally, you’ve got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she’s talking about is real, whether or not she forgets facts, whether or not its been made worse or better over time. But nobody fails to understand that this is like jumping into a cauldron.”

So, are women to be believed? Or only when those claims aren’t against you?

Curiously, I decided to look a bit deeper into Tara Reade’s claims. Much of the left-wing media broadcasts Biden’s denial that the incident ever occurred and the generous support he has received from prominent female-figures in the Democratic Party such as Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, and Stacey Abrams. These women have vouched for Biden claiming that the behavior described by Reade does not match the person they know. Biden himself has stated that he has never believed himself to have acted inappropriately.

Now, I will openly admit that I am not Joe Biden’s biggest fan for a multitude of reasons; primarily for the pictures and videos I’ve seen of him sniffing little girls’ and women’s hair. (Google it.)

It genuinely outrages me to call myself a Democrat and to have this man be my nominee.

However, my issue regarding these accusations goes beyond Joe Biden.

I am so incredibly frustrated at the response from supposed “leaders” on the Left. I am frustrated at Democrats running to “protect” their candidate. I am frustrated at left-wing media for not giving Tara Reade an ounce of coverage until now. We all saw the way the media rallied around Christine Blasey Ford; which is why I’m curious as to why we aren’t talking more about Tara Reade.

Reade’s story is not only more recent than Ford’s but has considerably more evidence and corroboration from her friends and family. There is even a video from the Larry King show back in 1993, where allegedly Tara Reade’s mother calls in to ask about what her daughter should do.

Yet, this video is either not discussed or dismissed by left-wing media organizations rather than being looking into and investigated. Now, I am not trying to compare the validity of either Ford or Reade’s stories; rather, the difference in media coverage regarding their respective stories.

Where is the reporting? Where is the outrage? Where are the protests?

The honest answer that I could come up with is that there still exists a majority of our country that are blissfully unaware. The Intercept's Ryan Grim, the former Washington bureau chief for HuffPost who led a team that was a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and one-time winner (i.e. credible), recently released an article sharing that Reade in January of this year reached out the National Women’s Law Center for assistance with sharing her story. The NWLC houses the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, established after the #MeToo movement rose to prominence, offering legal assistance for survivors.

Interestingly, Time’s Up told Reade that they could not provide any assistance because Biden was a candidate for federal office and their assistance in the case could put the organizations non-profit status at risk.

Now, I am no legal or tax expert, so I will not claim to know the details regarding how non-profit organizations and legal cases like this function. From my perspective, however, there is an issue in our legal or tax system if a non-profit organization that specializes in supporting legal cases for survivors cannot make a case against someone running for federal office. I feel that it defeats the whole purpose for organizations like this to exist. It truly baffles me.

However, where things become purely speculative and slightly conspiratorial is by the fact that the public relations firm that works for the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund is SKDKnickerbocker. SKDKnickerbocker’s managing director is Anita Dunn. Anita Dunn is a senior adviser in Biden’s presidential campaign.

Interesting coincidence to say the least, and the spiritual aspect of me knows that there is no such thing as coincidences. I leave that for your own interpretation.

Now, could the reason that Reade’s story is not more talking about be due to some sort of insider knowledge? Like I said purely speculative, but it does make one think. If anything, the lack of support from a legal fund and a public relations firm would explain the lack of media attention her story has received prior to these past few days.

However, that may not be the only reason. In a video interview with The Hill’s Rising, Reade also makes the claim that she attempted to reach out to Senators Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren but was turned away as well. This response is interesting because looking back to the case of Ford in the Kavanaugh hearings, Ford had reached out to Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office and was believed, and both Harris and Warren supported those claims made by Ford. The apparent dismissal of Reade’s claims by Democrats and those on the Left is what is most frustrating for me. Even, Nancy Pelosi, the House Majority Speaker, who was extremely prominent and vocal against Brett Kavanaugh, is shown dismissing a question asked about the allegations against Joe Biden, and the line that stands out is this: “Joe Biden is Joe Biden.”

Boys will be boys then?

Whether the allegations made by Reade are true, I am still left with many questions, but the one that stands out the most and where my primary issue lies is this:

Where was the response from our mainstream media organizations?

The only reporter to bring up these allegations on the Left was Chris Hayes on MSNBC. The only reason I know this is because “#FireChrisHayes” was trending on Twitter after he brought up the story on air. When did we become unable to take news that disagrees with our current perspective? The response from the Left is even clearer today with the latest trend on Twitter, “#IBelieveBiden”. This trend demonstrates a certain level of hypocrisy from the Left that leaves a poor taste in my mouth.

The #MeToo movement changed our perspectives on prominent figures in our country. Normally, our reaction is a mix of shock, outrage, and sympathy for the victim; however, now we are silent? Are our reactions to allegations like these a response of convenience? Perhaps we were only able to handle the Weinsteins, the Spaceys, and the Cosbys of the world being brought to justice because there was some semblance of detachment. They were only in Hollywood *cue jazz hands*, and we could easily mark them as “evil” people in our eyes because they weren’t so prominent in our every day lives. For hardcore fans of Cosby and Spacey, I’m sure the response was different; I’m sure many of them were in disbelief, but they still represented a minority of the population.

The last high-profile political sexual assault story was that of Christine Blasey Ford against Justice Kavanaugh. It was a story made by a woman made against someone that falls on the right of the political spectrum. If you remember at the time the response by the media and online painted Kavanaugh to be a villain and that Ford was to be believed. The response was so strong that there was an FBI investigation made into these allegations

Now, with allegations made against “Good ‘Ole Joe”, a much larger chunk of the US population is now faced with a moral dilemma; which for us on the Left is a really tough one: Do you actually believe women when they accuse someone of sexual assault or do you just want Trump out of office? The ramifications of that answer go on to affect the very foundation of our election this year, which is perhaps why the primary response to the Chris Hayes segment was denial and outrage. Whether consciously or subconsciously for the first time, many are determining the strength of their own moral convictions.

When I search my head as to why we are aren’t talking about Tara Reade more, the answer is simple:

Democrats do not want to lose to Trump in November and will do anything to keep what they believe to be their best shot at getting the White House. It doesn’t matter if Joe Biden is a rapist. What matters more is winning.

I, for one, will not compromise my own morals. I can’t support a candidate that I don’t fully stand behind. Why do I have to choose between the lesser of two evils for the second time? I don’t plan on donning a MAGA hat anytime soon. So, not voting is starting to sound like a more plausible idea within me, as unpopular as it may sound. *Cue everyone saying not voting is not protesting* Look, I’m not actively trying to protest anything. I’m just saying that right now nothing on the national ballot looks like a good answer.

I mean, am I really being forced to choose between two alleged rapists?

This goes beyond whether you identify as a Democrat or a Republican. As Americans, we are being asked to define where we take a stand. We are being asked where we draw the line. If we allow this to slide under the rug, then I am concerned that we make it clear that we, Americans, don’t stand for much nowadays.

Its 2020, and I’m fucking tired.

Namaste - Ju