Donald Trump has been accused this month of harassment by several women.
We have waited for the corporate media to explore the charges -- instead of merely repeating them.
They have failed.
We are offering our take on some of the charges below.
We are not attempting to attack women who step forward.
Nor are we claiming that we have provided the final word.
We are offering our take based on what is in the public record.
More details may emerge and our initial opinions expressed below would change.
If you disagree, great. Make that case.
E-mail us and we'll print your reaction next edition -- thethirdestatesundayreview@yahoo.com and common_ills@yahoo.com (the latter has several people reading it so you'd probably be better sending there).
Jessica Leeds.
States she was moved from coach to first class on a flight (1979 or 1980) and seated next to Donald Trump who, after the in flight meal, lifted up an arm rest separating their seats and began to grope her.
This INFOWARS article by Kit Daniels contains something we won't comment on (a relative of Ms. Leeds is not Jessica Leeds, she's responsible for her behavior not that of everyone in her family). However, the article by Daniels calls into question details of Leeds account -- most importantly, whether or not the arm rests could even be lifted.
Daniel Harper (NEW YORK POST) reports Anthony Gilberthorpe (a British citizen whom THE POST was directed to by Donald Trump's campaign) states that he was present and no touching occurred by Trump. He states that Leeds was flirting with Trump, made that clear to Gilberthorpe when Trump left to go to the restroom and that the story she recounts is untrue.
Leeds states she said nothing to anyone on the aircraft or with the airline because these things happened in the 70s and 80s.
She also states she never discussed it until this year with anyone -- the alleged incident.
Personal story, a friend of Ava and C.I.'s at one of the networks -- not a close friend -- is a bit of a drama queen and is forever whining about how, years and years ago, Trump put the friend's father out of business (it was actually Trump's brother, but facts don't appear to matter).
They have heard that story over and over.
Non stop.
Anytime Trump is in the news, the story is repeated: when Trump started hosting the reality show, when Ivana was in the news, blah, blah, blah.
Trump is forever in the news -- long before the decision to run for president.
It's hard for us to believe a claim that someone forever in the news -- therefore a topic of casual conversations repeatedly -- gropes you on a plane and for over thirty years you never say a word to anyone.
Her story is problematic. It doesn't mean that she's not telling the truth.
It does mean that based on what is currently known we can't say that anything happened.
And if this happened to Leeds all the time in the 70s and 80s, we would think she would have other tales to share.
We further question her comment of her allegations: "His behavior is deep seated in his character."
If the incident took place, even if it did, how would she know about his character? She says this happened to her repeatedly "She did not complain to the airline staff at the time, Ms. Leeds said, because such unwanted advances from men occurred throughout her time in business in the 18792 and early 1980s."
Does she also know the character of all the others?
Let's move over to Natasha Stoynoff.
We don't believe her at all. That's because of the image she earned long before she made her accusation this week that she was once kissed by Trump who allegedly stuck his tongue down her throat when they were alone in a room after he pushed her against a wall.
Her story includes a later event where she's approached by Melania Trump which Melania says never happened and is suing PEOPLE magazine for publishing.
Natasha Stoynoff might be telling the truth.
But her image -- well earned long ago -- is such that we would never believe a word she said.
(Her image is based on her struggles with the truth. We are not referring to any of her dating or romantic episodes. We are just making this call based on her repeated struggles with the truth in her professional life.)
Rachel Crooks states that in 2005, while she was working for a company that did business with Donald Trump, he unnerved her by kissing her on each cheek and then on her lips.
She then avoided him.
No where does she say she told him not to kiss her.
If, in 2005, she was uncomfortable with any man she interacted with in business, she should have gone to her human resources department.
Her failure to do so doesn't mean she's not telling the truth.
Her failure to do so does mean that everyone covering this should be using it as a teachable moment so that any woman -- or man -- who is uncomfortable with what they perceive to be advances or harassment has the right to report them.
Is Rachel Crooks telling the truth?
Donald Trump says no.
We're offering our opinions here.
We say yes.
Did he mean the kissing to make her uncomfortable?
Possibly not.
But she says it did and we believe her.
Temple Taggart McDowell says that when she was Miss Utah in 1997, Trump kissed and embraced her and that she was made uncomfortable. She notes that she's come forward because now, as a mother, she wants to make clear that everyone that you have a right to tell someone no.
Good for Temple Taggart McDowell (that's not sarcasm). She's attempting to use her time in the spotlight to educate the public.
We believe her.
Ava and C.I. have seen Donald kiss women before.
C.I.: Donald, my opinion, thinks he's Warren Beatty at his prime and catnip for women.
Ava: He also thinks he's giving them a story (and he is). He also seems to think it is continental. It's not.
C.I.: But another reason I believe Rachel's story is that's how I've seen Donald Trump kiss numerous women. And to be clear, this is not done in private. I've never been in private with Donald nor would I be (not because I fear an advance but because I don't like him -- and, to be clear, he doesn't like me, our dislike is mutual). My point here is that these kisses -- however they are interpreted by those being kissed -- are meant to be friendly on his part. That doesn't make them that. Nor does his intent have any bearing on how they are received.
Ava: A friend who's a singer complained five minutes after we'd walked off from Trump and I said, "Then why did you kiss his ass? Why didn't you tell not to do that?" She wasn't in any danger. And if she, a name, would stand up to him and tell him she doesn't want to be kissed, maybe young women like Rachel wouldn't experience what they do.
We think Rachel is telling the truth.
But guess what?
She might not be.
We don't believe Natasha Stoynoff but she might be telling the truth 100%.
We can be wrong.
Anyone can be on this topic.
There hasn't been attempts by the press to vet the charges.
This was our attempt to tackle a topic that is serious and that the press should be tackling -- evaluating the claims -- but they are not tackling it.
If you had a different take than ours, please e-mail and we'll gladly share it here next time -- seriously e-mail common_ills@yahoo.com -- it'll be seen more quickly there.
We don't intend to edit other than for swear words so feel free to express your opinion whether you agree with us or not.
And, repeating, every one of the women above may have told the truth, all of them may have lied, it could be a mixture. We do not know anything about what happened. We are using the public record to determine in the few weeks before the election what makes sense to us. These are serious charges and we would encourage everyone to form their own opinions.