Let's start with the littlest pig of the bunch. Most people don't know Michael Tracey -- and for good reason. If you do know him, you know him because he accused US House Rep Maxine Waters of assaulting him in 2017 -- when Maxine was 78. 78-year-old and five-feet-and-five-inches Maxine Waters assaulted big boy Michael Tracey -- the original member of the Clean Your Plate Club. Back then, Michael was with THE YOUNG TURKS. He isn't anymore. When he made his claim, Kyle Neubeck (COMPLEX) noted, people believed him and then they saw the video and Michael became a joke. No one took him seriously. It's been the default position his entire life.
In December, when Senator Kamala Harris dropped out of the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, his glee was noted in the December 4th "Iraq snapshot:"
Let's close this discussion with numbers.
24.
That's the number of Tweets Michael Tracey has done about Kamala Harris since the news broke that she was dropping out of the race.
1.
That's the number of Tweets Michael Tracey did about Steve Bullock since the news broke that he was dropping out of the race.
24 and 1. It's an obsession and, yes, it's Bash The Bitch. As Ava and I noted when Katie Couric was the target in 2006:
For some of the left, though not all, that's at the root of their pursuit of Couric. It's the gift of impunity that allows them to operate in a fact-free environment as they compose the charges against Couric. But those who hear such a statement and nod agreeably are also engaged in the national pastime of bash-the-bitch.
Bash the bitch is as American as apple pie and rush to judgement, so who are we to complain? If it makes us "America haters" to say "Just a minute now" then so be it. Let all the ones partaking in bash-the-bitch wrap themselves in Old Glory, we'll call it the way we see it.
Here's what we see. A woman's trashed. For what she did?
Oh cookie, please, it's for being a woman. Read the commentaries. "Cheerleader" is a trumped up charge -- as usual, the true crime is gender.
Michael Tracey and a lot of others need to look at their actions in the last 24 hours. There's a lot of latent sexism bubbling up.
Michael is a pig-boy who lives to attack women. He's now set his sights on Tara. And he feels he can say or do anything. He feels he can even get away with this Tweet:
Has anyone noticed that
still has not reported directly on Tara Reade's rape claim? It's been six weeks since she went public with the latest version of her story, and they haven't done an investigation into the claim itself -- only on ancillary issues. Curious.
Ryan Grim broke the story at THE INTERCEPT about how Time's Up strung Tara along, keeping her silent when she was attempting to come forward. That was March 24th. That's 'ancillary issues' according to Michael. And if that were all THE INTERCEPT had offered, Michael Tracey would be telling the truth.
But when does Michael tell the truth?
April 24th, Ryan reported for THE INTERCEPT:
A new piece of evidence has emerged
buttressing the credibility of Tara Reade’s claim that she told her
mother about allegations of sexual harassment and assault related to her
former boss, then-Sen. Joe Biden. Biden, through a spokesperson, has
denied the allegations. Reade has claimed to various media outlets,
including The Intercept, that she told her mother, a close friend, and
her brother about both the harassment and, to varying degrees of detail,
the assault at the time. Her brother, Collin Moulton, and her friend,
who has asked to remain anonymous, both confirmed that they heard about
the allegations from Reade at the time. Reade’s mother died in 2016, but
both her brother and friend also confirmed Reade had told her mother,
and that her mother, a longtime feminist and activist, urged her to go
to the police.
In interviews with The Intercept, Reade also mentioned that her mother had made a phone call to “Larry King Live” on CNN, during which she made reference to her daughter’s experience on Capitol Hill. Reade told The Intercept that her mother called in asking for advice after Reade, then in her 20s, left Biden’s office. “I remember it being an anonymous call and her saying my daughter was sexually harassed and retaliated against and fired, where can she go for help? I was mortified,” Reade told me.
Reade couldn’t remember the date or the year of the phone call, and King didn’t include the names of callers on his show. I was unable to find the call, but mentioned it in an interview with Katie Halper, the podcast host who first aired Reade’s allegation. After the podcast aired, a listener managed to find the call and sent it to The Intercept.
In interviews with The Intercept, Reade also mentioned that her mother had made a phone call to “Larry King Live” on CNN, during which she made reference to her daughter’s experience on Capitol Hill. Reade told The Intercept that her mother called in asking for advice after Reade, then in her 20s, left Biden’s office. “I remember it being an anonymous call and her saying my daughter was sexually harassed and retaliated against and fired, where can she go for help? I was mortified,” Reade told me.
Reade couldn’t remember the date or the year of the phone call, and King didn’t include the names of callers on his show. I was unable to find the call, but mentioned it in an interview with Katie Halper, the podcast host who first aired Reade’s allegation. After the podcast aired, a listener managed to find the call and sent it to The Intercept.
In addition, on the April 30th podcast of THE INTERCEPT's DECONSTRUCTED Ryan and Mehdi Hasan discussed Ryan's own reporting and the reporting of others to address the Tara Reade allegations. Michael's devotion to falsehoods is built-into his DNA.
Here he is revealing he can't answer, he can only be dishonest.
He Tweeted:
A 1996 court document from Tara Reade’s ex-husband makes no mention of rape, and doesn’t even implicate Biden directly. Like most other evidence in this story that’s falsely spun as “corroboration,” this undermines Reade’s case rather than bolsters it
Krystal Ball responded:
Biden denied harassment as well.
Katie Halper pointed out after Michael went on and on:
Did you respond to Krystal’s point?
No, he didn't.
Michael, Bob and Bill want to question Tara's integrity. Who's raising questions about Joe Biden?
Joe's abusive relations with women isn't new to us. We've been writing about a woman he left crying in public repeatedly. But we're not the only ones who've been writing about Joe's actions for over a decade now. In August of 2008, Alexander Cockburn (COUNTERPUNCH) wrote:
Biden is a notorious flapjaw. His vanity deludes him into believing that every word that drops from his mouth is minted in the golden currency of Pericles. Vanity is the most conspicuous characteristic of US Senators en bloc , nourished by deferential acolytes and often expressed in loutish sexual advances to staffers, interns and the like. On more than one occasion CounterPunch’s editors have listened to vivid accounts by the recipient of just such advances, this staffer of another senator being accosted by Biden in the well of the senate in the weeks immediately following his first wife’s fatal car accident.
We're a little confused why we're the ones noting Alex. We knew him, we liked him. But we aren't his niece -- that would be journalist Laura Flanders who hasn't said one word about Tara despite her uncle's earlier reporting. When Laura wants to deride Hillary Clinton's efforts to win elected office, Laura is happy to present herself as a feminist. At other times? Just silence.
After Hurricane Katrina hit, Laura devoted a Saturday edition of THE LAURA FLANDERS SHOW (AIR AMERICA RADIO) to the claim that the flooding was due to explosives having been set up in advance and that the damage actually resulted from a conspiracy to harm the people of New Orleans. Now we didn't buy that argument but we didn't slam her for it. We thought that possibly she was about to become a strong voice like her uncle Alex and this might be how she gets there. We were wrong. She serves up prattle, over and over.
Tara's being smeared and Laura's own uncle has writing going back over a decade that backs up Tara's claims but Laura won't say a word.
Thanks for your service, Laura.
Bob Somerby is a blogger who had, he says, some success as a comedian. Some people, he insists, found him not just funny looking but actually funny.
We've long noted Bob's sexism. We've noted how he vilifies women. Men that he critiques are given passes. Women are slammed and trashed and he never rehabs their image. Ceci Connolly is only one example and, of course, Maureen Dowd is an even stronger example. When we noted Bob's rank sexism and his male-defined world he tried to respond online by citing two sisters who had sung together. They played the virginal waif as well -- the same thing he loved about Joan Baez. (We're not aware of him ever writing about Joan's music. We know of his worship of her in college via people who knew him.)
When we were taking Bob on over the years, we were taking him on for what he was doing then. We avoided noting his sexism going back to the 90s. Now we have to. He's all about tearing apart Tara and that's bad enough but we knew he was going back to the trash can he previously lived in.
What are we talking about? He made his name online smearing women. He was James Carville as blogger, attacking this or that woman who came forward to complain about Bill Clinton's behavior. He attacks Kathleen Wiley, for example, based on the fact that Kenneth Starr didn't believe her. Now Bob doesn't believe Kenneth Starr. But he doesn't present it as "not even Kenneth Starr believed her." No, he just runs with Starr's opinion. He also believes Linda Tripp -- when it helps his argument to do so -- only when it helps his argument to do so.
He's inconsistent and that's because a rank sexist. He pretends to do a form of a Platonic debate and some people are stupid enough to believe that's what he's pulling off. (Those people would do well to take a grad class or two in Plato before reading Bob.) Last week, he went where we feared he would: Juanita Broaddrick.
Juanita, for those who don't know, came forward to say Bill Clinton raped her. We believe her. Bob doesn't and he ripped apart for a long time and started doing so again. Last week, he offered Gene Lyons as support. Who?
Exactly. Gene's a regional writer who never achieved much of anything but who is known, as his WIKIPEDIA entry states in the first sentence, "an American political columnist who has defended from U.S. President Bill Clinton." Bob wants you to know that Gene's exposed Juanita. What the hell is the pig oinking about?
Juanita Broaddrick did not want to relive her rape in public. (We believe she was raped.) So she refused to get involved in other cases. On the day of the rape, Norma Rogers found Juanita afterwards in the hotel room they were sharing. Her pantyhose were torn, her lip was swollen and she was traumatized. Norma says Juanita told her right then that Bill had raped her.
Despite this, because their wet dream Bill Clinton was being accused, people like Gene and Bob have tried to drag Juanita through the mud.
Little boys can't handle the truth. Michael Tracey, you may remember, issued threats in the wake of Kobe Bryant's death -- threats against anyone noting the allegations that Kobe raped a woman.
It's very upsetting for pig boys when their heroes get exposed.
The hero is exposed when
His crimes are brought to the light of day
Won't be feelin' sorry, sorry, sorry
On the judgement day.
His crimes are brought to the light of day
Won't be feelin' sorry, sorry, sorry
On the judgement day.
It wasn't me who said
There'll be a price to pay
And I won't feel bad at all
When the hero takes a fall
When the hero takes a fall
(Hero takes a fall) oh no.
There'll be a price to pay
And I won't feel bad at all
When the hero takes a fall
When the hero takes a fall
(Hero takes a fall) oh no.
-- "Hero Takes A Fall," written by Susanna Hoffs and Vicki Peterson, first appears on the Bangles' ALL OVER THE PLACE.
That's what it really comes down to. Women are suspect, women aren't equal. They're bitches who bring down men. That's how the Michaels, the Bobs and the Bills see women. They make it clear over and over. It's a woman's job, in their minds, to put up with whatever abuse a man dishes out.
Bob loves Bill Maher. Bill's a racist but that doesn't bother Bob and you know Bill's rank sexism over the years doesn't bother Bob. Here's an example of Bob vouching for Bill:
We knew Louis a tiny bit a long time ago in Boston. (Good decent feller.
Most people are.) We are giant fans of Bill Maher, by far the best of a
generation.
That example is from 2012. And Louis, by the way, is Louis C.K.
Bill Maher is a hate merchant. That's all he's ever been and all he ever will be. He used his hideous HBO show to attack Tara Reade on Friday.
Not gonna RT the Bill Maher clip but you’d think if he’s gonna a segment on “why didn’t Tara Reade come forward before Super Tues” he could idk have browsed 1 of the many articles showing she’s been trying since last April. If anyone is to blame for the delay it’s the media.
Tara discussed the assault with AP back in April of 2019. AP chose not to run the story. Tara hasn't been sitting on it. Sarah Ann Mass offered:
Dear Bill Maher, Your entire segment is riddled with victim blaming and rape mythologizing. I don't know anyone who takes your hate filed opinions seriously but you do have a big platform so learn to use it responsibly or kindly shut tf up about survivors.
Katie Halper noted:
If Bill Maher had said what he said about Tara Reade about anyone else, every single progressive, feminist, and/ or survivor organization would have released a statement and organized a campaign demanding an apology or the cancelation of his show.
It's also a segment of lies. He calls Tara out for accusing Joe Biden and saying that she was fired for bringing a complaint against Biden when last year she was saying she had left because she loved Putin. He knew that was a lie. He just wanted to bring in Putin to try to smear Tara.
Vladimir Putin has nothing to do with Tara's accusation against Joe Biden.
Nor does most of what passes for 'coverage.' Tara is put on trial while Joe is given a pass.
Joe Biden would never assault a woman. This despite the decades of whispers that he has assaulted and harassed many women. This despite that he is responsible for the deaths of many Muslims. He didn't just vote for the Iraq War, he supported it and he ran it when Barack Obama was president. He took part in overturning the votes of the Iraqi people in 2010 in order to give US puppet Nouri al-Maliki a second term. Nouri was already persecuting the Iraqi people. He would get so out of control in his second term that ISIS would rise in Iraq and would be able to insist that they were a defender of the people because they would, they insisted, protect the Sunnis who were being persecuted by Nouri.
Joe has a lot of blood on his hands.
He's also got a lot of lies on his tongue.
His most recent lies include his 'arrest' in South Africa (that never happened) and his standing up for Nelson Mandela (also never happened). He loves to lie that he was against the Iraq War immediately. He lies that he was part of the Civil Rights Movement. He lies that he respects the military -- Joe dodged the draft over and over. In fact, 'asthma' kept him out of Vietnam.
Asthma kept him out of Vietnam. Didn't keep him from playing football and baseball in high school. Asthma kept him out of Vietnam but he was able to play football in college. When student deferments could no longer keep him out of Vietnam, Joe discovered his asthma. How lucky for him.
[We don't believe anyone should have gone to Vietnam. But those who sent others to the illegal war on Iraq? If they're draft dodgers we're going to call them out as the Chicken Hawks that they are.]
For years, Joe got sympathy because a drunk driver killed his wife and daughter. Oops. The driver wasn't drunk. Oops. Joe's late wife was the one who steered into the wrong lane. But Joe spent decades demonizing the driver with lies.
Here's some more lies.
He lied that he "went to law school on a full academic scholarship." He lied that he "ended up in the top half of my class" (he came in 76th in a class of 85 -- watch the clip). He lied that he graduated with three degrees. He has a public history of lying.
Why isn't he on trial?
Peter Daou Tweets:
Congratulations, Democrats. You're in league with
@billmaher
as he trashes the #MeToomovement. What a shameful moment for my former party. When #Biden said he wouldn't attack #TaraReade, he meant he'd let a mob do it for him.
And that's exactly what's happened. He claims that there should be a safe place for the charges to be examined but behind the scenes he's either leading the attacks or staying silent as people rip her apart.
Tara Reade could be lying. We believe her but she could be lying.
If she is lying? We'll say we were wrong. But we won't apologize for refusing to bow to power. Shame on those who do. Women should have a space to come forward and make an assertion like Tara has made. And she should be able to do so without being ripped apart and smeared.
Bill Maher and the pig boys who nurse at his teats are sending an ugly message to survivors. That needs to be called out.
