October 8, 2016

"This was also a different time, when it was perhaps more accepted for powerful men to prey on young women, when women felt less able to protest."

"In fairness to Trump, other senior men in politics and business — John Kennedy and Bill Clinton come to mind — also sometimes showed a sense of entitlement toward young women."

Writes Nicholas Kristof about allegations of sexual harassment by Jill Harth against Donald Trump. The "different time" was not 1964. It was 1994. We knew about sexual harassment then. We knew it very well. We'd just had our consciousness raised. (That was before it was lowered, in 1998.)

It's a complicated story, by the way:
I asked her: Why would a woman who accused Trump of attempted rape ever go out with him?

“I was scared, thinking, ‘what am I going to do now?’” she says. “When he called me and tried to work on me again, I was thinking maybe I should give this a try, maybe if he’s still working on me, I should give this rich guy a chance.”

They dated for several months in 1998, when he was separated from Maples, she says. In the end, he was a disappointing boyfriend, always watching television and rarely offering emotional support, she says.

“It was a hard divorce, and I was in a nonstop crying jag,” she recalls. “You know what he was thinking? He wanted me to get a boob job. He made an appointment for me to get a boob job, a doctor in Miami.”
Kristof says that in the end he decided that Harth is telling the truth. Has Kristof ever opined about Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey? A search of the NYT archive turns up nothing with his name and either of those 2 women who have alleged that they were sexually assaulted by Bill Clinton. 

43 comments:

Meade said...

Hypocrisy turtles all the way down.

Drago said...

Althouse: "Kristof says that in the end he decided that Harth is telling the truth. Has Kristof ever opined about Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Wiley?"

LOL

cubanbob said...

Where is the Nina Burleigh tag? The Bill Clinton Lolita Express tag?

cubanbob said...

Where is the NYT is a propaganda arm of the Democrat Party tag?

Mark said...

Trump was simply acting like what he was at the time -- a Democrat.

As I noted below, what is conveniently ignored is that up until about a year ago or so (and deep down probably even now), Trump was essentially a Democrat in thought and action. And such conduct as this is, as history shows, not at all uncommon among Democrats and the left in general.

Bill Clinton, Algore, John Edwards, Ted Kennedy, Chris Dodd, Hillary right-hand-girl Huma Abedin's husband Anthony Weiner -- the list of Democrat sexual predators goes on and on and on. Not to mention the cesspool - sexual and otherwise - that are their supporters in Hollywood, the media, and business.

gspencer said...

"Oh, Trump said a naughty word. I guess I'll now have to reconsider my vote and be happy to install someone in the WH who's enriched herself by selling what she never owned (i.e., American sovereignty, Independence, and safety), will accelerate globalism which will increase her net worth, will further degrade the work prospects of even more Americans, and will bring even more free-loading Muslims to America. Among lots of other undesirable objectives."

"Oh, those naughty words. Bending the arch of history."

dreams said...

"This was also a different time, when it was perhaps more accepted for powerful men to prey on young women, when women felt less able to protest."

And when the powerful men were Democrats.

Temujin said...

Again, the standards for Democrats is an ever shifting thing. Selective outrage is the norm. And by outrage I mean, over the top, foaming at the mouth, we must silence them levels of outrage. Except that there is none when the IRS is hand-picking citizens to harass and affect elections. There is none when your President lies about your health care system and their goals for it all along. There is none when we offer Iran billions of dollars and a blind eye as they crank up their nuclear development and funnel more money to terrorist groups. No outrage when Bill raped Juanita Broderick. None. No outrage when Hillary purposefully erased those emails- after being subpoenaed. The list goes on and on. Nicolas Kristof is among the foremost practitioners of selective outrage.

But we are doomed to get the leaders we deserve, either way. We really are a stupid people.

Big Mike said...

@Althouse, what dreams wrote just above.

Mark said...

You want to know how a complete buffoon like Trump was able to garner as much support as he has? This is how. What with the never-ending ad hominem attacks against him, abundantly filled with BS, which started on day one of the campaign, and people actually begin to feel sorry for the guy! Much of the American people have an innate sense and desire for fair play. And they are very uncomfortable when someone plays dirty and they rebel against it.

Ann Althouse said...

Garner?!

Paul said...

Never mentioned is women's eagerness to mate with powerful, high status alpha men. It's always women as victims being pressured into something they don't want to do.

Paul said...

Groupies don't really exist I suppose. Or if they do they obviously need to be remanded to feminist reeducation camps.

William said...

Male pattern baldness and adultery happen with about the same frequency to Republicans and Democrats. That said, among 20th century presidents, Democrats win hands down. I think only Harding was an active adulterer during his stay in the White House......I think lieing about your health is a more substantive issue than adultery. Here again, the Democrats win hands down. Towards the end, FDR was so out of it that he couldn't even recognize cabinet members. Kennedy negotiated the Cuban Missile Crisis with the aid of amphetamines and cocaine to keep him alert and focused. They claim that this was the high point of his presidency, but the trick is not to blunder into a crisis like that. No other president did. People know about the major stroke that incapacitated Wilson while in the White House. Less people know about the organic mental changes that preceded the stroke. While in Paris, negotiating the boundaries of the world, Wilson spent a considerable amount of time compulsively rearranging the furniture in the American embassy.......Hillary, as we have seen in the latest Wikileaks dump, lies about everything. Why should we believe anything she says about her health and fidelity to Huma.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Let's see, a huge best seller a few years ago involved a billionaire and his willing sex slave. I couldn't read past the first few pages of "50 Shades of Gray" because it was such awful dreck, but I know liberal women who just loved it. Apparently the idea of being tied up and disciplined by a handsome, wealthy man moistened panties across the nation.

Now these same women are recoiling in spinisterish horror from The Donald. Well, besides the fact that he's a Republican now, and therefore subhuman, he's now old and fat and has silly hair. Their fantasy billionaire works out at the gym and doesn't eat taco salads for lunch.

BrianE said...

The only hope for Trump is a sincere Checkers speech. Not lashing out at Hillary via Bill.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

This conversation can't be had without leading to Bill Clinton. Every time.

mockturtle said...

Power is an aphrodisiac. Many young women are attracted to powerful men and throw their pussies at them whenever they can. Whether politicians, rock stars or the boss at work, this has been going on for a long, long time. Give us all a break. Please!

Michael said...

John Kennedy and Bill Clinton come to mind? What about Ted Kennedy? Why is no one interviewing Mary Jo Kopechne about this?

cacimbo said...

Sorry, but not buying rape claim from woman who then dates Trump for months. Trump needs to follow the Bill Clinton plan.

Bill never admitted what he did was wrong, got his wife to attack his victims while continued on with his job.By all reports Bill continues to have multiple relationships outside the marriage. So far no child victims have come forward from his romps aboard the Lolita Express on which Secret Service detail was not permitted to accompany him. Now Democrats want to put this sexual abuser and accused rapist back in the WH as first spouse. Rewarding his enabling wife for standing by her man with the Presidency.

Weiner never actually touched another woman. He owned up to the error of his tweeting and resigned his position. When he tried to resurrect his career he was brought down by allegations of the same behavior. His wife walked away and he was fired by several employers. Poor Weiner, he must be baffled. Why are my fellow Democrats putting Bill back in the WH when I am persona non grata.

cacimbo said...

Also NPR has FOUR anti-Trump stories this morning. Mostly about Trump as misogynist. ZERO stories about Podesta hack and HRC having "public and private position" or lying about her position on trade. Pathetic.

mockturtle said...

Also NPR has FOUR anti-Trump stories this morning. Mostly about Trump as misogynist. ZERO stories about Podesta hack and HRC having "public and private position" or lying about her position on trade. Pathetic.

Fortunately, sensible folk quit listening to NPR years ago.

cubanbob said...

“I was scared, thinking, ‘what am I going to do now?’” she says. “When he called me and tried to work on me again, I was thinking maybe I should give this a try, maybe if he’s still working on me, I should give this rich guy a chance.”

Give the rich guy a chance. We got your number....

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

"I should give this rich guy a chance.”

Yep. If it had been a guy who worked behind the front desk at Trump Towers, not a chance.












exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Opps,sorry about all that extra space.

Chuck said...

Kristof says that in the end he decided that Harth is telling the truth. Has Kristof ever opined about Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Wiley? A search of the NYT archive turns up nothing with his name and either of those 2 women who have alleged that they were sexually assaulted by Bill Clinton.


Damn straight, Professor Althouse. This times about 1000 big time newspaper columnists.

PB said...

The women weren't all stupid. Some of them welcomed the advances.

Jupiter said...

"He took an intense interest in the calendar girls, pursuing some and rejecting others, Harth says, adding that he had an aversion to black contestants and made derogatory comments about them."

"Trump also denied that he had rejected black contestants."

So, if I understand correctly, Trump was accused of refusing to harass black women, and he denied the charge? This is getting complicated.

jr565 said...

Harth made allegations. She was also suing Trump for unpaid work done. When he settled that case she dropped the sexual harrassment case...So, is there any there there?

Owen said...

Kristof is explaining Droit du Seigneur, which is only and always given to Democrat men.

sunsong said...

"...“I don't know how you recover from something like that,” said Alfonso Aguilar, the president of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, who had supported Trump before abandoning him last month after the nominee gave a particularly harsh immigration speech. “But I think all Republicans must come out now and denounce him forcefully and call on him to withdraw. He cannot remain the party standard-bearer after those comments.”...

"...Defiance is no longer a luxury the brash candidate can afford, not after his unimpressive showing in the first debate – and subsequent rants, which included a defense of comments he made about the weight of a former Miss Universe. Trump, who has breezily dismissed controversies in the past by issuing blanket denials, counter-attacking or mocking reporters seems, at long last, to have grasped the perils of non-contrition. His statement, an hour after the Washington Post broke the story, began with a shot at Bill Clinton but transitioned into the rarest of Trump expressions – an apology, of sorts..."


Is Trump's Campaign Over?

sunsong said...

"...Donald Trump is a fundamentally dishonorable and dishonest person – and has been his whole adult life. The evidence has been in front of those willing to see it all along. And there’s more to find. And there’s more in the Clinton stockpile. Character is destiny. The man in the video is Donald Trump. Sure, it’s bawdy Trump. It’s “locker room Trump.” And I’m no prude about dirty talk in private. But that isn’t all that’s going on. This isn’t just bad language or objectifying women with your buddies. It’s a married man who is bragging about trying to bed a married woman. It’s an insecure, morally ugly, man-child who thinks boasting about how he can get away with groping women ”because you’re a star” impresses people. He’s a grotesque — as a businessman and a man full stop.

" Character is destiny. The man in the video is Donald Trump. Sure, it’s bawdy Trump. It’s “locker room Trump.” And I’m no prude about dirty talk in private. But that isn’t all that’s going on. This isn’t just bad language or objectifying women with your buddies. It’s a married man who is bragging about trying to bed a married woman. It’s an insecure, morally ugly, man-child who thinks boasting about how he can get away with groping women ”because you’re a star” impresses people. He’s a grotesque — as a businessman and a man full stop..."


Jonah Goldberg

MayBee said...

This is the worst election ever.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Too bad Trump won't win--if he did the Smithsonian could feature this woman in an exhibit 40 years from now while not mentioning Trump.
Hey, if it's good enough for Anita Hill...

mockturtle said...

A lot of women seem to want it both ways. I am woman! Hear me roar! and 'I'm a victim'. As a woman, I find this intolerable.

Anita hill, the 'victim of harassment', followed her 'harasser' from job to job. Like Medea, as a scorned woman, she made life hell for Thomas.

Gretchen Carlson didn't sue Roger Ailes until he didn't renew her contract. I guess the non-renewal made the years-long harassment suddenly untenable.

Grow up! Can anyone here imagine Thatcher whining about this sort of thing?

I'm Full of Soup said...

I seem to recall Althouse has, more than once, challenged her commenters by saying don't be such a pussy? Or am I misremembering?

Matt Sablan said...

I never had much faith in Trump not being a total asshole, but I think it'll be great if this finally descends into the gutter where Clinton has wanted it and where Trump has been dying to go.

I can't wait for when he asks her whether Bill really is still dicking bimbos after she asks him about what other terrible things he's said.

Darrell said...

Thank Goodness Melania straightened Trump out and got him to move away from the Democratic Party.

bagoh20 said...

"Madam, we've already established that. Now we are haggling about the price”.


Mick said...

FACT.

Title 18 sec. 2071

Hillary Clinton is ineligible to ever hold public office again after destroying Government documents.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnR64pLASY0

"(b) Whoever, having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, wilfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; and shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States."

http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter101...

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

"It’s a married man who is bragging about trying to bed a married woman. It’s an insecure, morally ugly, man-child who thinks boasting about how he can get away with groping women ”because you’re a star” impresses people."

If that sentence had been written about Bill Clinton, sunsong, it would also fit perfectly. But because you are a morally bankrupt tool who believes anything your progressive masters tell you to believe, you wouldn't care.

SweatBee said...

"I should give this rich guy a chance.”

Evidence in favor of Trump having reason to believe "When you're a star they let you do it" might be true.

cacimbo said...

IN 2013 Jonah Goldberg wrote: "Asking Republicans to vote for Colbert Busch in order to punish Mark Sanford strikes me as a hard sell. Why support the party you disagree with politically just to punish a man you agree with politically."

Sanford had not just had an extra marital affair, he abandoned his Governor duties for a week and ran off with his mistress. Yet somehow Goldberg was able to see past that, a man whose inability to control his sex drive lead him to abscond from his job. Yet Trump's "locker room talk" is something he just can not get past.

Not believable. More believable is that HRC represents the open borders, free trade, crony capitalist, America second attitude that Goldberg, his fellow NRO writers and most DC Republicans want.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/347702/sanford-and-culture-jonah-goldberg