Steve King should resign from office immediately

At an event held by a right-wing political club in Urbandale, Iowa, U.S. Rep. Steve King (R-IA-4), who is infamous for repeatedly making extremely offensive remarks and having a medieval view of society, publicly defended rape and incest:

U.S. Rep. Steve King told the Westside Conservative Club on Wednesday that humanity might not exist if not for rape and incest.

“What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled those people out that were products of rape and incest? Would there be any population of the world left if we did that?” he said at the event in Urbandale, Iowa.

“Considering all the wars and all the rapes and pillages taken place and whatever happened to culture after society? I know I can’t certify that I’m not a part of a product of that.”

Source

That viewpoint is so disgusting, it would be absolutely unreasonable for me to make any attempt to defend it. If nobody committed rape or incest, humanity would still exist. More importantly, rape and incest are NEVER, under any circumstances, actions that should be publicly defended in the court of public opinion. What King told the Westside Conservative Club yesterday might be the single most offensive and disgusting remark I’ve ever heard from an elected official in the whole of my life.

Steve King has a long history of making absolutely disgusting remarks that embarrass the people of his congressional district, his state, and his country. I do not believe for one second that a majority of residents in Steve King’s congressional district believe in King’s disgustingly medieval view of society. Douglas W. Burns, a fourth-generation Iowa journalist, noted in this tweet on how King’s habit of saying extremely offensive things and having a medieval view of society is hurting Iowa’s economy:

As a newspaper publisher in the heart of @SteveKingIA district I regularly hear from professional women who won't move back or consider coming here for careers because of his toxic presence and retrograde representation, like the rape and incest comment. It's hurting our economy pic.twitter.com/9ChYD0DrM2

— Douglas W. Burns (@douglaswburns) August 14, 2019

Steve King should resign from office immediately. Period.

My thoughts about Joe Biden’s statement regarding inappropriate conduct allegations

Earlier today, Former Vice President Joe Biden responded to allegations made by Lucy Flores and Amy Lappos that Biden engaged in inappropriate and non-consensual behavior towards them via this Twitter video:

Social norms are changing. I understand that, and I’ve heard what these women are saying. Politics to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future. That’s my responsibility and I will meet it. pic.twitter.com/Ya2mf5ODts

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 3, 2019

My thoughts about Biden’s response are quite complex, so this is going to be a fairly lengthy blog post.

I believe Lucy Flores. I believe Amy Lappos. I believe that Biden’s behavior towards Flores and Lappos was extremely inappropriate when it occurred and is extremely inappropriate now. Biden suggested in his statement that his non-consensual behavior towards women was acceptable when it occurred, and that’s just plain wrong. If consent is not mutual, it’s not consent.

However, I do have a few other thoughts about Biden’s statement.

Former U.S. Senator Jean Carnahan (D-MO) shared a touching story about Biden via Twitter, and I’ll share part of it here, as it’s relevant to a point that I’m about to make:

I arrived in the U.S. Senate after losing my husband and son in a plane crash weeks earlier. As I stepped down from the platform, where I was sworn in by Vice President Gore, waiting at the landing was Joe Biden. 2/8

— Jean Carnahan (@Jean_Carnahan) April 2, 2019

Joe took both of my hands in his and looked me in the eye for a long while before he spoke. He said simply, “I know, I know.” For a brief moment we were two souls joined by a loss that changed our lives. After that, Joe would often pause to ask how I was getting along. 4/8

— Jean Carnahan (@Jean_Carnahan) April 2, 2019

There have been numerous instances over Biden’s decades-long political career where people have welcomed Biden’s affection towards them, including Carnahan in the instance she described. However, being affectionate towards someone who doesn’t consent to affectionate behavior towards them isn’t affection. Instances where one has accused someone of committing sexual misconduct, which is misbehavior, should not be used to try to pass off instances where one has welcomed affection from the same person, which is not misbehavior, as misbehavior. Likewise, instances where one has welcomed affectionate behavior towards them from an individual should not be used to discredit allegations of sexual misconduct against said individual or discredit those alleging sexual misconduct.

Another point that I’d like to make is that Biden has promised to be more mindful about respecting others’ personal space in the future. I believe that Biden should be held accountable to his promise, and that it is very important that people should learn from their mistakes. This is no different than my belief that U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, should learn from his mistake of him turning a blind eye to perverts within the ranks of his failed 2016 presidential bid (Bernie has promised that strict protocols will be in place for his 2020 presidential run in regards to sexual misconduct committed by anyone employed by his campaign). I will note that, while I am still undecided on who to support for the Democratic presidential nomination at this time, I would not back either Biden or Bernie unless either one of them wins the Democratic nomination or one or both of them are the only viable candidate(s) for the nomination.

In his statement, Biden said that “..social norms have begun to change…”. This tells me that Biden has taken the wrong interpretation of the rise of the #MeToo movement in response to serial sexual predator Donald Trump being elected to the presidency. The social norm that one must not enter another’s personal space without their consent is a long-standing social norm. What has changed is that there is now a formal political movement to make effective political change to hold those who commit acts of sexual misconduct accountable.

Joe Biden credibly accused of sexual misconduct

TRIGGER WARNING: This blog post contains a written description of an act of sexual misconduct. Reader discretion is strongly advised.

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In an article for The Cut, former Nevada Assemblywoman Lucy Flores, who served two terms in the lower house of the Nevada Legislature from 2011 to 2015, accused former Vice President Joe Biden, who is considering whether or not to run for president, of sexual misconduct in 2014, while Biden was Vice President and while Flores was a Nevada Assemblywoman running for Lieutenant Governor of Nevada:

I found my way to the holding room for the speakers, where everyone was chatting, taking photos, and getting ready to speak to the hundreds of voters in the audience. Just before the speeches, we were ushered to the side of the stage where we were lined up by order of introduction. As I was taking deep breaths and preparing myself to make my case to the crowd, I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze. “Why is the vice-president of the United States touching me?”

I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified. I thought to myself, “I didn’t wash my hair today and the vice-president of the United States is smelling it. And also, what in the actual fuck? Why is the vice-president of the United States smelling my hair?” He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldn’t process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused. There is a Spanish saying, “tragame tierra,” it means, “earth, swallow me whole.” I couldn’t move and I couldn’t say anything. I wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me. My name was called and I was never happier to get on stage in front of an audience.

By then, as a young Latina in politics, I had gotten used to feeling like an outsider in rooms dominated by white men. But I had never experienced anything so blatantly inappropriate and unnerving before. Biden was the second-most powerful man in the country and, arguably, one of the most powerful men in the world. He was there to promote me as the right person for the lieutenant governor job. Instead, he made me feel uneasy, gross, and confused. The vice-president of the United States of America had just touched me in an intimate way reserved for close friends, family, or romantic partners — and I felt powerless to do anything about it.

Source

I believe Lucy Flores.

Here’s the one sentence version of what Flores has accused Biden of: Joe Biden kissed Lucy Flores without her consent. That is sexual misconduct, period.

I would not normally recommend one way or another as to whether someone should run for public office, but I strongly recommend that Joe Biden not seek the Democratic nomination for president, as, if the Democratic Party were to nominate someone credibly accused of sexual misconduct for president, that would all but guarantee Donald Trump a second term in the White House, and that is something that this country simply cannot afford.

Alan Dershowitz and Prince Andrew accused of rape and involvement in Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking ring

Alan Dershowitz, a crony of U.S. President Donald Trump, has been accused in allegations made before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit of rape and involvement of the human trafficking ring led by billionaire and fellow Trump crony Jeffrey Epstein:

Alan Dershowitz was accessed in federal appeals court of involvement in billionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking ring, The Daily Beast reported Wednesday evening.

The allegations were made before the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Wednesday.

[…]

(Virginia Roberts) Giuffre’s attorney, Paul Cassell, said witness testimony shows Dershowitz’s involvement in the alleged trafficking.

“When all the records come out it will show that Epstein and [Epstein’s alleged madam Ghislaine] Maxwell were trafficking girls to the benefit of his friends, including Mr. Dershowitz,” Cassell said.

Source

Not only was Dershowitz accused of rape, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, who is currently seventh in line to the British throne, has also been accused of rape as part of the Epstein sex trafficking ring:

“One of those victims was Giuffre, who claims she was 15 and working a summer job at Mar-a-Lago in 1998 when British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly recruited her as a masseuse for Epstein. Giuffre said Epstein kept her as a “sex slave” until 2002 and that she was forced to have sex with his friends, including Prince Andrew and Dershowitz,” The Beast reported.

Source

As of this time, no criminal charges have been filed against either Dershowitz or Prince Andrew. In 2006, Alex Acosta, then the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida under then-President George W. Bush and now U.S. Secretary of Labor under Trump, granted a controversial nonprosecution plea deal to Epstein in violation of the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act.

Long story short, Alan Dershowitz and Prince Andrew have been credibly accused of rape and involvement in a large sex trafficking ring. This conduct is criminal in nature and absolutely repulsive.

Fox News is pro-Trump propaganda. Period.

Jane Meyer, a journalist for The New Yorker magazine, recently wrote this piece outlining how Fox News has become an outlet for pro-Trump political propaganda, complete with a revolving door between Fox News and the Trump Administration.

In the early 1990’s, Fox acquired broadcast rights to broadcast National Football League (NFL) games on Sunday afternoons with games predominantly featuring teams from the National Football Conference (NFC), starting with the 1994 season (Fox, which initially built its sports division, Fox Sports, around the NFL, but has now acquired broadcast rights to many other sporting events, has held the rights to the NFC-heavy Sunday afternoon NFL broadcast rights package to this day). There was an underlying political motivation behind Fox acquiring NFL broadcast rights, to the point that one could argue that the rise of the modern far-right in American politics had its roots Fox acquiring NFL broadcast rights:

Murdoch could not have foreseen that Trump would become President, but he was a visionary about the niche audience that became Trump’s base. In 1994, Murdoch laid out an audacious plan to Reed Hundt, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission under President Bill Clinton. Murdoch, who had been a U.S. citizen for less than a decade, invited Hundt to his Benedict Canyon estate for dinner. After the meal, Murdoch led him outside to take in the glittering view of the Los Angeles Basin, and confided that he planned to launch a radical new television network. Unlike the three established networks, which vied for the same centrist viewers, his creation would follow the unapologetically lowbrow model of the tabloids that he published in Australia and England, and appeal to a narrow audience that would be entirely his. His core viewers, he said, would be football fans; with this aim in mind, he had just bought the rights to broadcast N.F.L. games. Hundt told me, “What he was really saying was that he was going after a working-class audience. He was going to carve out a base—what would become the Trump base.”

Source

Keep in mind that, prior to 1994, when Fox acquired NFL broadcast rights, Fox was a minor television network, much like the CW (which is jointly owned by CBS Corporation and AT&T’s Warner Media) is nowadays. Since 1994, Fox has expanded into cable television (with FX, FS1, FS2, the Big Ten Network, Fox Business Network, and Fox News Channel, among others), a large sports division with broadcast rights to major sporting events, and a cable “news” channel delivering far-right political propaganda 24 hours per day, every day. Fox is still, in some aspects, not as much of a player in regards to broadcast (i.e., over-the-air) television as the original Big Three networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC). For example, Fox does not air much in the way of network news programming like the Big Three networks do, with Fox News Sunday, a Sunday morning political talk show, being the only news program of any kind on the Fox over-the-air network, with Fox News Channel being a far-right propaganda outlet masquerading as a cable news channel, and Fox, with rare exceptions for sports events (such as numerous matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup men’s soccer tournament), does not air any network programming in a morning or afternoon time slot on weekdays. However, if not for the Fox broadcast network gaining NFL broadcast rights in 1994, Fox would probably be a minor player in the television landscape today instead of the large and powerful media empire that is in real-life.

Meyer’s piece also mentions an instance where Fox News organized and aired a Republican presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio. Meyer described how Trump was given advance knowledge of some debate questions that were asked by Megyn Kelly, then a Fox News employee and one of the moderators of the debate, as well as how Trump bullied the late Fox News boss Roger Ailes into ordering Fox to give Trump favorable treatment:

Against this strained backdrop, at the debate in Cleveland, Kelly asked Trump a famously tough question. “You’ve called women you don’t like ‘fat pigs,’ ‘dogs,’ ‘slobs,’ and ‘disgusting animals,’ ” she said. Trump interrupted her with a snide quip: “Only Rosie O’Donnell!” The hall burst into laughter and applause.

Kelly kept pressing Trump: “You once told a contestant on ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect President?” But he’d already won over Republican viewers. (Fox received a flood of e-mails, almost all of them anti-Kelly.) The showdown helped shape Trump’s image as shamelessly unsinkable. It also kicked off a feud between Trump and Fox, in which Trump briefly boycotted the channel, hurting its ratings and forcing Ailes to grovel. Four days after the debate, Trump tweeted that Ailes had “just called” and “assures me that ‘Trump’ will be treated fairly.”

Trump has made the debate a point of pride. He recently boasted to the Times that he’d won it despite being a novice, and despite the “crazy Megyn Kelly question.” Fox, however, may have given Trump a little help. A pair of Fox insiders and a source close to Trump believe that Ailes informed the Trump campaign about Kelly’s question. Two of those sources say that they know of the tipoff from a purported eyewitness. In addition, a former Trump campaign aide says that a Fox contact gave him advance notice of a different debate question, which asked the candidates whether they would support the Republican nominee, regardless of who won. The former aide says that the heads-up was passed on to Trump, who was the only candidate who said that he wouldn’t automatically support the Party’s nominee—a position that burnished his image as an outsider.

Source

This is extremely hypocritical, given that Trump loudly complained about Donna Brazille, then a political commentator for CNN who later became acting chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 general election, giving Hillary Clinton, who won the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 before losing the general election to Donald Trump despite winning a plurality of the national popular vote, advance knowledge of questions that were to be asked during a town hall event televised by CNN. Trump became a strong favorite to win the Republican presidential nomination by his debate performance in Cleveland, meaning that Fox News helped foment Trump’s political rise, something that a proper news organization should avoid doing in regards to any political figure at all costs.

I encourage everyone to read the entire Jane Meyer piece here, since the four paragraphs that I’ve quoted of it are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how Fox News played a significant role in Donald Trump’s political rise, and Meyer’s piece also describes the revolving door between the Trump Administration and Fox News.

It is the opinion of the author of this blog post that the Fairness Doctrine, which would have effectively prohibited Fox News from becoming a pro-Trump propaganda outlet, should be reinstated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).