Just the other day, Joe Biden, who lives in a fact free zone, urged Americans to tackle a “white man’s culture” that he claimed allowed violence against women to perpetuate. He went on to say that “We all have an obligation to do nothing less than change the culture in this country.” But his new-found disdain for “white man’s culture” whatever that is supposed to mean, isn’t going to help him very much when it comes to winning the Democratic Presidential nomination.
That is because the former Vice President is undergoing a rapid transformation from “beloved” Joe Biden to Joe-the-Ogre. A woman has emerged with an accusation that Biden is guilty of “inappropriate touching”. That charge was leveled by Lucy Flores, a Democratic member of the Nevada State Assembly and a Bernie Sanders supporter. Biden promptly denied the charge. It is unlikely to do him any good. In Progressive circles a claim of victimhood is a prized possession. Things like evidence and due process don’t count for much.
It turns out that Flores’s complaint is not that Biden sexually harassed her; it is that he invaded her personal space. And for that, she concludes that Biden should not run for the Democratic nomination. Right on cue the social justice mob went to work looking for evidence of additional suspect behavior. They came up with a photo of Biden with his hands on the shoulders of Jane Carter during the swearing in ceremony of her husband Ash Carter, who had become Secretary of Defense under President Obama.
The photo went viral, and as a result, Jane Carter came to Biden’s defense. She said that Biden—an old friend—was merely trying to steady her because she was nervous since she had slipped on ice on the way to the Pentagon. (See the story at Politico.)
If she had let it go at that, some of the insanity could have possibly been avoided. Then again this is 2019, and we are talking about the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination. In any event, Carter decided to weigh in further. She said that while she does not know Flores, she [Carter] supports “her right to speak her truth” and added that Flores and “all women” should be believed.
That sentiment—the my truth construction— has become the Party’s mantra. For instance, Senator Cory Booker (D, NJ) invoked the same idea during the Bret Kavanaugh hearings.
So when women speak “their truth” we are supposed to believe them.
Why?
The only reason to believe something is because it is presumptively true, or failing that, there is evidence that it is true. To refer to “her truth” is to deny the very idea of truth and simply relegate everything to opinion and perception. And that is being charitable. Because the idea of truth doesn’t mesh very well with the victimhood sweepstakes now consuming reason in the Democratic Party. And so Party leaders (who are more like followers) choose whom to believe depending on demographic considerations. Which is why prosecutors dropped the charges against an obvious liar like Jussie Smollet, after Obama fixer Tina Tchen intervened.
There was a time not too long ago when women were believed without question. They were white women in the Jim Crow South who accused black men of raping them. Progressives ought to think about how well that worked out.
JFB
