{"id":3019,"date":"2011-11-11T11:32:00","date_gmt":"2011-11-11T11:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/11\/the-best-take-on-the-whole-herman-cain-accusations-so-far.html"},"modified":"2011-11-11T11:32:00","modified_gmt":"2011-11-11T11:32:00","slug":"the-best-take-on-the-whole-herman-cain-accusations-so-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/11\/the-best-take-on-the-whole-herman-cain-accusations-so-far.html","title":{"rendered":"The best take on the whole Herman Cain accusations so far"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Over at Mark Shea\u2019s Catholic and Enjoying It, I found a link to this article<\/a> by Elizabeth Scalia.\u00a0 She pretty much says all there is to say.\u00a0 If you\u2019re like me, and a growing number of folks, you\u2019ll admit there\u2019s something fishy about the way the media is handling Cain\u2019s crisis.\u00a0 Yes, if he\u2019s guilty I think he should be punished, legally and politically.\u00a0 It appears most in the media do as well. In fact, it appears some are wondering if the very presence of the accusations don\u2019t preclude him from office.\u00a0 Just because he\u2019s been accused. And that\u2019s the problem.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Now, to the Wayback machine, and we visit that little time in America\u2019s recent past (or ancient history based on the historical awareness that seems to be fostered by the Internet Age).\u00a0 It was a time when our own president, Bill Clinton, had been accused repeatedly of sexually harassing a string of women.\u00a0 During the course of investigating this, and looking to provide evidence that Clinton may not be the most reliable source when it comes to his honesty about sexual behavior, Ken Starr (remember him? Four Years and Forty Million Dollars Starr?) found that\u00a0Clinton had lied under oath when asked about a sexual encounter in the White House.\u00a0 This revelation came by way of a taped confession by a young intern named\u00a0Monica Lewinsky.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

I feel the need to write all of this because to hear the media go after Cain, you\u2019d think this never happened.\u00a0 Anyway, when the news broke that Clinton was caught in a lie about an affair in the Oval Office, and one that he had lied about under oath in order to cover up allegations of sexual harassment, everything hit the fan.\u00a0 The coverage, which has been debated and discussed somewhat in recent days across the blogosphere and in some Right Wing media outlets, happened in four basic phases:<\/p>\n

Phase 1: The first hours after the story broke.\u00a0 Almost everyone assumed that if it was true, Clinton was gone.\u00a0 Not just because he had the affair, not just because he had the affair as president IN THE WHITE HOUSE, but because he had lied under oath.\u00a0 When the late Peter Jennings dropped the I-word, most thought the jig was up.<\/p>\n

Phase 2: Hillary Clinton appeared on the Today Show<\/em>, and gave the press their marching orders.\u00a0 It was all part of a Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy.\u00a0 Granted, the Right had accused Clinton of everything under the sun, from being a Communist to being a Martian, so it wasn\u2019t hard to believe this was just one more accusation (even if some of the accusations appeared to have a grain of truth to them).\u00a0 But either way, from this point on the MSM covered the story as if it were the Right\u2019s to prove.\u00a0 More than that, they went after the Right, the Conservative Movement, and the Republicans with a vengeance.\u00a0 We were also given story after story, interview after interview, in which architects, ex-Secret Service members, presidential staffers, former Intern, scholars, scientists, janitors, delivery truck drivers, and anyone under the sun assured us that it was physically impossible for a president to have done what he was accused of doing.\u00a0 At the same time, suspicions fell upon Miss Lewinsky, encouraged by Clinton\u2019s Hunter-Killer team whose job it was to take out any who stood in Clinton\u2019s way.\u00a0 Suggestions that she was just some crazed women like Paula Jones and all the others, began to emerge. <\/p>\n

Phase 3: The Dress.\u00a0 Perhaps because she didn\u2019t want to go down the road of others who got in Clinton\u2019s way, Lewinsky\u2019s mother presents to the world The Dress.\u00a0\u00a0 At that point, you would have thought it was over.\u00a0 Realizing that Clinton had 1) lied under oath, 2) lied to the American public repeatedly, 3) falsely accused his accusers (both Lewinsky and the Republicans), and 4) had the affair during work hours while supposedly worrying about pesky fellows with weird names like Osama bin Laden, most assumed this was it.\u00a0 Because the MSM realized they had been played like fools, their outrage was deafening.\u00a0 For days and weeks, they went after Clinton.\u00a0 Further anger arose at Clinton\u2019s elusive lawyering, his appeals to defining complex terms like \u2018is\u2019, and his general assumption that ignoring job duties, lying, committing perjury, and slandering honest accusers was no big deal.\u00a0 What mattered was that he had given America the greatest economy in the history of the universe, and we needed to focus on what really mattered.\u00a0 After all, his campaign was the one that first told\u00a0us\u00a0there are no morals, just money (as in \u2018It\u2019s the economy, stupid!)<\/p>\n

Phase 4: The MSM realizes what this means.\u00a0 The media had been under scrutiny for some time regarding our friend Mr. Clinton.\u00a0 Going into the 90s, most Americans still believed the media was a source of relatively unbiased truth finding.\u00a0 The 1992 election, in which the MSM showed a disproportionate amount of positive attention to the Clinton campaign, even though he was not the incumbent, suggested some bias was afoot.\u00a0 Later, in the mid-90s during the Government Shutdown, it was hard not to see that the media was quick to blame only the Republicans for the failure of both they and Clinton to come to an agreement.\u00a0 Their tendency to accept the Clinton Administration\u2019s narrative was beginning to suggest that the media felt it was their job to get Clinton elected, and keep him there.\u00a0 And why not?\u00a0 Most media folk by that time were liberal Baby Boomers, and Clinton appeared to be everything they espoused.\u00a0 Gone was that crusty old WWII generation.\u00a0 In was the newer, hipper, joint-smoking, sax-playing generation that would set it right.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

So it wasn\u2019t really that much of a shock when the tides of the media narrative began to change.\u00a0 As movement toward impeachment began to pick up steam, folks in the media \u2013 perhaps because they realized what was at stake \u2013 changed how everything was being discussed.\u00a0 For some reason, the Republicans continued to be portrayed as the bad guys.\u00a0 Ken Starr, Linda Tripp, and others associated with the accusations were all but mauled by the media, popular culture, Saturday Night Live, you name it. <\/p>\n

But that still left us with a president who had done everything mentioned.\u00a0 A president who was still accused of sexual harassment \u2013 the worst charge imaginable through the 80s and 90s, one that almost destroyed a Supreme Court Justice\u2019s nomination.\u00a0 What to do?\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The answer was simple.\u00a0 It. Didn\u2019t. Matter.\u00a0 It was all about sex, so who cared.\u00a0 Most presidents had affairs we were told.\u00a0 In fact, most men have affairs.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 It was just about sex.\u00a0 The word \u2018Sex\u2019 had been used, so that made it personal, private, irrelevant.\u00a0 Let Clinton and his ever present family whenever he was seen in public, work things out.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 Character?\u00a0 Morals?\u00a0 Values?\u00a0 Bah.\u00a0 Look at France.\u00a0 Look at England.\u00a0 They think we\u2019re nuts (even if the English were trying to use Prince Charles\u2019s dalliances as a reason to eliminate the Royal Family).\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 We needed to get to reality.\u00a0 He had given us the greatest economy in the world (with critics concerned about the growing level of debt behind it all relegated to the VRWC), so we needed to grow up.\u00a0 Who cares about such relative things?\u00a0 Who cares about old puritanical values?\u00a0 What president is perfect anyway?\u00a0 Who cares?\u00a0 The media said it.\u00a0 Experts interviewed assured us it didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 Feminist leaders conveniently moved on and suggested Clinton\u2019s stances on unlimited pro-abortion rights were what counted.\u00a0 And America, apparently, bought it. <\/span><\/p>\n

That was
\nthe bargain that 66% of Americans accepted in order to keep the status quo.\u00a0 A status quo that wasn\u2019t true.\u00a0 Troubles were already brewing.\u00a0 A subversive plot to hijack jet airliners and fly them into key structures and kill thousands was already underway, and undetected.\u00a0 Signs that the economy was weaker than presented were beginning to show.\u00a0 Our place in the post-Cold War had not been adequately established, as other competing powers were beginning to sit up and take notice.\u00a0 And yet, we were told that everything was fine.\u00a0 Things like sexual harassment apparently weren\u2019t that big after all.\u00a0 Morals, character, values, truth, perjury didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 As long as we thought everything was fine, just look the other way, insist the emperor\u2019s clothes look quite nice, and all will be well.<\/p>\n

The results have, of course, been devastating\u00a0 on so many levels I can\u2019t get into them all.\u00a0 It should be obvious to anyone with a brain.\u00a0 But beyond all this is the blatant joke of the media\u2019s objectivity.\u00a0 Anyone who can come out of watching their shock, their righteous indignation, their obsession with the gravity of the charges against Cain after having lived through the late 90s, and still think that the Media is all about Truth, is a person most apt to believe that babies are delivered by storks and the moon is made of cheese.\u00a0 It is a person quite willing to live in a world of unreality for the sake of immediate and personal gain.\u00a0 And I hope and pray a growing number of people realize this, since a country filled with 66% of that type of a person, doesn\u2019t stand much of a chance in the 21st century, or any century for that matter.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over at Mark Shea\u2019s Catholic and Enjoying It, I found a link to this article by Elizabeth Scalia.\u00a0 She pretty much says all there is to say.\u00a0 If you\u2019re like me, and a growing number of folks, you\u2019ll admit there\u2019s something fishy about the way the media is handling Cain\u2019s crisis.\u00a0 Yes, if he\u2019s guilty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe best take on the whole Herman Cain accusations so far<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Over at Mark Shea's Catholic and Enjoying It, I found a link to this article by Elizabeth Scalia.  She pretty much says all there is to say.  If\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/11\/the-best-take-on-the-whole-herman-cain-accusations-so-far.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The best take on the whole Herman Cain accusations so far\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over at Mark Shea's Catholic and Enjoying It, I found a link to this article by Elizabeth Scalia.  She pretty much says all there is to say.  If\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/11\/the-best-take-on-the-whole-herman-cain-accusations-so-far.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Daffey Thoughts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-11-11T11:32:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dave Griffey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dave Griffey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/11\/the-best-take-on-the-whole-herman-cain-accusations-so-far.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/11\/the-best-take-on-the-whole-herman-cain-accusations-so-far.html\",\"name\":\"The best take on the whole Herman Cain accusations so far\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-11T11:32:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-11-11T11:32:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7\"},\"description\":\"Over at Mark Shea's Catholic and Enjoying It, I found a link to this article by Elizabeth Scalia.  She pretty much says all there is to say.  If\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/11\/the-best-take-on-the-whole-herman-cain-accusations-so-far.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/11\/the-best-take-on-the-whole-herman-cain-accusations-so-far.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/11\/the-best-take-on-the-whole-herman-cain-accusations-so-far.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The best take on the whole Herman Cain accusations so far\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/\",\"name\":\"Daffey Thoughts\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7\",\"name\":\"Dave Griffey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dave Griffey\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/author\/dgriffey\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The best take on the whole Herman Cain accusations so far","description":"Over at Mark Shea's Catholic and Enjoying It, I found a link to this article by Elizabeth Scalia.  She pretty much says all there is to say.  If","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/11\/the-best-take-on-the-whole-herman-cain-accusations-so-far.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The best take on the whole Herman Cain accusations so far","og_description":"Over at Mark Shea's Catholic and Enjoying It, I found a link to this article by Elizabeth Scalia.  She pretty much says all there is to say.  If","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/11\/the-best-take-on-the-whole-herman-cain-accusations-so-far.html","og_site_name":"Daffey Thoughts","article_published_time":"2011-11-11T11:32:00+00:00","author":"Dave Griffey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Griffey","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/11\/the-best-take-on-the-whole-herman-cain-accusations-so-far.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/11\/the-best-take-on-the-whole-herman-cain-accusations-so-far.html","name":"The best take on the whole Herman Cain accusations so far","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-11-11T11:32:00+00:00","dateModified":"2011-11-11T11:32:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7"},"description":"Over at Mark Shea's Catholic and Enjoying It, I found a link to this article by Elizabeth Scalia.  She pretty much says all there is to say.  If","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/11\/the-best-take-on-the-whole-herman-cain-accusations-so-far.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/11\/the-best-take-on-the-whole-herman-cain-accusations-so-far.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/11\/the-best-take-on-the-whole-herman-cain-accusations-so-far.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The best take on the whole Herman Cain accusations so far"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/","name":"Daffey Thoughts","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7","name":"Dave Griffey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Dave Griffey"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/author\/dgriffey"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2805"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3019\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}