Me Too Founder Tarana Burke Calls Biden's Response 'Disrespectful And Inexcusable'

[Autumn]

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tarana-burke-joe-biden-response_n_5ca7b156e4b0dca033015554?fbclid=IwAR3y1zsJ9-RAD0EID16OX99eUlJa88-ogfbbLBnuVfT9HxsDuM2GMbI92po

Tarana Burke, founder of the Me Too movement, spoke out Friday in support of the women who have come forward to accuse Joe Biden of inappropriate behavior, calling out the former vice president’s joking response to the scandal as “disrespectful and inexcusable.”

In a Twitter thread, Burke argued that the seven women who say they received unwanted physical contact from Biden were right to speak up and that the likely 2020 contender appears be deeply missing the point they are trying to make.

“It’s about bodily autonomy, it’s about power and leadership,” wrote Burke, who first started using the phrase “Me Too” to raise awareness about the pervasiveness of sexual misconduct in 2006.

Burke’s comments came the same day Biden opened up a speech by making light of the news about his unwanted touches. He said of the man who introduced him onstage, “I just want you to know, I had permission” to hug him.

Link to tweet

[nolabear]

1. OFFS. She's choosing to believe he's insincere.

And she’s twisting his meaning. I am SUCH a proponent of respecting what women have gone through since time began but trying to force sackcloth and ashes on a man who I think is sincerely shocked that his physical demonstrations in past years did harm is a big, big mistake.

[LW1977]

2. Agreed

[Autumn]

4. I don't think she's trying to force sackcloth and ashes on Biden. I think it's more of a

disappointment. Her second tweet isn't wrong. In all probability Biden will be the most powerful man in the world. It really is about power and leadership, not that people are too sensitive.

Link to tweet

[nolabear]

7. He never said people are too sensitive. Never.

He said times have changed and he’ll listen.

I think the joke was somewhat stupid but I also think he is having trouble believing people really think he has malign intent. Or that they’ll succeed in portraying him that way if they do.

[Autumn]

8. She didn't say Biden said that people are too sensitive, but others have implied it. nt

[Drahthaardogs]

42. I'll say it. People are too sensitive and there is a point when people go

Ahhh Bullshit and then you lose legitimacy. The lady who said Al Franken made her uncomfortable when he grabbed her waist for the photo ( a natural thing to do) comes to mind.

[bitterross]

62. Thank you. I agree. People HAVE become too sensitive.

We give the GOP fuel to call us snowflakes all the time.

[monmouth4]

3. My problem with Joe is his penchant for gaffes. He should not have been so cavalier with that

statement and just either ignored it or said the situation had been settled as far as he was concerned.

[Autumn]

5. That would have been a much better way to have handled it. Instead of the

comment that "the child gave him permission" before touching him. That came off as kind of mocking.

[Thekaspervote]

30. Your comment is soo trivial!

[Autumn]

44. Talk about trivial comments.

[progressoid]

25. Yep, he's a gaffe machine.

[tonedevil]

40. Joe Biden...

is an articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,

[bitterross]

63. Penchant for gaffes? You think he likes them?

I don't think he likes them and feels really good about them once he's made one.

[madaboutharry]

6. OFFS is right.

This is bullshit.

And what these women are now doing is radicalizing the "Me Too" movement to the point where they can't be taken seriously.

I am horrified at the stupidity. Now it is about "bodily autonomy." This is a new excuse to attack an older white man. I really do believe this now. What a great way to turn people off to a good cause.

I feel bad for Biden. He is a good and decent man who is being attacked for not being a cold fish. He said that he will change his behavior. These continued attacks on him are about sabotaging his candidacy.

[True Blue American]

36. Agree!

[Owl]

45. Exactly.

[LakeArenal]

56. Indeed!!!

[demosincebirth]

61. You've been reading my script.

[BlueFlorida]

70. Look at who started it against Biden

This was well-planned and well-coordinated. It has echoes of the attacks on Hillary by the very same people.

[UniteFightBack]

9. Inappropriate behavior? Lots of conflating going on. nt

[Beartracks]

35. No kidding. Accidentally making someone uncomfortable is not "inappropriate."

[we can do it]

10. Fuck this shit.

[highplainsdem]

11. She's helping to destroy her own movement, and helping to re-elect Trump.

[Autumn]

12. I don't think so. You should read her tweets, she thinks this a a gift that Biden can use to do

what others have not done, be transparent and proactive. Be the leader we all know he is.

[sfwriter]

27. That is his way out.

I don’t think he will handle this well. It will lead into his treatment of Anita Hill and his antiabortion position I’ve the years.

Only time will tell.

[bitterross]

64. She should stop using such terms as "inexcusable" then.

If she wants to throw him a life-line and give him a way out she cannot, at the same time, also say his actions cannot be forgiven or seen in a different light.

The two things are diametrically opposed.

[Autumn]

65. Where did she say his actions cannot be forgiven? Why is it up to her, or any woman to

throw him a life-line? His joking about it only highlighted to some that he thinks he did nothing wrong and needs no forgiveness. Behavior by powerful men that makes women feel uncomfortable should not be justified or tolerated.

[LongtimeAZDem]

73. +1

[flotsam]

13. Hey Tarana-#FOWDC

Fuck off! We don't care!

[Kentonio]

68. Speak for yourself.

[workinclasszero]

14. Joking about these things was a big mistake on Joe's part

I think lots of democratic women are going to remember that for a long time.

[LongtimeAZDem]

15. Most of the ones I've seen agree with him

[workinclasszero]

17. Well if Joe gets the nomination

be prepared for endless GOP attack ads of Joe laughing about this subject in front of an audience.

And I know the pussy grabber in chief gets away with murder but we are supposed to be better.

[LongtimeAZDem]

19. Not a problem with Trump's record

[Trenzalore]

21. I'll take that over the potential Bernie commercials

of him praising Latin American Dictators.

[WeekiWater]

23. This is one of the biggest BS lines on this board.

Biden is better. Absolutely shameful that you promote that he isn’t. That we aren’t. Very transparent.

[Thekaspervote]

29. Terrible of you to equate biden and dotard as the same

Stop!

[workinclasszero]

38. Who said I did?

It was still stupid of Joe to make a joke out of this stuff.

Just a taste of the many gaffes that will be coming down the road when Joe finally gets into the race.

[UniteFightBack]

48. And no one is immune to them because everybody is human. I for one though defend Democrats. nt

[highplainsdem]

16. I imagine Bernie supporters hope so. But they're wrong.

[BlueFlorida]

31. Supporters of one candidate are fueling this nt

[Dream Girl]

26. I thought it was kinda cute

[Kahuna7]

43. The issue is touching people without permission. He assured that he

had permission. And people are still mad??? I see it as selective outrage from those who are afraid of him running.

[ucrdem]

18. "the likely 2020 contender"

Well they got that right at least.

[Trenzalore]

20. Going after Biden the way they have over the past week might end Me Too

Which is really a shame because there are a lot of issues with people that have actually been sexually harassed or assaulted and culturally we should be having that discussion.

[BlueFlorida]

32. +1000 nt

[FloridaBlues]

66. There will never be a perfect candidate, it's just a matter of time before other issues or people

Come out and start attacking each of our candidates. Buckle up.

[WeekiWater]

22. Nothing about it is inexcusable.

WTF. Do people understand the words they use?

[Thekaspervote]

28. +1000

Sanders ... still trying to knock off the competition

[BlueFlorida]

33. Some people cannot win with a positive message

their only chance is to tear down the competition.

This was tried in before and they still lost, then they turned around and helped elect Trump out of spite.

[oasis]

24. Newsflash: Folks better learn to lighten up a bit because Joe Biden

is not about to walk on eggs for the rest of his public career.

[BlueFlorida]

34. Tarana Burke's movement was not going anywhere

until Alyssa Milano stepped in and made #metoo go viral. It was Alyssa Milano who gave the movement its spotlight.

Alyssa Milano came out in support of Joe Biden recently and defended him from unfair attacks.

[comradebillyboy]

46. Good to know...

[True Blue American]

37. The MeToo

Movement has gone off the rails. Like Trump kicking their own movement.

[KT2000]

39. Attention seeking

over a mole hill. This kind of thing diminishes the real threats women face. Women are free to tell someone when they feel "uncomfortable." If they are unable to do that, they must learn. It is called social skills.

[still_one]

41. He wasn't "joking" about it, at least not in the negative connotation that some are trying to paint,

especially the news media. There is an elephant in the room, and he is acknowledging that he is aware of that, and he is not going to pretend it isn't there.

If people or the press want to take it in the worst possible way, so be it, but the crowd he was speaking to, sure didn't take it that way. I wonder how many actually saw the speech?

Lucy Flores, and the others who are/were offended by Biden's touching, speak for themselves. To presume they are speaking for all women is not a valid assumption, and Stephanie Carter said this quite clearly when Lucy Flores tried to characterize Charter's experience the same as hers:

"But her story is not mine," Carter said of Flores."

www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/04/01/stephanie-carter-defends-joe-biden/3329501002/

and that is the bottom line. For some this will be viewed as offensive, and for others this will be viewed as not offensive, and that is the way it is for many things. In the end it will be the public that decides

[Hortensis]

47. Her worst imagining is nothing to mine of hers.

Lifting us up good, troublemaking for good people not.

[Autumn]

49. Some of us don't see it as troublemaking for good people. YMOV. nt

[Hortensis]

50. I know that, AUtumn.

There are returns on these behaviors only to a point beyond which they are no longer so necessary or desirable; and then as, let’s call it personal grace diminishes and is replaced with something very different, the returns diminish and become negatives.

Meanness, mean-spiritedness and lack of generous heart, and also rushing to trouble, are all sins, in both thought and action.

Are you really sure this woman is speaking from a position of grace, or does she simply not understand that one can go too far when joining lowlifes to benefit from a scurrilous political attack? An especially slippery slope when illuminated by national media.

We are living in mean times, and it’s very important to be able to draw our own lines.

[Autumn]

54. Are you really sure they are grabbing a moment of national attention to enhance their careers?

Maybe these woman are speaking from a position of grace. An extremely powerful man, in public events, treating them as if has every right to smell them, embrace them, kiss their heads, touch their thighs. Without regard to the comfort of respecting their personal space. I'm not going to second guess what they find to be acceptable behavior by men towards them. Our opinions of this obviously are different.

[Hortensis]

57. Yes, But I'll respect yours somewhat

more when I see you applying the same standards of behavior to the candidate you support that you do to the candidates you do not.

[Autumn]

59. Rest assured that when women come out complaining about Bernie doing what women are

complaining about Biden doing to them I will not be giving him a pass. I don't need your respect because I can't apply the same standards when the candidate I support hasn't had any women come out with stories of him making them uncomfortable. It's strange how when Bush grabbed Merkel and she freaked, or Trump says when you are rich and famous you can do whatever you want to a woman, we all see how wrong that is and are outraged on the woman's behalf. Let one of ours do it and the women are roundly trashed for coming out about it. Strange.

[Hortensis]

67. Please don't twist. But I would like to defend Merkel. :)

Anyone who wants to support women should reject stereotypical descriptions of emotional fragility like "freak." In this case it's a particularly ridiculous insult to an extremely strong and competent world leader whose life is almost nothing but dealing with national and world crises these days.

[Autumn]

69. Where do you see a ridiculous insult to the extremely strong and

competent world leader Angela Merkel in my post? Talk about twist. Did you see the way she reacted when he grabbed her neck from behind? Anyone would freak out over that.

[SHRED]

51. Is she weakening the movement?

I think so.

[FarPoint]

52. The "Me Too Movement" is failing in it's mission.

They need to set boundaries, standards and action step goals.....Supporting everything throw out and trying to make it stick is their failure.

[stonecutter357]

53. #facknews !

[liberalmediaaddict]

55. The media hasn't learned a thing from 2016

The weaponizing of the MeToo movement against male Democratic candidates is going to be the issue that won't go away the next 2 years. Because the media is going to focus on manufactured scandals like this instead of real issues. Because it's better for their ratings. It will be like Hillary's emails in 2015-16.

The end result is Trump will get re-elected. His voters who weren't bothered by the Access Hollywood tape and Stormy Daniels probably find this Joe Biden "hugging " controversy hysterical. Because they know it will keep their guy in the White House 4 more years. Democratic candidates need to pivot and change the topic to real issues that matter to independent voters when the media asks them about Biden or the latest political scandal designed to turn Democrats against one another.

[LongtimeAZDem]

74. Loved your post, but my irony meter exploded when I saw your preference

[NoMoreRepugs]

58. "Bodily autonomy?" - this utter nonsense only helps the trumpanze by dividing Democrats.

Do you know any shitkickers or goobers? I do and I cannot think of a single one who cares about this "bodily autonomy" - HELL, I'm guessing none of them can spell it.

Get your head out of your ass Tarana Burke and see reality.

[Autumn]

60. I don't know any any shitkickers or goobers. But I expect former Vice President Biden

not only knows about this "bodily autonomy" thing, I'm betting he's smart enough spell it.

[BlueFlorida]

71. Biden and his team are also smart enough to know the

motivations and culprits behind this smear.

[Autumn]

72. Yeah you go with that.

Maybe someday you'll come up with something else, a better, more interesting smear based on absolutely no facts like this one you like to push. All of Joe's problems are Bernie's fault - that is some serious derangement.