The funny thing is that I don’t think there has ever been a wannabe president who was so damn proud of his ignorance. In any case, I’d say he has about 3 of his 15 minutes left before he becomes too much of a national laughing stock even for his Republican puppet masters.
(Herman Cain’s a know-nothing candidate, but man that ‘brother’ can sing, The iPINIONS Journal, October 22, 2011)
As if putting out a commercial that looks more like an ad for a cigarette company than for a presidential campaign were not disqualifying enough, Republican candidate Herman Cain is now swirling in a black hole of sexual harassment that threatens to relegate his campaign to the dust bin of history even before the Iowa Caucuses in early January.
Specifically, reports surfaced over the weekend that he was forced to settle allegations made by two female employees when he was head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. However, because the settlements reportedly contained confidentiality clauses, it’s unlikely the victims will emulate Anita Hill by coming forward.
Incidentally, this makes Cain’s challenge to the media to “bring me the accuser” nothing more than a shamelessly cynical ploy since he knows full well that the women would be in breach of their settlement agreement if they were to come forward to face him publicly.
Nevertheless, the problem for Cain is that his denial seems even less credible than Bill Clinton’s now infamous “I did not have sex with that woman … Ms. Lewinsky”. In this case, instead of flatly denying that the Restaurant Association ever settled the reported claims, he and his PR flaks are merely insisting that he never sexually harassed anyone. Which of course is rather like Clinton insisting to this day that he never had sex with Monica because he does not consider getting a blow job sex.
That said, the dark shadow hovering over these reports is that of Justice Clarence Thomas. For I suspect the (liberal) media will be damned if they’re going to let another plainly hypocritical black conservative get off on sexual harassment allegations by playing the high-tech lynching card. Not to mention the craven hypocrisy involved in conservatives – who reflexively damn liberals for crying racism – now trying to turn Cain into a victim of a racist media conspiracy.
For what it’s worth, I think, like Thomas, Cain is guilty as reported. Moreover, it speaks volumes that he appears to have engaged in this boorish behavior even after Thomas and Hill gave the nation an explicit, comprehensive and transformative tutorial on sexual harassment.
Anyway, as my opening quote indicates, I did not think Cain stood a snowball’s chance in hell of winning the Republican nomination even before these revelations. I guess one of his Republican competitors leaked this titillating story to the press just to make sure. I’d say Herm now has about 3 minutes left … don’t you agree?
NOTE: Both women complained that Cain not only made the kind of lewd comments (like references to porn, pubes and penises) that came back to bite Thomas in the ass, but actually made unwelcomed physical advances on them. (Perhaps this explains Cain’s declaration recently that Thomas is the Supreme Court justice he most admires. Hehehe….) The only question now is how many other women will come out of the woodwork before Cain exits the political stage right … with his frisky tail between his legs?
Related commentaries:
Herman Cain’s a know-nothing candidate…