The sun shines. People forget. There is an eminence front for all people and therefore all candidates. For candidates it must be especially thick and durable as it is liable to come under meticulous attack, if not by the people then by the press and the other candidates. Herman Cain has learned this simple truth. Does his need to learn this lesson the hard way indict him? According to the gunslingers not on the Cain payroll, the gunslingers that are have ham-handed this one. What actually happened or was said is immaterial on this reckoning. It’s all about the optics: how it looks and Cain looks like a desperate fugitive. Not a good pick on the campaign trail. Those on the bench, always hungry for a campaign to attach, guffaw and point at Cain and his minions. They are not performing up to industry standards. Cain should really hire me, is what they would advise in all candor but that would be a bit crass. Never considered is that Cain might not be operating to some strategic form but simply responding honestly and forthrightly. If his answers are muddy and inconsistent, so are they on all subjects with THIS subject being the muddiest particularly because no one has even offered a version of events different to his. Really, this is true. The headlines are written in a dire style and the mouthpieces run their motors, fueling the talking heads but as of now, as of today, there are no documents, no names, no sources and no evidence of anything at all; not any illegality but any actions whatever. There is only one truth on the side of the crows; more than a decade ago two women got settlements, totaling $80k from the National Restaurant Association long after Cain had departed. That is it. The nature of the behavior or statements, even the actual dates (if they are even asserted) is secret. And that is no doing of the NRA. They have publicly released the complainants to speak without even their settlement money in jeopardy. As an old legal pro I can tell you, this doesn’t happen and would not happen if the NRA didn’t think they were in the clear. Mr Cain, as has now been discovered, was never a party to this agreement so his ignorance of its contents is far from surprising. These too are all truths unhelpful to the project of hammering down whomever is standing up. (Which tells you why Romney has received no hammer blows as yet.)

The Truth of their reportage is always the defense from the press room although Politico, the forge where this iron was cast, seems to be more in the mold of a partisan tip sheet than an unearther of truths. Still their cry is the same. We only print the Truth. This truth is that someone told them of a settlement and they have tried to contact the women involved, who have declined comment and instructed their attorneys to do likewise. But it is TRUE! We were told that! By whom? Well, right there the well of truths runs dry. When interviewed the pressies make splashing sounds to hide that fact but now their throats are parched. But if it is Truths these guys and dolls seek, there are plenty of other wells close at hand.

This is, as they say, a case of He said, She said (although the Shes are actually silent). But We are not all equal here, not a bit of it. The He is subject to all kinds of scrutiny. The Shes are subject to none. Not only that but any close attention aimed at the sources for the stories or the original principles in these events is treated explicitly as a witch hunt. But the greatest Truth on display from all this activity is that the rules of the game have been inverted silently in the night. The complaints from the gunslingers that Team Cain is not adhering to the well-worn strategies is based on one truth we all know; former President Bill Clinton raped and assaulted many women over his long career and walked away from it a free man and a leader on the world stage. That is a Truth. It has the added benefit that it is a Truth everyone knows. Everyone also knows exactly how such a disgraceful state of affairs came about, it was by the inversion of the template sketched above. In that He said, She said it was the accusers (and these were real people with names, on the record and often under oath) who got vivisected under a microscope and the He was doted on as if he were found weeping and bleeding in an alley. Indeed this is how Clinton postured himself. All mentions of the brutal acts by Clinton against defenseless women, who he cornered with the powers of his office, were smothered in “allegedlies” and the details kept mum as they were presumed to be the ravings of opportunistic grifters or disgruntled exes and in any case, distasteful. But we consumers of retail information were not there, were we? We were not at the scenes of these many crimes nor in the depositions or hearings where the statements were entered. With great exertions high and low there was one interview with a victim, Jane Doe #5, by the name of Juanita Broaderick. In great detail she described the attack with corroboration from contemporaries. She also describes the cover-up of her rape that included the maniacal collusion of one Hillary Clinton who holds high office today. All this was rubbished, denied in the execution of a “strategy” well-named Nuts ‘n Sluts by those who carried it out; foremost these were James Carville and Maggie Williams although an honorable mention must be made for Susan Esterich, who paraded her own assumed status as a rape victim and long time activist as she denounced Broaderick as a Nut, possibly a slut, disbelieving ostentatiously her weeping recount. The press airs these Truths evenhandedly, correct? It is for the observer to decide. Those willing to believe Clinton a deranged thug believe Broaderick. Those not so disposed simply look away. It is to be hoped that Cain did not expect such treatment but he did, perhaps, expect a tiny dash of consistency. Foolish man.

With this naked abuse the Clinton template wears a bit thin around the gaskets. Bill and Hillary view with horror the smoke and grinding sounds coming from their faithful old contraption. If the Cain Standards are ever applied to a Clinton Scrutiny there will scarcely be anything left of them. Kathleen Willey still bears Clinton’s paw prints from the day he attacked her in the Oval Office. Paula Jones is sitting on a nice fat settlement of $850k due to Clinton’s exposing his erection for her after calling her from her desk to a private room and stroking her thigh. These are the sort of specifics the Cain accusers do not provide. Likewise a history that endorses the allegations is missing in the Cain events but gaudily present with Clinton. Dolly Kyle-Browning and Elizabeth Ward-Gracen are two other subjects; derided and discarded by the pressies in the recent past who have made public statements that they were raped by Bill Clinton and at times that would have implicated Hillary in the cover-ups. These public Truths have had their wings clipped by the “strategy” Cain is supposedly a fool not to employ. In his detour and gyrations Cain is testing the mounts of the grumbling machine and threatens to unleash a torrent of Truths on the land as if from a collapsing dam.

The Clintons are the foremost beneficiaries so they will be inundated most deeply. Those Truths above are just the mildest froth on the waves. The reservoir is deep. But let’s not forget the others. John Edwards was taken down by a particularly voluminous leak although he was playing the game strictly by the rules. His problem was hard evidence, being not a stained dress but a screaming baby. In his inexpert handling of the levers he overtaxed the abilities of the machine so he is being fleeced like any Regular Joe. We can leave him to justice.

Another interesting figure is one Jesse Jackson. We know that the attacks on Cain are not racially motivated largely because of Jackson’s treatment. Like Edwards, Jackson also fathered a child outside his marriage. Yes, this has come to light but only after decades. If that is not freshie-fresh enough for you, Jackson has his own sexual harassment case pending today only this one is being pursued in open court. A fellow by the name of Tommy Burnett was Jackson’s travel assistant. He was called to Jackson’s hotel room one night where an engorged Reverend told him tales of youthful homosexual activities in football locker rooms and invited Barnett (openly gay) to do likewise. He declined and further asserts that this is just one incident in many, some of which have corroborating witnesses. Is this of no interest because Jackson is no politician? Except that he has run for President and if he holds no office now he is still a power broker at the national level. This also is a Truth that cannot forever be employed opportunistically.

If Jackson is too peripheral a player, well, who else might benefit from the Cain Scrutiny? As the press ever more wanly calls for Cain’s Janes to come forward no one is encouraging Larry Sinclair to do so. And who is this, then? Larry Sinclair is the fellow who had gay sex in a limo with a young candidate (for Senate) Obama, shared cocaine with him and then repeated the whole thing again. Mr. Sinclair has no judgement to defend but instead is defending his very life, right? That is what he says. Like Cain, let Obama fill in the details. Larry’s statement was made publicly to the press. As he became acquainted with Barack Obama Larry was contacted by a Donald Young, an openly gay man directing the choir at Trinity United Methodist. It is little secret that Trinity United, the home and workplace of Rev Jeremiah Wright was a mecca (ooops) in the Chicago black gay scene. Larry says Donald feared for his life because of his sexual relationship with the rising Presidential Candidate. As Cain could tell you, things like this can trip you up. But we know no such thing happened to President Obama because there he sits. We do know what became of Donald Young. He was shot to death in his home. This is a Truth and one with a mighty splash, or one would think; but no. Only Donald Young’s mother speaks for him and many a Truth spills from her mouth and heart. No one is interested. Such a truth is outside the realm. Donald Young was just robbed, it’s all a coincidence you see. Is that the Cain Standard? No, it is the threadbare Clinton Method which requires close press support. The thin, sturdy barrier of revulsion has held because those who claim their job is to rupture it are up there with duct tape and spackle. Can they release a torrent on Cain and still protect Obama? Probably. History implies they may. If only Donald Young were alone in his grave, but he is not. Two other fellows, Larry Bland and Nate Spencer, gay members of Trinity United, were likewise murdered; shot repeatedly with no witnesses and no obvious motive and all three within a month of each other (and Spencer’s cause of death was ruled HIV). These are Truths far more worthy of exposure and investigation than anything the maddest hater can concoct about Cain. And that is why you will see the Cain Scrutiny fizzle, smolder and flop.

 

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Tags: ends & odd, race & culture, trusted media & news // 2 Comments »