Sunday, October 30, 2011

Poor Herman


While it might be a little late to be writing, I am glad I am. If I would have done this earlier I would not have had the chance to talk about an article that was just posted on the Huffington Post website a little over an hour ago.
The title of the article: “Hermain Cain Sexual Harassment Accusations: GOP Presidential Candidate Denies Politico Report”.  I do not know if Herman Cain ever realized that being a frontrunner in this race would bring on so many scrutinizing eyes. Or maybe he did not expect to be a frontrunner at all. First the holes in his 999 plan, then his electrified fence on the border, his overall inexperienced past, his smoking campaign manager, and now this.
Cain was head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. Apparently during his time of leadership, two women employees, that we know of, complained about Cain’s inappropriate/sexual behavior.
“The women complained of sexually suggestive behavior by Cain that made them angry and uncomfortable, the sources said, and they signed agreements with the restaurant group that gave them financial payouts to leave the association. The agreements also included language that bars the women from talking about their departures.”

Cain and his campaign have repeatedly declined to make any comment on these allegations. Cain is said to be “vaguely familiar” with these stories, and believed this matter to be resolved.

On the Politico.com they have the most recent statement that Cain has made concerning the allegations of this issue.
Cain said he has “had thousands of people working for me” at different businesses over the years and could not comment “until I see some facts or some concrete evidence.” His campaign staff was given the name of one woman who complained last week, and it was repeated to Cain on Sunday. He responded, “I am not going to comment on that.”
 He was then asked, “Have you ever been accused, sir, in your life of harassment by a woman?”
 He breathed audibly, glared at the reporter and stayed silent for several seconds. After the question was repeated three times, he responded by asking the reporter, “Have you ever been accused of sexual harassment?””
Politico learned of these allegations weeks ago, but has slowly been putting fact together, and talking to numerous people.
Now, Cain has made some crazy comments and come up with silly metaphors, but this is the first time that I have ever been convinced that more than a handful of people will be put off by this issue. America has elected men with all sorts of quirks and faults. But everyone will agree that a man who cheats, or disrespects a woman in anyway is considered uncouth. Which is an interesting note to elaborate on, but for the purposes of this post, we do not want another Monica Lewinsky situation. And not that that is a situation that would ever fall at Herman Cain’s feet, but the mere possibility is something that will shy the American people away from a vote for Herman Cain. We’ll see how he battles this one with apples and oranges.

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