If a video surfaced of Cory Booker and a friend joking in law school about raping white women

[EffieBlack]

would you:

10 votes, 2 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Insist he drop out of the presidential race but keep his Senate seat
	0 (0%)
	Insist he drop out of the presidential race and resign from the Senate
	7 (70%)
	Insist he should continue running for president and stay in the Senate because this was in the past and he's done a lot of good things since law school
	3 (30%)
	2 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[LexVegas]

1. I'm sure there would be a thread about giving him kudos.

[applegrove]

2. Point taken.

[Codeine]

3. But did you watch the WHOLE video?! nt

[Blue_true]

17. It was a subjective question. There is no such video.

But the OP asked if there was, what our reaction should be. If such a video came out, I would want him to drop out of the Presidential race and resign from the Senate. I would feel the same way about someone joking about any social taboo.

[Codeine]

20. It was a joke.

Everyone tried to explain the little smirking shitbird Covington kid with that line.

[EffieBlack]

21. Codeine was joking

[Blue_true]

24. Never joke with a humorless person. nt

[melman]

4. How about you?

What would you do?

[NanceGreggs]

5. As much as I respect your opiniions, EffieB ...

... I don't think hypothetical "what-ifs" do much to advance the discussion that needs to be addressed.

[EffieBlack]

8. Nancy - you're one of my favorites here, but I strongly disagree with you on this

Hypotheticals are an excellent way to help people test their positions by holding up their views to the light and consider them from a different perspective.

The law professor in me loves the Socratic Method ...

[NanceGreggs]

9. As you are one of my favourites here, Effie.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

[EffieBlack]

10. Mwah!

[exboyfil]

13. Why drag Booker into this?

Even as a hypothetical.

[EffieBlack]

14. Sigh ...

[RockRaven]

6. To me there is no question that it would be a disqualifier for POTUS primary...

for one very simple reason: he would assuredly lose in the general election.

The human race is literally imperiled by Donald Trump being POTUS, humanity cannot afford high-minded "forgiveness and personal growth" stuff to endanger the very survival of the species. The Democratic candidate MUST win in 2020.

The answer would be different if such a tape were to come out too late in the process to replace him on the general election ballot in all the swing or blue states. In that case, him dropping out would ensure a 2nd Trump term, so he might as well keep running.

The one thing Repukes do "better" than Democrats is prioritizing winning over principles (look, it is not laudable, but it is unfortunately effective). The Democratic party could be better at recognizing certain critical moments when prioritizing principles over power is self-defeating -- if you self-immolate then you never even get a chance to enact your good principles.

[EffieBlack]

11. The ONLY reason this would disqualify him is that it would make it hard for him to win?

Wow.

[RockRaven]

16. Not even close to what I wrote. "Only" and "unquestionably" are not even on the same axes.

And in the context of my answer, they are as near opposites as two points on very skewed lines can be.

[EffieBlack]

19. I guess that "for one simple reason" your entire post was about threw me.

[still_one]

7. Hell, this was a doctor making a racist joke, which makes it actually worse. Why would anyone trust

that he would give the same quality care to an African American person as he would a white person?

A doctor was fired from the Cleveland Clinic after her anti-Semitic tweets.


This isn't even a borderline decision in my view. He can't be trusted

I also don't like hypotheticals as posed in the OP. There are enough real examples. Robert Byrd is one such example.

[myohmy2]

12. I liked...

...Al Franken...

...let the people decide...if your hypothetical video was that offensive then his political career would be over...

...when we demand a puke resign and not a Dem for similar questionable behavior, I don't consider it hypocrisy...

...to me, pukes are inherently evil and inimical to everything this country stands for, where as even the worst of Dems, is not...

...I don't like Republicans...

[Apollyonus]

15. A lot of scenarios

1. Is it a part of a stand-up routine?
2. Is it a part of some skit or play?
3. Were the parties sober or drunk?
4. Is the video complete or there are just clips?
5. Is it available in its entirety?
6. Do the friends in the video corroborate it as serious?

[EffieBlack]

18. So, you think there are some instances where it's ok to joke about raping women?

Gotcha.

I don't think that is EVER ok under ANY scenario - drunk, sober, comedy routine, as part of a bigger video.

Just as I don't think it is EVER ok for grown men to dress up on blackface and Klan regalia. Ever.

[Apollyonus]

23. If it is a part of a play or a skit

and it is in the script -- which brings attention to the issues of rape -- I don't see any problem with it.

[RockRaven]

22. 7. Is it a sarcastic caricature of people who genuinely DO joke about such things?

A critical joke about such a joke, if you will. Context matters a lot.

Although, as we've seen with those Covington brats, sometimes the full context doesn't really change as much of our conclusion as the people crying "but the context!" want it to change. Sometimes it re-enforces the initial judgment.