The Tara Reade Story Is Tricking Progressives Into Voting For Trump Again

[Celerity]

We are doing our best to cover the continually evolving Tara Reade story responsibly here at The Banter. It’s an incredibly delicate subject and we hope to provide our readers with thoughtful, carefully researched articles that do the story justice. You can read our original story here, with new updates added: Tara Reade's Sexual Assault Allegation Against Joe Biden Is Falling Apart

https://thebanter.substack.com/p/the-tara-reade-story-is-tricking



WASHINGTON, DC -- As many of you have noticed, I’ve been almost exclusively focused on doing whatever I can to verbally undermine Donald Trump and his entire criminal enterprise. It’s what I do now. While I don’t have the same online reach as various heavy-hitters, I’m doing what I can to expose Trump’s vast horrendousness, while forecasting the kind of damage he’s manifesting. And based on what I’ve been documenting for several years now, Trump and the idiocratic movement surrounding him is absolutely the most dangerous threat we’ve faced as a nation since World War II. Consequently, I’m intensely driven to use my platform to help make sure Trump loses his re-election campaign this year, and loses it humiliatingly. My hope is, at the very least, to provide rocket fuel for other like-minded Americans in our national effort to destroy this monster and to marginalize if not snuff out the twisted ideology of Trumpism once and for all.

Knowing the destructive potential of a second Trump term as president -- knowing how it would annihilate the last remaining institutional impediments blocking Trump’s ongoing power grab, we ought to be extremely suspicious if not downright hostile to anyone who’s helping the president or hurting his opponent, Joe Biden. This is a political war for our collective future. This election will determine whether we’re spraying the crops with Brawndo under a Trump dictatorship, or whether America will course correct and reacquaint itself with democratic values. Not to belabor the point, but defeating Trump at the ballot box has to be our highest national priority this year. Everything depends on it -- one of the myriad reasons why I’m so driven. It’s also one of the reasons why I’m deeply suspicious of the motives of activists who are exploiting the allegation of Tara Reade to damage the Biden campaign, effectively aiding in the re-election of Donald Trump.

Briefly, Reade was a Senate staffer working in Biden’s office in the early 1990s. Throughout the last 30 years, she’s remained silent about what she’s alleging -- that Biden accosted her in a hallway and sexually violated her. We also know that Russian trolls and bots are actively spreading the allegation around social media and beyond, lending a thick patina of dubiousness to Reade’s claims. It should be further noted that the Republican Party throughout its eight year jihad against Barack Obama’s administration never once unearthed the incident Reade described. Not even Trump’s team landed on this in 2016 when it was looking to distract from Trump’s 25 rape accusers.

In recent history alone, there have been two presidential elections with Biden second on the ticket, plus a third presidential election, 2016, in which Biden briefly explored jumping into the race, as well as the past two years of the 2020 primary process. Why is the Reade allegation coming out now during the exact same pocket of time in the 2020 cycle as the DNC emails were hacked by Russia in the 2016 cycle? Why is this only being circulated now that Bernie Sanders has withdrawn from the race after coming up short on delegates? Nevertheless, this presidential election, like most others, is a binary choice. There are two legitimate options for your presidential vote: Donald Trump or Joe Biden. Voters have the option to vote for Trump, or they have the option to vote for Biden. We therefore have to decide which man is better suited for the presidency. Again, this isn’t merely a “what about Trump?” argument, it’s the actual binary choice we have to make. It’s a mandatory either-or scenario between two contrasting candidates. We’re not just randomly picking on Trump in reaction to the Biden allegation. If Biden is morally eliminated, Trump is the singular alternative. A vote against Biden and what he represents is a vote for Trump and what he represents. That’s how this all works.

snip

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Bookmarking so I can read it later. Thank you, dear Celerity! n/t

[Celerity]

3. huggz my dear Peggy, I hope all is well and you are safe and sound!

[Me.]

2. Please Read This Prosecutor's Take On Her Tale

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/04/29/joe-biden-sexual-assault-allegation-tara-reade-column/3046962001/

And somebody should tell her BS will never be president, no matter how many lies she tells.

[Celerity]

6. thanks!

[cwydro]

4. Nobody with an ounce of sense will vote for oranganus.

Just no.

[dustyscamp]

8. They will just vote green

[we can do it]

5. You'd have to be a complete asshole to vote for dump.

Anyone with half a functioning brain should see through this.

[cwydro]

11. Yup.

This.

[kevink077]

7. A progressive cannot vote for trump

If they do, they are certainly not a progressive, and are too stupid to have a conversation with ....

[dustyscamp]

10. Those guys just want to see the world burn

So they either vote for Trump or the green party

[0rganism]

9. Biden's campaign needs to turn this around somehow

if untrue, Mz. Reade's allegations need to be utterly and publicly destroyed and her reputation demolished in the process. otherwise every couple months there will be one or two more dubious claimants added to a growing queue of unanswered allegations, muddying the campaign and removing focus from pressing national issues. Trump will start calling Biden "rapy Joe" at his rallies. this needs to end, and end quickly.

[dustyscamp]

13. Nah, just ignore it, it will go away

[0rganism]

14. /s?

[Midnight Writer]

42. I agree. Don't give it legs. Issue a denial and move on.

Republicans know this stuff. They hang in, even double down, and the next day another scandal takes over.

And it blows over.

The only people this story impresses is the people already against Biden, looking for a peg to hang that hat on.

Trump will have a dozen televised dramas next week and few will remember this.

[kevink077]

20. Her story Is falling apart.

The more her past is looked into the less credible she becomes. Biden’s proxies will certainly advertise her past.

[mzmolly]

32. It's

untrue IMO.

And it's my understanding that there is a deep dive into her claims by reporters and the Biden camp.

[comradebillyboy]

12. Nobody is being tricked. Those red rose twitter fools

and other assorted leftists were just looking for an excuse to vote against the Democratic nominee for insufficient purity. There is only one person those folks would support and he is sort of not running any more. His supporters are making the most noise by far.

[BlueLucy]

15. Supporters of a certain candidate are making a mockery of the me too movement.

All out of revenge and spite. They voted green and Trump in 2016 out of revenge and spite too. Tells you the "pyschie" of these folks.

[DenverJared]

34. +1

[Skittles]

16. only if you are dumb as all fuck

which we know is possbible

[DURHAM D]

17. Where did you get that subject line????

May I assume you can't vote in our elections?

[Celerity]

19. What are you talking about, it is a pure cut and paste from the article, and yes, I can vote, and do

so in US elections. How is that germane to this in any way?

here is the article title

[DURHAM D]

24. So Banter just changed the title from the original article

and made up some shit.

Is the Banter a British website?

[Celerity]

28. changed the title? This is their original work, it is not a repost.

It is not a British magazine, but Ben Cohen is originally from London. They have other American writers as well like Bob Cesca (who wrote this article), etc.

They are very pro Biden and anti Sanders, anti Taibbi, Greenwald, etc. Massively anti Trump

Perhaps you are conflating it with another site?

these are some of their latest articles

[budkin]

18. Tell me specific "progressives" that will vote for Trump over this

Names please.

[Celerity]

22. ask the author, I know very few who will not, other than there is a site full of them called

JPR that I had never heard of until people mentioned it here. They are all Bernie or Bust types it appears.

I personally know many my age (I was born on 1996, so say a cohort of people born the 10 year span of 1990 to 2000) who were not thrilled with Biden, but to a person they HATE Trump and are going to vote for Joe in November.

[budkin]

25. I'm as progressive as they come, don't care much for Biden (or Bernie)... and I won't hesitate...

to vote for Joe over Trump. This is the single most important election of our lifetime and we can't fuck it up, or we are fucked.

[Celerity]

29. you are preaching to the choir with me

[Raine]

40. Probably more likely to sit it out or vote third party

rather then cast an actual vote for Trump. 😕

[msongs]

21. "the banter" lololol sheeeeesh nt

[Celerity]

23. it is a completely legit site, I find their writing to be very good, to the point I subscribed

[obamanut2012]

44. No, it really isn't

[Celerity]

45. Sorry you are just wrong, and also you are the not the site police. I have posted a shedload of

articles in the past and had almost no complaints ever about it.

The Banter has been around for years, and has well known journos working there. Perhaps yu are conflating it with another site.

They are pro Biden and anti Sanders, anti Taibbi, Greenwald, etc. Massively anti Trump, anti Russia, anti Stein, very pro Democratic Party.

Maybe you take umbrage with that. I do not.

As I posted before, here is a selection of some of their latest articles.

Tell me how these are not the work of a legit site.

[Demsrule86]

26. Biden was attacked all during the primary and still won. Reade's story is crumbling. He will be fine

And he will beat Trump. Those who on the left participating in this were never going to vote for him anyway. And in the end a new coalition will form which will leave these folks with less not more influence.

[dalton99a]

27. Kick

[Fiendish Thingy]

30. Last I saw, Biden was ahead nationally and in swing states, and Trump was panicking

So not exactly sure which progressives are being “tricked” into voting for Trump...

[Delarage]

31. Joe

Could stand in the middle of Main St. Newark and shoot someone and I'd still vote for him. Hell, he could shoot me and, unless he killed me, I'd still vote for him.

[Drum]

33. No one is voting for any Presidential candidate/nominee until November.

[helpisontheway]

35. Whatever..If they are that stupid than they get exactly what they deserve. It would be one thing

if Trump was morally superior. But no that maggot is disgusting on so many levels. If the election is about the better human being then Biden wins hands down..

[JI7]

36. They certainly are not progressives no matter how much they claim to be

[BootinUp]

37. More like giving them the excuse they were

Looking for.

[Caliman73]

38. It seems that people are misunderstanding the point of the post and the article.

I have listened to Bob Cesca on Stephanie Miller and on his podcast. He is solid Dem and he is making the case for Biden in the article. It is true, it is a binary choice.

I supported Bernie Sanders in the Primary in both 2016 AND this cycle. I listen to more left leaning people from Sam Seder and Michael Brooks, to David Packman, and Professor Wolf and Ben Burgis, who are further left and often critical of the Democratic Party.

The reality is as Cesca says, there are only 2 viable candidates in the 2020 election, Biden and Trump. We need to focus on that and clear away all the smoke and the shit that the right and bitter people are kicking up.

[betsuni]

39. I just saw an article on a progressive site saying the accusation is credible and then

the whole rest of it is about Biden's "long-time buddy" Chris Dodd and HIS "party boy" buddy Ted Kennedy and the sexual assault accusations against the two of them.

Guilt by association. Because Chris Dodd is advising Biden on his vice presidency pick and is his buddy, he's guilty. Morally eliminated.

[Gothmog]

41. Why I'm skeptical about Reade's sexual assault claim against Biden: Ex-prosecutor

Link to tweet

►People who contradict Reade’s claim. After the alleged assault, Reade said she complained about Biden's harassment to Marianne Baker, Biden’s executive assistant, as well as to top aides Dennis Toner and Ted Kaufman. All three Biden staffers recently told The New York Times that she made no complaint to them.
And they did not offer the standard, noncommittal “I don’t remember any such complaint.” The denials were firm. “She did not come to me. If she had, I would have remembered her,” Kaufman said. Toner made a similar statement. And from Baker: “I never once witnessed, or heard of, or received, any reports of inappropriate conduct (by Biden), period." Baker said such a complaint, had Reade made it, "would have left a searing impression on me as a woman professional, and as a manager.”
►Missing formal complaint. Reade told The Times she filed a written complaint against Biden with the Senate personnel office. But The Times could not find any complaint. When The Times asked Reade for a copy of the complaint, she said she did not have it. Yet she maintained and provided a copy of her 1993 Senate employment records.
It is odd that Reade kept a copy of her employment records but did not keep a copy of a complaint documenting criminal conduct by a man whose improprieties changed “the trajectory” of her life. It’s equally odd The Times was unable to find a copy of the alleged Senate complaint.
►Memory lapse. Reade has said that she cannot remember the date, time or exact location of the alleged assault, except that it occurred in a “semiprivate” area in corridors connecting Senate buildings. After I left the Justice Department, I was appointed by the federal court in Los Angeles to represent indigent defendants. The first thing that comes to mind from my defense attorney perspective is that Reade’s amnesia about specifics makes it impossible for Biden to go through records and prove he could not have committed the assault, because he was somewhere else at the time.
For instance, if Reade alleged Biden assaulted her on the afternoon of June 3, 1993, Biden might be able to prove he was on the Senate floor or at the dentist. Her memory lapses could easily be perceived as bulletproofing a false allegation.
►The lie about losing her job. Reade told The Union that Biden wanted her to serve drinks at an event. After she refused, "she felt pushed out and left Biden's employ," the newspaper said last April. But Reade claimed this month in her Times interview that after she filed a sexual harassment complaint with the Senate personnel office, she faced retaliation and was fired by Biden’s chief of staff.
Leaving a job after refusing to serve drinks at a Biden fundraiser is vastly different than being fired as retaliation for filing a sexual harassment complaint with the Senate. The disparity raises questions about Reade’s credibility and account of events.
►Compliments for Biden. In the 1990s, Biden worked to pass the Violence Against Women Act. In 2017, on multiple occasions, Reade retweeted or “liked” praise for Biden and his work combating sexual assault. In the same year, Reade tweeted other compliments of Biden, including: “My old boss speaks truth. Listen.” It is bizarre that Reade would publicly laud Biden for combating the very thing she would later accuse him of doing to her.

[Kingofalldems]

46. Another anti Biden thread.

Every freaking day, getting old.

[Celerity]

47. How is this possibly anti-Biden? The Banter has been a defender of him the whole time.

The only other OP directly about Reade I have posted (11 days ago) and left up was from the same site, where they trashed Reade and stood up for Biden.


here was that OP

Tara Reade's Sexual Assault Allegation Against Joe Biden Is Falling Apart

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213321631



here is a section of this current OP

Knowing the destructive potential of a second Trump term as president -- knowing how it would annihilate the last remaining institutional impediments blocking Trump’s ongoing power grab, we ought to be extremely suspicious if not downright hostile to anyone who’s helping the president or hurting his opponent, Joe Biden. This is a political war for our collective future. This election will determine whether we’re spraying the crops with Brawndo under a Trump dictatorship, or whether America will course correct and reacquaint itself with democratic values. Not to belabor the point, but defeating Trump at the ballot box has to be our highest national priority this year. Everything depends on it -- one of the myriad reasons why I’m so driven. It’s also one of the reasons why I’m deeply suspicious of the motives of activists who are exploiting the allegation of Tara Reade to damage the Biden campaign, effectively aiding in the re-election of Donald Trump.

it goes on from there:

Are we as a nation better off with Trump instead of Biden? Progressives who say “yes” in response to that question are rejecting the most progressive Democratic nominee in history while de-facto supporting the least. And they need to wise up about all this now, before it’s too late.

deffo not 'anti Biden'

This is why I almost never post or reply on this subject, and shall endeavour to avoid so in the future.