Herman Cain makes more headlines this week.
Although he has a juicy campaign finance scandal brewing, and a bizarre gaffe about the Palestinian people, what people are really intrigued by is the revelations that Herman was, in the 1990s, accused of sexual harassment by two employees of the National Restaurant Association while Cain was the organization’s CEO.
The story has some potential…comedy potential, as in, “Herman, dude, hasn’t anyone ever told you that nein, nein, nein means NEIN?!?”
Other than that, this story stinks.
First, this is not going to help and might, quite possibly, hurt Cain’s chances at taking the nomination. And I don’t want anything to hurt Cain’s chances of being the Republican nominee for 2012. Seriously…if Obama has to go up against Romney or Cain, I’d much rather he go up against Cain. Besides the fact that Cain is the weaker of the two candidates, I like the gut-knotting turmoil it causes amongst the bigoted faction of Republicans.
It also sucks for a more important reason: because it feeds ugly bigotry, by reinforcing a negative stereotype of black men. “They’re stealing our women!”
And that is simply ugly.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not taking a stand on whether or not Cain sexually harassed those women. I’m not offering any excuses for sexual harassment, or making excuses for Cain if it turns out he did engage in that behavior. But the legal settlement prevents the women from talking about their complaint or the monetary settlement, so that there will always remain some uncertainty about what really happened. And the bigots will use that uncertainty to feed their ugly habit. Yuck.
As an aside, even Obama isn’t immune from this stereotype.
Remember last year when Newt Gingrich made headlines about Dinesh D’Souza “stunning insight” into Obama?
…the “most profound insight I have read in the last six years about Barack Obama.”
“What if [Obama] is so outside our comprehension, that only if you understand Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior, can you begin to piece together [his actions]?” Gingrich asks. “That is the most accurate, predictive model for his behavior.”
“This is a person who is fundamentally out of touch with how the world works, who happened to have played a wonderful con, as a result of which he is now president,” Gingrich tells us.
What was D’Souza “profound insight” in this article that so inspired Gingrich? The article concludes:
But instead of readying us for the challenge, our President is trapped in his father’s time machine. Incredibly, the U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s. This philandering, inebriated African socialist, who raged against the world for denying him the realization of his anticolonial ambitions, is now setting the nation’s agenda through the reincarnation of his dreams in his son. The son makes it happen, but he candidly admits he is only living out his father’s dream. The invisible father provides the inspiration, and the son dutifully gets the job done.
Ahh, yes…if Obama doesn’t fit the bigot’s stereotype directly, lash him to that post by his genes.
As for Cain, at least the sexual harassment issue will divert people from some other, probably more serious, “issues” of the Cain campaign.
I understand where the two women would have had to sign a confidentially clause – not just the money – they too don’t want a target on their backs/resumes when seeking new jobs.
We had to sign one recently with my Dad’s wrongful death settlement a few months ago. Dad’s check was issued via the lawyers with obvious confidentiality issues too.
However, if Cain’s SH settlements were handled within the company, that stuff isn’t necessarily handled in a void. Human Resources people know what’s going down, heck perhaps even the Accounts Payable Dept that cut the check. Board members, the list is endless as to whom might pass along the “tip” to Political.
Cain has been such a blowhard, ‘talk loudly first and THEN think’ I can easily see that he might have made offensive comments. Even if he didn’t perceive they were sexual harassment comments himself.
Regarding Cain’s illegal campaign financing stuff going down, Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell hammered it on tonight.
I don’t think that little problem is going away.
Wow, Pap (being a high powered lawyer) offers more insights. I really like Pap, he’s just able to look at things in ways I never consider.
Papantonio: Cain — The GOP’s Latest Sex Pervert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v....._embedded#!
looks like another clarence thomas type hatchet job by the leftists.
black conservatives get this type of treatment. liberals-hardly.
Cue the canned rebuttal from the right-wing talking points @ # 4: “….Liberals-hardly”.
You mean liberals like Bill Clinton?
Of course, Monica Lewenski was a consensual encounter, whereas the Clarence Thomas and Herman Cain scandals involve allegations of sexual harrasment.
Some racists may view it as a racial issue, a “Willie Horton” type of argument that “black folks are out to get you (or your women)” sort of thing. But sexual harrasement is usually about power – the perpetrator likes to test his power in a way which subjugates the victim. In the Clarence Thomas case, it was a black woman complaining about a black boss creating a hostile work environment. We don’t yet know the details of the Cain cases, the victims might be black, white, hispanic, asian, whatever.
But that won’t stop the idiots like Troll who like to repeate the right-wing talking points as if that ends the discussion.
Psycho talk from the the Psychoman.
Possible sources of the attack.
1) Some other right wing presidential candidate.
2) Turd Blossom.
3) One of Herm’s fellow business partners who was aware of the incident who doesn’t like Herm.
My guess is Turd Blossom. It is his style.
Sucks @ 4,
That’s, like, super-retarded. Why would a liberal want to hurt Herman Cain?!?
No, this one has the stain of Santorum all over it….
Regarding the confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements, over which there has been so much (uninformed) discussions:
A confidentiality agreement is often a boiler-plate document or clause inserted into a settlement of a potential claim or lawsuit.
Some defendants like to keep quiet the fact that they paid off a victim, for any variety of reasons (personal reputation, stock price, to avoid similar claims, etc.). Even routine personal-injury lawsuits may include such clauses so that the size of the settlement isn’t published, thereby encouraging other claims.
Some victims like to be able to keep the details quiet, also, to avoid problems with their current husbands, future jobs, general embarrasment over the situation, etc.
The person writing the check usually writes the settlement documents, and decides whether the confidentiality requirement will be one-sided or mutual. Sometimes they will make it one-sided, instead of mutual.
So how much is it worth to the victim to scuttle the settlement over some obscure language in the settlement documents? They may need the cash pretty badly. Besides, why would the other side ever want to disclose the details – they are the ones who wanted to keep it quiet, weren’t they? So most just sign the agreement.
But in rare cases, such as in Cain’s situation, a non-mutual agreement gives the perpertrator free reign to lie about the circumstances, and even trash the agreement, without the victim having an opportunity to respond.
So if the non-disclosure or confidentiality agreements are mutual in Cain’s case, Cain can’t discuss them at all. All he has to do is say he can’t discuss them because he is bound to a confidentiality agreement. Since he hasn’t done so, I’m guessing that the confidentiality agreement isn’t mutual.
But this doesn’t mean that Cain is in the clear. As long as the information doesn’t come from a source not affiliated with the victim, the details can emerge. I would think that some who worked with Cain in the National Restaurant Association might have an interest in setting the record straight. Also, once the identity of the victims become public knowledge, if Cain continues to assert that the claims were “baseless”, or worse, then he could be open to a new claim of libel, where the underlying claim, and Cain’s knowledge of the facts, might simply be evidence in the new case.
Which brings about the possibility of a Jessica Hahn type of case being brought against Cain, funded by the same people who financed the case against Clinton. Can you imagine the next year of campaigning with Cain being involved in depositions and litigation?
Hey Psychoman,
You know, it could be part of Sarah Palin’s master plan. After she has destroyed all the competition, she announces her candidacy.
Run Sarah Run!
Just curious – is Karl Rove a paid operative for Romney, or simply an interested hatchet-man?
Turd Blossom has his own super PAC so he has lots of money.
See https://www.google.com/search?q=Karl+Rove+American+Crossroads
I just remembered that Karl Rove was the master of the “October Surprise”. Every October he could be counted on to make sure the latest terrorist threat, Bin Laden videotape, or false allegation surfaced.
Rove promised Republican donars in September 2008 that there was going to be a big “October Surprise” which was going to turn the race around (provided they contribute), but nothing developed then. I’m guessing that the collapse of the financial markets overwhelmed him, or he simply never had anything in the first place, and was just trying to con donars to continue to give towards a losing cause.
Cain’s A Liar
Here’s what NBC refers to as Cain’s “evolving statements”:
Statement #1: “I am not personally aware of any settlement. If the restaurant association did a settlement, I wasn’t even aware of it ….”
Statement #2: “Yes, there was some sort of settlement or termination.”
These statements are inconsistent. Both can’t be true. One is false.
Unlike Darryl, I don’t hope Cain is the GOP nominee. I understand Darryl’s reasoning from a political tactics point of view, but what if Obama lost to Cain, and Cain became president? The problem isn’t that he’s a wacko; the problem is that so many voters are wackos, too. When half or more of the electorate are wackos, the only thing that stands between us and catastrophe is rational candidates. If both the voters and the candidate are wacko, we’re in real trouble.
Oh that was the…
$99,999 plan!
LMAO!!
“if it turns out he did engage in that behavior”
Although we don’t have the details it seems clear he did.
@4 Looks like another troll in denial.
Of course, this all plays into Romney’s hands, as Darryl alluded to. Knocking out the crazy’s ensures Romney will get the nomination, and Romney is the only one with a remote chance of beating the President.
More important, perhaps, than the ultimate result, is that we are spending all our time and attention knocking down the easy targets, or picking the low-hanging fruit (pick whatever metaphore suits you). While we and the mainstream media are so engaged, Romney gets another month or so when nobody investigates his vulnerabilities.
I think it’s a mistake for us to assume that the other Republican candidates would do this work for us. They have their own base to deal with, and different issues. We need to start re-writing Romney’s image.
One of the thing which Karl Rove was good at was taking the opposing candidate’s biggest strength and turning it against him, so he doesn’t want to bring it up. We need to do the same. Romney is a succesful businessman? We need to make sure people remember he made his money on Wall Street, is one of the 1%, and represents the financial interest. Whenever Romeny’s name comes up, people should think “Wall Street”.
Romney “looks Presidential?” We need to attack that as racist stereotyping, because it infers that a white man inherently looks more presidential than a black man.
Romney is a “moderate”? Make sure his bows to the Tea Party rhetoric are well publicized, and tag him as a “flip-flopper”.
The economy is bad? Make sure people remember that Republican economics are at fault for the 2008 collapse, that it has improved since then due to steps taken by Pres. Obama in early 20909, and that the Republicans have actively tried to sabotage the economic recovery since then just so they could make Pres. Obama a “one-term President”.
Ha ha ha! Looks like the Koch brothers didn’t vett their water carrier good enough.
@8 Nah, not Santorum, not even Romney; this has Rove’s fingerprints on it, and Rove works for the GOP Bigs, who worry they can’t control Cain.
@9 “once the identity of the victims become public knowledge, if Cain continues to assert that the claims were ‘baseless’, or worse, then he could be open to a new claim of libel”
No, they won’t sue him for libel; what will happen is, they will consider the confidentiality agreement broken, and Cain having talked, they will tell their side of the story.
Frontpage of Politico.com it’s all insane-in-the-membrane Cain…
@11 Rove doesn’t do anything for free, but I don’t think he’s working for Romney, I think he’s working for the party poobahs.
Nice cartoon….
2012 Jack-o-Candidates
# 22: That assumes that the confidentiality agreement is mutual. If not, he can talk about it all he wants. That’s the problem with a one-way confidentiality agreement.
Of course, if the victims talk now, he’s left with the prospect of suing them to get the money back, which isn’t a very attractive option for him – it makes him look petty and vindictive. But he might just do it – he’s pretty unpredictable that way.
Former governor and senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ) is in the news. The brokerage firm he was hired to manage in March 2010 filed for bankruptcy yesterday after losses on European debt, and it was disclosed today that up to $700 million of customer money was mingled with the firm’s funds. Corzine isn’t accused of any wrongdoing and an accounting firm hired to unwind the company expressed confidence the customers would get their funds.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45....._business/
# 27: Gee, is there ever any good news that comes out of New Jersey? I remember that when Spiro Agnew was forced to resign, the commentators just shrugged and said that the scandal was nothing new to New Jersey politics, they were surprised he was even being prosecuted.
Of course, Richard Nixon counted on Spiro Agnew to be his ace in the whole against prosecution or impeachment. Even though he was despised by the Democrats, Agnew was even worse. But Agnew getting taken out of the game changed everything, and suddenly impeachment became a real option.
So, I should feel guilty because white people can’t handle The BBC? It’s not my fault God gave white people little ones.
@4
Regardless of who pointed the harassment claim out, how could sharing public knowledge be a “hatchet job.?”
Greece should have never been allowed into the EU in the first place. I say good for Papandreou.
Nice! How does a $4.99 billion error slip through?
I like Herman. I probably would have liked him more before he got so stinkin’ filthy rich, but I could have hanged with the guy. I can imagine ribbing him pretty hard, and him dishing it back. I suspect he was just having fun with this candidacy but now it’s more than he bargained for.
He’s just a schemer who did remarkably well with Godfather’s. He’s no president. He probably knew that going in, but he’s the type who easily has things go to his head. Years ago, with the first taste of the power that comes with money, he probably got in trouble with a few women and who knows what else. But who wouldn’t in his shoes? heh. I doubt that he was thinking about a future run for the presidency as he was fucking his brains out.
@8 Did you already out the dumbfuck Klown?
# 32: Well, you know, a billion here, a billion there, after a while we are are talking about some real money!.
If Cain were a Democratic congressman from New York the Republicans would be calling for him to drop out of the race and I’d agree with them.
Sexual harassment is not OK. Not only did he harass two women, he lied about it. It’s time for Cain to drop out.
Steve,
“Did you already out the dumbfuck Klown?”
Not that I am aware of. Though I do know who he is, and we even have a couple of mutual friends, I’ve not disclosed his true identity.
# 33: “…did remarkably well with Godfather’s.”
I’ve done a little bit of reading about Cain’s tenure at Godfathers. Pillsbury bought the largest Burger King franchisee (some 800 restuarants), and the Godfather’s company came along with it. The firm was struggling in the “Pizza Wars” of the 1980’s, trying to compete with Pizza Hut and Dominos in the home delivery market, and with small mom & pop restaurants on the other end. Added to the problem was the Pillsbury didn’t really care much about Godfather’s, it didn’t want to invest much money in something which was just an auxillary to it’s purchase of Burger King.
Caine provided inspirational motivation and leadership which gave new vigor to the Godfather’s team, whereas his CFO pretty much rant the day-to-day operations with his intricate knowledge of the company and it’s franchisees. Cain down-sized the company considerably, shrinking it by closing “under-performing” stores so that the total chain ended up with some 620+ stores, about little more than half the original size. Company-owned stores improved, but franchisees suffered and complained about the company’s ham-fisted tactics in dealing with them.
But no matter what Godfather’s did, it couldn’t compete with the big guys. Godfathers’ tried to compete in a “gourmet pizza” catagory relying on lots of meat, cheese, and thick crusts, “Chicago style”. But this didn’t work when Domino’s and Pizza Hut were competing for cheap home delivery pizzas at discount prices. When Godfather’s initiated a new idea, it was quickly co-opted by the competition.
They tinkered with “lunch buffet” pizza and salad bars, but that wasn’t any good. Nobody likes to eat pizza that’s been sitting out for an hour or more, and they never put the expensive pizzas out – just cheeze, pepperoni, and hawaiian. And you could have a much better lunch elsewhere for the same price.
Saying Cain “saved” the company from bankruptcy is an exaggeration, as are descriptions that the company prospered. He did what was expected of him: he kept the company on an even keel, without causing Pillsbury to lose additional money. Eventually Cain and the CFO led a buyout of the company from Pillsbury, and the CFO became president and ran the company while Cain was head of the National Restaurant Association. In 2002 Cain retired as CEO and the CFO took over that position, as well.
My grade for his tenure at Godfathers: A solid “B”.
Note that to my knowledge, there aren’t any Godfather’s pizza restaurants around here. There also aren’t any Pizza Hut restaurants – the one place we went to a couple of years ago in So. Everett was just used as a delivery service with a few tables you could sit at while eating a carry-out pizza. Only the small local pizza shops have sit-down restuarants any more (Spartas in Lynnwood is pretty good).
@28 And every GOP president (or wannabe) since has tried to take out impeachment insurance by choosing some complete bumblefuck as his veep, which makes you wonder what McCain planned to do if he got in.
Some conservative economics types argue that government infrastructure spending doesn’t work (either in the 1930s or now), that only the private sector can spur growth and bring down unemployment, but this mystifies me because government money spends the same as private money.
It would be nice, though, if corporations ploughed some of the trillion dollars in cash they’re sitting on back into the economy. The $60 billion of infrastructure spending Obama is proposing in his jobs plan (which undoubtedly will be blocked by Repugs) is a drop in the bucket compared to the corporations’ $1 trillion. The companies have, in effect, taken that money out of circulation — which has the same effect on the economy as if the Federal Reserve were to shrink the money supply by $1 trillion. If they’re not going to spend it on wages, equipment, or suppliers they should give it to shareholders so they will spend it. But no, they’re sitting on it — for what, to hatch?
So, conservs, explain to me again how only private sector cash can rescue the economy, and why it’s bad for the government to spend (on better roads, airports, etc.) when companies won’t?
The Politico reporter who broke the story was asked directly last night whether any campaign was the source of the story. The reporter simply said that he wasn’t going to discuss the source of the story, inferring that it was confidential. He did say that they only got the bare outlines of the story, which they spent a week fleshing out on their own, making sure they had multiple sources for verification before breaking the story.
So, unless one of these victims or her lawyers is talking to Politico, the most likely suspect is someone on the Republican side, another contendor for the nomination.
If so, that becomes the off-shoot which might do more damage to the Cain than the story itself. His original defense that this was a “liberal witch hunt” would go down in flames if the source were revealed to be from the Romney, Perry, or Bachman camps (I doubt anybody else would try it). At that point his credibility would be in tatters, all because of his handling of this issue – it’s already taken a beating due to his “evolving” statements on Monday.
If the other Republicans were the source of the story, they probably have a couple of layers of insulation between the leaker and the candidate (plausable deniability and all that). But they might suffer as well – Perry already has a “race” problem, and if he is seen as attacking Cain directly in this fashion, it will only make it worse.
I’ve wondered if some Republican candidates might have considered Cain as a potential vice-presidential partner. It might help divide the African-American vote, and Cain is an inspirational speaker able to add energy to the campaign, and absorb a bit of the lightining bolts so the presidential candidate can appear to be, well, “presidential” and above the fray. Since Cain didn’t really seem to be campainging seriously, I thought that perhaps was Cain’s game plan. But this scandal has the seeds for considerable acrimoney within the Republican camps, which might scuttle any such strategy.
Darryl how can you know this guy without retching???
Here’s a classic:
ACORN are the “organizers” behind OCCUPY!
This guy just propagates the latest right wing scaremongering.
Sources say fleabaggerssuck’s favorite farm animal is a chicken. Videos of fleabaggerssuck “caught in the act” with his chickens are circulating on various XXXX web sites, so sources confirm.
YLB,
Darryl how can you know this guy without retching???
I don’t personally know Mr. Cynical (except through many years of interacting on this blog). I said that I know WHO he is and that he and I have some friends in common.
@38 One of the Seattle weeklies (don’t remember which one) recently did a piece in which a couple of there staffers sought out the only remaining Godfather’s in the area–I think it was in Auburn or Federal Way. All the less-than-wonderful features of the Godfather’s of 20 years ago had been magnified–the place was pretty run down and poorly cleaned, every surface seemed to be coated with an oily film, the restrooms were a horror–and the pizza was stale, soggy, tasteless and permeated with something that left a permanent reddish stain on the reporters’ fingers and lips.
# 45: If I was going to invest in a franchise, Godfather’s wouldn’t even be on the long list.
Subway has expanded by franchising quite a bit, it’s franchise costs and operating expenses are low and it’s ubiquitous these days. But I’ve noticed quite a variation in quality between stores, which is supposed to be the death knell of a franchise operation. (At one subway, the owner/cashier refused to give me my change, insisting it was “tip”, in barely discernable English, but she finally gave in about the time I started dialing the cops on my cell phone).
One place I like is Jersey Mike’s Subs. I haven’t checked into their franchise costs yet, but the food is good (try ordering the hot Big Kahuna and ask it be made with chipolte mayo). There aren’t that many of them around here yet.
Michael Steele says the Herman Cain sexual harassment story came from “inside the GOP” and the Cain camp had “9 or 10 days” to prepare for it but “did nothing.” Steele thinks it’ll be hard for Cain to survive, but notes Cain does have a base of supporters who likely will stick with him.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45....._business/
# 47: I’ve heard that Cain had a week or more warning the story was going to break, but I’ve had a hard time believing it. What candidate wouldn’t get in front of this story right away? Maybe it just goes to show what novices his team is in politics, or that that he ignores the advise of political veterans? The “hope it will go away on it’s own” seldom works in a political campaign.
And what is Michael Steele doing? By revealing that it came from within the GOP, he is skewering two campaigns at once – first Cain, for trying that ridiculous “left-wing witchhunt” bit, and secondly whatever campaign leaked the info. Or maybe he knows who leaked the info, and intends to skewer them as well.
Steve @ 34
There you have it @ 44…
@38, No, Darryl, I didn’t mean outing his identity, only his sockpuppetry. When he starts writing about how the Klown calls him on the phone, giving him stock advise, and then praising the Klown’s infinite wisdom, that’s some pretty sick shit. That’s on par with Puddy talking to his sockpuppet about his dick.
heh. You know, it might not be a bad idea to consider banning crazy people, if only for their own good.
It appears that this what goatfucking can lead to,
How fucking sick is that?
Hey, Klown, where’s your goddamned fucking trade confirmations? Goldy’s had mine for three fucking years and I’m still waiting on your sorry ass. Until you put up, you can fucking shut up.