The Grope-anator

The Performance Artist known as Herman Cain continues his ratings breaking show. This afternoon, Herman Cain is supposed to set the record straight on all the mounting claims of sexual harrassment and assault. Incredibly, conservatives have doubled down in his defense and FOX news has gone on a virtual witchhunt against the various women accusing him. It's quite amazing to see people like Dick Morris with his own troubled sexual history mocking the women and Rush Limbaugh, who also has a history of problematic relationships, vigorously defending Herman Cain.

Somehow the right-wing blogosphere has tried to portray this onslaught of accusers as a conspiracy by the left. After all the latest accuser Sharon Bialek once lived in the same building as David Axelrod, President Obama's campaign manager. Another is said to work in the Obama Administration--i.e. she's a federal government employee. Actually the latter is a life-long Republican and considered a "consummate professional" and was in front of the effort to prevent Elian Gonzalez from being sent back to Cuba to live with his father. In other words, pure conservative gold. Of course, the appearance of Gloria Allred as the lawyer for Sharon Bialek sent the Right into hysteria. "All red"--do you get it.

Even Karl Rove has said that Allred's appearance in this case lends the accuser legitimacy. But then conservatives say Rove is against Cain--which in all probably is true. But, nonetheless, Herman Cain is purportedly running for the highest political position in the country. Even though the Great Arnold managed to win the governorship of California with similar accusations hanging around him, this is very different.

You can tell how classy a candidate is by how they handle such crises. The Cain campaign tweeted a message welcoming Gloria Allred to the case and had a link to Cain's fund-raising effort. The candidate brags that since the accusations began, he has raised more than $2 million, almost the same as his entire fund-raising efforts to date. Today, the Cain campaign launched an offensive against Sharon Bialek citing her past financial and legal problems as if they were out of the ordinary. In this present economy, most Americans can actually identify with her financial problems and that she had to declare personal bankruptcy. In some ways, this is perfect for the new Republican party--accuse people for having bad economic times. That probably is as offensive as the cavalier dismissal of sexual harassment allegations. And in the case of Sharon Bialek. What she described was actually a sexual assault.

Rachel Maddow last night kept up her unique observations about this circus. She got the fact that the whole press conference with Sharon Bialek was almost hijacked by the Howard Stern show. A Stern side-kick, who had tried to disrupt the Anthony Weiner press conference when he tried to explain his flashing on cellphones, started hyping a rock group.

Rachel Maddow has outlined how Herman Cain is a creature of the Koch Brothers and Judson Phillips of Americans for Prosperity, the Koch funded front group. Maddow linked Phillips to the whole circle of Jack Abramoff cronies. The real meaning of this is that the Cain campaign has been created by three of the basest nihilists in our political world--the Koch Brothers and Judson Phillips. As Rachel Maddow pointed out they put the 'con" back into conservative. These guys have literally no moral compass and the real victims of their crimes are unsuspecting conservatives and their Christian Right brothers and sisters, who get taken over and over again by these con artists. All the Koch Brothers and Judson Phillips believe in is legalized theft and they will even change the law to steal more. This is the real tragedy of the Cain campaign.

One of the memes of the right-wing assault against the women accusers is that they have been anonymous. Well, to you, maybe. But all their names are known to Politico, which has always been an organ run by Republicans, the reporters shared their names with the Cain campaign, and the their names are known to the National Restaurant Association (NRA). In short, they are not anonymous. They are known but prefer not to come out publically. Their cases were settled for cash payments. You can't get such settlements if you were harassed only one time but it takes several. What no one wants to point out because it shows an unfairness in our work places is that the women lost their jobs but Herman Cain kept his.

As for the great liberal conspiracy--Democrats would love for Herman Cain to be the Republican nominee--Obama smashes him by at least 15 points. He would be the new equivalent of Sarah Palin, a candidate so incompetent the Democrats would not only crush him but gain substantially in all congressional races. If anything, the Democrats would have kept this information under wraps until the general election.

The conservative response to this whole scandal has been embarrassing. All the misogny and contempt to people experiencing misfortune has come out in full force. I don't think they will be able to put it back in the bottle. It will cloud this election like some dirty smog. This will be one of the dirtiest elections we will ever see. The stakes are so high and the visions of society are so different that it will be total war.

But one last observation--what is it with these southern Baptist types that they get so hung up with sex? Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, John Edwards and Herman Cain. Cain is even an associate pastor at a Baptist church. And they also seem really fixated on oral sex. Which brings us to the new Cain bumper sticker--"Do you want a job?"