Patterico's Pontifications

9/22/2014

Anonymous Sources: Gillibrand’s Harasser Was That Dead Guy

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 6:54 am



Carl Hulse at the New York Times:

Let’s start by solving a Washington mystery.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York caused a commotion this month when she revealed in a memoir how her male colleagues felt free to comment rather vividly on her weight. The senator came under pressure to reveal the names of the perpetrators, but declined, setting off a guessing game in Washington.

Probably the most egregious incident was when a senior senator squeezed her waist and told her: “Don’t lose too much weight now. I like my girls chubby!”

It turns out the senator was the late Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii, the decorated veteran and civil rights hero, according to people with knowledge of the incident.

Hmmm. I’ll note that in criminal cases, when the perp takes the stand, it’s far from rare for him to blame the crime on one of his dearly departed homies. This strategem alleviates the need to blame someone who, being still alive, might get upset by the accusation. Better to choose a party unlikely to contradict you.

That said, there is some reason to believe Inouye capable of such behavior:

With his deep baritone and courtly manner, Mr. Inouye was revered by his colleagues and was a powerhouse in both Hawaii and the Senate, where he was a reliable supporter of women’s rights.

But in an all but forgotten chapter of his career, the senator had been accused of sexual misconduct: In 1992, his hairdresser said that Mr. Inouye had forced her to have sex with him.

Her accusations exploded into a campaign issue that year, and one Hawaii state senator announced that she had heard from nine other women who said they had been sexually harassed by Mr. Inouye. But the women did not want to go forward with their claims.

It’s amazing how often these little piccadilloes by Democrat Senators — minor episodes like allegedly forcing women to have sex, or killing a woman in a drunken accident and failing to inform authorities for hours — end up being “all but forgotten.”

I wonder if Grinnin’ Joe Biden misses Sen. Inouye the way he misses Bob Packwood.

31 Responses to “Anonymous Sources: Gillibrand’s Harasser Was That Dead Guy”

  1. by not exposing this sleazy pervert Kirsten Gillibrand did so so much to perpetuate the rape culture which has devastated American higher education

    it didn’t have to be this way

    she needs to be held accountable

    happyfeet (a785d5)

  2. Inouye would have had to have been a minimum of 85 years old when this (not in itself very bad incident) happened.

    (and it doesn’t sound worth remembering unless of course he said something a little bit
    more strongly risque to her, perhaps at another time.)

    Sammy Finkelman (cb098f)

  3. Probably the most egregious incident was when a senior senator squeezed her waist and told her: “Don’t lose too much weight now. I like my girls chubby!”

    Heh! That’s something I’d say to the PTA moms at the Halloween party. And to my wife’s friends when we were out. And to any lady on mutually friendly terms and both of us comfortable around each other.

    I mean, like, “Come on!”

    nk (dbc370)

  4. 3. No sh!t. I still expect blowback on a rare occasion but this isa fabulist construction by an more attractive Babs Mikulski.

    gary gulrud (46ca75)

  5. And as Sammy points out, when you’re 85 you can say any damn thing you want. Personally, I look forward to being old so I can openly stare down women’s cleavages. Let’s take it easy on the Nair for Men, guys.

    nk (dbc370)

  6. The squeezing of the waist was somewhat serious, more than the words. I somehow missed that.

    Sammy Finkelman (cb098f)

  7. And then there was Gary Studds (D-MA), who had sex with underage boy pages and kept his seat for years.

    Kevin M (b357ee)

  8. And then there was Gary Studds (D-MA), who had sex with underage boy pages and kept his seat for years.

    It was one page. His age was near the borderline, IIRC, so it would depend on the state. That’s the case they found out about. He had previously been employed as a high school teacher, IIRC, a boy’s boarding school. He did receive a vigorous challenge in 1984 I believe both in the primaries and general election. Recall that this is the state that accepted someone plainly guilty of vehicular manslaughter as their U.S. Senator from 1969 to 2010.

    Art Deco (ee8de5)

  9. Inouye must have had a really huge hand if he could squeeze Gillibrand’s waist with it.

    One of his arms was blown off in Italy during WWII.

    Steve57 (e9e6e7)

  10. I suppose Inouye could have pinched one of chubby Gillibrand’s rolls of waist fat, but that’s not what I mentally picture when somebody tells me someone squeezed their waist.

    Maybe some enterprising conservative freelancer could ask Gillibrand to describe exactly what she claims Inouye did. It wouldn’t surprise me if she doesn’t have a clue he didn’t have two arms.

    Steve57 (e9e6e7)

  11. 9, 10. She’s blond.

    gary gulrud (46ca75)

  12. 8. There is never just one.

    Kevin M (b357ee)

  13. It wasn’t good for her.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  14. by not exposing this sleazy pervert Kirsten Gillibrand did so so much to perpetuate the rape culture which has devastated American higher education

    it didn’t have to be this way

    she needs to be held accountable

    happyfeet (a785d5) — 9/22/2014 @ 7:00 am

    How is it we know that Inouye was a sleazy pervert, Happy? There were some other accusations, yes. What we don’t know is if they even pass the smell test. Remember that none of his accusers would come forward.

    Seeing as Gillibrand made her accusations against a long-dead guy, she thought she could safely get away with her accusation/look-at-me stunt. She could have just as easily not bothered, since there would have been no resolution. I guess this was her one shot at full membership in the Senate- That is, being a sleaze.

    Bill H (f9e4cd)

  15. And then there was Gary Studds (D-MA), who had sex with underage boy pages and kept his seat for years.

    Kevin M (b357ee) — 9/22/2014 @ 9:19 am

    Not to mention Barney Frank. Apparently his boyfriend ran a house of ill repute out of their DC apartment for years. Of course, Barney had absolutely zero knowledge of that activity.

    Bill H (f9e4cd)

  16. Mr. H sometimes you have to take my comments kinda like maybe they being made in kind of a tongue-in-cheek sort of way I think

    they make more better sense like that

    happyfeet (a785d5)

  17. But in an all but forgotten chapter of his career…

    I think they mean “an unpleasant chapter ruthlessly suppressed by the media and the Democrat machine…”

    xbradtc (ffe63c)

  18. Apparently his boyfriend ran a house of ill repute out of their DC apartment for years. Of course, Barney had absolutely zero knowledge of that activity.

    IIRC, Frank admitted he knew that Steven Gobie was practicing ‘personal’ prostitution out of Frank’s apartment. He said he did not know Gobie was running a prostitution ring until his landlady complained.

    Frank was around about 45 when he met Steven Gobie (and fat then as now). He answered an ad in the paper and paid him $80 for his services (more like $180 in today’s currency). Another time, another place, someone might have shuffled off in shame after such a gross indignity, but ‘dignity’ is not a word Barney Frank understands.

    Art Deco (ee8de5)

  19. P – E – C – C – A – D – I – L – L – O

    (from ‘peccare’ – to sin)

    Alastor (e7cb73)

  20. Isn’t “piccadilloes” a peculiar English sorta-salsa/relish served in three rings ?

    You know – like in a piccadillo circus ?

    Alastor (e7cb73)

  21. I thought it was a cross between a peccary and an armadillo.

    nk (dbc370)

  22. Painted Jaguar (A shocked yet irate expression on his visage):

    There will be no crossing of armadillos with anything, do you hear me!?!?

    Painted Jaguar (a sockpuppet) (f9371b)

  23. “You sure have a lovely pair of coconuts, Kirsten”

    – Sen. Daniel Inouye

    Colonel Haiku (86020d)

  24. “Kamanawanna Lei You”

    – Sen. Daniel Inouye

    Colonel Haiku (86020d)

  25. Painted Jaguar, not to worry about crossing armadillos with anything. I understand that armadillos can’t even cross a road.

    Roy in Nipomo (8c3b61)

  26. Roy, I wouldn’t know about that, as we have no roads here by the deep, dark, turbid waters of the Amazon.

    Painted Jaguar (a sockpuppet) (f9371b)

  27. So…..
    I thought that the perp squeezed her hips?
    Is anybody remembering that the Senator only had one arm?
    WWII battle wound.
    Just sayin’

    MadJoel (994872)

  28. Mr. H sometimes you have to take my comments kinda like maybe they being made in kind of a tongue-in-cheek sort of way I think

    they make more better sense like that

    happyfeet (a785d5) — 9/22/2014 @ 12:06 pm

    It may have been my mistake to misunderstand your playfulness, Happy, but you did make a relatively serious accusation- against a dead man, no less. We just got through tossing out a genuine sleazy pervert here in San Diego. Please to forgive my views on the matter.

    Perhaps soon I can meet with you vis-a-vis for a meal sometime in LA.

    Frank was around about 45 when he met Steven Gobie (and fat then as now). He answered an ad in the paper and paid him $80 for his services (more like $180 in today’s currency). Another time, another place, someone might have shuffled off in shame after such a gross indignity, but ‘dignity’ is not a word Barney Frank understands.

    Art Deco (ee8de5) — 9/22/2014 @ 1:30 pm

    Thanks for the correction. I knew it all happened, but I just didn’t have time to double-check . I don’t pay any particular attention to Senator Frank. At least he never was captain of his own Oldsmobile.

    Bill H (f9e4cd)

  29. After Barney Frank’s live-in boyfriend, Steve Gobie, and the schoolboy prostitution ring he operated out of Frank’s DC apartment was exposed in the media, Frank’s improper influence to fix Gobie’s traffic tickets also came to light, along with Frank’s blatant misrepresentation of facts on an official memorandum to Gobie’s criminal probation authorities.

    Frank’s colleagues in the House of Representatives voted to reprimanded him 408 to 18 and were ready to go forward with a censure that would have dismissed him from Congress when Frank brazenly took to the House floor and threatened to expose a number of other members of Congress as miscreants, homosexuals and hypocrites if the vote proceeded.

    Frank was looking pointedly at the Speaker, Jim Wright (D-TX) and hinting broadly that Idaho’s Republican Senator, Larry Craig, who was the leading force behind Congressional effort to censure him had much to hide. Frank succeeded in blackmailing his colleagues and was subsequently re-elected with substantial majorities several times till he retired in 2013.

    ropelight (79adb2)

  30. My recollection is that Frank’s threat was co-incident with the publication of a pamphlet attacking Thomas Foley which compared Foley’s voting record to Frank’s. I do not recall it had a connection to the Gobie affair, which erupted some weeks later.

    Art Deco (ee8de5)

  31. I don’t pay any particular attention to Senator Frank.

    Oy veh. Seems I don’t pay any particular attention period. That should have been Representative Frank.

    Bill H (f9e4cd)


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.0885 secs.