Patterico's Pontifications

11/11/2017

How to Defend George Takei Against Groping Allegations

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 11:00 am



Et tu, Sulu? Buzzfeed reports that a man is accusing George Takei of groping him while he was passed out:

He doesn’t know how much time passed, but the next thing he remembers is waking up, his pants down around his ankles, and Takei on top of him pushing his hand down his underwear, Brunton said.

“He’s on top of me, trying with his hand down my underwear [to] pull my underwear down,” said Brunton.

Brunton said he then pushed Takei off and asked what he was doing. He said Takei told him he was trying to make him comfortable.

There’s corroboration in the form of witnesses who have heard the victim tell the story over the years:

Five of Brunton’s friends independently told BuzzFeed News that they have heard Brunton tell the story at various times over the years.

I have no love for Takei, who is a smarmy perpetrator of Inflatable football helmet tunnel lazy leftist memes on Facebook and Twitter. But as a public service to soulless Sulu fans, I’ve been consulting the Defense of Roy Moore Playbook, and I have the following suggested defenses for those who want to argue that this probably never happened. Let’s start with the more obvious and pedestrian defenses:

  • 36 years ago
  • He said he said
  • It’s all hearsay
  • I bet one of the witnesses is not a perfect human being

But we can get more creative than that, can’t we?

  • Never uncovered by the Nimoy oppo research team and it’s just coming out now?
  • Whatabout James Doohan’s drinking problem?

Finally we have the David Horowitz-style defense:

  • I think it’s all true but so what? George Takei says the things I like to hear, so I don’t care if he’s a sexual predator.

If I can take off the Snarkenator 2000 for a moment and get serious: that is the approach I expect most on the left to take.

[Snarkenator 2000 back on] Good thing our new Trumpy Republican party is better than that.

[Cross-posted at RedState and The Jury Talks Back.]

77 Responses to “How to Defend George Takei Against Groping Allegations”

  1. i don’t get this newfound failmerican enthusiasm for to be indelibly stained as a sexual abuse victim

    it’s like getting a tattoo on your face what says VICTIM

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  2. So, I ask again, would you repeal statutes of limitations? If not, why is this different? Is there evidence that Takei continues in this behavior?

    Kevin M (752a26)

  3. Brunton first met Takei at Greg’s Blue Dot, a Los Angeles gay bar, where he was introduced by his boyfriend at the time, Jay Vanulk. (Vanulk did not respond to multiple requests for comment from BuzzFeed News.)

    This Jay Vanulk seems like a pretty classy guy.

    That’s probably the takeaway here.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  4. Actually, I have read, and possibly heard discussed, this story about Takei, before this. I’m pretty sure other SF fans, not necessarily Trekkies, also have.

    nk (dbc370)

  5. Takei gets a pass by Righties: he did a movie zapping commies with =drumroll= John Wayne!

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  6. It’s not true. Takei is someone like Patterico who pronounces people guilty on ancient hearsay so someone used the template against him.

    I especially like the “corroboration because he told a friend about it years ago”. This kind of nonsense is even being pushed by DA types. They can’t quite see the fallacy about that.

    jcurtis (deea7a)

  7. Ah, but the geography

    Alabama is not ‘Frisco and vice-versy.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  8. George Takei is not important to anything. Nobody cares.

    nk (dbc370)

  9. this Brunton guy seems grossly immature

    you don’t get drunk and pass out at people’s houses when you don’t know them very well

    it’s like how that creepy anthony rapp dude lurked in Mr. Spacey’s bedroom til everyone left – sitting on his goddamn bed no less – well after midnight

    and 30 years later he’s whining how a drunk-ass Kevin made a clumsy drunken pass at him

    who didn’t have more sense than that at 14?

    seriously who are these people?

    it’s like honey boo boo in alabama

    she’s all lying on the floor alone in some older guy’s house like a penthouse centerfold and then she’s all oh my goodness when he puts on a Marvin Gaye record

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  10. “told a friend years ago” vitiates the claim that the story is newly minted for political purposes. The story might be false–but it’s a story that was being told when Moore was merely a local prosecutor, and unknown to anyone outside Alabama.
    This, btw, differentiates it from Takei, since Takei was already a celebrity of sorts (ST 1 was released in 1979, ST 2 in 1982, the year after this incident)

    kishnevi (682c47)

  11. @7. Geography. Takei may have a cross to bear; Moore has one to burn.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  12. The problem with long-delayed accusations is that the accused has almost no way to defend. All they can do is deny. It is impossible to prove a negative, and to prove it at the distances of 40 years is an insurmountable burden.

    It is even hard to disprove immediately, as the McMartins found out in the 1980s, when they were prosecuted for 6 long years by Los Angeles County. They were found not guilty on most charges and juries hung on a few, but their lives were destroyed. One defendant was jailed without bail for 5 years but was never convicted of any charge.

    Given that, what chance does one have, in the middle of a media hysteria, of proving a negative after 40 years?

    Again, if you believe these charges are true, and believe that the individuals should be punished for long-ago actions, you are no better than Javert of Les Miserables.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  13. Wouldn’t the use of a Marvin Gaye (pre-death) record as seduction tool get him in more hot water than the molesation among his base?

    urbanleftbehind (af040b)

  14. Takei may have a cross to bear; Moore has one to burn.

    I’m sure that Takei would happily burn crosses. All of them.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  15. …in his own “special” way.

    urbanleftbehind (af040b)

  16. Mr. M there’a lot of people what just lick this stuff up. They wallow in it like a pig in mud.

    Some of them are just enjoying the adrenaline rush of playing social media judge and jury.

    But my sense is for most of them it’s just plain old virtue signaling.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  17. Kevin, not being elected to the US Senate is not the same as being criminally charged or sued in civil court.

    kishnevi (39af22)

  18. Wouldn’t the use of a Marvin Gaye (pre-death) record as seduction tool get him in more hot water than the molestation among his base?

    actually no that’s a complete misnomer the Commodores for example were homegrown in Alabama and they could set a mood with the best of them when they had a mind to

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  19. Kevin, not being elected to the US Senate is not the same as being criminally charged or sued in civil court.

    Mr. kishnevi grand wizard Mitt Romney’s style of lynching is perhaps more subtle than the traditional form of lynching but in spirit there’s really no difference at all

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  20. In 1835, Edgar Allen Poe, then 26, obtained a license to marry his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm. They were married for eleven years until her early death…

    Creepy.

    Light the bonfires…

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  21. Ouch! Don’t forget vote for Sulu today, kick him off the Enterprise later to keep the Klingons from winning. You sneaky Romulans just pretend to support the Federation…

    crazy (d99a88)

  22. Star Trek, the original and best, in which Mr. Sulu became famous, debuted in 1966.

    nk (dbc370)

  23. on a more sobering note

    what we’re seeing is that the fascist neo-puritanism that’s infected failmerican colleges has metastasized, and nevertrump in particular has embraced it as a political weapon

    we need to be honest about this

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  24. All of this is to say that if you’re going to purchase connected sex toys, do your research. Trust in the toys’ makers is essential. Still, vulnerabilities exist in any smart device, so recognize the risks before going online.

    hear that Mr. Brunton? This is called taking personal responsibility.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  25. You left out “Sulu admitted to such conduct during a recent interview with Howard Stern, but those tapes are notoriously doctored.”

    What? Roy Moore hasn’t admitted it?

    I guess its not quite the same then, is it?

    shipwreckedcrew (56b591)

  26. maybe brunton’s just racist ever think of that

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  27. OT — and I wish Patrick, DRJ, Dana, or someone else would post a link to Andy McCarthy’s column yesterday that covers the variety of ways the approach of Mueller to the Russia-Trump collusion claims differs from the approach of the Obama DOJ to the Clinton Emails case.

    Where is the investigation of Obama for stating publicly that he didn’t think Clinton intended to harm the US when she used a private email server in her house? How is that any less an interference with DOJ, and intimidating of witnesses than anything Trump said about Flynn to Comey? Lynch and Comey were responsible for the decision making on Clinton, and Obama said she wasn’t guilty of a crime.

    The SOL hasn’t expired on obstruction of justice for his comments. How would the press react if Sessions announced he was initiating an investigation of Obama for obstruction of justice and revisiting Clinton’s email issue with a grand jury, which was not used by the Obama Justice department?

    shipwreckedcrew (56b591)

  28. Sir, I believe you have omitted a possible Moore-defense that might be deployed in Takei’s defense.

    Incumbents are entitled and privileged to behaviors for which candidates are to be criticized and condemned. Famous actors have privilege, wanna-be auditioners do not.

    If this is NOT the rule, please elaborate.

    pouncer (915d55)

  29. Shipwreck is having a Titanic moment..

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  30. This stuff is nonsense. There is no way to prove or corroborate anything from 40 years ago that was not reported to and investigated by the authorities at that time. Therefore this is just a defamation plain and simple. It’s he said/she said (in Takei’s case he/he) in which the poor bastard accused cannot defend himself save by denial but at that point his name and reputation are ruined. And when someone says it’s true because they heard it from another non-participant so now two people who know nothing and weren’t there should prove it happened?

    How would you like it if someone went to your Twitter or Facebook and sent all the people there a Tweet that you raped them when they were 9 years old? How do you defend against that? This is maliciousness straight out of the Alinsky playbook.

    Rev.Hoagie® (6bbda7)

  31. Mirror universe people, which is clearly why collusion with Russian intelligence and oligarch’s like veselberg somehow don’t count for red queen

    narciso (364166)

  32. thanks for the reminder of what’s important Mr. shipwreck

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  33. This is like when someone calls another a “raaaacist”. The only people they can harm are non-racists. If you call a KKK member a racist he goes: “Duh? robe, hood, of course I am”. He’s proud of it. Only a non-racist is hurt by being called something vile since it hurts his reputation.

    Rev.Hoagie® (6bbda7)

  34. bingo Mr. Hoagie steak knives ceramic dalmatian chance at big board here are your lovely parting gifts

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  35. oops chance at *the* big board i meant to say

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  36. I don’t think the Roy Moore story is unimportant. I think the piece is well researched, and presents a pretty compelling case that the allegations are true. A blanket denial in the form of “this did not happen” isn’t very effective against a story that has a ton of detail, much of which is corroborated by third parties who were told things consistent with the account long before there would have been a motive to fabricate the story.

    Roy Moore is a joke, and the GOP of Alabama has only themselves to blame for allowing him to gain as much traction with GOP voters as he did.

    shipwreckedcrew (56b591)

  37. Andy McCarthy in NRO: The Trump Collusion Case Is Not Getting the Clinton Emails Treatment.

    If the Justice Department is hell-bent on making a case, it plays an intimidating game of hardball.
    In July 2016, the Obama administration announced its decision not to prosecute Hillary Clinton for felony mishandling of classified information and destruction of government files. In the aftermath, I observed that there is a very aggressive way that the Justice Department and the FBI go about their business when they are trying to make a case — one profoundly different from the way they went about the Clinton emails investigation. There, they tried not to make the case.

    Read the rest as shipwreckedcrew suggested…

    crazy (d99a88)

  38. Moore foundation attorney calls CNN host ‘Don Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy’

    love it

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  39. Roy Moore was a joke yes yes yes (social con freak) until grand wizard Mitt Romney’s lynching campaign turned him into a very serious and indeed essential bulwark against nevertrump fascism

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  40. “You have Brennan, you have Clapper and you have Comey. Comey’s proven now to be a liar and he’s proven to be a leaker. So you look at that,” Trump said. “And you have President Putin very strongly, vehemently says he had nothing to do with that.”

    nailed it in one

    these people are indeed all trash

    and the failmerican intelligence services are indeed hopelessly sleazy and corrupt

    this is a profile in courage if ever there was

    no wonder the filthy terrorist-enabling bush family hates him so much

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  41. A blanket denial in the form of “this did not happen” isn’t very effective against a story that has a ton of detail,….

    Normally you’re right on the ball Shipwreckedcrew but here you miss the mark. The Lord of the Rings has “a ton of detail” which is what makes it a good story, but it never happened regardless of how many people (or 14 year old kids) read it and believe it did.

    Rev.Hoagie® (6bbda7)

  42. No True Scotsman Has

    A Drinking Problem

    Pinandpuller (82a27b)

  43. not if they drink Mateus Rosé

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  44. BTW, do any of you recall I believe back in the 80’s when all sorts of kids were “remembering” things that were done to them but never actually were? I think they found that people were “suggesting” these kids into believing they “remembered” something which never happened. I also think may people were ruined including a family who ran day care centers if memory is correct.

    Rev.Hoagie® (6bbda7)

  45. I want to hear more about Sam

    Pinandpuller (82a27b)

  46. Rules?

    Where we’re going we don’t need

    Rules

    Pinandpuller (82a27b)

  47. So Takei hasn’t hired a lawyer?

    Denny Crane!

    Pinandpuller (82a27b)

  48. 27

    Always found him creepy so not surprised about this one. The Crucible of male sexuality has just begun.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  49. So with Brennan and clapper we were caught unaware in Russia as well as Ukraine, only general Flynn had a clue, and you know what his punishment was.

    narciso (364166)

  50. Sigh.

    Salem Witch Trials gere we come.

    NJRob (e9b52f)

  51. #46
    You may be thinking about the Amirault daycare case in Massachusetts? As I recall, Martha Coakely fought vigorously to keep the Amiraults in prison, even when it had been shown clearly that the kids had been coached into their testimonies.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fells_Acres_Day_Care_Center_preschool_trial

    As I recall, Dorothy Rabinowitz covered the story extensively at WSJ, back in the day (as you can see a bit of, from the Wikipedia footnotes.)

    ColoComment (13c772)

  52. And the fuster case on south Florida, And Martin in los angeles.

    narciso (c42299)

  53. That’s the one, ColoComment. It was back there but fuzzy. Just like the memory of a 14 year old girl from almost 40 years ago. Fuzzy. Then of course there were the other cases narciso mentioned that “suddenly” sprang up.

    Yes, NJRob all I keep seeing is the Witch Trials. Long on accusations but short of proof.

    Rev.Hoagie® (6bbda7)

  54. 46, then it is also possible that the Catholic Church was the victim of the same sort of coached confessions, the forces of atheism and homosexual relativism are suspect 1a and 1b, but I still think fundamentalist Christians had their hand in that as well, if only to reap the exodus for their own temples.

    urbanleftbehind (af040b)

  55. Scotsman – The keepers of the game.
    1979-1988-2000
    Scottish Links & Distillery Tour
    Drinking Scotch Whiskey all night long.

    mg (60b0f7)

  56. if only to reap the exodus for their own temples.

    Excelsior!

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  57. The Crucible?

    Moore Wait!

    Pinandpuller (82a27b)

  58. All these “we only have one woman’s/man’s word” defenses would be a lot more convincing if your reactions in a case where the perpetrator is on videotape bragging about what seven women accused him of weren’t equally permissive…

    OK, so it’s not enough if one woman makes the accusation, and it’s not enough if seven women make the accusation, and apparently, it’s not even enough if the our tribesman confesses on hidden camera to what the seven women accuse him of!

    But believe it or not, despite the fact that Roy Moore validates many of the worst caricatures of the GOP and conservatism, I am actually somewhat ambivalent about this latest scandal.

    With the feeding frenzy now underway, it is only a matter of time until somebody is falsely accused in a way that is not easily disproven or dismissed. I applaud the downfall of the creeps like Weinstein, O’Reilly, Toback, and all the others who deserve it. Hopefully this wave of revelations will lead to more victims coming forward immediately, and more scum being put down quicker.

    But remember Clarence Thomas was nearly brought low by a false accusation long after the fact (out of curiosity, I just went back and read the Anita Hill transcripts and his rebuttal), and he will not be the last.

    The thing that I think, more than anything, saved Thomas, was that Hill accused him of grossly deviant behavior, and not a single one of the other dozens of women he had supervised experienced anything similar. Thomas himself (who was head of the EEOC at the time he allegedly harassed Hill) pointed out in his testimony that bona fide cases basically never hinge on a single incident. If you’re a creep, you’ll keep being a creep as long as you continue to get away with it. The recent slew of revelations backs this observation up decisively. There is always a pattern.

    Dave (445e97)

  59. And the evidence that Roy Moore actually raped any of these women – zero, as far as I nkow. Since the age of consent in AL is 16, it’s none of our business that a 30 year old used to date a 19 year old in 1970.

    Takei is also innocent until proven guilty, but the allegations against him constitute a pattern in Hollywood. Had the likes of Weinstein vigorously denied these accusations, some of the more fair minded Trump fans would agreed to wait and see approach.

    The side that was committed to debunking the Jackie and Mattress girl was typically center right, who was emotionally invested fighting against left leaning college campuses that push liberal indoctrination. They may have made excuses if something similar happened at a Catholic church. It doesn’t take away from the fact that they prevented grave injustice from ruining peoples lives.

    If Linda Sarsour claimed that Patterico is an islamophobe who agrees with police brutality, most of Trump supporters would side with him, because it becomes a team game. I’m sure some Trumpers will take joy in a “nevertrumper” facing scrutiny, but at a certain point their fury will be redirected to the left.

    Certain amount of partisanship will always be there, and it’s ultimately what’s necessary to get anything done. I would never vote for Ron Paul under most circumstances, even though he’s arguably the most principled politician in any election. But if he was GOP nominee I’d vote for him.

    lee (50739e)

  60. Dave

    Somehow the same defense cobbled for Moore is easily translated
    ..but he’s turned a new leaf as though greater stealth and victim choice assisted in the furtherance of their behaviors. How many vehicle code infractions do you commit before you finally get caught?

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  61. The details of that star chamber that Janet reno presided over will seriously creep you out.

    narciso (d1f714)

  62. urbanleftbehind (af040b) — 11/11/2017 @ 2:57 pm

    For sure this man was such a victim of false witness.

    felipe (023cc9)

  63. Just for fun, let’s play this game with Augustine of Hippo’s application for sainthood.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  64. (yes, I know, but the point is that one’s feelings about the individual in question deeply affect things)

    Kevin M (752a26)

  65. 58… and dying behind the wheel, mg.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  66. 29… that presupposes Sessions will awake from his extended EPIC sleepwalk…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  67. 22… yes, it did. A few of my school friends and I would gather to watch it over at a friend’s house for a few episodes. We soon stopped after we realized that watching our host friend’s male toy poodle hump his favorite pillow back and forth across the living room floor was much more entertaining.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  68. Col. – While there I noticed they all drive on the wrong side of the road and the steering wheel is misplaced. Scotch is the answer!

    mg (60b0f7)

  69. I think it’s all true but so what? George Takei says the things I like to hear, so I don’t care if he’s a sexual predator.

    The well known Bill Clinton Defense. Works for certain classes of folks.

    Patricia (5fc097)

  70. A friend of mine said it best when he posted this story to his FB wall along with a reference to a meme that I’d never heard of: “2016: the year your heroes died, 2017: the year your heroes were dead to you”

    My crew, the ones I hang with and talk politics with, are honest liberals, and we were *sad*. Angry at Takei, yeah, but more sad at the loss, and the discovery of something terrible about someone we’d thought better of.

    Speaking for myself — I’m a gay nerd who grew up loving Star Trek. It meant a lot to me, in the days when I was still looking for affirmation from knowing that there were public figures who shared being gay with me, that the actor playing Sulu was gay. But my instinct is to believe the accuser, because there are people who say they told him within a reasonable time thereafter, well before his going public, and that *to me* is evidence that leans in the direction of credibility.

    So I hate it, but I have to accept that this guy who was a hero to me engaged in conduct that I think crosses the line into attempted rape.

    That’s about where the friends I’ve talked to about this are.

    It’s a fairly unpleasant place to be.

    aphrael (3f0569)

  71. “Don’t call me tiny!”

    Harcourt Fenton Mudd (5e0a82)


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