The American Spectator : Sexual Politics and the GOP Kaleidoscope

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A Further Perspective

Sexual Politics and the GOP Kaleidoscope

By G. Tracy Mehan, III on 11.10.11 @ 6:07AM

Will we hear from Mrs. Cain? Will it matter?

Theodore Roosevelt’s great image of politics as a kaleidoscope hardly captures the present pandemonium over Herman Cain’s alleged sexual misdeeds. For a Republican primary, usually a pretty button-down affair, this is pretty steamy stuff.

Compared to Bill Clinton’s escapades-proven, admitted and forgiven by his wife, Hillary — this matter is still in the realm of he said/they said with a heavy cloak of court-ordered confidentiality obscuring full transparency.

The issue of sexual harassment is so fraught with sexual political baggage (hey, Gloria Allred is representing one of the women), that one wishes this whole affair would simply go away. Unfortunately for the Cain campaign, it won’t.

As your basic white, male, young Republican lawyer, decades back in St. Louis, I harbored the usual amount of skepticism about sexual harassment claims seeking a financial settlement. However, after having defended such a claim on a comprehensive insurance policy years ago, I must admit to having altered my perspective at least to the extent of understanding that each case must be examined on its own merits.

In my case a manager, not the owners of a business, was accused of really coming on to a young woman employee who practiced an exotic but generally benign religion. Truth be told, I originally perceived her, the plaintiff, as a bit strange and a whiner — until I started interviewing other past and present female employees who pretty much confirmed that the subject manager was a total hound when it came to hitting on women in his charge. I recommended a modest settlement to the insurer and insured which the plaintiff, ill-advised by her attorney, accepted without too much negotiation.

As the (civil) defense lawyers say, it was a “good outcome” in that we paid a fraction of what the claim was probably worth if tried to judgment. Lesson learned.

As the father of five daughters, I confess to going crazy at the thought of some loser pulling this stuff on one of them. So experience and familial status have caused me to take pause when these kinds of allegations are made, especially when four or five such incidents are alleged, rather than just dismissing them out of hand.

In truth, Herman Cain is in a no-win situation. How does one prove a negative? And the fact that the legal settlements are confidential makes it hard for him to demonstrate that, maybe, they were simply nuisance suits settled for costs if that is, in fact, the case.

But what are we to make of a fellow, who seems to have such a run of bad luck if bad luck it is? I say this as someone who has been warming to Cain, impressed with his demeanor and certainly with his very articulate economics advisor, Rich Lowrie, who, in various interviews, is articulate, knowledgeable and capable of explaining supply-side economic principles as well as Arthur Laffer — a Jack Kemp, may he rest in peace, on decaf.

This brings me to the critical question for those of us who still harbor quaint ideas about marriage, family and spousal loyalty. Where is Herman’s wife, Gloria?

We have Herman Cain’s statement to Bill O’Reilly that his wife was “disgusted” by the allegations. She is “200 percent supportive of me,” he says. But we have not heard that from her directly as of this writing.

Hillary Clinton, for whatever reasons, stood by her man when push came to shove. It is probably no exaggeration that, for love, money or power, she saved Bill’s derrière and his presidential aspirations. I voted against Bill Clinton, but I did believe that, if a husband and wife patch things up and tough it out, well, most of us will leave it at that. He may be a scoundrel, but his wife sees something in him anyway. Obviously, many voters drew the same conclusion.

Unfortunately for Herman Cain, I am not sure even a joint appearance with his wife on 60 Minutes will turn the trick. Bill Clinton had, at the time, only Gennifer Flowers to explain. Herman has the equivalent of a whole women’s basketball team to contend with.

The kaleidoscope turns again. What array of colors will next appear?

About the Author

G. Tracy Mehan, III served at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the administrations of both Presidents Bush. He is a consultant in Arlington, Virginia, and an adjunct professor at George Mason University School of Law.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (51) | Leave a comment Leave a comment

Frank Drackman| 11.10.11 @ 6:55AM

Well Mr. Mehan, if that really is your name, let me test YOUR perspective...
You send me a certified check for $500,000 and I won't tell anyone that a certain Virgina Shy-Lock diddled me with a writ of Man-Damn-us after little league practice in 1972.
Can you PROVE it wasn't you?
You can? Oops.
And please don't charge me with blackmale, libel, mopery with intent to creepy, it was just a Hypo, a thought experiment, an Allegory.
And most of my money's in offshore Yogi Berra baseball cards(and did you know the forlorn leftfielder watching Bill Maz's 1960-Series-Game-7-sail-over-the-Forbes-Field-Wall(parts of which are still standing BTW) was none other than the Yogi? who was probably exstatic he didn't have to try and catch it...
And I've got 2 nubile daughters on the Depo, that I administer personally, cause you can't trust some OB/GYN, who are mostly split-tales now a days... Where was I?
Oh yeah, if I could get past there multiple firewalls, double encrypted passwords, PGP, and found photos of a Member of Congresses Member, I'd...................................
Probably do what Ms. Buy-a-Lick did, but only after said Member didn't come across with some Green-age.
And don't wanta ruin whatever Doctor-BloodSucker relationship you have with your Primary Care Provider, but he/she hopes you get a terribly painful and disfiguring terminal disease and die, and its nothing personal, more like how you feel towards a tick or mosquito...
Frank

Alan Brooks| 11.10.11 @ 1:32PM

Mrs. Cain is pretty; send her photo to Stormfront, perhaps they will change their thick heads concerning blacks.

Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 11.10.11 @ 7:22AM

If 10 people accuse you of something that doesn't make it true.

One of his accussers looks like a painted up floozy and the other has a history of making complaints based on her gender.

So far there isn't one shred of evidence and as an attorney you should be the first to see that fact.

The real tragedy here is that the American workplace is full of female whiners who will grasp at any opportunity to file a complaint because the law is on their side even when they are absolutely wrong.

It's cheaper to get rid of the dead weight that companies are forced to hire to begin with than to battle it out in court at the cost of a million dollars.

Your attention to fairness would be more properly aimed at laws that victimize companies, forcing them to hire protected species and then further to provide sterile working environments that are perfect.

That's an impossible task and that's the real problem.

DTOM| 11.10.11 @ 7:31AM

Real men don't shove their wives out in front of them as shields.

Bill Clinton did.

So far Herman Cain has not.

But at least one accuser shoved her 13 year old boy "child" out in front of her bleached blonde self. I pray for that lad. I also pray that the blonde bimbo did not really tell him all about this alleged incident. Thirteen year old boys have enough to deal with between a hostile education system, a hostile 'mom's boyfriend' and waves of brand new testosterone coursing through his veins. THAT woman ought to be up on sexual harassment and child endangerment charges just for that conversation!

Clint| 11.10.11 @ 10:09AM

Real Woman Mrs.Cain Let's Her Old Man Shuck & Jive & Play Wit Da Whitey Womans.

Clint's alter ego| 11.10.11 @ 12:06PM

You're an asshole.

Clint| 11.10.11 @ 8:03PM

Bibi ButtBoys Kiss Bibi's Asshole

RCV| 11.10.11 @ 6:08PM

You really are a despicable lout, Clint/Tim*.

Clint| 11.10.11 @ 8:07PM

You Really Are A Dispicable ObamaBoy Israel Firster Crybaby RCV.

http://www.grimmemennesker.dk/.....people.jpg

DTOM| 11.10.11 @ 7:33AM

Oh another thing. This whole thing goes away if we switch to a "loser pays" system. No right minded attorney would bet on the outcome of this type of thing, unless he had real a serious, tangible case to try.

Moe Blotz| 11.10.11 @ 7:52AM

Today Ann Coulter has posted an essay connecting the Illinois Restaurant Association to the National Restaurant Association and David Axelrod looking into Herman Cain's personnel file. The Chicago connection matches BHO's MO during his quest for power and how his senate campaigns destroyed his opponents. Too many TAS readers are caught up in the charges levelled against Mr. Cain and are not informed about how the harrassment charges were unearthed.

ncatty| 11.10.11 @ 9:33AM

Bingo.

Trish| 11.10.11 @ 5:05PM

I have a couple of comments. First, if that was my husband, I would demand to speak. I do find the absence of Mrs. Cain to be a bit curious. A strong woman isn't 'standing by her man' if she knows that he is innocent. She is addressing a lie while defending an innocent man.

Regarding Allred's client, how do a broke woman and her bankrupt fiance afford an apartment on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago? (How does hypocrit Adolf Axelrod, man of the little folks, justify his digs there either??) I mean LSD living is pretty much gold coast, is it not? Just sayin..

Frank Drackman| 11.10.11 @ 8:42AM

"Bill Hussein O'Stalin"??????
thats a better fake name than mine...
well done sir,

Frank

Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 11.10.11 @ 8:46AM

I'm with you on that. Have a beer on me.

Smart Enough T. Know| 11.13.11 @ 10:01AM

I knew a Dr. Gay and a Mr. Faggot once, the latter being a life insurance salesman. Yes, they were adults and not smart enough to change their name when they turned 18.

Jim| 11.10.11 @ 8:19AM

He is finished. Not because of his "stimulus plan" but because this country can't afford another president who needs an ongoing education to run the country. Cain has a confort zone that he can stand toe to toe with anyone, but presidential knowledge is not one of those zones. The fact that he has surrounded himself with a CofS that seems hell bent, on his own, to destroy his paycheck and Cain's candidacy tells me that this man can not pick the right help. We keep saying he can sign on good advisors to help him govern. Not so much.
The debate with Newt and the clown that he has for a chief of staff reinforces my feelings, this is not our guy.

G. Tracy Mehan, III| 11.10.11 @ 8:35AM

Yep. That's my name.

Frank Drackman| 11.10.11 @ 8:40AM

Cool, and forget what I said about that whole "Diddling behind the 3rd base dugout thang"...
anyway, I'm pretty sure the Statue of Limitations has run out..

Frank

Mac Jehoff| 11.10.11 @ 1:57PM

Where does the statue of limitations stand and who erected it? I must have missed the dedication.

Dai Alanye | 11.10.11 @ 10:47AM

Gee, Tracy, is it too much to ask that you investigate the women just a bit more before effectively nominating Cain as a loser? Or is there a deadline problem that required your column to be written far in advance?

Based on what has been released to the media to date, we have one bimbo with a highly questionable financial record, and one possibly neurotic female who feels victimized by (among other things) jokes that are circulated throughout her entire office, plus two nebulous unknowns.

Despite some fumbles, so far Cain's attitude and personna have conserved his viability. Should his wife come out? Certainly, if she feels comfortable, particularly if it's her own decision. The fact Cain hasn't yet appeared in public with his hand being held by the little lady is a positive sign, but let's have her on the The View or some equally stupid program. But only if she wants to do it, for I see no reason she needs to take Herman's burden on her shoulders if she doesn't feel comfortable.

Let's also remember that the sweet and lovely Gloria Allred pulled a similar trick against Meg Whitman. She's motivated by money and publicity, of course, but also appears to be a Dem activist.

As far as the numbers involved in accusing Cain, in 2008 a truly large number of fine folks thought one Barack Obama would make a fine President. Far more, in fact, than it would take to make a basketball team.

From my own experiences in the legal arena, I suspect you have the common lawyerly problem of assuming your client is a liar, and that you'll be forced to close one eye while defending him. Why not have a little faith, man!

Frank Drackman| 11.10.11 @ 1:41PM

Wow...
but I guess with a name like that you grew up knowing how to fight...
or how to get beat up...
and it was probably before the error of Gangster Rap, where you could do something with that "G" first initial...
and as if "G. Tracy Mehan" wasn't bad enough, your a "III"...
and while sometimes the "II" is better than the original, (Godfather, Wrath of Khan, Grease) the "III" almost uniformly sucks Barney Frank Balls...
except for Super Bowl III...
and maybe "Rocky III" "Friday the 13th III(in 3-D!) was pretty good too..
seriously, whats the "G" stand for?
Gay?!!!!!!!!!!!!
HaHa(Nelson Laugh)

Frank, not my real name Drackman

Stormy| 11.10.11 @ 10:19AM

"I voted against Bill Clinton, but I did believe that, if a husband and wife patch things up and tough it out, well, most of us will leave it at that. He may be a scoundrel, but his wife sees something in him anyway."

Surely, you must be kidding. Hilliary "toughed it out" for one reason and one only. She desired the White House as a base to launch her own political career, which she got. Hilliary only got angry with Bill when the blue dress evidence appeared. The blue dress was a threat to her political future. So, no, I disagree with your conclusions about Bill and Hill. Hilliary saw something in Bill, alright. She was on the trail back to the White House, until a person named Barack Obama bushwacked her.

Purpleguy| 11.10.11 @ 10:58AM

Why has this site not addressed the overwhelming rejection of the GOP on Tuesday? Ohio, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Arizona to name a few rejected many initiatives and elected Democrats to Red State positions ... Could this be the harbinger of a Blue Wave in 2012? Hmmmm?

Frank Drackman| 11.10.11 @ 11:10AM

Only reason the Union Thugs won in Ohio is thats the majority of jobs left in that aging Rust Belt state..
NCR moved to Duluth GA 2 years ago, and if I had a dime for every Ohio State Buckeye T-shirt wearing slob askin me where they keep the "Pop" at Wal-Mart...
Jaw-Jaws a right to work State brother, and if I don't like the way Jose trims the hedges, I can just fire his ill-legal butt, no ifs ands or butts..
Cause it's an "At Will" State too, you can fire someone just cause you don't like the stew-pid Spider Web tatoo on there neck..
I mean if I'm gonna get a Tatoo on my neck, it wouldn't be a damn Spider Web...
Actually, I don't usually fire those guys, too scary...

Frank

Purpleguy| 11.10.11 @ 11:44AM

Ah, so at least you know the GOP got walloped good on Tuesday - that's a start. There are 430,000 public sector jobs in Ohio out of over 2,000,000. Hmmm, seems a lot of non-public sector ppl voted against the GOP ! It's about time they realized which side cares about their family and their lives. It aint the Tea Baggers. Kasich is next (35% in favor, 65% against) ...

loulou| 11.10.11 @ 11:59AM

Ohioans seem to be competing with Michigan.
Too many parasites and not enough productive citizens. It would be nice if Ohioan types would not pollute the better states such as GA, SC, etc. Stay in your mess, pop-drinkers.

Margie| 11.10.11 @ 12:46PM

Then again, Ohioans voted against Obama "Care."
I grabbed one comment, posted elsewhere, spoken well:

"Mmmmm. The same Ohio voters also voted to reject Obamacare by an even bigger margin. In fact, EVERY county in Ohio voted to approve a new state constitutional amendment that rejected the Federal mandate upon which Obamacare perches for its survival.

Obamacare is a much larger FEDERAL issue for the voters than collective bargaining for public employees -- which, of course, Federal employess don't have and no one is pushing to get for them.

With respect to the Presidential race, the Ohio returns pose more worry than encouragement for Obama."

Ohio’s Gift to Sherrod Brown on His Birthday: The Healthcare Freedom Amendment:

http://www.ohiogop.org/index.p....._amendmen/

Yeah, the Union Thugs got out and went door to door here, and there are plenty of still ill-informed among us as to that issue, but Ohioans are are waking up to the threat of Socialist Oabama policies, and we'll see how the state goes come election time.

Hope springs eternal.

Dave Williams| 11.10.11 @ 2:57PM

Through a series of unfortunate circumstances beyond my control, I, a proud New Yorker, am forced to live in Ohio, and a thicker, duller, dumber, slower bunch of all-American dolts would be harder to find....so it's no surprise they voted wrong on Tuesday. At least they got Prop 3 right...

Purpleguy| 11.11.11 @ 6:05PM

Gee, what say you Ohioans? Are you all parasites? Nice people on this site, aint there?

Frank Drackman| 11.10.11 @ 12:23PM

So how did Kasich get elected, I mean if only 35% voted for him...
and Ohio just oughta require Union membership to work, I mean officially, I know its a De-Facto requirement, like havin Boobs to wait tables at Hooters...
and sayin "Tea Bagger" is like sayin "Nigger", I mean people do it, but best not to say it in front of an actual Tea Bagger/Nigger, nome sane?

Frank "I meant N-word" Drackman

Purpleguy| 11.10.11 @ 12:44PM

well, ain't you nice? Kasich's approval rating is 35% , second lowest governor in the country. You mean Tea Bagger is like Fag or Whore? Words I'm sure you know all too well too.

Frank Drackman| 11.10.11 @ 1:36PM

Fag? Whore?
Oh you mean You, and your Beard of a Wife...
Or does your Wife have a Beard? A Beard with a Beard...
And FYI I spent my formative(i.e., when I learned to jerk off)years at Sawyer AFB Michigan,so to me, YEW are the stupid Southern bucktoothed yokel, cheering on your closeted homo hero Football Coach Woody Hayes for punching a Clemson Tiger who could have broken Woody's hip if he wasn't such a nice guy...
enjoy the snow, homo.

Frank

Purpleguy| 11.11.11 @ 6:07PM

OMG, what a foul mouth. Methinks you dost protest too much though. 'course you never answered any question, just ranted and raved like the little biggotted mind you are.

attila the Hun| 11.10.11 @ 11:12AM

My question is why those charges took place only during Mr Cain tenure in NRA. If he is a creep as alleged don't you think he would have done the same things during his prior employment with Plisbury , Burger King or Grand father pizza?
Everyone should read Ann Coulter pice today

Havoc| 11.10.11 @ 11:53AM

Is there some number of zeroes which, summed, total more than zero? I think not. Similarly, there is no number of incredible charges that sums to a credible charge.

Seriously, can 5 Billion flies be wrong?

loulou| 11.10.11 @ 11:55AM

Mehan, III worked for the Bushes. Enough said.

Nina| 11.10.11 @ 12:17PM

I hope she says nothing.Don't give them anything. That will drive them nuts. Just be there for the guy and say nothing.
Funny how this comes out of Chicago.

Margie| 11.10.11 @ 12:50PM

I agree. Why should she say a word?

Trish| 11.10.11 @ 5:16PM

Its just a bit coincidental that Byalek (sp?) lives in Axelrod's bldg at 505 Lake Shore Drive, no?

Anthony| 11.10.11 @ 12:28PM

All Mrs. Cain would have to say is "my husband is a victim of a vast left-wing conspiracy".
And she would be 100% CORRECT, unlike Madam Hillary.

longer memory| 11.10.11 @ 1:27PM

Mr.Mehan was some minor figure in a Bush Admin. in a field totally unrelated to having a valid political opinion on anything. The "I am not an expert on anything but I was close to experts once. " TAS has become littered with these types.

Anyone using a Roman numeral III after his name has "pompous" written all over him. If he had a son he would be G.Tracy IV, I guess. How important to the reader is it to know his family is too unimaginative to think up a good name for their kid? For three generations!

How does working for a nano second in the EPA give you any insight into anything? I wonder if he had anything to do with the Environmental Impact report ordered when I wanted to add a 15 X 15 ft. room onto my house and made me send out 35 copies of blueprints to neighbors who had no idea what they were - for their approval or thumbs down.

Oh, maybe it is that adjunct professorship. Doesn't adjunct mean something like a substitute teacher?

Mehan has obviously never heard the term, "Consider the source." Sometimes, where's there's smoke, somebody like Gloria Allred set up the smokescreen and there IS NO FIRE.

This woman goes up to him recently at a Tea Party event. She says she asks him if he remembers her and he says yes. No one heard this brief exchange. She has no proof of what she whispered and what he answered. If someone approaches you at a gathering and asks you if you remember them, what do you say? - "No, you got me there - I haven't a clue - who are you?" No, you say yes, and fish around for a clue as to where you might have met this frowsy dame. You don't want to blow her off as she may be Dolly Parton's ugly sister who gave you a big donation back in Nashville.

When this is all over we will see the fair Ms. Bialek on the cover of People Magazine, her pock marked face derma-planed and a better hairdo and a gravity defying bra to corral her chest melons.

I'd LMAO if this "hit" on the black man woke up the 90% of black voters who put Obama over the top - the same 90% he has done 100% squat for in first term - - and they all cut Herman down from the lynchin' tree and put him in the White House.

Bumr50| 11.10.11 @ 6:00PM

I and my family will never vote for Mitt Romney.

Naturalborn Texicanette| 11.10.11 @ 6:55PM

I wonder about Mrs. Cain.

So far she's been sort of standoffish and very
quiet.

Can she handle being First Lady along with all the responsibilities that go with that position that she would be accountable for whether or not she chooses that role for herself?

Hmmmm.........? Unsure if she even wants to.
I guess we shall see.............eventually.

Trish| 11.10.11 @ 8:32PM

Perhaps she is not all that committed to the repubs. I read that she has voted dem and I think one of the votes was for BHO.

ron gunter| 11.10.11 @ 8:09PM

shallow, superficial, trite, tedious. I was waiting for you to say something......except for your judgement that Mr Cain is in a "no win" situation, I would not know what you really meant to say.

longer memory| 11.10.11 @ 11:50PM

FIRST LADY was never a "Role" until Jackie Kennedy made it so.

Eleanor Roosevelt did what she did because she was Eleanor - but it was never made a law that wives of presidents had to earn their keep.

Bess Truman spent most of her time in Missouri - hated Washington. Mamie Eisenhower was not an active First Lady.

Then along comes the Princess of Camelot, the whispery Jackie, who makes restoration of the White House her First Lady project. From then on you "hadda have a gimmick", as the stripper in Gypsy said.

Next came Lady Bird who wanted to make the United States one big wildflower garden and advised us all to plant a tree, a bush or a shrub

Brief respite while Pat NIxon minded her own business.

Betty Ford had not "seen the light" yet and was drunk pretty much of the time. Once in a while appeared glass-eyed and smiling. Otherwise stayed home treating her neck ache with the Three Vs - vodka, valium and Vicodin.

That crazy Georgia cracker Rosalyn sat in on Cabinet Meetings, which should have been a breach of something.

Nancy Reagan actually did some good with her simple, "Just Say No" advice.

I don't remember what Barbara BUsh did - something quiet like educating children. that's OK

Then the First Warden, Hillary comes in and tries to force feed the first healthcare program to us.

Next, another sensible Republican, Laura Bush has a sensible goal - =to get children to read..

Which brings us to the big-butted Michelle who wants us to eat what she pretends she's eating - until she is caught on camera scarfing down hamburgers whiile taking vacations.

So much for "duties" of a First Lady. They have no duties.They are pastimes and most of them either an invasion of our privacy or a waste of time or both. Lady Bird, Nancy Reagan and Laura Bush being the exceptions.

That would be a good place to cut the budget. Give them no duties. Give them no staff. Anyone know what Michelle's is?

Mrs. Cain might be our black Bess Truman if Cain should get elected and if she is, we could give a quiet cheer!

longer memory| 11.10.11 @ 11:51PM