Herman Cain (Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons)
Herman Cain's
reprehensible strategy of character assassination against his accusers is now out in the open:
L. Lin Wood, the lawyer hired by the Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain to fend off sexual harassment accusations, has warned that any other women who might be considering coming forward with similar allegations “should think twice.”
Got that? If you were a victim of Cain's alleged misogynistic abuse, and you dare speak out about it, you will be abused again by attempts at having your reputation destroyed. You are warned. The two alleged victims who have spoken out already are being targeted, and that consummate asshole Rush Limbaugh already is attacking one of the accusers, Sharon Bialek, in his own typically misogynistic style— pronouncing her last name as “buy-a-lick.”
Yesterday, Cain campaign manager Mark Block proved himself not only despicable but an utter fool, when appearing on the Sean Hannity show he claimed to have confirmed that accuser Karen Kraushaar was the mother of former Politico staffer Josh Kraushaar, which apparently was supposed to discredit both Kraushaar and the website that broke the story of Cain's alleged abuses. There was just one problem— not only is Josh Kraushaar not Karen Kraushaar's son, he isn't even related to her. But the Cain team cares about facts about as much as they care about basic human decency. They are war with both the truth and women.
As Ms. Kraushaar continued her day-old effort to bring the other women accusing Mr. Cain of sexual harassment together for a joint news briefing, she and the others confronted the challenges of taking on a presidential candidate: intensive scrutiny of their backgrounds and motives, encouraged and amplified in this case by conservative news outlets and commentators whose support for Mr. Cain as he battles the allegations has helped him weather the crisis so far.
Ms. Kraushaar told friends she was beginning to worry that all the scrutiny might keep the other women from appearing publicly with her.
And it very well might. The Cain team and their right wing media allies are relentless and without conscience. And they all deserve nothing but condemnation. And it is reaching the point where other Republican leaders need to step up and explain whether or not this is how they want their party and its media outlets to behave.