Eric Swalwell and the Company He Keeps
Why do powerful, seemingly good men turn into sexual idiots when all common sense screams "Don't do it!"
As a Liberal, a Democrat, and a woman, I’m seriously outraged by the men in my political sphere who prey on and use women in ways that defy all decency and common sense. Those men who for the life of them can’t keep it in their pants, who, if they do admit it at all, will always claim it’s consensual even when it’s not, and who seem to get off on the real chance that they might get caught. (I mean, Bill Clinton took Monica Lewinsky so near the Oval Office the proximity to the very essence of governmental responsibility couldn’t go unnoticed, even by him. I wrote about it here.)
Almost 15 years ago, I wrote about this at my blog, Ramona’s Voices, in a piece I called, Men, Power, Reckless Sex: Why? What are we missing?
First there was Gary Hart, who practically begged the press to catch him with a babe on a boat and got caught. Bill Clinton fooled around with women (whose appeal caused some real head-scratching for most of us) and got caught. Then it was John Edwards, who co-created a child with a woman who was not his wife and got caught. Now it's Anthony Weiner, who got down and dirty in words and pictures and got caught.
They were all supposedly liberals, good guys, men who loved and respected their mates and their families. Their ability to speak up convincingly for the poor and disenfranchised is what got them where they were. Their inability to tame their penises is what brought them down and ended any chance for us to count on their intelligence, their compassion, their flair for skewering the lies. Any chance at greatness fell along with their pants.(In earlier times it was FDR, JFK and Lyndon Johnson, but, while rumors flew, they didn’t initially get caught. And who knows how many others there were?)
Now Eric Swalwell, a man I’ve admired and respected with no hint that I should feel otherwise, is in the news with reports of ugly sexual misconduct. Already there are calls from on high for his resignation. He surely will no longer be a gubernatorial candidate.
Again, what a shame.
And there are of course the women involved. They have to be believed, at least by me. Unless there is clear evidence that they have reason to lie, I’m going to be on their side.
So Eric, it looks like you’re on your own.
You may notice that I haven’t included Al Franken in amongst the predators. That’s because I never believed he was one. As I wrote in Al Franken Shouldn’t Resign,
Yes, I'll say it, and I hope it's not too late: Al Franken should not resign. He shouldn't be forced to resign, either by the Democrats who (rightly) can't abide double standards or the Republicans who would love to see a Democratic knock-down. I can agree that what he did to Leann Tweeden [during a skit] was stupid, gross, and thisclose to actual sexual predation, and still want him to stay where he is.
I've read Franken's book, Giant of the Senate, so I know he was no angel during his years as a funny man. He recounts in the book how even he had doubts about his past and how it would play when he ran for a job that followed in the footsteps of his hero, Paul Wellstone. Franken knew his state, knew his politics, had a great education, and was smart as hell--but his chief claim to fame was as a sometimes raunchy comedian. (He should have been a shady billionaire blowhard instead. Pure Teflon.)
Nor have I included Joe Biden, who was accused of sexual misconduct by Tara Reade in mid-2020, when he was running for president, in a case where nothing added up for me and I said so in What Happened Between Joe Biden and Tara Reade?
The oppo stuff is typical — build a case against your rival by exaggerating the things that might make him look bad and ignore any good he’s done. But sexual accusations are something else again. These we have to take seriously.
Which brings me to Joe Biden’s accuser, Tara Reade. I’ve read both sides and I don’t know what to believe. I should be able to concede that she believes Joe thrust his fingers into her vagina when she was interning for him in 1993, but I’m going to be honest here: I’m not even close to that point yet.
Allegations of sexual misconduct are rampant these days, and it’s clear we’ve had a problem that only gets worse as the past century fades and this century only gets stranger.
The accusations against men far exceed any accusations against women. Men are traditionally the sexual aggressors wherever power is not fair, and thankfully, they’re now getting caught. Now they’re having to pay for it. Which brings me again to my original question: Why do so many powerful, seemingly good men turn into sexual idiots when all common sense screams “Don’t do it!”
I’m a woman. I can’t answer that. I know nothing about their libido, which seems to take over in a blinding chokehold whenever they encounter someone who makes their testes flutter.
Does passion rise when danger threatens? Is throwing caution to the wind part of the thrill? Is the gamble worth it? Do they seriously think they’ll never get caught?
Will we ever have answers? What will make these men stop? And who will be next?
Update: On Sunday, April 12, Swalwell announced the end of his bid for governor of California. On Monday, April 13, he announced his resignation from the House. In both announcements he apologizes for “mistakes in judgment I’ve made in the past” but denies any involvement in “the more serious, false accusations”.
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I wish Harris was running for governor. She’d be brilliant, is imminently qualified, and as the leader of the 5th largest economy in the world, would have tremendous impact on the future.
Sigh. Yes. This is horrible when it’s the predators we expect, and even worse when it’s men we think highly of. Sadly, Cesar Chavez, recently revealed. And, for me, the patterns are interesting. One woman is too many, and true abusers always have more than one woman.