I may get banned for this, but

[hamsterjill]

98. The unfortunate thing is that he'll already be cancelled.

Not defending Timothy Busfield, but Melissa Gilbert gave an interview earlier this week and that was what she said. If Busfield is even found innocent and charges dropped, etc., there is always going to be that stigma of the charges. Same with most men who are accused.

In a court of law, I guarantee you the woman who says she was attacked twice while drunk would be laughed out of court. Same with the State Trooper who accused Cuomo. Cuomo is assuredly a dirty asshole, but a State Trooper should be expected to be able to defend herself, wouldn't you think? People on DU can scream all they want about it not being fair. It isn't.

I am an old and devout feminist, and I certainly believe that there are times when women are abused. Full stop. But I also know that there are times when those accusations are "timed" just for a certain result. *I* (personally) want to empower women to be able to fight back against sexual abuse. *I* grew up with the understanding that if a man came on to me and I said "no", that the next step was going to be to slap the shit out of him, find a safe place and call the police. I realize I'm simplifying. But women need to feel strong enough to report these things WHEN they happen. That's my hope for a future one day, and that will make the abuse less frequent when men know that there's a price to pay timely.

I'll continue to wait until we see some further evidence before I condemn Swalwell. That doesn't mean that when I see what I need to see that makes me believe he may be guilty, that I won't change my mind and call for him to step down. I'm just not there yet on this one.