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yardwork

(69,438 posts)

16. The sad fact is that a lot of men get away with it.

Mon Apr 13, 2026, 08:49 AM

Yesterday

And that tolerance doesn't extend to only Republicans like Trump.

Reading DU over the past days has been very disheartening. It's crystal clear to me now why so many Republicans don't believe that Trump raped people, including children.

Even when facts are evident, lots of DUers immediately went primitive.

"Why didn't she come forward earlier something stinks why did all four come forward now the timing is fishy why did she stay on his team I hear Roger Stone is involved why would she go back wasn't that leading him on I hear an influencer who went to Katie Porter's same law school is behind this Katie Porter is behind this Nancy Pelosi is behind this if this was true his staff would have stopped it wait if his staff knew they're complicit he's a good Democrat!"

It would be funny if it wasn't so sad.

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Eric Swalwell and the Death of Accountability [View all] Celerity Yesterday OP

KNR niyad Yesterday #1

Tribes protect valuable members. OC375 Yesterday #2

It's California Bettie Yesterday #4

Agreed. OC375 Yesterday #5

Which makes the question posed in the article even more compelling. yardwork Yesterday #12

If this was known Bettie Yesterday #3

Yes. "Open Secret?" I certainly had not heard the rumblings but perhaps within the beltway... hlthe2b Yesterday #6

"So, yeah. It appears the pump was fully primed on Friday within the circles who fully "knew" but amazing to me, did not WhiskeyGrinder Yesterday #8

I Believe The Term Refers To Those Working With Or For Swalwell, Not "Us". ColoringFool Yesterday #78

My daughter is a CA Dem delegate and a caucus chair, and she had never heard those rumors. deurbano Yesterday #93

I concur. In this world there are "upstanders" snd Ninga 23 hrs ago #104

I have never come across any decent humans who are cheaters jfz9580m 21 hrs ago #124

Same here.... I guess 'open secret' meant within the House of Reps ONLY--- Jack Valentino 12 hrs ago #145

Exactly WSHazel Yesterday #7

One of the reasons I didn't quite believe it at first Bettie Yesterday #9

Madoff is the epitome of this behavior WSHazel Yesterday #59

Broken stair analogy, plus organizations like to hold on to high performers, even when they're terrible people. WhiskeyGrinder Yesterday #10

And the biggest missing stair in our politics happens to be President! (n/t) thesquanderer Yesterday #94

Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered a son with the family's housekeeper, kept the child a secret while he was sop Yesterday #11

The sad fact is that a lot of men get away with it. yardwork Yesterday #16

Thank you jfz9580m Yesterday #27

Just to be clear, a lot of the "wait and see" was about not SEEING all the facts yet RandomNumbers Yesterday #28

Wait and see is one thing. yardwork Yesterday #31

Yes, I agree with you on that point. RandomNumbers Yesterday #35

It has helped me make a final decision jfz9580m Yesterday #77

"Immediately blaming every woman in sight is something else." MorbidButterflyTat 21 hrs ago #123

Nope. I'm not calling out any DUer. yardwork 20 hrs ago #128

There was someone here yesterday asking what was expected if a drunk woman goes to a man's hotel room EdmondDantes_ Yesterday #45

Should be asking, why would a responsible man RandomNumbers Yesterday #67

More than one poster suggested that the bank accounts of the victims needed to be investigated MichMan Yesterday #68

The question was MorbidButterflyTat 21 hrs ago #125

That's not the post I was referring to EdmondDantes_ 19 hrs ago #129

I have seen post, that in my opinion suggest voting for him Lifeafter70 Yesterday #60

That's what stood out to me jfz9580m Yesterday #82

It is VERY sad that a Democrat who has been so effective against Trump, Jack Valentino 12 hrs ago #146

Based on Arnold, obviously he had a good reason to think so. LisaL Yesterday #62

I had no idea this was an open secret. Disgusting. Passages Yesterday #13

People thought the party was taking crazy pills Sympthsical Yesterday #14

I imagine the Republicans were hoping he'd be the nominee. yardwork Yesterday #17

I still haven't heard a credible explanation from "The timing is suspicious!" crowd Sympthsical Yesterday #19

There was a spontaneous eruption of that phrase on DU. yardwork Yesterday #20

Hasn't hurt many of the GOP members samplegirl Yesterday #15

The death of accountability is a good headline. yardwork Yesterday #18

The difference between virtue signalling and actual virtue on full display Sympthsical Yesterday #21

And every other woman in sight was blamed, too. yardwork Yesterday #23

I think Katie Porter will actually be hurt by this Scrivener7 Yesterday #25

Absolutely. She's getting the Hillary Clinton Kamala Harris treatment. yardwork Yesterday #37

There's another element here. She's running against a man people liked a lot who turned out to be a dog. Scrivener7 Yesterday #44

On the other hand - I suspect many Democratic voters will now see her as more of a sure bet peppertree Yesterday #54

As a former CA member of the House, she was in karynnj Yesterday #92

Probably true. Scrivener7 23 hrs ago #102

OMG, nobody said anything like that on here. MorbidButterflyTat 18 hrs ago #135

She clearly is being hit on this karynnj Yesterday #90

Tribal reaction. Dems are not immune from it. paleotn Yesterday #49

Exactly! This is not a game, folks. paleotn Yesterday #43

there's been nothing but accountability from the party and Dem supporters, including Swalwell's bigtree 14 hrs ago #143

nothing in that article backed up the claim that 'His sexual misconduct was an open secret' bigtree Yesterday #22

It was very much an open secret Sympthsical Yesterday #24

That's sad. I wonder if this was known more than locally? Many will blow it off as "just gossip" LeftInTX Yesterday #32

Unfortunately, it seems to be considered 'acceptable' for men to behave like that RandomNumbers Yesterday #33

For years. Incredible, one would imagine he was the only politician they could back. Passages Yesterday #36

Why encourage him to run for governor? MorbidButterflyTat 19 hrs ago #132

"Everybody just turned a blind eye and went about their lives for years?" Sympthsical 16 hrs ago #137

Kevin MCarthy on CNN question everything Yesterday #52

not one of the sources I'd trust for anything bigtree Yesterday #85

Whatever else is true about how "known" Swalwell's behavior was, My Kevin is not a reliable reporter. deurbano 23 hrs ago #99

Kevin MCarthy??? MorbidButterflyTat 19 hrs ago #131

I noticed the word "misconduct" people knew of his "misconduct" and chose to ignore it. But "misconduct" has now Ninga Yesterday #66

Stop blaming Nancy Pelosi. yardwork Yesterday #79

Excuse me. There are "upstanders" and "bystanders" Ninga 23 hrs ago #107

Exactly. No matter their last name or gender. N/T AloeVera 22 hrs ago #120

"Inappropriate" behaviour by a person in power is grooming. AloeVera 22 hrs ago #119

Here is a possible explanation karynnj Yesterday #96

it's not clear anyone knew except the people claiming it was well known bigtree 22 hrs ago #121

Just because you didn't know... Random Boomer 23 hrs ago #100

internet gossip bigtree 22 hrs ago #122

There is this tweet from Dec 2025 LeftInTX Yesterday #26

great reply Celerity Yesterday #29

what did he do with that information bigtree Yesterday #41

The answer is right in the article. Nanjeanne Yesterday #47

more background as well Celerity Yesterday #57

He's an interesting read. Did you see this one? Sympthsical Yesterday #69

I figured as much. Unless Becerra finds rocket fuel and blows up out of his months-long 2 to 5 per cent level, it looks, Celerity Yesterday #88

I see the problem with Becerra Sympthsical 23 hrs ago #97

"...what did both of these men do other than this political chit-chat on social media?" WhiskeyGrinder Yesterday #48

that's still just conjecture bigtree Yesterday #86

Because the victims had to come forward Sympthsical Yesterday #51

That's how it was with Tony Gonzales. LeftInTX Yesterday #70

Yep. Just like Weinstein and Ronan Farrow Sympthsical Yesterday #81

The comments made by some poster here Lifeafter70 Yesterday #72

Humans gonna human Sympthsical Yesterday #84

Threat of lawsuit? RoseTrellis Yesterday #65

Wow. Passages Yesterday #42

The Democratic Party doesn't allow this kind of behavor. Escape Yesterday #30

True. Shades of Gary Hart. peppertree Yesterday #46

Wait-a-sec mr715 23 hrs ago #111

Sure. peppertree 23 hrs ago #113

I'll have to check out Ms. Kelley's book. mr715 22 hrs ago #114

That could have something to do with it peppertree 22 hrs ago #116

Thanks for the insight mr715 18 hrs ago #133

You're very welcome peppertree 14 hrs ago #140

Well, The Democratic Party Apparently Does So "Allow," Until...., ColoringFool Yesterday #80

True - but at least they have limits peppertree 23 hrs ago #105

Sent me to the all knowing internet to find out who Rielle Hunter is... Escape 18 hrs ago #136

Nobody wants to be the messenger. milestogo Yesterday #34

That's true... LeftInTX Yesterday #38

The Gary Hart of our times peppertree Yesterday #39

My exact thought this morning. paleotn Yesterday #50

Gary Hart may have been a reckless philanderer, but Jose Garcia Yesterday #56

There's still issues of consent going after a parade of young women EdmondDantes_ Yesterday #95

I believe the House introduced a resolution in 2018 prohibiting any sexual contact between a member and staff MichMan 23 hrs ago #103

Luckily for Lady G, it didn't apply to the Senate peppertree 23 hrs ago #106

"Accountability" only applies to Democrats. valleyrogue Yesterday #40

Sad - but true. And you see that in many other democracies. peppertree 23 hrs ago #108

Gandhi??? LeftInTX 21 hrs ago #126

So Gandhi was quite the dandy. peppertree 14 hrs ago #141

Scene from the 1933 movie 42nd Street LeftInTX 13 hrs ago #144

If party leadership knew about this & didn't discourage him from running for gov, then they're complicit, too. CrispyQ Yesterday #53

That's the part that got me Tree Lady Yesterday #74

The weird thing is jfz9580m Yesterday #55

He is resigning. Accountability is taking place. Martin68 Yesterday #58

Philandering is one thing but Billsdaughter Yesterday #61

"Was an open secret for a long time" sunnybrook Yesterday #63

The open secret appears to have been that he was sleeping around while married. LisaL Yesterday #64

If higher ups in the party knew, they shouldn't have encouraged him to run for governor. LeftInTX Yesterday #76

I agree. LisaL Yesterday #83

I'd like to see those sources too MorbidButterflyTat 19 hrs ago #130

I think a lot of people just liked that Swalwell that was an attack dog against Trump and didn't care about much else MichMan Yesterday #71

Too many people repeat everything Trump says and seem to believe it as well Just_Vote_Dem Yesterday #75

that's not evident in anything bigtree Yesterday #87

This message was self-deleted by its author MichMan 23 hrs ago #98

"The rumors that are being discussed as being generally known are of consensual relationships, not sexual assault or WhiskeyGrinder 23 hrs ago #101

I never understood the Avenatti stanning. He always seemed like a plonker to me. I certianly never got invested in the Celerity Yesterday #91

DURec leftstreet Yesterday #73

I'm not a fan of situational ethics. democrank Yesterday #89

Yes. And a horror I have heard applauded jfz9580m 23 hrs ago #112

How soon we forget Edwards and other Dem 'womanizers' JCMach1 23 hrs ago #109

How soon we forget Edwards and other Dem 'womanizers' JCMach1 23 hrs ago #110

I mean like, what 50 year old man sends dick pics to his girlfriends? Jersey Devil 22 hrs ago #115

This is another dispiriting revelation peggysue2 22 hrs ago #117

Power does strange things to some people MustLoveBeagles 16 hrs ago #139

I have counter evidence for the last sentence. My daughter endorsed Swalwell before hearing any rumors, then "quickly deurbano 22 hrs ago #118

Obviously most of us (in general public) LisaL 20 hrs ago #127

I certainly did not, even thoI fancy myself to be rather well informed. 3catwoman3 18 hrs ago #134

With all due respect Sympthsical 16 hrs ago #138

As The "Old Folks" Say..........🎶........ ColoringFool 14 hrs ago #142