Who is really after Herman Cain?

Some of us have been expecting some sort of accusation to be hurled at Herman Cain. I tweeted week before last that we could expect same and that it would be interesting to see what it would be. Well, now we know. It also caught my attention that last week there was an article (that I didn’t bother to read) pointing out that Obama had gone this far without personal scandal.

That was a signal to me that something was coming down the pike as well. I was in an information blackout from late Saturday evening until the very wee hours of this morning. And it was then that I became aware of the accusations of sexual harassment directed at Herman. I admit, my first thought wasn’t what happens next, who said it, etc. My first thought was there is no way this is true. This just did not compute with the man I’ve known since 2003. It just didn’t fit, but I knew who it would fit for if there was any question whatsoever. So at roughly 3:30 AM this morning, I was saying wake up, wake up, c’mon wake up. An hour or so later they did, and I said: “I have one question is this true, have you ever seen or heard anything that you personally feel rises to this occasion?” Following is their comment to me:

“Sounds like a Clarence Thomas smear job to me. The guy has been nothing but a perfect gentleman around me and believe me, I can smell rats who are looking to run a game a mile away. No matter how old they get, they still think they are the cutest truck in shoe leather and Herman Cain is the furthest thing away from that I can imagine.”

“Man, doesn’t this sound like they are running the same old play book from Clarence Thomas? Good heavens you would think they would come up with something new after all these years.”

“I would be absolutely mystified if there was anything to this at all. The guy is happily married. He is so respectful of all folks, no matter who they are……treats everyone the same. Sounds like some feminist got her panties in a wad cause he pulled out a chair for her or held open a door for her. Who knows. Or made the whole damn thing up.”

“Pardon my French here, but this jet chaps my hide. They really want to grind this man into the ground don’t they? Not good enough to beat him fair and square….oh no….let’s make sure he is destroyed in the whole dirty damn process. Will see what I can find out…but I think it is a whole lot of hooey.”

My friend did get back to me again a couple hours later and said the following: “A complaint was indeed filed but it was for some kind of conversation and some kind of gestures, but the gestures were not sexual. So I don’t even know what that means!! The two women who filed it were paid 5 figures to keep quiet. We all know the restaurant association is a republican hangout so it strikes me that this is a republican hit, actually.”

I just moments ago received this heads up: “Sounds like Rush is leaning toward Obama releasing this……sure…..maybe, I guess. I dunno. Another high tech lynching? Possibly.”

“But who benefits most? Where is Romney today?”

“Rush is making a good point that this could be a fishing expedition…..they don’t have what they think they have….it s up to Cain to explain what happened….someone from politico on msnbc saying that Cain has to explain what happened? Why? If they wrote the story…then why? Sounds like it is a big zero then and they are looking for details to see if there is any there there….”

Which brings to a copy of a letter to Karl Rove that I just happened to receive earlier today, that ties in with a theory I was working on before all of this broke. I was copied on the following letter:

*********************************************
TPATH GETS RESPONSE
From
KARL ROVE

By Dwight Kehoe
October 31, 2011

Several days ago I sent a letter to Rove about his complicity in the defeat of the Republican for Senate in Delaware.

As you may recall Karl supported the incumbent RINO during the primary and the night his candidate lost, he began his efforts to see that Christine O’Donnell was defeated in the general election.

In response to my letter, Rove defended his actions based on many long and extensive financial and personal problems Ms. O’Donnell had. I’m not going to include his hit piece here because its irrelevant to the scope.

I responded to his letter today, October 31, 2011

Dear Karl,
A very impressive piece of investigative work. The liberal media, no doubt, is very proud of you.

I do thank you for taking the time to respond to me but this expansive hit piece on O’ Donnell does not quell my disdain for any Republican attempt to help our primary winner be defeated in a general election.

As I said in my earlier letter to you, every candidate has baggage and every piece of data can be manipulated. It should never be a Republican’s job to insure a Democrat victory.

That, is what you did.
There can be no excuse for that. None.
I had no problem with you pushing for the candidate you thought was best, even if he was an unabashed RINO, during the primary. Where you crossed the line with me and many others is when you joined forces with the liberals in the media and the Democrat party to defeat the Republican. That was disgraceful and borders on “ideological treason”.

Thanks again for your response though it did nothing to recapture the faith I once had in you.

Regards,
Dwight Kehoe

*********************************************

My colleague Curt Levey, Executive Director, The Committee for Justice wrote in a release earlier today, said the following: “The ‘severe or pervasive’ requirement is not a legal technicality. Sexual harassment in the workplace is an important problem and trivializing the term undermines the seriousness with which cases of severe and pervasive harassment are taken. There is no suggestion in the Politico article that Cain’s alleged behavior was either severe or pervasive, so at least for now, the suggestion of sexual harassment is unsupported.”

“Politico places a lot of weight on the report that ‘there were financial settlements in two cases in which women leveled complaints [against Cain].’ In fact, without knowing more about the details of the settlements, it’s impossible to draw any conclusions from them. Corporate America is very risk averse when it comes to negative publicity, and in-house settlements often occur even when the evidence of harassment falls far short of the threshold needed to be taken seriously by a court.”

Here are my thoughts. Herman has been attacked in the most reprehensible of ways for a person of color who grew up during and in the Jim Crow south. Every clip I have seen of him today, indicates he is hurt and angry. But, I believe he will pull through this. I think the verse he sang at the close of his appearance at the National Press Club today says he is leaning heavily on God through this moment of pain.

Obviously I could be wrong, and granted I look at things through different glasses than most people in the general public do. I look at things through the lenses of a political pundit and activist, from a legal prospective, and from a friend prospective. One of the first laws of being in my position is don’t risk your neck until you’re sure it won’t be chopped off. With that said, here is where I am, take it for what it’s worth.

First I don’t think this attack spawned in the Obama camp. Why would it? How can they be sure Herman is going to be their opponent yet? Who does this help the most if true or if these allegations derail Herman? The answer to same should be obvious. I think this comes from much closer to home. I think the flies on this manure pile are in the backyard of the person who has already shown their willingness to undermine other candidates when those candidates stand in the way of the person they want elected. That is my opinion. We’ll know soon enough if I am right or wrong about Herman. If I’m right, we’ll probably never know for sure if I’m right about who spawned this attack on Herman.