Careers ruined or at risk from accusations of sexual misconduct

[Ragnarök_62]

(11-29-2017, 01:40 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: This forum is for prominent persons fired, removed under pressure, or otherwise disgraced for sexual harassment.

<snip>

This kerfuffle is missing some victims.

Who among the #metoo crowd speaks for

1. Workers.  No body who works should be subjected to abuse sexual or otherwise from fellow workers, management, and asshole customers.

2. Prisoners. Who speaks out for them? NOBODY! A prison sentence should never be followed by getting assraped. That's not part of the deal.

If these #metoo virtue signaling famous people never get around to ALL VICTIMS, then  it's just vapid virtue signaling and nothing else.

[David Horn]

(01-02-2018, 10:47 PM)Ragnarök_62 Wrote:

(11-29-2017, 01:40 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: This forum is for prominent persons fired, removed under pressure, or otherwise disgraced for sexual harassment.

<snip>

This kerfuffle is missing some victims.

Who among the #metoo crowd speaks for

1. Workers.  No body who works should be subjected to abuse sexual or otherwise from fellow workers, management, and asshole customers.

2. Prisoners. Who speaks out for them? NOBODY! A prison sentence should never be followed by getting assraped. That's not part of the deal.

If these #metoo virtue signaling famous people never get around to ALL VICTIMS, then  it's just vapid virtue signaling and nothing else.

You add an abbreviated but very valid list.  Let's just say that no one deserves to be ostracized, to say nothing of abused, just for being themselves.  The powerful always lean on the powerless.  Making any class of the powerless unique merely makes the others invisible.

Women have certainly been among the most consistently abused and ostracized, just because they could be.  The same applies to minorities members of all types.  The issue isn't the victim's identity; it's the actors doing the abuse.  I don't see this getting resolved quickly, but a little awareness may be the best medicine.

[pbrower2a]

(01-03-2018, 11:20 AM)David Horn Wrote:

(01-02-2018, 10:47 PM)Ragnarök_62 Wrote:

(11-29-2017, 01:40 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: This forum is for prominent persons fired, removed under pressure, or otherwise disgraced for sexual harassment.

<snip>

This kerfuffle is missing some victims.

Who among the #metoo crowd speaks for

1. Workers.  No body who works should be subjected to abuse sexual or otherwise from fellow workers, management, and asshole customers.

2. Prisoners. Who speaks out for them? NOBODY! A prison sentence should never be followed by getting assraped. That's not part of the deal.

If these #metoo virtue signaling famous people never get around to ALL VICTIMS, then  it's just vapid virtue signaling and nothing else.

You add an abbreviated but very valid list.  Let's just say that no one deserves to be ostracized, to say nothing of abused, just for being themselves.  The powerful always lean on the powerless.  Making any class of the powerless unique merely makes the others invisible.

Women have certainly been among the most consistently abused and ostracized, just because they could be.  The same applies to minorities members of all types.  The issue isn't the victim's identity; it's the actors doing the abuse.  I don't see this getting resolved quickly, but a little awareness may be the best medicine.

True. Farm workers, convenience-store clerks, and fast-food workers have been far more vulnerable. The actress who refuses the casting couch might have a chance to make a modest living teaching drama or English in public K-12 education. Or do what Kelly McGinness (spelling) did after her appearance in Top Gun (she seemed an excellent actress) did: she went to live theater in a backwater for non-political drama.

A film star who exposes a casting coach has some standing in some minds because people know about her. A bank teller? The bank will probably cast her off instead of casting off the creep who exploits her. Working people have always been far more vulnerable than such people as university professors.

So some sales clerk in a department store exposes some creepy store manager. Who would know except the victim and the exploiter? Grand Rapids, Minnesota? Are you sure that that isn't Grand Rapids, Michigan?

Sexual harassment is simply wrong, inexcusable no matter what the social status of the victim. I can imagine social consequences, especially in changing ways in which people date -- and perhaps giving a defense of traditional marriage (which is being redefined to include same-sex marriage).

The manager of a casual-dining restaurant will not be as 'interesting' as a political or media figure. Even business executives who make fortunes are not so well known. "Sales manager at XXX Corporation"? Not news. But horrible for the victim or victims.

There is no excuse for sexual harassment. Ever -- no matter how poor and helpless a victim may be. That includes the incarcerated and otherwise-institutionalized.

[gabrielle]

(01-03-2018, 03:37 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: True. Farm workers, convenience-store clerks, and fast-food workers have been far more vulnerable. The actress who refuses the casting couch might have a chance to make a modest living teaching drama or English in public K-12 education. Or do what Kelly McGinness (spelling) did after her appearance in Top Gun (she seemed an excellent actress) did: she went to live theater in a backwater for non-political drama.

A film star who exposes a casting coach has some standing in some minds because people know about her. A bank teller? The bank will probably cast her off instead of casting off the creep who exploits her. Working people have always been far more vulnerable than such people as university professors.

So some sales clerk in a department store exposes some creepy store manager. Who would know except the victim and the exploiter? Grand Rapids, Minnesota? Are you sure that that isn't Grand Rapids, Michigan?

Sexual harassment is simply wrong, inexcusable no matter what the social status of the victim. I can imagine social consequences, especially in changing ways in which people date -- and perhaps giving a defense of traditional marriage (which is being redefined to include same-sex marriage).

The manager of a casual-dining restaurant will not be as 'interesting' as a political or media figure. Even business executives who make fortunes are not so well known. "Sales manager at XXX Corporation"? Not news. But horrible for the victim or victims.

There is no excuse for sexual harassment. Ever -- no matter how poor and helpless a victim may be. That includes the incarcerated and otherwise-institutionalized.

Not claiming to have insider knowledge on the culture of the Hollywood film industry, but it seems to me the potential for abuse might be higher there than in corporate retail.  

There are typically established methods for retail workers to report sexual harrassment, and while workers are highly expendable, so too are middle managers.  

A studio executive like Harvey Weinstein, on the other hand, is very rich and powerful and has no one above him to answer to.  It is a highly competitive field, with only so many major studios to work for.  

Also, actors are more likely to be sexually objectified, as part of their job, than are retail workers.  Actresses frequently report being pressured into doing nude scenes, also to lose weight and constantly be attractive.  After a certain age, they lose their relevance.  Retail work is highly exploitative in other ways, of course, and for very little pay.

[Bob Butler 1954]

(01-01-2018, 03:57 AM)Marypoza Wrote:

(12-16-2017, 04:26 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: Child sexual abuse was never really legal during the Boom Awakening, but it was easy to get away with. If one turned out profitable films as did Roman Polanski, one could get away with great misconduct. And let's not forget the First Fornicator, Bill Clinton.

 
-- don't forget Mr Bill's role model, Kennedy. Sexual harrassment/abuse goes waaaaay back. But l agree with the premise in your op- ever since Weinstein got outed it's like a dam has busted.  As you say, in a Crisis Era, certain behaviors are no longer tolerated

It was too easy to get away with harassment. It remains easy to falsely accuse. I am glad to give pause or exile from a position to the harasser, but both problems need to be addressed.

[pbrower2a]

(01-02-2018, 10:47 PM)Ragnarök_62 Wrote:

(11-29-2017, 01:40 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: This forum is for prominent persons fired, removed under pressure, or otherwise disgraced for sexual harassment.

<snip>

This kerfuffle is missing some victims.

Who among the #metoo crowd speaks for

1. Workers.  No body who works should be subjected to abuse sexual or otherwise from fellow workers, management, and asshole customers.

2. Prisoners. Who speaks out for them? NOBODY! A prison sentence should never be followed by getting assraped. That's not part of the deal.

If these #metoo virtue signaling famous people never get around to ALL VICTIMS, then  it's just vapid virtue signaling and nothing else.

1. The best control against sexual harassment in low-paying jobs is the ability to get another job. Restaurants and retail are competitive industries. Change employers!

2. Rape is not part of the formal sentence of imprisonment. Sexual deprivation could be.

Some prisoner who commits rape of fellow prisoners deserves castration.

[pbrower2a]

Governor Eric Greitens (R, Missouri)

January 11, 2018 10:51 AM
Updated 47 minutes ago
JEFFERSON CITY

A bipartisan group of state senators is calling for Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley to investigate allegations that Gov. Eric Greitens threatened to blackmail a woman with whom he had an affair in 2015.

At least one says that if the allegations are true, Greitens should either resign or be impeached.

The allegations, first reported by KMOV in St. Louis, surfaced shortly after Greitens delivered his annual State of the State address Wednesday night. The ex-husband of Greitens’ mistress gave the TV station an audio recording of the woman confessing the affair and accusing Greitens of blindfolding her and taking a nude photo against her will to blackmail her into silence.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-...rylink=cpy

[pbrower2a]

An Idaho state legislator resigns over sexual abuse and then commits suicide.

Why do politicians take the chance of ruining themselves and bringing shame and disgrace upon their families? Advice to all the rakish people with political ambitions -- do nothing sordid, especially if the deed has sexual connotations.

[pbrower2a]

(01-05-2018, 09:56 PM)gabrielle Wrote:

(01-03-2018, 03:37 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: True. Farm workers, convenience-store clerks, and fast-food workers have been far more vulnerable. The actress who refuses the casting couch might have a chance to make a modest living teaching drama or English in public K-12 education. Or do what Kelly McGinness (spelling) did after her appearance in Top Gun (she seemed an excellent actress) did: she went to live theater in a backwater for non-political drama.

A film star who exposes a casting coach has some standing in some minds because people know about her. A bank teller? The bank will probably cast her off instead of casting off the creep who exploits her. Working people have always been far more vulnerable than such people as university professors.

.....

There is no excuse for sexual harassment. Ever -- no matter how poor and helpless a victim may be. That includes the incarcerated and otherwise-institutionalized.

Not claiming to have insider knowledge on the culture of the Hollywood film industry, but it seems to me the potential for abuse might be higher there than in corporate retail.  

There are typically established methods for retail workers to report sexual harrassment, and while workers are highly expendable, so too are middle managers.  

A studio executive like Harvey Weinstein, on the other hand, is very rich and powerful and has no one above him to answer to.  It is a highly competitive field, with only so many major studios to work for.  

Also, actors are more likely to be sexually objectified, as part of their job, than are retail workers.  Actresses frequently report being pressured into doing nude scenes, also to lose weight and constantly be attractive.  After a certain age, they lose their relevance.  Retail work is highly exploitative in other ways, of course, and for very little pay.

My knowledge of the film industry is entirely its output (feature films and TV series) and news reports or non-fiction accounts. That's how it is for most. Reliable sources tell me that the casting couch is no myth, although it could soon become a relic of a discredited past, something to be relegated to the pure and degrading sexuality of the porn biz.

I worked in retail soon after graduating from college... I had the 'wrong' degree*. That was around 1980. The climate was much more sexualized then, at least in dry-goods. The store manager was hiring people more for how they looked than for their intelligence. Well, being intelligent and working in a department store is a disconnect between mentality and the demands of the work. To be happy in that department store required a certain quality generally unwelcome in most businesses and in all genuine professions: stupidity. I might as well name a name: it was Dillard's Department Store, which has a reputation as one of the worst companies for which to work. It expects people paid near minimum-wage to be ferociously competitive against each other for sales volume.  It was that way in 1980, too. D is for Dillard's, and if you work there you will seek a D for dignity soon enough -- somewhere else. Its headquarters is in Arkansas... if I were going to work in retail in an Arkansas-based firm, it might as well be for the other one. It had real opportunities back in the 1980s. I do not know whether it so operates with respect to sexualization of female employees, as I start to get sick to my stomach as I approach any Dillard's store to this day. I left with an ulcer. Women had to keep their figures and dress as if dating. You know -- use sexuality to sell housewares. Awful!

(OK, I also had Asperger's syndrome, too, which makes one suspect in any occupation in which a constant application of cheerfulness is expected. I did fine in substitute teaching, where at the least kids have to earn my happiness). 

The store manager surrounded himself with pretty girls, and he eventually got caught playing hide-the-salami with one of them, and was fired. But he was in a car in the parking lot, which is very different from the situation for many cases of sexual harassment.

* I wish I had gotten into computer science or at least a math degree, the latter allowing me to be a high-school math teacher. The rigidity of teaching in mathematics fits Asperger's well.

[pbrower2a]

Publishing giant Condé Nast is ditching photographers associated with sexual misconduct.

Publisher Condé Nast will no longer be working with two of the fashion world’s most prominent photographers, Bruce Weber and Mario Testino, following allegations of sexual exploitation.

In a piece published on Saturday, more than two dozen current and former male models who worked with Weber or Testino recounted unwanted sexual advances to The New York Times. The alleged incidents, some of which were said to have occurred as far back as the mid-1990s, involved nudity, inappropriate touching, masturbation and other sexual demands.

“I saw him with his hands down people’s pants at least 10 times,” said Thomas Hargreave, a shoot producer who once worked with Testino.

“We are deeply disturbed by these accusations and take this very seriously,” Anna Wintour, artistic director of Condé Nast and editor of Vogue, and Robert A. Sauerberg Jr., chief executive of Condé Nast, said in a statement. “In light of these allegations, we will not be commissioning any new work with Bruce Weber and Mario Testino for the foreseeable future.”

Wintour, in a separate statement, acknowledged that the stories have been “heartbreaking” for her. 
“Both are personal friends of mine who have made extraordinary contributions to Vogue and many other titles at Condé Nast over the years, and both have issued objections or denials to what has emerged,” she wrote. “I believe strongly in the value of remorse and forgiveness, but I take the allegations very seriously.”

Weber denied any wrongdoing, while Testino’s lawyers disputed some of the accounts included in the Times piece and questioned the credibility of the accusers.

Brands, including Stuart Weitzman, Michael Kors and Burberry also announced their own plans to cease relationships with both photographers over the weekend.

Condé Nast released a new set of protocols Saturday in an effort to provide safer work environments and prevent sexual harassment. These include setting the minimum age for models to 18, the prohibition of drugs and alcohol on sets and the advance approval of any shoot involving nudity, sheer clothing, lingerie, swimwear, simulated drug or alcohol use or sexually suggestive poses. The company added that it plans to release a complete code of conduct by the end of January.

Condé Nast International ― along with Hearst and a handful of fashion brands ― cut ties with Terry Richardson in October over the sexual abuse allegations that have followed the controversial photographer for years.


https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/con...mg00000009

[pbrower2a]

US Olympic team physician (women's gymnastics):

Larry Nassar, the disgraced former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics team doctor, has been accused of sexual abuse by 140 women. That’s nearly as many victims as the Jerry Sandusky, Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein scandals combined.

Yet Nassar’s name is not dominating national news. It doesn’t have people protesting outside his home. It hasn’t become a punchline for every late-night television host.

Days before his sentencing on Jan. 16, many of Nassar’s victims are wondering the same question: Why does no one seem to care about their story?

“I remember when the Penn State scandal was talked about at length for months and months and even years. This is nearly five times the size and no one knows about it,” sexual abuse survivor Morgan McCaul told HuffPost. 
A dancer and first-year college student, McCaul is one of the dozens of plaintiffs anonymously named in lawsuits against Nassar, MSU and USA Gymnastics. The 18-year-old said that Nassar began sexually abusing her when she was just 12 years old in 2012. The abuse continued for three years.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lar...mg00000009

[pbrower2a]

A coach who sent more than 100 girls to Larry Nassar for medical treatment told the former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University team doctor to “go to hell” in court Wednesday.

Thomas Brennan, a former gymnastics coach, attended Nassar’s second day of sentencing in East Lansing, Michigan. Nassar abused many of the young women Brennan coached.

Brennan stood next to a gymnast he used to coach, Gwen Anderson, as she gave an emotional victim impact statement in court.

“I am a middle school teacher and I teach kids,” said Anderson, who decided at the last minute to break her anonymity and read her statement herself. “Every single day I am reminded how young and defenseless we were when Larry Nassar assaulted us. ... We were just kids.”

Nassar, 54, has sat through dozens of victim impact statements since Tuesday morning, often times openly weeping. During Anderson’s statement, however, Nassar didn’t seem to be listening as he scribbled notes in a notebook.

“Look at her!” Brennan yelled at Nassar during the young survivor’s statement.

After Anderson finished, Brennan looked Nassar directly in the face and said, “For the record, go to hell.” When Judge Rosemarie Aquilina asked if Brennan would like to add anything, the former gymnastics coach stepped up to the mic.

“I’ve probably sent well over 100 kids to him over the years. So the guilt I feel for that is hard to fathom,” said Brennan, who is currently an exercise physiologist. “He didn’t only deceive these girls ― which is, honest to God, that’s the worst of the worst is what he did to these girls. ... But what you did to everybody else who trusted you and sent girls your way is disgusting, reprehensible, unforgivable.”

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lar...mg00000009

[pbrower2a]

Marketing director of a think tank dedicated to repudiating the idea of global warming:

Eugene Koprowski’s temper earned him a reputation around the office pretty quickly.

Koprowski started work as the marketing director at the Heartland Institute, a right-wing think tank based outside Chicago, in July 2015. Former colleagues say he frequently raised his voice and threw tantrums if they questioned him. One described him as “violent generally.” He sent condescending emails to a female colleague, reprimanding her in almost comically sinister terms: “We will have no more insubordination.”

Despite these outbursts, former colleagues say Koprowski enjoyed protected status in the office because of his friendship with Joseph Morris, a conservative Chicago lawyer who is also a major fundraiser for Heartland and a close ally to its chief executive, Joseph Bast.

HuffPost spoke to three former staffers who confirmed these accounts, but requested anonymity for fear of retribution or jeopardizing future employment in the libertarian policy community.

Heartland, they said, fostered a culture that allowed Koprowski, 52, to relentlessly harass a female subordinate half his age ― to the point where she took out a restraining order against him in October 2015. And though Koprowski was apparently fired sometime after the woman complained to human resources, her former colleagues say his termination came in response to other misbehavior ― not his repeated, undesired romantic pursuit of the woman who reported to him.

Even after he was allegedly fired, Heartland kept the former executive in its protective orbit, former staffers say. Morris, who is listed on Heartland’s website as a policy adviser, is defending Koprowski in court against charges racked up when he contacted the woman over and over again, violating the protective order. Some of those charges were dropped in December, days after the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that a cyberstalking law used to charge Koprowski was unconstitutional, but the case is ongoing.

The previously-unreported case of alleged stalking comes to light just as Heartland has become more powerful than ever. The think tank transformed itself over the past two decades from a defender of the tobacco industry ― under the banner of “smokers rights” ― to a leading proponent of climate change denial and champion of fossil fuels. Since the Trump administration came to power, Heartland has enjoyed unprecedented influence at the Environmental Protection Agency, and works closely with hard-line science skeptics in Congress such as Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.). EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt joined the members of Congress in November to speak at Heartland’s America First Energy Conference in Houston.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hea...mg00000009

[pbrower2a]

Wynn Resorts Ltd. shares sank 9% after the Wall Street Journal reported that the company's founder, casino industry legend Steve Wynn, sexually harassed numerous women over many years.

Wynn, also the finance chairman for the Republican National Committee, paid $7.5 million to settle claims brought by a former manicurist at his resort who said the executive pressured her to have sex with him, the Journal said. Wynn pressured massage therapists to perform sex acts for $1,000 tips, and others at the spa created fictitious appointments to avoid contact with him, said the newspaper, which contacted more than 150 people who worked with the casino magnate.

Wynn, who turns 76 Saturday, denied the allegations. "The idea that I ever assaulted any woman is preposterous," he told the Journal. His fortune is valued at about $3.7 billion, most of it in Wynn shares, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The allegations jolted a company whose reputation is synonymous with that of its founder, who starred in TV commercials with the likes of Frank Sinatra to promote his properties.

from the Los Angeles Times

[pbrower2a]

I'm not letting Hillary Clinton off the hook for this even if it was ten years ago.

 NYT: Clinton blocked firing of adviser accused of harassment 02:19

(CNN)Hillary Clinton decided not to fire a senior adviser on her 2008 presidential campaign who had been accused of sexual harassment, against the recommendation of her campaign manager, two sources who worked on the 2008 campaign tell CNN.

A female campaign staffer had accused Clinton's faith adviser, Burns Strider, of harassment that included inappropriate touching, kissing her forehead and sending her suggestive emails, the sources said. The woman shared an office with Strider.

After hearing of the complaint, Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle and other senior aides urged Clinton to fire Strider, but Clinton declined to dismiss him and kept him on for the rest of her failed run for the Democratic nomination, the sources said.

"Patti wanted him out but she was overruled," one source said.

CNN Politics

[Eric the Green]

(01-26-2018, 05:24 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: I'm not letting Hillary Clinton off the hook for this even if it was ten years ago.

 NYT: Clinton blocked firing of adviser accused of harassment 02:19

(CNN)Hillary Clinton decided not to fire a senior adviser on her 2008 presidential campaign who had been accused of sexual harassment, against the recommendation of her campaign manager, two sources who worked on the 2008 campaign tell CNN.

A female campaign staffer had accused Clinton's faith adviser, Burns Strider, of harassment that included inappropriate touching, kissing her forehead and sending her suggestive emails, the sources said. The woman shared an office with Strider.

After hearing of the complaint, Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle and other senior aides urged Clinton to fire Strider, but Clinton declined to dismiss him and kept him on for the rest of her failed run for the Democratic nomination, the sources said.

"Patti wanted him out but she was overruled," one source said.

CNN Politics

It's not clear how serious the offense was, according to what is reported here. Was there abuse of power or some kind of force being used? Clinton did require Strider to do counseling. For some sex abusers, who do less serious harm, that may be a better alternative than firings and going to jail.

The Wynn accusations seem much more serious in this regard.

[linus]

Enty, the anonymous entertainment lawyer who writes the blog Crazy Days and Nights, and who has recently gotten a flurry of press attention because he'd been dishing on the likes of Weinstein, Spacey, Singer, and others for years, told the Daily Beast in recent months that 2018 could see a certain permanent A-list musician (think: classic rock, I believe) go down.

Readers of the blog know who this person is - there was a related blind item from (if I'm remembering correctly) last November - and while it's impossible to tell if Enty has inside knowledge or is just talking smack, said person was arrested for the crime back in 79, and true to the time got off with a slap on the wrist. He even went on to write a song about how "unfairly" he was treated by the press. Basically everyone has heard this song. And if the details about the assault as described in the 11/17 blind are even remotely accurate, it's all pretty gross.

Also, there are pretty much daily #MeToo blinds at CDAN.

I'll add too that I'm talking with a certain person my age about appearing opposite me (as well as with his band - an indie act) in (supporting roles) in a proof-of-concept short followed by a related kid noir feature. (Spoiler alert: we both die in the short.) I mention this because there's a rumor going back several decades involving this person and an also permanent A-list celebrity (known especially to Gen Xers). The year? 1987 (which is noteworthy because no one born in the 1970s was of legal age yet). You may or may not know the person (not the A-lister, I mean) from his band, but if you're of a particular age range you've almost certainly seen him in this one thing. You'll have seen it on tv back then, and most likely on a particular channel - even a specific show on that channel. His starring appearance connects him to the A-lister.

[pbrower2a]

The University  of Louisville must vacate its 2013 title as a result of a sex scandal

In an unprecedented ruling, the University of Louisville’s men’s basketball program has been ordered to vacate its 2013 national championship title and 122 other victories following a sex scandal involving its players.

The NCAA Division 1 Infractions Appeals Committee announced its final decision on Tuesday after an unsuccessful appeal by the school.

It’s the first time in the NCAA’s modern history that a Division I men’s basketball national championship has been stripped from a school.

The punishment follows a 2015 investigation that found a basketball team staffer paid prostitutes to have sex with the school’s athletes and recruits and also had striptease dancers perform for them. The committee first ruled against the school last June.

Following the June ruling, Rick Pitino, the school’s longtime head basketball coach, was suspended for the team’s first five games of the 2017-18 season. He has since been fired in the wake of another scandal. Louisville is one of the schools the FBI is investigating for “pay for play” deals with basketball recruits.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/uni...3053a53e07

[pbrower2a]

A sequel to a sexual scandal in Kentucky:

X

26k

Democrats flipped a GOP-held Kentucky state House seat on Tuesday, handing the party its 37th state legislative pickup nationwide since Donald Trump won the presidency.

Democrat Linda Belcher, a former public school teacher and state lawmaker, defeated Republican Rebecca Johnson, 68 percent to 32 percent.

Belcher’s “lifelong commitment to bettering her community and her door-to-door campaign showcased her dedication to standing up for Kentuckians,” Jessica Post, executive director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said in a statement. “She will work hard on behalf of working families, students, and the people of Bullitt County.”

Belcher is no stranger to the 49th District, which is in Bullitt County, just south of Louisville. Belcher represented the district from 2009 to 2012 and again from 2014 to January 2017, after being defeated in the 2016 election by a narrow margin.

Belcher’s victory is nonetheless symbolically important since Trump defeated Democratic rival Hillary Clinton among the district’s voters, 72 percent to 23 percent.

The special election was prompted by the December death of then-state Rep. Dan Johnson, a Republican. Johnson took his own life after denying allegations that he had molested a 17-year-old girl at a church where he had served as a pastor.

Rebecca Johnson, the defeated Republican candidate, is Johnson’s widow.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lin...14379b4788

[Eric the Green]

Woody Allen has been swamped by the metoo/timesup tide, and Shaun White's reputation suffered a fall in a news conference after his great snowboarding victory at the Winter Olympics last week.