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Was ‘Uncle Joe’ Biden the Best Choice for a Sexual Assault PSA?

November 20, 2017
 Staff

WRITER

Lady Gaga released a public service announcement last month about sexual assault, talking about her own experience as a survivor and reminding people to support and help victims in their own lives. Sounds great so far … but her decision to team up with former Vice President Joe Biden is a head-scratcher.

Biden has a well-documented history of infringing the personal space of women and girls in public with kissing, massaging and nuzzling, earning him the title of “creepy Uncle Joe.” In a time when men are being exposed left and right for assaulting, groping and harassing women, Biden is looking worse and worse.

“Joe Biden, We Need to Talk About the Way You Touch Women,” Gawker wrote in 2015. Daily Beast writer Erin Gloria Ryan was blunt this week with an opinion piece headlined “Dear Lord Would Joe Biden Be a Terrible Candidate for These Times.”

This article provided courtesy of TheBlaze.

DOC: Really? Really?

Joe Biden is doing a public service announcement against sexual harassment. Joe Biden, the former vice president is on a public service announcement talking about inappropriate behavior. No, no, no. Not promoting it. I mean, saying it's wrong. Never should you raise a hand to a woman, ever.

Joe creepy old man rubbing up on every woman he sees Biden is doing a public service announcement. Really? Really? You have lost your mind. He is doing it with Lady Gaga, because that makes a lot of sense too.

All right. Let me set the stage for you, before we play this quick public service announcement from Joe Biden. Joe Biden is seated in what looks like a hotel room with Lady Gaga. And she's rubbing his shoulder, and they're all close. And keep that in mind, that's what's actually happening, while they're saying this. Here's the public service announcement. Joe Biden and Lady Gaga.

JOE: I heard you're not only a great friend, but a fierce advocate. Lady Gaga has been the voice for people who have been forgotten, people who have been abused, until it happens to you.

Well, it happened to her. And she's shown enormous courage. And we want to make it real clear, it's on us. It's on everyone to intervene to stop abuse when they see it, and when they hear about it, to intervene. It's, no man has a right to raise a hand on a woman for any woman, other than self-defense, ever, period.

VOICE: And that's not to leave out the men as well. I am a sexual assault survivor, and I know the effects, the aftermath, the trauma, psychology, physical, mental. It can be terrifying.

DOC: Uh-huh.

VOICE: Waking up every day feeling unsafe in your own body. But we're here to remind you that it's important to reach out to someone in your life that you can trust, and to know that they will be there to help you. There will be someone to listen. Because you know what, it's on us.

(music)

DOC: Really?

What's next? Hillary launching a public service campaign about the dangers of Libya? Is that your next PSA? That's the next liberal PSA that's coming? Is Colin Kaepernick going to explain proper US flag code? Are Corrine Brown and William Jefferson teaming up for an anti-government corruption PSA? Is that what's coming tomorrow?

Joe Biden on a PSA discussing what is inappropriate behavior around women is like Harvey Weinstein in a campaign promoting carpal tunnel awareness and water conservation.

It's like Jeffrey Dahmer discussing the benefits of a vegan lifestyle. It's like Monica teaching proper techniques for laundering formal wear. Joe Biden warning against sexual harassment assault is like Al Franken warning against sexual harassment and assault.

It's like Larry Craig discussing the ills of public displays of affection. It's like Bill Cosby and George Takei promoting dating safety tips.

It's like John Boehner being against lobbying in DC. It's like Glenn Beck launching an anti-obesity campaign.

Did I take that too far? I think I took that too far. I took that too far.

VOICE: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You did.

DOC: I think I took it too far.

Really? I'm expected to believe Joe Biden in this? And other people are as well?

Where the hell are you progressives calling him out for this? It's not hard to find all of the inappropriate behavior.

Simply go to YouTube. Type in "creepy Joe Biden." Type in Joe Biden gropes kids. Joe Biden gropes women.

It's all over the place. He clearly has done things to make them feel uncomfortable. Touching them. Saying things that makes them feel uncomfortable. And he somehow gets a pass?

This is the problem. A lack of consistency. I don't care what you think about either side is where you fall, but if you are not being consistent from person to person, and situation to situation, and applying the same logic and beliefs in this, then you're part of the problem. But I got to disagree with crazy creepy Joe and Lady Gaga. This is not on all of us. It's not on all of us to prevent sexual assault. It's on the people who sexually assault.

You take responsibility for you. I will take responsibility for me. Don't blame everybody else. Don't blame society. Don't blame toxic masculinity or any other BS term you come up with. Blame the people responsible. Hold them accountable.

Let the punishment fit the severity and nature of the crime. And if they are punished, they're remorseful, they make amends, forgive them and move on.

These are not worse crimes. It's not worse now. This is not some liberating age, where we're finally getting beyond this. It is a witch hunt. Beyond just calling people out for doing bad.

By the way, when Lady Gaga said that, I couldn't help, but think, we're here in this hotel room to fight against sexual abuse and sexual assault. We're here, promoting the cause of women and how creepy people like Joe shouldn't be creeping up on women. In this hotel room, that's what we're doing. Join me on Twitter. It's @DocThompsonshow. Got a bunch of calls. We're stacking them deep. We're going to get to them next, on the Glenn Beck Program.

Restoring Beck Ranch: Take a tour of my 1882 cabin

This was one of the first homesteads in the area in the 1880's and was just begging to be brought back to its original glory — with a touch of modern. When we first purchased the property, it was full of old stuff without any running water, central heat or AC, so needless to say, we had a huge project ahead of us. It took some vision and a whole lot of trust, but the mess we started with seven years ago is now a place we hope the original owners would be proud of.

To restore something like this is really does take a village. It doesn't take much money to make it cozy inside, if like me you are willing to take time and gather things here and there from thrift shops and little antique shops in the middle of nowhere.

But finding the right craftsman is a different story.

Matt Jensen and his assistant Rob did this entire job from sketches I made. Because he built this in his off hours it took just over a year, but so worth the wait. It wasn't easy as it was 18"out of square. He had to build around that as the entire thing we felt would collapse. Matt just reinforced the structure and we love its imperfections.

Here are a few pictures of the process and the transformation from where we started to where we are now:

​How it was

It doesn't look like much yet, but just you wait and see!

Restoring Beck Ranch: Take a tour of my 1882 cabin

By request a photo tour of the restored cabin. I start doing the interior design in earnest tomorrow after the show, but all of the construction guys are now done. So I mopped the floors, washed the sheets, some friends helped by washing the windows. And now the unofficial / official tour.

The Property

The views are absolutely stunning and completely peaceful.

President Trump: 'America First' means supporting the people of Hong Kong

The Hong Kong protesters flocking to the streets in opposition to the Chinese government have a new symbol to display their defiance: the Stars and Stripes. Upset over the looming threat to their freedom, the American flag symbolizes everything they cherish and are fighting to preserve.

But it seems our president isn't returning the love.

Trump recently doubled down on the United States' indifference to the conflict, after initially commenting that whatever happens is between Hong Kong and China alone. But he's wrong — what happens is crucial in spreading the liberal values that America wants to accompany us on the world stage. After all, "America First" doesn't mean merely focusing on our own domestic problems. It means supporting liberal democracy everywhere.

The protests have been raging on the streets since April, when the government of Hong Kong proposed an extradition bill that would have allowed them to send accused criminals to be tried in mainland China. Of course, when dealing with a communist regime, that's a terrifying prospect — and one that threatens the judicial independence of the city. Thankfully, the protesters succeeded in getting Hong Kong's leaders to suspend the bill from consideration. But everyone knew that the bill was a blatant attempt by the Chinese government to encroach on Hong Kong's autonomy. And now Hong Kong's people are demanding full-on democratic reforms to halt any similar moves in the future.

After a generation under the "one country, two systems" policy, the people of Hong Kong are accustomed to much greater political and economic freedom relative to the rest of China. For the protesters, it's about more than a single bill. Resisting Xi Jinping and the Communist Party means the survival of a liberal democracy within distance of China's totalitarian grasp — a goal that should be shared by the United States. Instead, President Trump has retreated to his administration's flawed "America First" mindset.

This is an ideal opportunity for the United States to assert our strength by supporting democratic values abroad. In his inaugural address, Trump said he wanted "friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world" while "understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their interests first." But at what point is respecting sovereignty enabling dictatorships? American interests are shaped by the principles of our founding: political freedom, free markets, and human rights. Conversely, the interests of China's Communist Party are the exact opposite. When these values come into conflict, as they have in Hong Kong, it's our responsibility to take a stand for freedom — even if those who need it aren't within our country's borders.

Of course, that's not a call for military action. Putting pressure on Hong Kong is a matter of rhetoric and positioning — vital tenets of effective diplomacy. When it comes to heavy-handed world powers, it's an approach that can really work. When the Solidarity movement began organizing against communism in Poland, President Reagan openly condemned the Soviet military's imposition of martial law. His administration's support for the pro-democracy movement helped the Polish people gain liberal reforms from the Soviet regime. Similarly, President Trump doesn't need to be overly cautious about retribution from Xi Jinping and the Chinese government. Open, strong support for democracy in Hong Kong not only advances America's governing principles, but also weakens China's brand of authoritarianism.

After creating a commission to study the role of human rights in U.S. foreign policy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote last month that the principles of our Constitution are central "not only to Americans," but to the rest of the world. He was right — putting "America First" means being the first advocate for freedom across the globe. Nothing shows the strength of our country more than when, in crucial moments of their own history, other nations find inspiration in our flag.

Let's join the people of Hong Kong in their defiance of tyranny.

Matt Liles is a writer and Young Voices contributor from Austin, Texas.

Join Glenn this Christmas for a special one-night event

Summer is ending and fall is in the air. Before you know it, Christmas will be here, a time when much of the world unites to celebrate the love of family, the generosity of the human spirit, and the birth of the Christ-child in Bethlehem.

For one night only at the Kingsbury Hall in Salt Lake City, on December 7th, join internationally-acclaimed radio host and storyteller Glenn Beck as he walks you through tales of Christmas in the way that only he can. There will be laughs, and there might be a few tears. But at the end of the night, you'll leave with a warm feeling in your heart and a smile on your face.

Reconnect to the true spirit of Christmas with Glenn Beck, in a storytelling tour de force that you won't soon forget.

Get tickets and learn more about the event here.

The general sale period will be Friday, August 16 at 10:00 AM MDT. Stay tuned to for updates. We look forward to sharing in the Christmas spirit with you!