Well, it happened. At least a small part of hell apparently froze over, because a member of the media actually admitted that he shouldn't have dismissed Juanita Broaddrick's accusation against Bill Clinton.
Columnist Richard Cohen, who has worked at The Washington Post since 1968, wrote an opinion piece titled "I thought Juanita Broaddrick wasn't credible. I was wrong."
Juanita Broaddrick is the woman who alleges that Bill Clinton raped her when he was running for Arkansas governor in 1978.
RELATED: The #MeToo movement proves to be too strong for the Clinton apologists
But since the #MeToo movement exploded over a year ago, there has been a tidal shift in the culture, culminating in the tug-of-war over allegations during the Kavanaugh hearings. And one of the biggest takeaways from those hearings, according to those on the Left, is that you always believe the victim. During the hearings, Anita Hill was once again in the spotlight, brought up over and over, and her accusations against Clarence Thomas universally believed in the media. Yet, somehow, some of Bill Clinton's accusers still haven't been extended the same sympathy as Dr. Blasey Ford and Anita Hill.
That's why it is so unusual to hear a Bill Clinton supporter admit he may have been wrong about Broaddrick. It's twenty years too late and obviously influenced by the #MeToo movement, but Cohen admits to dismissing Broaddrick's claims during Clinton's presidency as "just another wild accusation made by twisted Clinton haters."
NBC's Lisa Myers recently told Slate:
I tested her [Broaddrick's] story every way I could, again and again and again. And no detail ever changed – it never got better, it never got worse. It was always the same.
Cohen wonders why Monica Lewinsky is now totally characterized as a victim, while Broaddrick is ignored. He says it might have something to do with Broaddrick being a Trump supporter. Nah, that couldn't have anything to do with it.
Cohen writes:
I remember refusing to deal with Broaddrick's allegations because I simply chose to believe Clinton was not a rapist... My position has proved naïve.
Whether dealing with the Clinton or the Kavanaugh cases, all political camps should tread carefully in their certainty about the truth. And to do that requires a huge dose of something even more elusive than the truth… humility.
