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Ben Affleck committed sexual assault, didn't he? But no one will write that. Why not?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Dick Whitman, Oct 11, 2017.

  1. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    Show me a link.
     
  2. cjericho

    cjericho Well-Known Member

    In some states sexual assault = rape.
     
  3. MisterCreosote

    MisterCreosote Well-Known Member

    You posted like 50 of them. Read my second sentence.

    You're starting to sound like one of the idiots who insist that if we don't use the exact words, "radical Islamic terrorism," we're actually pro-terrorist.
     
  4. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    Well, doing that did win someone an election
     
  5. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    OK, but why write it about Trump then? Why did Anderson Cooper say it from the debate stage? Why were there any number of think pieces explaining to us that Trump "admitted to/bragged about sexual assault," and here's why. Why did ostensibly straight news outlets like Politico matter of factly write that "Trump admitted to sexual assault" in stories when "grope," you argue, means the same thing? Why won't anyone write or say that Affleck is accused of committing "sexual assault"? Shouldn't they, per their own standards?
     
  6. MisterCreosote

    MisterCreosote Well-Known Member

    A man running for President of the United States is going to be covered differently than an actor who is fading into irrelevance.
     
  7. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    Also, the President bragged about grabbing women by the pussy, a word that offends viewers'/readers' delicate sensibilities, thus they replaced that specific language with the more vague, almost euphemistic term of sexual assault.

    Perhaps Dick's question ought to be, "Why won't the media write that the President bragged about grabbing women by the pussy?"

    Honestly, given your preference for precise language, I'm surprised you're tilting at this particular windmill.
     
  8. TyWebb

    TyWebb Well-Known Member

    Disagree here. She "let" him in the same way I believe Trump was using the word with Billy Bush. She didn't push him off, smack him or call the cops. He did it and she nervously giggled, probably unsure of what to do. But because he was a star ...
     
  9. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    You seem to think this is a big "gotcha" card that you're playing.

    The question is: Why was it "sexual assault" when Donald Trump did it, but not when Ben Affleck did it? I'm 100 percent in favor of using the more precise construction in both cases. And I'm on an island.
     
  10. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    This is absolutely not what happened. Read the Slate column I posted. Everyone, including the Washington Post, was writing pieces about Trump's shocking language. Slate said: "Hold the phone here. The language isn't the story here. It's that Trump admitted to sexual assault."

    After that, everyone started writing it.

    They weren't writing euphemistically. It was an attempt to pin the candidate with criminal sexual misconduct.
     
  11. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    How is it a "gotcha" card? It's the answer to your question.

    Saying Affleck groped someone is both specific and palatable to the audience. There's literally no reason to say he committed sexual assault. Groping is sexual assault. It is understood. And if you decide to vaguely say he committed sexual assault, and then explain more specifically what happened, as you suggested upthread, you're wasting time/space instead of being specific at the start.

    Saying the President bragged about grabbing women by the pussy is specific, but it's not palatable to the audience. That's why it was sexual assault when the President did it and groping when Affleck did it.
     
  12. cjericho

    cjericho Well-Known Member

    Dickie I'm with you. If the media used it for one, they should use it for the other. I know your link is from CNN, but has Cooper commented on Affleck?
     
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