Democrats may have thought they were being clever by having Sen. Al Franken declare his intent to resign as a way of drawing a line in the sand and gaining the moral high ground over Republicans on sexual harassment, but now their new zero tolerance policy has come back to bite them in the behind.
In Kansas’s Third Congressional District, the leading Democrat challenger to GOP Rep. Kevin Yoder was forced to pull out of the race due to old allegations of sexual harassment. The predator? The FEMALE Democrat challenger, Andrea Ramsey, backed by the big pro-abortion group EMILY’s List!
According to McClatchy, Ramsey was accused “in a 2005 lawsuit that she sexually harassed and retaliated against a male subordinate who said he had rejected her advances.” According to the report, “the man reached a settlement with LabOne, the company where Ramsey was executive vice president of human resources. Court documents show that the man, Gary Funkhouser, and LabOne agreed to dismiss the case permanently after mediation in 2006.”
But Ramsey is crying foul. In an open letter to the people she was seeking to represent, she claimed:
Twelve years ago, I eliminated an employee’s position. That man decided to bring a lawsuit against the company (not against me). He named me in the allegations, claiming I fired him because he refused to have sex with me. That is a lie. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigated the allegations and decided not to pursue the complaint; the man later decided to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit. Because I wasn’t a named party, I didn’t have any opportunity to participate in its resolution.
Ramsey continued, waxing poetic about her legal dreams as a sixth grader:
Since I was in sixth grade, I wanted to be a lawyer. What drew me to the field of law was the idea of due process, that both sides presented their case and an objective judge or jury weighed the evidence. I have been swept up in decisions without due process.
It’s funny how whenever it’s a Republican accused of wrongdoing they are assumed guilty until proven innocent, but when it’s a Democrat, suddenly there is tremendous concern for due process and the rule of law.
A man sued my company twelve years ago and made false accusations against me. Had the false allegations been brought against me directly, I would have fought to exonerate my name and my reputation. I would have sued the disgruntled, vindictive employee for defamation. Now, twelve years later this suit is being used to force me out of my race for Congress. Let me be clear: I never engaged in any of the alleged behavior. And the due process that I love, that drew me to the field of law, is totally denied.
Hmmm, so it IS possible for false accusations to be made? Perhaps we shouldn’t be so quick to insist people resign over them, then. Or maybe it’s just that this particular accusation doesn’t have to be believed because it was made by a man against her.
My opponents have chosen to use these false allegations against me for political purposes, not only engaging in a whisper campaign, but also contacting political and news organizations.
Wait, they called the press? NO WAY!
These false allegations are disgraceful and demean the moment this country is in. For far too long, complaints of sexual harassment have been completely ignored.
So she loved when people spoke up about sexual harassment, until it happened to her. Kind of like how Lena Dunham said all women should be believed, except the one who accused her friend of rape. They’re the ONE exception to the rule.
The timely and thorough investigation of complaints is a very good thing. We are seeing real change in how harassment is being handled from Topeka to Washington. We should always make it as safe as possible for people who have been wronged to come forward, and I have based my professional career as an employment lawyer and human resources executive on that principle.
We are seeing real change, but is it good change? And how timely and thorough is it, really?
It should be safe for people who have been wronged to come forward and have their day in court, yes, but right now the judge and jury are pretty much people on Twitter and people are resigning or being fired based on an accusation alone. Enough vigilante justice, let’s have true legal justice that employs due process!
Unfortunately, I’m not seeing enough real change in how that’s being handled.
In its rush to claim the high ground in our roiling national conversation about harassment, the Democratic Party has implemented a zero tolerance standard. For me, that means a vindictive, terminated employee’s false allegations are enough for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) to decide not to support our promising campaign. We are in a national moment where rough justice stands in place of careful analysis, nuance and due process.
Yeah, pretty much. Gotta love when liberals are held to their own impossible, nonsensical standards, though.
But still Ramsey is willing to be the martyr and fall on her sword.
On balance, it is far more important to me that women are stepping forward to tell their stories and confront their harassers than it is to continue our campaign. But, DCCC’s decision is bad for Democratic chances to flip KS-03.
Supposedly this innocent woman is willing to go down for crimes she did not commit as long as it means the #MeToo movement survives. Well, it’s not going to survive for long if no distinctions are made between false and true accusations and we keep acting like they all have equal value and equal truth.
But until then, I’m keeping the popcorn out, waiting to find out which one of the liberals’ own is going down next.
What do you think? Should Andrea Ramsey have dropped out of the race based on past accusations of sexual harassment? Tell us in the comments below!
