Coppin' A Feel: The Herman Cain Sex Comedy

We have reached the inevitable "Gloria Allred Press Conference" segment of the Herman Cain sexual harassment Long March. This time there is a woman - Sharon Bialek - who has made a specific allegation of being groped by Herman Cain back in 1997. No one should be groped without permission, of course, but Bialek seems to be one of those women who approaches powerful men looking for work, finagles plush hotel suites and expensive dinners, and then acts shocked when someone makes a pass. 


Bialek is also a "registered Republican," but she is also from Chicago and registered with the GOP back in ...2006. Not exactly a Reaganite. After watching Ray LaHood, not to mention George Ryan, I'm thinking maybe being a Republican in Illinois doesn't mean the same thing it means in the rest of the country. Also, registered Republicans are well known for their ability to get Gloria Allred to return their calls. 


Still, she's out there, showing her face, and making credible allegations of - maybe not harassment, but certainly infidelity. But that's not what I want to talk about now. 


We all know who Willie Brown is, right? Former Speaker of the California Assembly, and then two-term mayor of San Francisco? Never ran for President (for reasons we'll get to in a moment), but was generally viewed as the most powerful politico in California for the better part of a decade. His power and untouchability so frustrated California conservatives that we passed the term limits initiative to get the guy out of office. 


Brown was, and is, the consummate politician; a deal maker and wheeler-dealer who knew how to get things done. 


He was, and is, the consummate ladies man; a natty dresser who always had a beautiful woman on his arm. Usually blond. Almost always much younger. The perks of power, you might say. Brown even had a child out of wedlock toward the end of his term as mayor. Did he marry the pretty blond lobbyist who was his baby mama? Oh, man! You have a lot to learn about life!


Again, not of this is secret information. The "Willie Brown has slept with everyone at City Hall" story is well known in San Francisco. When he got his mistress pregnant, the local media was circumspect and discrete, although you still heard some chortling about "Willie."


Less well known is that Brown is married, and has been since the 1960's. That's right, the swinging "bachelor" of San Francisco politics is a married man. Of course, he hasn't lived with his wife in decades, but they've never been divorced either. I'm sure they have their reasons. But, the fact is that Willie Brown is a married man who has serially cheated on his wife for years. Funnily, that has never impacted his career in quite the same way that allegations of similar behavior are presently impacting Herman Cain's.


Now, I don't follow people around so I can't tell you what goes on behind closed doors (or behind tinted limo windows). Maybe Willie Brown was always a gentleman and never groped where he wasn't wanted, but I kinda doubt it. Womanizers tend to stay in business through sheer volume, if you know what I mean, sticking their hands into a series of square holes until they find a round one. Gauche, I know, but that's the way of the world. Lucky for Willie Brown that none of his unwilling gropees ever called Gloria Allred, huh?   

Look, we all know the rules. If you are a Democrat, you can troll for bed-mates as much as you like. But, if you are a Republican, you can't. It's that simple. Anyone's sex life can make them look ridiculous in the harsh light of day, but we're the only ones ever held up for ridicule.