A CNN report that San Diego Mayor Bob Filner used a women's veterans group "for his own personal agenda" by making unwanted advances to seven or eight women caused a firestorm on social media Wednesday morning with one of the mayor's most prominent former supporters telling him to "resign, then stay in rehab forever."
Many of the women were victims of sexual assault when they were in the military.
According to CNN, Tara Jones, the president of the group, said she's spoken to seven to eight women who had varying encounters with Filner at the women's veteran events, from groping to unwanted requests for dates. "He went to dinners, asked women out to dinners, grabbed breasts, buttocks. The full gamut. Everything that is complete violation of what we stand for," Jones said. "He's a sexual predator. And he used this organization for his own personal agenda."
Beyond the instantly emotional responses you'll find below that the story generated on Twitter, it led to a pointed Facebook discussion about the divide between "human decency" and "asking someone for a date." Click the link in this paragraph to read the entire conversation; the tweets will be here when you return. Or read on for a snapshot.
Sara Kent: ...[T]his story, taken in its entirety, exemplifies how Bob is able to speak eloquently and appropriately in public while hurting women in private.
David McCullough: Sara - asking someone for a date is not abuse.
Marco Gonzalez: I disagree. Asking out an extremely vulnerable woman, when you know her to be so and when you are in a position of overwhelming power, is absolutely a form of predatory abuse. That you don't immediately grasp that, David, is telling of your utterly blind faith and allegiance.
David McCullough: Marco - so we shun victims of abuse - like they do in certain countries. Maybe even arrest them for sex outside of marriage - like in Saudi. ? Marco - have you ever hugged someone in your professional life? Did you ask permission before hand or did you commit assault?
Marco Gonzalez: David, you've made my point for me. ... No David, I think it's disgusting that an elected official (and his supporters) would not recognize this as an abuse of power, a lack of decorum, and a violation of the community standards we expect of decent human beings.
David McCullough: So you are saying rape victims should be shunned - never asked out on a date.
Outrage builds with latest Filner accusations
Filner headlock? Filner dance? We now have the Filner voice mail. Reaction was swift to the report that Filner's newest accusers were military veterans and victims of sexual assault. The former mayor of Encinitas even chimed in. The jokes piled up, too. Political points were made. And this point. People used phrases like "go for the jugular" to talk about the mayor. Journalists weighed in. On the heels of former journalists. And all around the country, people spoke up. In Los Angeles... Montana... Pennsylvania... And New York.Source: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/aug/07/bob-filner-veteran-sexual-assault-victims-reaction/
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