Poppy Bush, Serial Ass Grabber
washingtonexaminer.com
Fourth woman accuses George H.W. Bush of sexual assault
Kara Zupkus
2 minutes
A fourth woman has come forward accusing former President George H.W. Bush of sexual assault.
Amanda Staples, a former Republican state Senate candidate in Maine, published an Instagram post that accused Bush of fondling her in 2006. Staples said that Bush “grabbed my butt and joked saying ‘Oh, I’m not THAT President,'” during a visit with him at Walker’s Point, a longtime summer home of the 41st president.
“I can only imagine how many women have had their butt grabbed in a photo op,” she continued, adding that if she were to have a daughter, “I’d never tell her to shrug it off because he was president.”
Staples said in the post that the incident did not leave her “jaded” or “damaged”, but has made her think about “the abuse of power”.
This accusation is the earliest reported incident, prior to when Bush was in a wheelchair.
Staples’ accusation follows days of allegations against the former president, as two actresses and an author came forward detailing alleged sexual assault incidents.
Bush, who is now 93 years old with a form of Parkinson’s disease, has not publicly addressed the allegations. However, his office released statements earlier in the week.
“To try to put people at ease, the president routinely tells the same joke – and on occasion, he has patted women’s rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner,” Bush's spokesperson, James McGrath said in the latest statement. “Some have seen it as innocent; others clearly view it as inappropriate. To anyone he has offended, President Bush apologizes most sincerely.”
For the record, here's Franken's statement regarding the above photo....
"The first thing I want to do is apologize: to Leeann, to everyone else who was part of that tour, to everyone who has worked for me, to everyone I represent, and to everyone who counts on me to be an ally and supporter and champion of women. There's more I want to say, but the first and most important thing—and if it's the only thing you care to hear, that's fine—is: I'm sorry.
"I respect women. I don't respect men who don't. And the fact that my own actions have given people a good reason to doubt that makes me feel ashamed.
"But I want to say something else, too. Over the last few months, all of us—including and especially men who respect women—have been forced to take a good, hard look at our own actions and think (perhaps, shamefully, for the first time) about how those actions have affected women.
"For instance, that picture. I don't know what was in my head when I took that picture, and it doesn't matter. There's no excuse. I look at it now and I feel disgusted with myself. It isn't funny. It's completely inappropriate. It's obvious how Leeann would feel violated by that picture. And, what's more, I can see how millions of other women would feel violated by it—women who have had similar experiences in their own lives, women who fear having those experiences, women who look up to me, women who have counted on me.
"Coming from the world of comedy, I've told and written a lot of jokes that I once thought were funny but later came to realize were just plain offensive. But the intentions behind my actions aren't the point at all. It's the impact these jokes had on others that matters. And I'm sorry it's taken me so long to come to terms with that.
"While I don't remember the rehearsal for the skit as Leeann does, I understand why we need to listen to and believe women's experiences.
"I am asking that an ethics investigation be undertaken, and I will gladly cooperate.
"And the truth is, what people think of me in light of this is far less important than what people think of women who continue to come forward to tell their stories. They deserve to be heard, and believed. And they deserve to know that I am their ally and supporter. I have let them down and am committed to making it up to them."
