Refreshing honesty: Liberal writer 'would vote for Joe Biden even if I believed Reade’s account' or even 'if he boiled babies and ate them'

For weeks, liberals insisted that women who accused then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct must be believed, no matter how flimsy, uncorroborated, politically motivated, or implausible they were.

The same liberals have been forced to resort to one of two tactics when confronted with the story of Tara Reade, who has accused presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden of sexual misconduct dating back to 1993 when Biden was in the Senate: 1. Ignore the existence of the accusations entirely, as most of the media has done; or 2. lamely state that they believe Joe Biden's denials but are not turning their back on "believe all women" because reasons.

Liberal writer Katha Pollitt, writing at The Nation, has decided to state what we all know to be true: For most liberals, it doesn't matter whether the allegations against Biden are true, just like it didn't matter whether the accusations against Kavanaugh were actually true. What matters is the politics of the accused.

It should be noted, in fairness, that the bulk of Pollitt's article is devoted to an attempted debunking of Reade's account. But the debunking material contained therein might well be taken with a grain of salt given the author's frank admission in the article's subtitle that "I would vote for Joe Biden even if I believed Reade's account."

She follows that up with even more emphasis in a remarkable opening paragraph:

I would vote for Joe Biden if he boiled babies and ate them. He wasn't my candidate, but taking back the White House is that important. Four more years of Trump will replace what remains of our democracy with unchecked rule by kleptocrats, fascists, religious fanatics, gun nuts, and know-nothings. The environment? Education? Public health? The rights of voters, workers, immigrants, people of color, and yes, women? Forget them. And not just for the next four years: A Trump victory will lock down the courts for decades. I cannot believe that a rational person can grasp the disaster that is Donald Trump and withhold their support from Biden because of Tara Reade.

Interestingly, a significant portion of the debunking material provided by Pollitt consists of evidence that Reade has publicly espoused bizarre and unsavory positions (e.g., support for Vladimir Putin in 2018) and therefore her stated facts should be considered suspect. Apparently, one should not apply the same standard to the material contained in Pollitt's article, given Pollitt's explicit admission up front that she has an axe to grind.

Pollitt has been widely criticized on Twitter by conservatives for her over-the-top opening paragraph. But the reality is that she is just saying aloud what most liberals think: It doesn't matter whether Tara Reade's story is true or not, all that matters is denying Trump one of his goals. This was just as true, and as transparent, during the confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh, and nothing has changed since.