Discussion: Former NBC Correspondent Accuses Tom Brokaw Of Sexual Harassment

If true, these happened 25 years ago by someone who has retired 15 years ago. Iā€™m hard pressed to be outraged when we have Fat Nixon as President.

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At the risk of outraging all the Zero tolerance absolutists I have to agree.
We had old GWB 1 doing grab ass FFS.
If Tom admits it and apologizes Iā€™m ok
Fat Nixon wonā€™t even acknowledge it and we have a republican congress sitting on their hands while in addition to all that there is the small matter of Democracy being dismantled

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This makes Brokaw eligible to be a guest on Charlie Roseā€™s new project, a show where he interviews other men implicated by #MeToo!

Iā€™ve heard one of the perks of appearing is drinks and barbecue with Chuck.

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Except he hasnā€™t admitted it or given any indication that he intends to apologize. Iā€™m kind of OK with women who say ā€œyeah, he f#cking DID do that.ā€

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Retired? Brokaw regularly comes back to NBC to be on various panels. And still exerts a great deal of influence. Thatā€™s hardly the description of retired that most people would use.

Nor is her point to ā€œtake downā€ Brokaw. She is pointing out that NBC has had a real problem with sexual harassment for a long time, and still continues to do very little about it, beyond reluctantly firing Lauer after they got their hands forced.

And then there is this, while not specifically NBC, does point out how glaring a problem it is in the industry.

Who in their right mind would even consider giving Charlie Rose a new show, where he interviews men who have been fired for sexual harassment, in order for them to vent about how mistreated they are??

Because the industry is filled with self entitled men like Charlie Rose, Matt Lauer and yes, Tom Brokaw, thatā€™s how its being considered.

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Are we having a national moment of moral clarity, or is it a moral purity which verges on false piety?

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I had a woman construction supervisor once walk up between a fellow worker and I and grabbed both our asses at the same time. 30 years ago. I laughed it off as it was done as a friendly woo woo moment as we all joked around and got along well. The other guy turned burnt red with embarrassment. Which was the funniest part of the 15 second episode.
Maybe we should look her up and see if by chance she happened to become rich with a powerful job in the industry.
Seems to be the thing to do now.

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Brokaw is an unreliable and highly selective narrator. His overview of the 60ā€™s in his vanity book did not include a single word on the gathering steam of the gay rights movement. No Stonewall Inn riots, no coverage of actual protests in front of the White House from actual government employees protesting discrimination in 1967 as if it didnā€™t exist.

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As dr_coyote mentions above he did acknowledge it or apologize for it. I find if kind of hard to believe that he clearly remembers meeting her a couple of times 23 years ago to give her career advice. Maybe thatā€™s the euphemism that was used instead of admitting it was harassment.

Drudging up stuff from 20 years ago that was only a feeble attempt to get a kiss and failed is repulsive. The woman should get a life and not at someone elseā€™s expense. As a woman I have had my fair share of such attempts to ward off when I was young and cute. Nothing that left a lasting damage (or any damage at all ) and certainly nothing I would still carry around with me plotting revenge.
This ā€œme tooā€ crap will backfire on women.

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Iā€™ll be glad when NBC stops exhuming this guy for every ā€˜greatest generationā€™ story.

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Oh please, we have fat Nixon in large part because of sexism. It is pervasive and insidious in our culture. Millions of women marched because of the election of an admitted misogynist, among other ugly isms. This is a huge breakthrough for women. AND WE ARE NOT LOOKING BACK.

Your misogynist comment is disturbing. This will not go away. There is no turning back. Get used to it.

Years ago when the clinton Lewinsky issue was front page, I was outraged that Brokaw threatened to quit if he had to report itā€¦
In a conversation with a well connected couple in NY and DC, I voiced that outrage and ask them whyā€¦I got an earfullā€¦They said that it was a sensitive topic for brokaw because he had a reputation for similar acts and was protecting himself. They knew women who would never come out because of the power he held in News but had related the same storiesā€¦

It is a different time now and many women are able to tell the horror that they have lived with for decadesā€¦speaking out is cathartic but will never stop the harassment but men will less brazen, I hopeā€¦We must not forget that it is not just women accosted but men as wellā€¦

Enoughā€¦

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Snark is out of line here. She was wrong to do that then and it is still wrong. This is not about money. It is about a crime. If the victims get money for the wrongs against them, fine. It is how our system works. Making it about money to devalue what happened is wrong and, frankly, disturbing.

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False piety? Lordy, lordy, where did you get that? This is not a trivial matter.

Weā€™ll let the victims and our system decide the penalty. Careers were affected here. Careers of women and this was not a minor act against women.

This is (among other things) the way that the glass ceiling works. Every young woman who decides sheā€™s not going to put up with this s*** and find a job somewhere else instead is a middle-aged woman who doesnā€™t have a headliner job or who isnā€™t making her way up the management track.

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Iā€™m sorry, this was 25 years ago. I could care less.