Tara Reade: After the fall of the neoliberal feminists of Time’s Up, maybe an organization that actually helps women can flourish

Now that the merry band of former Obama staffers and other Democratic Party operatives have shuffled off stage, I hope an organization that genuinely places the lives of women over the ambitions of powerful men can take its place.

I don’t believe most people wake up with the intention to commit evil acts or cause harm. Perhaps it is my optimism or hopeful belief in the good of collective humanity.  

In the midst of the chaos of a busy news cycle focused on the carnage and violence in Afghanistan, it may have passed some of you by that the head of Time’s Up, and former White House chief of staff for Michelle Obama, Tina Tchen resigned in scandal. Her text messages appeared in print and the legacy media finally took aim. She resigned but did not apologize and gave a parting shot to the victims that exposed her corrupt practices.

The corrupt dream team of Time’s Up, Hilary Rosen, Tina Tchen, Anita Dunn, Patirica Kaplan and others presented themselves to the world as champions of women’s rights. They were fresh off the Democratic operative jobs and Obama White House gigs to help survivors of sexual harassment and assault to get legal and public relations help. They were going to be the good ones standing up to the powerful, that was, of course, unless it was one of their own.

And that list of untouchables grew with their pocketbooks and access to power. One staffer poignantly recalled that working for Time’s Up became essentially just crisis management of their image. It was painful to see what should have been a powerhouse of talent crash and destroy the very mission they set out on.

I take no joy in watching the complete disgrace of these women and how they discredited victims, suppressed stories (including mine) for their personal gain. The current batch of powerful neoliberal women claiming a stake in the feminist movement are just fake. Their virtue-signaling is ridiculous. If you want examples of real feminism, I suggest looking back in time.

My great-grandmother was a Jack Reed communist and part of the women’s right-to-vote movement. She wore pants and smoked cigars. She outlived two husbands and several children. She was tiny but a powerhouse. According to my mother, who adored her, she was always political and once my grandfather became so agitated during one of her lectures at a family meal, he lifted her up as she was talking, chair and all, took her outside and shut the door. She kept talking. Dinner continued without her running commentary on world events. Aside from perhaps my grandfather, Jane was a beloved matriarch and known to make great unfiltered observations about most everything and everyone. She livened up the place.

My mother often attributed her activism to Jane, who told her when she was a young girl that she could do anything and should achieve an education. My mother in turn tried to instill in me that sense of freedom to accomplish and achieve anything I wanted. She was devastated by how I was treated in Washington, DC and horrified by what Joe Biden had done. She never understood why I kept what happened so secret as she wanted to go to the police and the press. She called the Larry King Show many years ago to discuss what happened to me. At the time, I was mortified and scared of what Biden would do to me. She would have been proud if she were still alive that I finally broke my silence and did not stop. 

So many American women have personal stories about trying to move forward professionally, against gender bias, to achieve equality and equal pay for equal work. My mother was an activist for the Committee Against Racism and marched to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. She proudly called herself a feminist activist at a time when it meant something.

The women leaders of Time’s Up violated a whole movement just to protect some powerful Democrat men. Their obscene corruption saw them become complicit in abusing women by supporting their predators. The betrayal was so stunning, yet corporate media barely paused to notice. In America, the hypocrisy – like the propaganda – runs thick and deep.

However, at least we now know some of the truth of what happened to Time’s Up and the players involved. The resignations and the failure of their mission to help survivors despite millions of dollars in donations uncovered the murky apparatus of Time’s Up and connections to the media and Hollywood. The fact that Cuomo was investigated and resigned may lead to more investigations.

One thing is for certain, the Biden protection program, if not officially over, has certainly sustained a severe wound, and one from which it may never recover.

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