From Court TV's Lisa Bloom:

Arnold Schwarzenegger makes me sick.

He's accused by three women of grabbing their breasts. In one case he allegedly reached up under a woman's loose-fitting T-shirt and groped her bare breast. In another, he allegedly squeezed an acquaintance's breast, and laughed at her tears that followed. He's accused of cornering a co-worker in a hotel elevator several times and trying to yank her robe off. He's said to have made the crudest remarks about the sexual acts he would like to perform on female co-workers. The most recent incident happened in 2000.

Did he do it? First his campaign denied the claims, effectively calling the women liars. Then Arnold admitted to "bad behavior" and apologized, saying he'd been on "rowdy movie sets" and was being flirtatious. (Of course, he didn't say which "bad behavior" he was admitting to. A rich guy with lawyers and PR agents would never do that.) Later in the day he backtracked to the mealy mouthed, "If I've done anything to offend anyone, I'm sorry" copout. He also said some of the stories were not true.

... The victims' stories are credible because they'd told them before he ran for governor, they've remained consistent, and they have not sought anything for their stories. The Los Angeles Times, not any political camp, simply followed up a few old stories and reconfirmed what many already knew. The Arnold campaign's flip-flops and admission to bad behavior only reinforce the credibility of the reports.

... I'm sick because I know that most people will buy his "rowdy" and "flirtatious" deflections and ignore the seriousness of these claims. "Rowdy?" Hardly. Rowdy is drinking too much beer and singing loudly and off-key at a ball game. Maybe cursing out the umpire. Flirtatious? Are you insane? Flirting is smiling at an attractive woman and complimenting her looks, giving her a wink. Sticking your hands up a stranger's skirt, grabbing a woman's breasts - that's a criminal sexual assault.

... I believe Arnold when he says he doesn't remember some of these incidents. Why would he remember? Grabbing a woman's breasts or buttocks, yanking off her clothing in an elevator, meant nothing to him. I believe the women who remember the incidents, because these events loom large to us. We replay them in our minds over and over again, trying to figure out what we should have done, fantasizing revenge scenarios, cursing the fact that we were caught off guard and didn't think quickly enough at the time. We tell our friends and spouses and agree the safest course is not to report.

Arnold, if you did not understand that being a rich movie star did not entitle you to proposition, grab and humiliate women, then you need to have less power now, not more.

~S~