If we all had to answer for every woman we’ve ever made physically uncomfortable over the course of our lifetimes, and certainly by age 70+, then I don’t think we’d ever have a male president again.
Biden is an old-school, glad-handing politician. The supposedly damning shoulder-grabs and whatever that occurred in plain sight at public events and were captured on videotape strike me as evidence of baby-kissing more than anything.
I guess modern sensibilities have rendered physicality no longer an acceptable part of our political culture.
But you have to draw the line somewhere — and under the current circumstances, assault seems to be a pretty good place to do so.
We have to be nuanced enough to recognize and appreciate the differences among behavior like: Standing too close to a woman; grabbing her shoulders unprompted; giving her an unwanted kiss; sticking your hand up her skirt; and actually raping her.
Those are five completely different kinds of boundary violations that have five totally different effects on a person.
And therefore, how we judge that conduct should be different.