How Many Arms Does An Octopus Have......?

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2016-37639839
Apparently they have 6 armed octopuses in the US! PMSL!

[Old_Geezer]

Oh got there a bit late I see. That'll teach me not to stop at the QI site looking for what they said in a previous programme.

[ludwig]

You could say she was grabbed by the octupussy. That's my headline prediction for tomorrow's Sun anyhow.

[ludwig]

You could say she was grabbed by the octupussy. That's my headline prediction for tomorrow's Sun anyhow.

[jno]

good headline Ludwig

[jno]

good headline Ludwig

[jim360]

Obviously these are only allegations and could be made-up. But the dismissive attitude is appalling, particularly given what Trump is known to have said and boasted about doing.

It's typical and disgustingly small-minded to dismiss the allegations either because of length of time or because of some naive and utterly misguided assumption that clearly it would have been mentioned at the time had it been real. We know this is not true when it comes to sexual assaults, rape, domestic violence, etc. Positions of power and intimidation can effectively enforce silence; or the complaints are not taken seriously at the time; or some more active conspiracy of silence keeping victims gagged.

As to "the she-devil"... Show some respect and call Hillary Clinton by her name.

[youngmafbog]

So you believe in trial by media I suppose jim? Because that is what this is.

No one should be allowed to make unsubstantiated claims like this.

[jim360]

I don't believe he's guilty of these alleged crimes until he's tried for them in a court of law, which is unlikely to happen (or perhaps even impossible due to limitations that I believe apply in US law). On the other hand I don't think it's right to suppress them given the context. Here's a man who is running for president, in part with a promise to throw his opposing candidate in jail for her own alleged crimes -- which, it should be noted, have been heavily investigated with no criminal proceedings resulting -- and who was recorded on tape boasting about how he happily "grabs [women] by the pussy" whenever he feels like it. His defence to this was that it was all talk, or normal banter. Well, in that case, these allegations are entirely relevant because they go against that line of defence.

And since the women involved (if their allegations are true) may well have no option in law, where else can they go? Or should they be obliged to be silent because how dare they speak out about things that happened to them?

Yes it could be lies, and it's difficult to know how to respond in that case, but the possibility that these separate allegations could be true demands at least some attention.

[DTCwordfan]

How many penises does Octopussdt have?

[DTCwordfan]

There's one thing sure...all these advances and the rest as to women, he's got a lot of balls.

[naomi24]

Jim, don't you find it odd that these allegations are cropping up now?

[jim360]

No, not really. I agree that the timing is convenient politically if you are against Trump, but there's no more likely time for the allegations of sexual assault to emerge than soon after a video has emerged showing Trump bragging about effectively committing sexual assault.

Either the video gave the women in question the confidence or the urge to speak out, or it gave them a convenient opportunity to make stuff up if you believe that, but it isn't odd at all either way that the allegations are surfacing now.

[ichkeria]

"Trump 'groped woman like an octopus'

A bit harsh, perhaps. I don't think she looks anything like an octopus

[Gromit]

Naomi,
// don't you find it odd that these allegations are cropping up now? //

Have you ever heard the expression "Revenge is a dish best served cold"?

[anneasquith]

Its a fair point, why would women come forward now giving their experience of being sexually assaulted by Trump, via one of the news channels this evening, it is because he denied ever sexually assaulting anyone in the past , when they know he is telling lies.

[naomi24]

anneasquith. // it is because he denied ever sexually assaulting anyone in the past , when they know he is telling lies. //

Could be. On the other hand they could just be jumping on the bandwagon to stick the boot in, as so many others are doing. It just seems strange to me that none of them appear to have complained sooner.

[jim360]

"It just seems strange to me that none of them appear to have complained sooner."

It's not untypical of historical sex assault allegations -- one goes back as far as the 1980s, and in general we know now that there was a sad history of such incidents that went unreported because of fear, embarrassment, intimidation or general scepticism discouraging women from reporting it. This may be spinning a narrative to make the abuse more plausible, it may be falling for a lie, I don't know. All I can say is that Trump has bragged about what amounts to committing sexual assault on multiple women, so it would fit into that narrative very well. There can be no doubt at least that the allegations are plausible given the character of the man. He has denied them all, of course, and as long as these aren't tested in a court of law he has to be regarded as innocent of the specific allegations.

One thing worth stressing though is that this isn't something that came up just now. The two most famous would be a litigation for sexual assault in 1997, eventually settled without the allegations being proven; a lawsuit filed earlier this year and due to be heard in December and relating to alleged rape of a 13-year-old; Donald Trump's ex-wife Ivana complained about being "violated" during their marriage in the early 1990s. I could go on and find every case, but in summary women have been complaining about Trump's behaviour for years and years and years.

[naomi24]

In that case you have it in the bag, Jim.

[jim360]

Wait, what?

[naomi24]

Can't argue with that. You have the evidence.