Hold on, everyone, hold on. I know these allegations sound bad, but did you hear she filed for bankruptcy?

So obviously, I'm innocent. Case closed! (Jason Reed/Reuters)

Hold on, everyone, hold on. I know these allegations sound bad, but did you hear she filed for bankruptcy?

So obviously, I'm innocent. Case closed! (Jason Reed/Reuters)

Have you heard about Herman Cain's latest assault on a woman named Sharon Bialek? No, no, I'm not talking about the assault in 1997 she described yesterday , where he allegedly groped her genitals, shoved her face in his crotch, and asked, "You want a job, right?"

No, I'm talking about the all-too-predictable but no less disgusting assault his campaign launched against Bialek yesterday, starting with a press release from his spokesman J.D. Gordon:

Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon said in a press release late Monday, “It is noteworthy that Gloria Allred is a celebrity lawyer who specializes in generating publicity for herself and her clients. “The questions the media should be asking are who’s paying for Gloria Allred’s fee, how did Ms. Bialek get introduced to Ms. Allred, and was she paid to come forward with these false accusations or was she promised employment? “After attacking Herman Cain through anonymous accusers for a week, his opponents have now convinced a woman with a long history of severe financial difficulties, including personal bankruptcy, to falsely accuse the Republican frontrunner of events allegedly occurring well over a decade ago for which there is no record, nor even a complaint filed.”

Of course, as Dave Weigel and others have pointed out, those red herring questions that Cain's campaign is under the delusion need to be answered have already been answered. Namely, that unlike Herman Cain, Ms. Bialek isn't making any money off publicly telling her story of Cain's assault. And neither is her attorney, Gloria Allred.

But that's not all; the Cain campaign also sent an email blast to further assault Ms. Bialek and attempt to refute her allegations with completely irrelevant facts:

As Ms. Sharon Bialek has placed herself in the public spotlight through making patently false allegations against Herman Cain, it is only fair to compare her track record alongside Mr. Cain’s. In stark contrast to Mr. Cain’s four decades spent climbing the corporate ladder rising to the level of CEO at multiple successful business enterprises, Ms. Bialek has taken a far different path. The fact is that Ms. Bialek has had a long and troubled history, from the courts to personal finances – which may help explain why she has come forward 14 years after an alleged incident with Mr. Cain, powered by celebrity attorney and long term Democrat donor Gloria Allred. [...] In personal finances, PACER (Federal Court) records show that Ms. Bialek has filed for bankruptcy in the Northern District of Illinois bankruptcy court in 1991 and 2001. The respective case numbers according to the PACER system are 1:01-bk-22664 and 1:91-bk-23273. Ms. Bialek has worked for nine employers over the last seventeen years. Source: WLS-TV, November 7, 2011

This email is so full of fail that it's really hard to know where to begin. Of course the smearing of Ms. Bialek is so utterly and pathetically predictable because that's how our society treats women who make allegations of sexual harassment or assault. Her credibility, character, sexual history, employment history, financial situation—it's all scrutinized and questioned because the burden is on her to prove that she isn't a gold digger and/or a whore. Toe-sucker and prostitute patronizer Dick Morris, for example, has already expressed his gleeful anticipation at seeing Ms. Bialek appearing in a Playboy spread, because isn't that where all victims of sexual assault go next? And no, in case you were wondering, Ms. Bialek has not announced any intention to appear in Playboy.

But really, what is Cain and his campaign suggesting by focusing on Ms. Bialek's employment and financial history? Are people who declare bankruptcy immune from sexual assault? Did Cain, before trying to shove her head in his crotch, ask to see a credit report? Is that really the defense here?

Well, I was going to offer her a job in exchange for a, uh, job, but after I saw her credit report, obviously, I just couldn't go there. And besides, everyone knows that it is physically impossible to assault a woman who has held nine jobs in 17 years. Everyone knows the limit is seven jobs. Really. It's science!

At the risk of stating what should be, but clearly is not, obvious, no woman—regardless of her age; race; religion; sexual, employment or financial situation; political party; number of children; or preferred ice cream flavor—is immune from sexual assault. It happens to all women. It's so ubiquitous, in fact, that our collective reaction to any woman who dares to complain is generally a big, bored "So?" Because it is so common, after all, that women are expected to just take it. Boys will be boys, you know. It's a just a joke. Lighten up. Stop making it so hard for the men folk to have fun in the workplace. And besides, it's not like this is a "real" problem anyway.

The truth is that none of these details about Ms. Bialek's life are relevant. And if that's the only defense Herman Cain has to her charges, he's really got no defense at all.