Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden points to his doggie bag as he leaves the Buttercup Diner during a campaign stop in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, March 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

It is not secret that Joe Biden likes to paw and sniff women, women of all ages and, this age being what it is, we can suppose of all genders as well. The general excuse has always been, “well, that’s just Joe.” Now a woman has come forward complaining that Joe Biden’s use of women as a perk of his office went way beyond the mildly lecherous actions we are familiar with; Joe Biden engaged in a forcible sexual assault on a member of his Senate office.

The name Tara Reade isn’t familiar to most people. About a year ago she got some passing attention from the media. It was, after all, in the aftermath of the #MeToo frenzy, Harvey Weinstein was in the news and not yet in jail, and the open wound left behind by the left attempting to weaponize the craze by concocting balderdash stories in an attempt to derail the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be a Supreme Court justice was still festering. This is one of the few stories she was able to generate, it is from the Nevada County, California, Union:

A Nevada County woman has added her voice to a recent spate of allegations that former vice president and possible presidential candidate Joe Biden touched her when she worked in his U.S. Senate office. Alexandra Tara Reade said that in 1993 she was in her mid-20s when Biden, then a senator from Delaware, touched her several times making her feel uncomfortable. Reade said her responsibilities in the senator’s office were reduced after she refused to serve drinks at an event — what she called a desire of Biden’s because he liked her legs. Reade said she felt pushed out and left Biden’s employ in August 1993 after some nine months. … Reade is the most recent woman to publicly share her story about uncomfortable encounters with Biden. Time.com states former Nevada State Assemblywoman Lucy Flores told her story last week. Flores said Biden approached her at a 2014 campaign rally and kissed the back of her head. A second woman, Amy Lappos, said Biden touched her face and rubbed noses with her at a 2009 fundraiser. Caitlyn Caruso said Biden put his hand on her thigh and hugged her at a university event. D.J. Hill said Biden in 2012 touched her shoulder before moving his hand down her back.

This, by the thin gruel that is most (in my view) #MeToo stories, is pretty strong stuff. She didn’t keep her mouth shut for a several decades and suddenly remember it. She told a friend contemporaneously, apparently complained about the treatment, and when she refused to go along with being the designated salve for Biden’s libido, she was fired.

Now Reade,a Sanders supporter, has come forward with even more troubling allegations:

In the interview excerpt, which is posted to Soundcloud, Reade described a graphic 1993 incident where a superior asked her to take a gym bag to Biden “down towards the capital.” Then she recalls being called towards the “side area” where Biden greeted her. “We were alone and it was the strangest thing,” she said. “There was no like exchange really. He just had me up against the wall.” Reade went on to say that she was wearing a business skirt with no stockings because it was hot at the time. While up against the wall, Reade says Biden’s “hands were on me and underneath my clothes.” “He went down my skirt but then up inside it and he penetrated me with his fingers,” Reade emotionally continued. Reade also said Biden was kissing her and saying multiple things to her. She remembered a couple of the comments. “I remember him saying first, like as he was doing it, ‘Do you want to go somewhere else,’” she said. “And then him saying to me when I pulled away, he got finished doing what he was doing, and I kind of just pulled back and he said, ‘Come on man, I heard you liked me.’ And that phrase stayed with me because I kept thinking what I might’ve said and I can’t remember exactly if he said ‘I thought’ or ‘I heard’ but he implied that I had done this.” Reade then went on to say that “everything shattered in that moment” because she knew that there were no witnesses and she looked up to him. “He was like my father’s age,” she said. “He was like this champion of women’s rights in my eyes and I couldn’t believe it was happening. It seemed surreal.” Reade then said Biden grabbed her by the shoulders and said, “You’re okay. You’re fine” and proceeded to walk away. Reade said that Biden also told her something after the alleged assault that she initially didn’t want to share because “it’s the thing that stays in my head over and over.” But after some pressing from Halper, Reade decided to share: “He took his finger. He just like pointed at me and said you’re nothing to me.”

This is much, much more substantial than the allegations that sent the deranged Al Franken packing. While no major network has yet touched the story, it is hard to imagine that the story will not be noticed. And we are entitled to wonder why she is making this particular allegation now rather than back in 2019 when she first told her story and why the outlets carrying it are Newsone, which is focused on progressive blacks, and the Intercept, which caters to a very left-of-center readership.

It is becoming increasingly obvious to everyone that Joe Biden is suffering from a substantial cognitive impairment. His behavior on the campaign trail has been erratic, his debate performances disastrous, his statements since going full-recluse due to Wuhan virus are bizarre when they are not cringe-worthy. The man is not totally senile…yet…but he’s months rather than years from being obviously in that condition.

In a sequence of events that surprised many of us (I know I was), Biden has managed to dispatch what should have been a strong Democrat field. Bernie Sanders is hanging in there, but, let’s face it, there is no way for him to win the nomination, it is increasingly unlikely that he can prevent a Biden victory on the first ballot, and if the nomination did go to a second ballot there is no reason to believe Sanders would emerge victorious.

While the Democrats don’t want Sanders, it is clear that there is little enthusiasm for Biden either in the Democrat establishment or among the rank and file.

This allegation surfacing now and the way it has surfaced is intriguing.

Biden has promised to pick a woman to be his running mate. Which prominent Democrat woman would be willing to share the ticket with a man who carried out a brazen sexual assault on a young staffer and wanted her to be sort of a Hooter’s waitress, but on the federal payroll, for his events? How will either Biden or his running mate attack Trump on Stormy Daniels or anything related when Biden stands credibly accused of attacking a woman? How can any of the media, except CNN, of course, refuse to cover such a story dealing with the Democrat nominee? How do these allegations play out among women on the bubble whose opposition to Trump is largely based on his crass language and past philandering. It is one thing to talk, in the abstract, about grabbing women’s genitalia, it is another thing entire to insert your fingers.

The timing and the means for launching this story hint at a move afoot in the Democrat party to force Biden to leave the race before the Milwaukee convention. If Biden quits, then the party is free to nominate someone who is more acceptable and at least lucid.