Saturday, November 05, 2011

Devil's In The Details

I haven't followed Herman Cain's candidacy too closely, but I've been paying some attention to this vaporous harassment story. The trouble is there's not much to pay attention to!

Ann Althouse quotes the secretive accuser's lawyer:
“Mr. Cain knows the specific incidents that were alleged,” Mr. Bennett said during a brief news conference outside his Georgetown office. “My client filed a written complaint in 1999 against him specifically and it had very specific instances in it, and if he chooses not to remember or to acknowledge those, that’s his issue.”
Althouse then comments:
This is maddening. Very specific instances. Okay. That's what we need to hear about. What are they?! They don't become very specific instances because you say "very specific instances"! That's still completely abstract. Get specific. Get specific to the point where we can judge for ourselves whether the details amount to something that counts against Cain and that exposes you to a defamation lawsuit if the details are false.
Shouting "specific" without detail
seems like a case of terrific fail.

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