How AWFUL. Stunning news.

[beachmom]

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7355810n

Sen. Scott Brown Recalls Childhood Abuse

February 16, 2011 10:46 AM

Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown tells Lesley Stahl he was the victim of physical, psychological and sexual abuse when he was a child. Stahl profiles the senator Sunday, Feb. 20, 7 p.m. ET/PT.

I have to say it was brave of him to talk about this.

[karynnj]

1. It really is

I think it was always known that he had a troubled childhood, but these things are really awful. He really did well to get past all of this and to have been a good parent to his kids, when he never had a good role model.

I still think MA needs a better Senator than he is, but he really did overcome a lot.

[Blaukraut]

2. Not to be insensitive

This is really horrible to have happened to him. No child should ever have to go through that. I just question his timing of revelation here. Rather politically expedient. It certainly gets him the sympathetic vote, which is most likely women.

On edit: The reason my hackles were raised, so to speak: All local news are leading with this story.

[beachmom]

3. I don't know if it helps him politically.

It's something that happened to him, and he has decided to share it with everyone. Maybe I am hopelessly naive, but I just don't see the political calculation here.

[wisteria]

4. Not political, but it is money making PR for the book. n/t

[beachmom]

6. Well, what is wrong with that? John Kerry's story of his time in Vietnam

and afterward were written about, and he talked about it which amounted to "P.R.". What we have learned today is part of Scott Brown's life and story. Seriously, if this was John Kerry on 60 Minutes talking about his life, this kind of criticism wouldn't come up.

I think I'll leave it at that, guys.

[TayTay]

8. John Kerry consistently talked about this

he didn't wait to reveal his doubts in a book or a "very special interview" on 60 Minutes.

Ah, it is too early to make a detailed comment on this, but, Scott Brown is not the name I remember when I think back on the HUGE sex abuse scandal in MA back in 2001-2003. The Boston Globe won a Pulizter Prize for their work exposing the clergy in the sex abuse scandals. This story went national and international and is a big deal to this day. (See the Irish explosion on sex abuse of children.) Scotty didn't comment much then.

Ah, ok, it could be legit, but, why is Scotty bringing this out now and not back then when abuse victims needed a strong, strong advocate. He could have expressed solidarity with the victims and identified himself as a victim back then.

Sorry. he is inconsistent here. Sen. Kerry waas always consistent with this actions and thoughts on what happened in Vietnam. That is a big difference.

[karynnj]

11. I didn't even think of it in the context of the that scandal

Did Brown comment at all? Was he in the state Senate then?

I assume it is true as it really is not something you would make up - and I don't think it helps him.

[wisteria]

13. True, he could have and perhaps may, use his terrible experience to connect to and help other

victims of abuse.

[beachmom]

24. Is he Catholic?

[karynnj]

27. No, he is Protestant

"Brown and his family attend New England Chapel in Franklin, Mass., part of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, which has roots in the Protestant Reformation."
http://www.uscatholic.org/news/2010/01/some-think-scott-brown-pro-life-and-catholic-he-neither

Here is Wikipedia on their beliefs,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Reformed_Church_in_North_America

The people I knew in Northern Indiana who belonged to one of their churches were ultra Conservative, but - in fairness thie Roman Catholic church was far more conservative than the Roman Catholic college my daughter attended in MA - so the MA church could be more liberal. In addition, people often don't really "select" their church based on looking at the beliefs alone.

[beachmom]

48. Thanks for the info. I guess I am dissenting a little in that I don't

know what exactly he could have said/done regarding the Church scandal since he is not a member of the Church. Yeah, there was the law enforcement side, but although child abuse is a common thread, I guess to me the larger scandal was the cover up that went all the way to the Vatican. Brown would have nothing to do with that, and as a non-Catholic, I am not sure how many would listen to him.

[karynnj]

9. I agree - Brown has every right to write a book and tell his story

Even the complaint that he hasn't achieved that much doesn't ring true, as no one complained about Obama's book. (I don't think Brown's ghost written book will be as eloquent, but like Obama, he does have a life to write about. There is also nothing wrong with people covering it - and given what it is - of course it will be covered.

I agree that had Kerry done the same thing, no one here would be complaining. (In fact, I imagine a Dean supporter or two were unhappy with the amount of coverage that Kerry and Rassman got less than a week before the Iowa caucus. Again it was the type of story that the media ate up. Unlike these Brown stories, it also had many implicit reasons why JK was a good leader.)

The closest parallel was all the stories of Bill Clinton's youth - in fact, his fight with a step father was similar. (Unfortunately I am not saying he copied - but child and spousal abuse stories are often pretty similar.) No one complained of Clinton's stories.

Every candidate uses his biography to win. As qualified as he is, I am not sure without his service and his protests, Kerry would have been the 2004 nominee.

[Mass]

10. I am divided on that.

First, it is something terrible that happened to him, but I think most people in MA will wonder why now? Why not last years or during one of his previous campaigns (when he spoke openly about his stepfathers mistreating him and his mother), or earlier (I have the same reaction as TayTay and Blaukraut concerning previous events).

The only thing is that I dont see what he would have to win with this (this is not something he can he happy to speak about, I cant imagine anybody being happy to), so we will see if this means he is going to become active on these issues, in which case it would be a good thing, otherwise, it is hard for me to understand the timing.

I am also stunned by that.
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PoliticalWire/~3/N51-G7_7FSg/senator_says_he_was_sexually_abused.html

He says he never told anyone and that even his mother will read about it for the first time in his forthcoming book

Does he really want his mother, wife, and daughters to learn this by the media???

[karynnj]

12. It is weird that he did not seak to his family before putting it in the book

- just so they would hear it from him, react to it, and not be blindsided. Much of what happened when he was a kid reflects on his mother - even to not trying to know why he did not want to return to the camp. We are now just getting bits and pieces and I really wonder if the writer has written a narrative that shows him gaining any focus, purpose or vision. The pieces I've read including his nightmare of a childhood and when he started modeling seem to create an image of a little boy lost.

[Mass]

16. His tweet says the book is about overcoming difficulties,

and that this is one of them. He also adds that while this is something that is in his life, he hopes people will not focus on that and get the message of the book. Really, he thinks this is what will happen? Does he know the media that poorly? I guess this is also why he wont talk to the media before Monday, after the 60 Minutes interview airs.

Once again, it is a terrible tragedy that happened to him and I feel for him, but at the same time, his ways make me queasy..

In addition, it is the headline of all local news tonight (not surprisingly) and it is feeling very voyeuristic.

[wisteria]

15. That is one of my points too. Did he take their feelings into consideration? n/t

[wisteria]

14. Nothing is wrong with making money on a book, but I question the timing.

Why come out with this at the same time you are going to have a book published about you. He said his mother didn't even know about these things. I would have though he would have considered his mother's feelings a little bit and allowed her time to take all these revelations in. She must be shocked to know that a part of her life is going to be known by everyone who buys and reads the book. She may even have much guilt about what happened to her son due to the choices of men she associated with.

[karynnj]

23. This coming out now is because it is in the book - so those two go together

It is weird to read parts of your life written from the point of view of someone that you were with. From the excerpts, I would bet that his mother's view of his childhood might be different than his. Is he estranged from his mother?

[karynnj]

5. I could if he were either unpopular or in trouble for some scandal - neither of which he is

As he has personal popularity, I don't see what this could gain him. It might get him more coverage because of the sensation nature of his book - and that could translate into more people liking him or to Scott Brown overload.

In addition, it could backfire if he becomes seen as a victim - even one who survived. There might be some who, knowing this, see it as a reason for his very thin skin and that he often makes everything personal - ie - why won't the mean Democrats vote with me after I crossover to vote with them, and his temper as coming from these unresolved problems. If a perception arose that this made him less capable, it could hurt. (Think the Rove smears on McCain in 2000 that suggested the trauma of being a POW still affected him. )

[TayTay]

7. I am very queezy about this story as well

Why didn't Scott Brown speak out agianst Jeff Perry last fall when Perry was running for Congress. Brown endorsed this guy who ENABLED a child abuser.

Why did Scott Brown do that bizarre reading in front of the kids at the King Philip School back in 2007. (link: http://www.bluemassgroup.com/diary/18608/scott-browns-obscene-high-school-presentation-makes-rightwing-headlines )

Ah, something doesn't add up here. I don't recall Scott Brown sticking his neck out during the beginnings of the Clergy Sex Abuse scndal hre in MA in 2001-2003, when it would have truly been courageous.

Child abuse is a horrific thing. To admit to being a victim of child abuse for political reasons would also be a horrific thing. I don't understand the timing of Brown's announcement. Why now, except to sell books and get sympathy before next year's election.

Let me see the 60 Minutes story, but Brown's background doesn't lend itself to my automatic sympathy for his revelation. I will withhold emotion for now.

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101022/NEWS/10220322">Cape Cod Times
10/22/2010

NATICK — U.S. Sen. Scott Brown is standing behind his endorsement of Republican Jeffrey Perry for the 10th Congressional District, despite comments from the victim of a Wareham strip search that Perry ignored her pleas for help.

"First of all, it's horrible what that girl went through," Brown said in a brief interview Thursday at the New England Newspaper & Press Association 2010 Fall Conference at Crowne Plaza, where he gave a speech. He added that nobody should have to go through what Lisa Allen, a 14-year-old girl at the time of the 1991 incident, went through. "The fact is that the person who did it was tried and convicted."

During Thursday's interview, Brown said he has never read any of the court documents in the strip search case. Those records show that Perry, a Wareham police sergeant at the time, was at the scene when Flanagan ordered Allen to pull up her shirt and bra and reached his hand into her underwear.

"Jeff Perry was nearby when Scott Flanagan illegally strip searched me," Allen, now in her 30s, said in a statement released by her attorney Wednesday. "Perry knew what Flanagan did, he had to hear me screaming and crying. Instead of helping me, Jeff Perry denied anything happened."

Brown, as he has in a radio spot released Wednesday, said Perry has run a campaign based on the issues. He called on Democrat William Keating to stop using the Wareham scandal in political ads. "(Perry's) run, I feel, an honest and respectable campaign," Brown said. "It's to the point: 'Bill, stop with the dirty politics.'"

Scotty, what ?????????

[MBS]

17. Exactly.

"Something doesn't add up" is right. I share Wisteria's and Mass's skepticism, too.

[Mass]

18. Interestingly, my husband got exactly the same feeling when he heard that on TV.

I turned my TV off this morning because this comes back on the morning program every ten minutes.

This said, he was less inactive than I thought as a state senator.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/02/17/victims_and_advocates_praise_brown_for_going_public_about_childhood/

Jetta Bernier, executive director of Massachusetts Citizens for Children, a nonprofit group dedicated to helping abused and vulnerable children, said she has long regarded Brown as a supporter of legislative efforts to curb sexual abuse.

About five years ago, he was among supporters of a bill that extended the period of time in which a victim of sex abuse could file charges against a perpetrator. Around the same time, he called sexual abuse the “number one public safety issue affecting us here in the Commonwealth,’’ at a press conference with several lawmakers and then-Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, according to the State House News Service.

Bernier said the extended reporting time measure is now law, and as a result victims have up to 27 years past their 16th birthday to bring charges. She said Brown’s Senate office recently cosponsored a federal bill that would, among other things, limit the ability of those convicted of sex abuse from working in a variety of settings. Brown’s office, she said, has asked her group for input on that initiative.

For his work at the state level, Brown earned the Spirit of Compassion Award in 2008 from the advocacy group Community VOICES, which works on behalf of sex abuse victims, according to executive director Laurie Myers. She said word of Brown’s own abuse came as a surprise.

So, I will have to reserve my judgement until later.

[MBS]

19. I'm glad I'm out of town right now : )

There was a tiny squib about it in WaPo, but, thankfully, that was all.

[karynnj]

22. Brown is a more complicated person than I had thought, but his backing of Perry

given that this issue was there in the PRIMARY is hard to reconcile with his concern on this issue (Mass' post) and this new revelation. He speaks of being told that he would be killed (or not believed) if he told - yet - even taking the story that makes Perry look best, he covered up for his peer - leaving a young girl and her family seeing that her town's police would allow one policeman to victimize her and all of them protect him, not her. In some ways, this is worse than what Brown himself experienced. The very people who should have protected her victimized her. (She had it better in one way - She had her family supporting her - and Brown, at 10, seemed to assume that his family wouldn't. )

I think that Brown's early endorsement of Perry in the primary was given some credit for him winning. There were Republicans siding with his opponent just because of this. In the general election, when the woman spoke out, many Republicans moved away. Brown allowed them to use his endorsement praising Perry's character.

At the time, I thought it was tone deaf - that he maybe did not get the seriousness of the charge and maybe he felt that having helped him get the nomination, he might be blamed if he lost the one Congressional seat where Republicans had a decent shot. (Neither good excuses). Hearing him say that he was abused and lived with the fear of telling anyone, how could he NOT relate to the (then) young girl's story? (The excuse that she was possibly with some not all that good people - was not all that different from his own youth.) This makes his callous action worse.

I hope that people bring this up in call in appearances or at least in letters to the editor or in online comments.

[beachmom]

25. This info needs to go to a journalist. It is a relevant question.

[Inuca]

20. I am in the "hackles raised" category as well

and feeling kind of guilty about it, because it's most likely just instinctive dislike and distrust on my part. And my information is rather limited (nor do I intend to do anything about it), just what I heard on the news last night, CNN I think. Awful thing to happen, and I cannot be so cynical as to consider that it is made up, but as a very private person, I just cannot understand going public with something like this without having first talked to those close to you. Not a judgement, just strange.

[MBS]

21. yeah, me, too. n/t

[TayTay]

26. I feel guilty about it as well

As we all know. child sexual abuse is a horrible, horrible thing. It can scar a person for life. Abuse must be stopped and it is up to the grown-ups and guardians in a child's life to stop whatever abuse they can.

If Scott Brown did suffer this abuse, then kudos to him for overcoming this. It does appear that he did some work to help address this issue in MA and I am very grateful he did. (I have relatives who endured horrible abuse at the hands of a relative. The statue of limitations doesn't run out on a victim's memories and often that type of scarring can be a heavy lifelong burden on the soul.

Scott Brown's behavior though is inconsistent. Why did he do that long, onscenity-laced rant at the King Philips School to an audience of young adults? Why did he back Jeff Perry, considering that Perry might have enabled a child abuser? That stuff gives me very, very serious pause. Brown is inconsistent in his behavior. He can't ask for understanding and then turn around and deny it to others. He can't just pay lip service to the set issue of child abuse without facing the issues that surround it.

I am withholding judgment still till more info comes in. Too many questions here.

[karynnj]

30. I also have one other really queasy reaction

In the book, the theme appears to be summed up as " Such suffering can lead to a higher purpose. “Like a fractured bone, I have knit back stronger in the broken places,” Brown writes in his book." http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2011/0217/Sen.-Scott-Brown-s-revelation-of-physical-and-sexual-abuse-can-help-others


This seemed all too familiar and unlike anything that Brown, not noted for ever saying anything eloquent has said before. This sounded very like comments that Max Cleland has made at various times.. In fact, Cleland's book written in 1986 was "Strong at the Broken Places."

I know Brown used a ghost writer - the same one who wrote Laura Bush's book, and I wondered if both the ghost writer and Cleland could be quoting a famous statement that I don't know. All I could find using google was that there was a film on recovering from trauma, that has the same name - but it lists Max's book as a source.

(I posted the last two paragraphs as part of a comment on CSM, but wonder if anyone knows if there is some common source. If not, using Max's analogy - which in his case is consistent with his far more remarkable story and the eloquence he has used in speaking of it - is pretty shoddy.)

[Luftmensch067]

31. I had to look it up!

My Google finger couldn't stop itself!

Apparently, it's Hemingway, from A Farewell to Arms:

o Ch. 27

* The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.

[karynnj]

33. Thanks!

My googling was less well done.

[Inuca]

37. Another thanks

It rang a bell, and definitely not from Cleland's book (and I have better control over my Google finger, so I di dnot check :-)).

[Luftmensch067]

39. LOL!

I have NO control.

[Inuca]

36. Isn't this a relatively common expression? n/t

[TayTay]

38. I worry that he is constructing a rigid narrative

that he will then expect others to follow. Many Republicans, especially those in the most conservative wing of the party. believe that adversity is something that one can only overcome with the aide of religion or self-will. Many of these folks go on TV and preach the gospel of self-help; that government can't help individuals in need, only faith and self-reliance can do so.

(Full disclosure: I have huge issues with "the Secret" style beliefs that state that if an individual only believes hard enough in good luck and positive thinking that magical things will happen to them for the good. There are many people who are good people, have faith, work hard and still have to endure the unendurable. There are Iraq War vets who have psychic scarring and no amount of "believe you will get better" stuff is going to make them better. They need help, programs that cost money to administer and, in many instances, help from their government.)

Compassion is not found in expecting others to be mirror images of ourselves. What works for one person might not work for another. This not a moral or social failure, it is an acknowlegment of the vastness of human experience.

The self-help wing of the Repub Party believes that governmetn should not be in the business of helping people. I greatly fear that Scott Brown is constructing a narrative for himself so that he can justify not helping people. If he lived through awfulness in his past and was able to eventually thrive, then others should do the same. If thye can't, then they are morally wrong and don't deserve help. This is wrong.

[Luftmensch067]

40. Totally agree n/t

[YvonneCa]

46. Great post. I always value your perspective on...

...things like this. Isn't this what GWB did in 2000?

It must be frustrating to watch the local media cover this story. This is one time when I'm glad to be on the other side of the country... :7

[beachmom]

49. Yup. I know a lot of people who have been through terrible things,

and are now right wing conservatives. I think sometimes when bad things happen and nobody helps, an idea can be formed that NO institution helped when it mattered, therefore institutions are bad and should be rejected.

I still am unsure what he could have done about the Church abuse scandal in Mass., as he's not a Catholic.

[karynnj]

28. Story from paper of town that his biological father was on town council

http://www.newburyportnews.com/local/x1275139594/Brown-reveals-he-was-sexually-abused-as-child

His dad said, through his current wife, that Scott wants all questions he is asked referred to Scott. His dad was on the town council when Scott was very young - Wikipedia spoke of Scott carrying a sign for his dad in the mid 60s - which is would have made him about 6 years old. What I don't get in the stories is why if his dad was a town councilor, you would think that he would have paid enough child support that Scott Brown would have had more food in the house than he spoke of. The other question is why after Scott was beaten even once by a step dad, his father did not get custody. (I'm not questioning Brown's honesty - no one has disputed what he said and he has said much of this before - I am questioning the system where an unfit mother kept custody. (Letting her son be beaten by two stepdads is unfit.)

[Blaukraut]

29. OMG, we can't turn on the TV or read the paper here

without being deluged with Scott Brown's sexual abuse headlines. Time to change the channel yet again until the weather report comes on. If this reveal is for book publicity, it's working. Interviews with MA citizens about this have so far been on the sympathetic side, but a few more days of the story headlining the morning, midday, afternoon, evening, nightly news is going to start pissing people off. Hell, it's pissed me off since the second airing.

[Mass]

32. Reaction of a poster in the Boston Phoenix

I think that it summarizes well the questions posed by this revelation, beyond the natural sympathy that goes to any victim of sexual abuse (thinking at Lara Logan here)
http://thephoenix.com/BLOGS/talkingpolitics/archive/2011/02/16/scott-brown-i-was-sexually-abused.aspx

[wisteria]

34. Yes it does. n/t

[politicasista]

35. Tweet from former K aide

aka Councilwoman Ayanna Pressley. (Sounds like she has come a long way also :grouphug:).

We don't share the same politics but we do share the scar of sexual abuse. Thanks to @ScottBrownMA for having courage to tell his story

http://twitter.com/ayannapressley

[karynnj]

41. Boston Herald article asking why - when the ghostwriter was writing this - Brown was with Perry

His point is the one that Tay Tay made. Question is this to get that out and fought now - long before the election or is he as genuinely offended as he seems. (Also - when was the fact that a book was written by a ghost writer given this much coverage?)

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view/20110218scott_brown_played_down_claims_of_victim/

The article really hits a nerve with the way it is written - and you can see that in the comments. The Republican response is basically Teddy killed a woman, Barney Frank, Gerry Studds, Keating likely paid Allen etc None of which deal with the facts. One point made is that Brown was telling the ghostwriter this story at the time he was defending Perry.

That really is a sickening point. According to Brown, this is the first time he ever told anyone of a dark, emotionally scarring part of his life. One would think that would be highly emotional and his sensitivity to anyone fearing he/she would not be believed when they told people they were abused would be incredibly heightened - as he just somewhat relived that in telling his writer.

[Mass]

42. Las night, some of the news were starting to question motivation, given that Brown said

he would not name his abuser or the camp he went to, while this one could still be in contact with children.

[karynnj]

43. This could be a hugh dilemma for Brown

If the story is true, it is hard to believe that the person's image is frozen in his mind and the name isn't - at least the first name. He also has not named the camp - though he has to remember that. Could it be that naming him could lead to a libel suit.

[Inuca]

45. The man may be dead?

and maybe he does not want to hurt his family? No idea, just engaging in idle speculation, and giving him the benefit of the doubt.

[Mass]

44. Kerry's reaction. Classy, not surprisingly.

http://www.necn.com/02/18/11/John-Kerry-reacts-to-Scott-Browns-abuse-/landing_newengland.html?blockID=413189&feedID=4212

[Mass]

47. We're starting the fifth day of coverage of this story.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2011/02/20/for_brown_a_perplexing_connection/

Numerous people have seen the Perry connection (including dear Joan Vennochi - I am not sure that it is an appropriate connection, but the Boston media has been making it).

This said, I just wished they would stop. This is overkill (as everything has been said about this). Hopefully, after 60 Minutes tonight, we will be able to move to another topic. (Even Howie Carr seems to have had enough of it, not that it is a measure of whether a topic deserves coverage or not).

Also, like the poster from Boston Phoenix I posted earlier and TayTay's post # 38, I worry about the effect that this revelation in the context of the book messsage (do like me, pick yourself up and do something with yourself. You dont need help. See, I did not get any) will have on both people who suffered trauma and the community which is needed to help them. The message is consistant with Brown's philosophy, but it is also harmful to a whole series of victims.

[karynnj]

50. Brown finds a way to extend it another day - he blasted people who brought up Perry

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1318401

Now, he is a Republican who managed to win a MA Senate seat, but it can't be a good idea to keep this story alive for this long and ESPECIALLY not to give more prominence to the fact he questioned the integrity of the woman that Perry, not only didn't help, but who tried to intimidate her and her family by going to their house. The Perry story is not something Brown should want brought up - and attacking it should lead to at least one more day of people speaking about it and asking how Brown, the father of two girls, could have continued to support Perry - more vigorously than any of his Republican peers. Most had the sense or the morality to back a way in the end.

His outrage shows incredible narcissism - saying that what Perry was accused of had nothing to do with what happened to HIM at age 10. No one said it did. It shows that his experience did not lead him to have greater empathy for another young child similarly abused by an authority figure.

His reaction here actually does make me feel sorry for Brown - it and other things, make me think that though he has succeeded on the surface to some degree he is crippled inside.

I still don't understand how the son of a Republican town councilor was living in poverty, without enough food and abused by his mom's husbands. I know that women are more likely to get custody, but it would seem the dad, who was stable and secure enough to be elected, would and should have taken him in. Both his parents - form the headlines only - come across as really despicable people. (I have not read the book - and won't - but compare that to Bill Clinton's stories. In addition to his having a similarly abusive step father, he wrote of the courage and the hard work of his mom to become a nurse to support the family after his dad died before he was born. I have yet to hear one positive story about either Brown parent.

[Mass]

51. Worse. There is an interview on AOL where he says if he could,

there is nothing in his life he would change (sorry, cant find the link). This is who he is. Now, I scratched my head because this shows a really contrived and shallow character. Yes, he was able to achieve great things despite difficulties in his life (though he is hardly the only one. I just wished the media spent as much time talking positively about our governor's book, but this is a different story about double standards in the MA media) and he should be proud of what he accomplished (though he should also recognized the helps and advantages he got). But not regretting anything? In this case, why does he spend that much time talking about this.

[karynnj]

53. He said the same thing on Hannity's radio show that I heard part of today

(He was to be on his TV show today.)

If twitter is at all a random sample, his interviews are pleasing few - here is a grab of the current twitters google has for Brown -

#
Sen Scott Brown is such a disappointment, it is obvious he is no conservative. #tcot #teaparty
Twitter - seconds ago
#
‎
TIGERGSN1‎ Hannity just had Scott Brown on.....he teeters on being a pinhead. Conservatives we need to keep our eye on him.
Twitter - seconds ago
#
‎
nana49‎ RT @noleeps: Watched Scott Brown on #Hannity.Just call him Dodge Ball for ducking any criticism of #Obama. He's one and done. #ScottBrown
Twitter - 1 minute ago
#
‎
American Patriots‎ Scott Brown is a traitor ....
Facebook - 2 minutes ago
#
‎
vidiotfl ‎ Scott brown on hannity.If life was as pathetic as he is,we would all be liberals.
Twitter - 2 minutes ago
#
‎
stansolomon ‎ RT @barracuda1776: Scott Brown is still a RINO... #tcot #teaparty #wethepeople #hhrs
Twitter - 3 minutes ago
#
‎
pmbasse ‎ RT @arlenearmy: No wonder Scott Brown ducked question of supporting right-to-work. Massachusetts is a force-unionism state #tcot
Right to Work States | National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation‎ - nrtw.org
Twitter - 3 minutes ago
#
‎
NEpatriot44 ‎ Scott Brown won't acnowledge that the Tea Party played a major role in getting him elected.
Twitter - 3 minutes ago
#
‎
ATAG1 ‎ RT @SpreadButter: SCOTT Brown 1 big Disapointment
Twitter - 3 minutes ago
#
‎
Architekt010 ‎ if you dont like scott brown fire him
Twitter - 3 minutes ago
#
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kodolly ‎ did I dis-follow scott brown? lets double check. #tcot
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Alinarpu ‎ 'Shop Talk': Sen. Scott Brown Reveals Chil weird.bestworldwidenews.com/...
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jahbalon ‎ RT @KennethJJones: Scott Brown is a total candyass "moderate." Excuses. Excuses. Excuses. Go back to MA in your pickup. #teaparty #tcot
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LawlessKO ‎ Why so shocked about Scott Brown? He's a Republican from MASSACHUSETTS......
Twitter - 5 minutes ago

[Blaukraut]

52. Make that the sixth day

He was on The View this morning, too. Total softball interview. They had his wife in the audience and asked her questions, too. She explained how she found out about the abuse by reading his book manuscript. I've never seen any story milked as much as this one.

[wisteria]

54. That is because he hasn't done much of anything else. n/t

[karynnj]

55. The more I hear of this book - the worse it gets

Maybe if Scott Brown was an actor or rock star, these stories would be helpful in reinforcing a sexy image, but - it maybe that I am old - but nothing I've read suggests the depth, commitment (to anything but himself), vision or gravitas of a US Senator. In some ways, this might be worse than Palin.

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2011/02/22/news/8892576.txt (I will not excerpt - it is vomit inducing

and apparently, it has lots of pictures - many that are described as "beefcake - including one with him in the famous pink shorts.

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view/2011_0222lucky_for_scott_beefcake_sells/

I had thought of reading it (from the library) to find ammunition, but I think that the theme of having no empathy for others who were abused or needed government assistance- while wanting everyone to cry for the hardships little Scottie endured is there and is already showing up in the comments.

[karynnj]

56. Article on the Boston book signing

"There was a steady trickle of people ambling into the Barnes & Noble at the Prudential Center Tuesday afternoon to buy Sen. Scott Brown’s book." http://www.wbur.org/2011/02/22/brown-memoir Now, I remember going with my kids about an hour early to a local NJ bookstore where J K Rowling was signing books - and being told that the 200 people already in line were the max that could get in the store and many at the end would not get their books signed.

When Bill Bradley came for a book signing in Mendham (Christie's home town), there was a solid line that for us took about a half an hour to get to the front - and we weren't the end of the line. This was I think in 2006 or 2007

These were small town NJ, My oldest stood in line in NYC to get Obama to sign the paperback edition of his book for hours in I think 2005.

"steady trickle" seems pretty light given the intense wall to wall publicity.

[Mass]

57. I heard the "steady trickle" in my car earlier. I suspect that people in Boston have had enough of

the coverage and are in overdose. In addition, he has been saying the Tea Party has nothing to do with his election, which infuriates the Tea Party. Hopefully, this will backfire.

[karynnj]

58. Politico (this morning) and now Fox are accusing the "DSCC" of spreading attacks on Brown

over the sexual abuse thing.

If anyone in the DSCC touched this they are beyond stupid, as well as despicable.

The article they are including is the most negative that I have seen written by anyone. The blog, Capecodtoday has had an interesting, but at times over the top discussion. Some of the people posting actually are genuinely tied emotionally to the camp - having gone there for years or knowing the people who run it. But, even a Republican on Blue Mass, who explained the blog after an earlier piece did not suggest that he had any links to official Democrats.

What is clear is that there is a Republican effort to make the questions that were raised - more on the Herald, than the Globe - unfair actions by the Democrats. (Needless to say, the media did not point out the real links to Republicans when he was swiftboated.)

The fact is that no official Democrat has done anything other than praise Brown.

[beachmom]

59. Looks like the DSCC shot itself in the foot. How dumb can they be?

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0211/DSCC_attacks_Brown_on_abuse_revelation.html

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is circulating a number of clips to reporters suggesting that Sen. Scott Brown's (R-Mass.) revelations of sexual abuse as a child is either a political stunt or a hypocritical move ...

This commentary from Nate Silver on Twitter:

Democrats seem inclined to follow Coakley's lead by making every mistake possible when running against Scott Brown.

I would say Brown will now be re-elected in '12. I mean, it's one thing to speculate privately, but to openly e-mail this stuff to journalists is pretty brain dead.

And people shouldn't say this is some Fox News smear tactic. Ben Smith is not a propagandist for the Right.

Edit: If this is NOT true, there better be a definitive denial from the DSCC that shows absolutely that they didn't do this.

[Mass]

60. They are stupid if they did that, because the MA media have touched the topic themselves and

Brown looks very bad on his own.

This said, we are one year and a half from the election, and the Tea Party hated Brown's interviews and is talking about primarying him. So, while the move is stupid, it may be time dems (including Nate Silver) stop self-flagellation and try to get a candidate to run. In one year, nobody will care this story, but the surest way to lose this election is to stop running.

DSCC and other dems. STOP talking about Scott Brown and start running against him.

[karynnj]

65. Great advice and really putting it in perspective.

[wisteria]

69. I agree with all your comments. n/t

[MBS]

63. FYI, Coakley's mistake was to do NOTHING.

Nate Silver's comment is off-base.

[karynnj]

64. I agree completely with what you are saying

I hope the DSCC (I think still headed by Menendez) did not do this - if they emailed it to reporters (I interpreted "circulated" more vaguely) they are brain dead. (When I suggested it was a smear - it was because no one was named as the one sending it and there was no specificity or details - just the Capecodtoday article - which I had seen, but did not post here or elsewhere because it is pretty bad and I wanted no part in spreading anywhere the idea that it could have been made up. (The only part I agreed with at all was the concern for the camp. I have 3 kids who went to a PA camp for a total of about 10 summers, that was also family run and family owned - so I have had some sympathy for the camp. There was nothing in Brown's story that suggested that the camp knew what happened and closed their eyes.)

Suggesting it didn't happen is beyond the pale - and likely unprovable - even if true. (I believe he likely was molested.)

Politically, it is brain dead, especially as there HAS been at least somewhat of a minor backlash because the BH and BG both questioned how he could have backed Perry. In addition, the BH had an excellent article with someone who works with abused kids, where most of the responses were negative for Brown because he did not identify the man. This turns it around to Brown being the victim. If the DSCC did this, I hope JK condemns it when proven.

To me the real negative theme emerging is that he has little empathy for kids struggling with poverty now - in spite of his past. BlueMass has a thread that connects his getting a summer job funded by the government and his voting against the Patty Murray/John Kerry amendment that funded summer jobs and extended TANF. This IS relavent - not for the past - but because unlike the rest of the MA delegation, he genuinely does not see that help is sometimes needed. (That he himself benefited is beside the point. In fact, I wonder if he believes the coach at school who found so much time for him and changed his life, deserved the pension, he is likely now living on, that his union won for him.)

[Mass]

66. Pat Murray is at the head of the DSCC.

I am bothered by the fact Ben Smith seems to be the only source and he does not give any other source. It is a weird story (though it could be true) because why would the reporter in question tell Ben Smith rather than writing the article himself/herself. most MA papers have written about this and questioned some choices. Even the TV stations here in the western part of the state have done that. So, what is the point of sending these emails to people who already know, and what is the point of forwarding this to papers from out of state? I dont quite follow.

Obviously, it could be true. It is just so weird.

[karynnj]

67. Thanks - at least I don't have to be angry at my Senator

Your point is a good one. There is not a MA paper where someone - in comments - has not raised the issue. It also is inherently unprovable. Even if the camp and alumni between them gather all the group photos for that summer and there is no hippie - it does not mean that it did not happen and over time Brown's image became distorted.

[Mass]

68. I' m confused. Where does it say it did not happen?

All I read was point at Brown's hypocrisy and his attempt to use this for political gain. V

[karynnj]

70. That's what I would read out of "a political stunt"

What is weird is that they have the problem with Perry flipped. No one is attacking him for speaking of being abused, they are saying that, in light of it, his willingness to endorse Perry is harder to understand.

Some of the other articles on the Cape Cod side by a man named London are pretty close to calling him on his claim.

[MBS]

61. some possiblly noteworthy reponses to this article

(see "comments" after article)

1.

This is stupid and wrong if the DSCC is doing this. But, there is no proof in the article that the DSCC is doing any such thing. Every MA elected Democrat has praised Brown for speaking out - none questioning the truth. The Cape Cod Today site has had many posts from many people - not surprising as the camp was in Cape Cod. There is a huge difference between these people asking these questions or asking how he could have supported Jeff Perry and the DSCC doing so. IWhat I question is whether this is a smear of the DSCC - as well as a smear of Brown, by repeating these unwarranted speculations.

2.

If you bozos would read this entire posting carefully, you will realize it is former associates from the Christian camp asserting Brown is making this up, The DSCC is merely acting upon a possible political opprotunity. Of course, republicans would NEVER do this. No, nononono, the party that invented dirty tricks in modern political history in this country is pure as the driven snow. Way to shoot first and ask questions later!
Posted By: read, damnit, read! | February 25, 2011 at 02:20 PM

Other comments articulate some of the same suspicions that have been voiced on thie thread.

But, follow #2's advice, and read the actual column written by the editor Cape Cod Today: It's very strongly worded.
http://www.projo.com/opinion/contributors/content/CT_walter_02-24-11_MOMMELS_v3.8eef43.html
Also,another piece by a New York writer http://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/2011/02/25/scott-brown-a-political-obituary?blog=53

See also comments at http://www.capecodtoday.com/
(While you're there, look on lower right and suggest your preference for senator.. this is a chance for people to really HELP MA dems get our senate seat back, guys

[Mass]

62. Done. Thanks. Though I did not think he was quite old enough to run for the Senate.

Time flies.

[MBS]

71. I strongly urge DUers to vote NOW re Dem senate race

at http://www.capecodtoday.com/
You can vote once a day. (Just saying. . . ;-))

Dem candidate is currently one vote behind.