MA-1: Morse accused of inappropriate sexual relations with college students

[Morning in Atlas]

I'm more concerned about the bigoted trust fund baby running in MA-4, but that's just me.

[Morning in Atlas]

I'm more concerned about the bigoted trust fund baby running in MA-4, but that's just me.

Who is that?

Jake Auchincloss, who is famous for comparing the Confederate flag to the BLM flag and advocating for Quran burning.

[Morning in Atlas]

Why do so many of these “progressive” challengers turn out to be creepy pervs?

Why do so many "progressives" gladly go along with this homophobic hit-job?

[Morning in Atlas]

If a straight woman has her sex life outed, she did nothing wrong and her sex like should remain private (rightfully so, as I've said ever since this incident happened).

If a gay man has his sex life outed, he's automatically assumed to be a deviant and he needs to drop out.

Deeply disturbing stuff, folks. Glad to see my neighbors to the south are so ready to embrace anti-gay stereotypes in order to protect one of their own.

[Morning in Atlas]

Here’s a thought:  Maybe instead of playing the boy who cried homophobia, you guys should stop making excuses for folks like Jon Hoadley and Alex Morse and focus on electing progressives who aren’t despicable scumbags.

Or we could cut the neo-Puritanical BS and stay out of consenting adults' bedrooms.

Even better, we could stop trying to straightsplain homophobia to Adam and redjohn.

[Morning in Atlas]

There seems to be confusion here that needs to be explained.

Sex = Good.

Teaching = Good.

Having sex with students (on your class roster) = Bad.

Having sex with your students who are members of your campus political club and then seeking their political support - Really, really bad.

This is considered ethically unacceptable, for good reason.

As a bisexual male college student who formerly supported Morse, this is 100% disqualifying.

I agree. Good thing that the College Democrats haven't said that #3 or #4 happened.

”In a manner widely understood by our generation to indicate intimacy” means nothing, and with context, disproves that allegation. Most of this is based off of actions on Instagram. DMing someone, following them back, or even adding them to their Close Friends all have deniability. For all we know, his Close Friends might be political, and the former two could be fine. You know, reaching out or DMing people is what you do when you're running a campaign for Congress. The point of "trolling College Democrats events for sex" seems like less of a scheme and more of willful misinterpretation, similar to Lucy Flores's accusations against Biden.

As for #3, if he had sex with students in his department, then it starts to get morally murky. Considering his age and the area he lives in, it'd be nearly impossible not to sleep with a college student. You'd have to be even more selective than the 5% Adam mentioned, considering Amherst, Holyoke, and (to a lesser extent) Springfield are all college towns. This is the only legitimately moralistic debate of the bunch, and considering the context of the sitaution, I can give him some leeway.

I'd have to see the original letter the CDs sent to Morse, proof of sexual intent, or him pressuring students into continuing a relationship. If it's there, then I'll disavow the guy. It'd be scummy - plain and simple. But the evidence that we can currently see points to Morse's innocence.

I'd highly recommend getting your facts straight before throwing around life-ruining accusations against people on here. Those types of things trivialize the harm that sexual predators cause, and hurt accusers who have faced greater trauma. It's one thing to call someone a racist or a sexist. It's another thing to baselessly claim someone wants to dox you. It's a completely different ballpark to accuse anyone on here of what you just did.

[Morning in Atlas]

There seems to be confusion here that needs to be explained.

Sex = Good.

Teaching = Good.

Having sex with students (on your class roster) = Bad.

Having sex with your students who are members of your campus political club and then seeking their political support - Really, really bad.

This is considered ethically unacceptable, for good reason.

As a bisexual male college student who formerly supported Morse, this is 100% disqualifying.

I agree. Good thing that the College Democrats haven't said that #3 or #4 happened.

”In a manner widely understood by our generation to indicate intimacy” means nothing, and with context, disproves that allegation. Most of this is based off of actions on Instagram. DMing someone, following them back, or even adding them to their Close Friends all have deniability. For all we know, his Close Friends might be political, and the former two could be fine. You know, reaching out or DMing people is what you do when you're running a campaign for Congress. The point of "trolling College Democrats events for sex" seems like less of a scheme and more of willful misinterpretation, similar to Lucy Flores's accusations against Biden.

As for #3, if he had sex with students in his department, then it starts to get morally murky. Considering his age and the area he lives in, it'd be nearly impossible not to sleep with a college student. You'd have to be even more selective than the 5% Adam mentioned, considering Amherst, Holyoke, and (to a lesser extent) Springfield are all college towns. This is the only legitimately moralistic debate of the bunch, and considering the context of the sitaution, I can give him some leeway.

I'd have to see the original letter the CDs sent to Morse, proof of sexual intent, or him pressuring students into continuing a relationship. If it's there, then I'll disavow the guy. It'd be scummy - plain and simple. But the evidence that we can currently see points to Morse's innocence.

I'd highly recommend getting your facts straight before throwing around life-ruining accusations against people on here. Those types of things trivialize the harm that sexual predators cause, and hurt accusers who have faced greater trauma. It's one thing to call someone a racist or a sexist. It's another thing to baselessly claim someone wants to dox you. It's a completely different ballpark to accuse anyone on here of what you just did.

It's the correct ballpark, given the evidence we have.

Then you don't even understand the allegations being made. You clearly haven't read the article or the actual allegations that the CDs have made if you think he was having sex with his students or using CD events as a vehicle to hit on gay students.

I'd shut the **** up and make sure I know what I'm talking about before talking tough like that, but that's just me.

[Morning in Atlas]

https://twitter.com/VictoryFund/status/1292873563624570883

“Alex has been running for Congress for more than a year and this letter was released one week before the first debate and three weeks before the primary. It is clear it was timed with the political calendar and without enough time for an independent investigation to be completed. That is a disservice to voters who want a progressive member of Congress but now only have time to make a decision based on vague and anonymous accusations.

“Alex is taking responsibility for actions that made students uncomfortable and we support the independent investigation by UMass, despite no complaints having ever been made to the university. But it is critical the media and others avoid reinforcing tired homophobic tropes or sensationalizing this story because of Alex’s sexual orientation. Alex has been open about the fact that he has had consensual relationships with other men, including students enrolled at local universities that he has met using dating apps, and there are no allegations of non-consent or of anyone underage. The media and voters should review the allegations and determine whether a straight candidate would be held to the same scrutiny and standards.”

tl;dr: The LGBTQ Victory Fund is standing by Morse and explicitly accuse the MACDs of making the accusations for political reasons. They also implicitly criticize people using homophobic tropes.

[Morning in Atlas]

Ladies and gentlemen, this is why the MACDs released their statement when they did.

[Morning in Atlas]

Ladies and gentlemen, this is why the MACDs released their statement when they did.

Oh give me a f***ing break   If it was a political hit job deploying false allegations then that’d be one thing, but there is no evidence of that.  If Morse did what he’s accused of then that’s disqualifying, period.  And btw, UMass found the allegations serious and credible enough that they are not rehiring Morse (not should they).

They're still investigating things. The decision "not to rehire him" sounds more like a precaution than anything.

According to this article, it's not a matter of "rehiring". Some years, he teaches one semester, other years two. I find it hard to believe Morse would be able to balance a mayoral race, a college course, and a Congressional campaign - almost as hard to believe that it would take 10 months for the CDs to find out.

[Morning in Atlas]

I decided to do some investigating, as I'm personally curious as to Morse's attendance of CD events. Looking at their western charter, there are 6 chapters in Western MA. He's not going to be hitting on students at Mount Holyoke or Smith. This leaves Williams College, Amherst College, UMass Amherst, and Holyoke Community College.

There's no mention of Morse on Williams' College's page (which is already scant as is). Holyoke Community College Democrats openly supported him a few weeks ago (their president still has Morse added), but they have yet to officially endorse. By far, there are a lot more recent things here, as Morse is mayor and Amherst itself is in MA-2.

Most events at UMass, where he was most prominently featured, come from before he was a lecturer. There was one event at UMass and one at Amherst College in 2016, when he actually was teaching as an adjunct. If this were true, it'd put Morse's timeline at 27 years old.

Obviously, the "if" is huge here, and you should take this with a grain of salt. For all we know, he could have attended their CD events as a guest, or the Amherst and UMass College Democrats could both have scrubbed their page of any events and done a poor job. I haven't seen anything else on Facebook or Twitter suggesting any in 2019 either, so I think it's unliel

[Morning in Atlas]

Sounding more and more like a hit
https://twitter.com/ryangrim/status/1293378626348552194

Came here to post this. While everyone might be apprehensive of the source, everything checks out.

At the very least, it shows that UMASSCD leadership actively knew about the Morse allegations for 9 months, and that Ennis worked to suppress his campaign in order to push his own agenda.

Morse's defense also matches up with my research of CD events in the area. The last UMass event he attended was in 2016 - before Ennis (or most of UMASSCD's leadership) attended college.

I thought it was woke zoomery gone too far at first, but Jesus Christ it's just as bad as the devil on my shoulder was telling me.

[Morning in Atlas]

Sounding more and more like a hit
https://twitter.com/ryangrim/status/1293378626348552194

Came here to post this. While everyone might be apprehensive of the source, everything checks out.

At the very least, it shows that UMASSCD leadership actively knew about the Morse allegations for 9 months, and that Ennis worked to suppress his campaign in order to push his own agenda.

Morse's defense also matches up with my research of CD events in the area. The last UMass event he attended was in 2016 - before Ennis (or most of UMASSCD's leadership) attended college.

I thought it was woke zoomery gone too far at first, but Jesus Christ it's just as bad as the devil on my shoulder was telling me.

I'll wait for a credible source, no offense

I don't have hard evidence, but you can do your own research and corroborate his CD event attendance yourself. It's clear that that the "Western Regional Kickoff" is the same event.

I also found that one of the students in the article is a real person who does genuinely support Morse. I'm not sure about the other, but one of them is definitely real.

Morse does acknowledge that he messaged a student. I hope he comes forward so we can find the truth.

[Morning in Atlas]

UPDATE: After my own investigation, I can confirm that both of the students mentioned in the article are real UMass students who support Morse.

While the source might be sketchy to some, I've done my own internal investigation. Again - you can easily discover the same information that I did. All you need to do is open your mind and put in the work.

[Morning in Atlas]

These absolute pieces of ****.

[Morning in Atlas]

I want an apology from each and every one of you.

[Morning in Atlas]

Remember when we were all secret sex offenders because we thought these allegations were a hitjob?

[Morning in Atlas]

That is incredibly slimy, and I’m definitely going to re-evaluate my position here. One thing I’d like clarification on: Did Morse have relations with students at one point? That would by no means excuse the hit job, which is wrong and gross, and certainly enough for me to walk back on supporting Neal, but it would still make me hesitant to support Morse fully, for reasons I’ve stated before.

In his first statement he admitted to having consensual relationships with some students, though not of anyone that he himself taught, that he met through dating apps.

Also worth noting that he was cognizant of his position and portrayed himself as a normal guy on Tinder.

[Morning in Atlas]

New ad running attempting to drum up someone — anyone! — with dirt on Morse.

If you were contacted by Holyoke Mayor/Professor Alex Morse "in a manner widely understood by our generation to indicate intimacy”  please contact us right away. You can message us here m.me/acaseforwomen or contact us via the link in the comments

>tfw alex morse hasn't asked how your weekend was on instagram

[Morning in Atlas]

Anywho, there's a debate today.

[Morning in Atlas]

Anywho, there's a debate today.

How was it?

As bare-knuckled as I'd expect it. Lots of attacks from both sides.

Maybe I'm being biased, but Morse was dominant - mainly on criminal justice reform, PAC money, and fighting Trump. For example, Neal's rebuttal was some galaxy brain take about how the corporations that donate to him do so because they Actually Agree with him.

The only real hit Neal landed was on the CARES Act, and that won't be enough to turn the tide.

[Morning in Atlas]

NHDP Chair Ray Buckley seems to have endorsed Morse.

Makes sense, considering the NHGOP tried (unsuccessfully) to torpedo his run for NHDP chair and manufacture a similar sex scandal.

Genuinely glad to see my state party is still alright.

[Morning in Atlas]

My favorite part about this is the UMass Dems' "apology" not mentioning that Ennis and Abramson resigned, and then turning off replies.

Absolute bitch move from the UMass Homophobe Caucus.

[Morning in Atlas]

Unfortunate for Morse, but there's no guarantee he would've won even without the homophobic hit-job.

A bit early but if these results hold I don't even think I could blame the hitjob.

[Morning in Atlas]

Biden would probably have caught less flack to begin with if the only other candidate in the presidential primary was someone to the right of him, like Manchin.

I'd argue that the presence of Bloomberg and Buttigieg helped Biden. Sure, Buttigieg was to Biden's left, but he symbolized everything progressives hate about the Democratic Party. He seemed like a moderate hero straight out of central casting - not to mention him being much worse on police reform than Biden was much more recently.

Overall, you summed up a lot of my thoughts. I don't think Alben would be above the hypocrisy - it's rather human that you'd give people you agree with a chance.