Scott Brown: childhood victim of sexual abuse

[Brittain33]

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/02/sen-scott-brown-tells-60-minutes-he-was-sexually-abused-by-a-camp-counselor-video.php

No joke or snark. I've only read the title. Holy crap.

I feel badly for him and his family. I also imagine this would account for some of his political stands in the past and opposition to gay rights--and humanizes him much more to me, because before, I thought he was just mean and lacked empathy.

[Brittain33]

How can we be sure if it isn't public game, as he's looking forward 2012?

I can not imagine any benefit he would gain from making up a personal confession like this that he couldn't have achieved with something less, well, personal. Maybe he has motives for 2012, I don't know, but I don't think it matters. The fact is that he talked about it.

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He's being completely serious. It's been a bit of a mystery why Brown has been so steadfastly anti-gay while being a moderate on other issues and knowing the way these issues play in Massachusetts.

[Brittain33]

Insurance to guard against a strong challenger edging him out. Not lessening the seriousness of what he's saying, but it's all about getting sympathy.

He's also selling a book.

[Brittain33]

All three of us are gay men in Massachusetts, so none of us sees this as an "excuse." On the contrary, this gives me hope that he may be able to work through some issues he has hidden from his closest family for decades... And perhaps become a better senator for the whole state as a result.

[Brittain33]

His vote to repeal DADT was a late-game change. He was a bitter ender for a long time. It's why I have hope for a turning point. Opposing gay marriage in massachusetts when it is settled law and completely off the table is an unnecessarily conservative position for someone younger than Marie Parente.

[Brittain33]

It's seems odd to me that three gay men are entirely comfortable equating child abuse with homosexuality. If Scott Brown was a woman would his child abuse history give him reason to oppose heterosexual marriage?

Again, it's not an excuse, but an explanation. I am not equating child abuse with homosexuality. I also understand why someone who was abused by an older man would carry with him resentment toward gays, whether or not I think that's fair. It would then have been easy for him to go through life never having his general prejudices challenged, because many or most people agreed with him and framed them as political issues rather than respect for other people. It's harder to do that with opposing heterosexual marriage, that's part of the world he lived in in the 1970s and 1980s and the politics he entered in the 1990s. We never had an explanation before how he came through to 2010 with his complete lack of empathy for gays intact, other than that he was just another entitled jerk.

I think that being a U.S. Senator and a pivotal vote on gay issues have forced him to answer more for something he never gave much thought to because he could be Senator No for years beforehand and no one cared. I may be projecting. But I see this as a chance for him to work through his issues. I'm not endorsing them.

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No one cared about him or his past until last year. Then he wrote a book and decided to be frank about this part of his life. Makes sense to me.

[Brittain33]

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/02/sen-scott-brown-tells-60-minutes-he-was-sexually-abused-by-a-camp-counselor-video.php

No joke or snark. I've only read the title. Holy crap.

I feel badly for him and his family. I also imagine this would account for some of his political stands in the past and opposition to gay rights--and humanizes him much more to me, because before, I thought he was just mean and lacked empathy.

You're still not voting for him though, right? 

Nope. Not going to change on that.

[Brittain33]

Me, Mr. Moderate, and Dan the Roman.

[Brittain33]

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

Apparently some are suggesting Brown fabricated the whole thing as a political stunt. Really, how low can you go?

The people accusing him of making it up appear to be affiliated with the camp where he said it happened, so there's some non-partisan logic in their actions. Not that I believe them.

[Brittain33]

Amount of political gain Scott Brown gets from mentioning past sexual abuse: near 0
Amount of people here willing to declare a sitting U.S. Senator a sociopath based on their "gut feeling" and nothing more: lots

Where "lots" = 2 people on this thread, one who gets into fights with everyone on the other side, and the other apparently suffered sexual abuse himself. (and who, I read now, doesn't hold the view spelled out here.)

[Brittain33]

The only thing that actually does bug me about this whole issue are the amount of people essentially responding with "aw, I understand so much more about him now, the delicate little thing" in regards to his positions on gay rights contrasting with the state he represents. It's silly and it grates on me. The man shouldn't be treated any better or any worse just because of it.

We may have a misunderstanding here... I don't think he should be treated any better moving forward. I think his future decisions on gay rights should be held to close scrutiny. I'm gratified to have an explanation for his past callousness. 

[Brittain33]

In reference to the camp, coming from the area, it was known back in the day to have...issues as such. But I suspect, it is almost campagin season again, so it is time to get everything out of the closet.

And to "making me understand his position" on gay rights, well I just don't see how the event and that are connected... For DADT he is a military man, a lawyer, but a military man nonetheless, and the reason he hesitated, is that it is and has been a big "debate" within the military for some time (over its implications). As for marriage, well, despite MA having that right, he may not like using the term "marriage," but is in support the term civil unions, which is not an uncommon political position even in MA.

Back when he was a state senator, he hewed to the most conservative line possible, which included at times not approving of civil unions. At this time, supporting civil unions in a fuzzy way is as conservative as you can possibly be in Massachusetts.

He's never shown any empathy for or interest in the issues gay people face.