Dylan Farrow, now 28 years old, is the adopted daughter of Oscar-winning director Woody Allen. In "An Open Letter From Dylan Farrow," published in The New York Times, Dylan accuses her father of inappropriately touching her "for as long as I could remember." She said: "When I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother's electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me."
Not good news for Mr. Allen -- or for Hillary Rodham Clinton. Here's why.
Dylan's brother, Ronan Farrow (formerly known as Satchel) is Allen's biological child. Ronan Farrow was appointed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's special adviser for the Office of Global Youth Issues in 2011. He has long sided with his sister, considering his dad a monster who serially molested his sister and who, through his representatives, called his mother and sister liars.
Former President Bill Clinton's defenders did the very same to accusers Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey, Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky, Gennifer Flowers, et al, that Ronan believes Woody did to his mother and sister. These women -- most of whose claims were eventually admitted to by Bill Clinton -- were shamed and blamed. Was Hillary involved in these verbal attacks? To what degree was the famously hands-on wife of Bill involved -- or even worse -- leading the "nuts or sluts" strategy used to malign his accusers as either crazy or of questionable morals?
Media justify the attention on so-called "Bridgegate" because, after all, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is a likely GOP presidential candidate. Why does Hillary Clinton get a pass over the serious allegation that she bullied a woman who claims Bill raped her?
Juanita Broaddrick, an operator of nursing homes, accused former President Bill Clinton, then Arkansas' attorney general, of rape. Broaddrick, then a Clinton campaign volunteer, described what allegedly happened in a Little Rock hotel room. "Stupid me, I ordered coffee to the room," she said. "I thought we were going to talk about the campaign." Broaddrick told "Dateline NBC": "I first pushed him away. I just told him 'no.' ... He tries to kiss me again. He starts biting on my lip. ... And then he forced me down on the bed. I just was very frightened. I tried to get away from him. I told him 'no.' ... He wouldn't listen to me."
What does this have to do with Hillary?
Broaddrick claims that two weeks after the rape, at a political event, Hillary approached her. "She came over to me, took ahold of my hand and said, 'I've heard so much about you and I've been dying to meet you. ... I just want you to know how much that Bill and I appreciate what you do for him.' ...
"This woman, this little, soft-spoken -- pardon me for the phrase -- dowdy woman that would seem very unassertive, took ahold of my hand and squeezed it and said, 'Do you understand? Everything that you do.' I could have passed out at that moment and I got my hand from hers and I left. ... She was just holding onto my hand. Because I had started to turn away from her and she held onto my hand and she said, 'Do you understand? EVERYTHING that you do,' I mean, cold chills went up my spine. That's the first time I became afraid of that woman."
Bill Clinton publicly called White House intern Monica Lewinsky, a liar.
Bill denied having an affair with Gennifer Flowers, publicly called her a liar, while surrogates trashed her as a "saloon singer." Years later, Clinton finally admitted that, yes, Flowers told the truth when she said their relationship had been sexual. The President's defenders dismissed allegations by former Arkansas staffer Paula Jones, who accused then-Gov. Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct. Clinton defender-in-chief James Carville said, "If you drag a hundred dollar bill through a trailer park, you never know what you'll find."
In the midst of all this, Hillary appeared on television -- and blamed political opponents. "The great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it," she said, "is this vast rightwing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president."
During the '12 campaign, the media spent considerable time on an unproven accusation that teenage Mitt Romney abused a gay high school classmate by cutting his hair nearly 50 years ago. When will Hillary face questions about her role in the mistreatment of Bill's alleged victims of sexual assault, abuse or harassment? What, if anything, did she say to Broaddrick?
And how much did she know when she self-righteously blamed their scandals on the "vast rightwing conspiracy"? Allegations of threats, abuse and thuggery are one thing when, like Allen, one makes movies. But Hillary may become the president of the United States.
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