The Los Angeles Times clapped back at Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rep. Karen Bass for her admonishments of her challenger’s alleged “failure to protect” women at USC. A school the Times pointed out granted her an honorary degree while they battled the fallout of one of their school heads being caught in a scandal.
Bass is under federal scrutiny for a $95,000 degree she obtained that an email from then USC Social Work chair Marilyn Flynn alluded to providing the same benefit for Bass that they were looking into for Mark Ridley-Thomas.
Once the Times wrote about it, Bass put out a campaign ad blasting former USC Board Trustee Rick Caruso for “covering up” misconduct by gynecologist George Tyndall that resulted in the university paying out close to $1 billion in damages to his victims.
“The real USC scandal we need to talk about is how he failed to protect these young women.”
Karen Bass
Then either Matt Hamilton, Julia Wick, and/or Benjamin Oreskes, whose names are on the byline of the article USC scandals assume starring role in L.A. mayor’s race, with Bass, Caruso pointing fingers asked the most relevant question.
Bass has remained quiet on USC’s many scandals for years, accepting her honorary degree from the university in the wake of the revelations about Tyndall (in 2019).
The Times asked her campaign if she had previously spoken out about sexual misconduct at USC or taken actions on the subject. Her spokesperson did not address the questions.
They went so far as to note that she sat next to Caruso during the 2019 graduation ceremony where she was a featured speaker.
Brilliant!
In fact, you don’t find many members of the Democratic Party willing to speak on the issue of women being mistreated badly at the hands of men, and I think they were silent when Eric Bauman was being accused of taking advantage of men. It’s only seems to be a problem when a Republican does it.
Bass has publicly condemned attacks on Jews in Los Angeles and anti-semitic fliers left at a business in Westwood, the passage of ADA education and reform, actions taken in Sudan, violence in Cameroon, and the ‘Compton Cookout‘ but nothing publicly condemning the “coverup” at her alma mater? Until now?
I guess outrage is only useful during election season.
1 Comment
I think you mistake style for substance here. The Times thought it clever to ask her campaign when she previously spoke out about sexual assault at a private university that costs close to $100K annually while located in South Central but it was simply trite.
Isn’t it obvious sexual assault anywhere is a bad thing? But today’s culture likes Jerry Springer snap backs rather than acknowledging the core facts:
Caruso was literally overseeing the aforementioned university while the scions of celebs and the wealthy faked their athletic resumes to gain admission; literally oversaw a university that hired and extended the contract of a medical school dean who did drugs before and during fundraiser’s for the medical school and carried on affairs during the time he should have been working for the school; continued to back aforementioned university’s President even after these scandals exploded onto the pages of the LA Times.
But yes, “clapped back” when asking a woman candidate what she thinks about sexual assault at a campus that bestowed upon her an honorary degree. Oooo… buurrrnnn.
/sarcasm