This just in: Two women accuse Herman Cain of inappropriate behavior

It's a long story, and obviously worth a read. Because the man is running for president, I think it's fair game to ask him to explain the details.

I do, however, worry that these kind of allegations are always presumed true, regardless of whether we have all the facts, and regardless of what the facts actually say. I remember being on a conference call once where I was informed that it was rude to ask a woman to prove a sexual harassment charge against a male coworker - I was told that her allegation was all you needed. And while I can appreciate that such cases might sometimes be hard to prove (even when true), I also appreciate that people sometimes lie in order to hurt others.

I have no idea what the truth is here. And it's admittedly not unpleasant watching a scandal unfold on the other side of aisle. Still, it worries me that there really is no way to live down an incendiary accusation like this, even if it ends up being false. After all, how do you prove what you didn't do to someone else in private?  Then again, it's equally hard to prove what someone did do while you were alone with them, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.