One thing that strikes me as strange about the Biden touching scandal is that the incidents all took place in public. These inappropriate touchings were all out there for everyone to see. There is not even for the most part a he said she said, it is a plain we saw.

Now at the very least this means that something the public saw and let pass without comment at the time is now considered scandalous.

The retroactive application of new standards to old behavior is problematic for a number of reasons.

Cultures change over time. Standards evolve. The standard for what is considered appropriate touching are cultural standards. We would have no trouble with the notion that the boundaries of personal space, the rules about where you can place your hands on another, the degree of deference owed to women and what is considered appropriate affection can differ from one country to another. Different countries, different cultures. What is normal in Italy, say, may be considered an assault in Norway. The same may be said of different parts of the same country. What my be considered appropriate in the North may not be in the South and so on.

The past is like a different country. Just as it can be unfair to apply the standards of one country to another, it can be unfair to apply the standards of one time to another.