I read it, and responded. When your issue occurred, did you obtain the man's name and go to the press/social media to ensure he was properly shamed? No, you called him out immediately, probably embarrassed the hell out of him in front of a bunch of strangers (perhaps friends/family/colleagues too), and I certainly hope he never acted that way again. Or at least that's how I read your story.
I think that's the way this woman should have handled this issue. But, we can certainty agree to disagree. It appears that you, and others, feel that GHWB should have been publicly shamed at the end of his life in front of millions.
Ok, and apparently that woman did not feel comfortable making a point of it right then, for various reasons... some of which you're making obvious right now. Just because the person who did it is considered to be a 'fine American' does not make it ok.
It seems like GHWB is handling his reaction appropriately and hopefully he's done with his lame 'joke' or whatever. If he had not been called out, would this have happened? How many people have seen or heard of him telling this joke and acting this way before now? "Oh, but it's fine - it's just GHWB! He's greaaaat, and married! No harm, no foul!"
Massive. Eye. Roll. Nobody gets a pass, and the response to this story is so effing backwards. The fact that the general consensus is NOT "oh man, yikes. he shouldn't have done that, I hope he apologizes" speaks volumes to the actual issue, especially when couple with the fact that you're ACTUALLY GETTING UPSET AT A WOMAN FOR THE FACT SOMEONE TOUCHED HER INAPPROPRIATELY. You might think this is just some one-off attention grab thing for her, but do you not understand that THIS IS THE PROBLEM WITH ALL OF THIS BEHAVIOR AND THE WHOLE POINT OF THE 'ME TOO' THING IS TO GET PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND HOW FREQUENTLY IT HAPPENS WITHOUT ANY TYPE OF REPERCUSSIONS FOR THE PEOPLE DOING IT.
Let's put it this way in terms of the whole "giving him a pass" thing. An old man in a wheelchair pinches your ass. Do you (1) call the cops, (2) slap him, (3) cuss at him and accuse him of sexual assault, (4) ask him politely not to, or (5) roll your eyes and blow it off? I'm guessing 4 or 5, and the reason is the context of it. He's old, he's wrong and likely knows it, but he's also harmless. I know millennials think they're hot shit and world changers, but we haven't acted in that way since the beginning of time because we somehow weren't as advanced in our morality as millennials. We've acted that way precisely because the situation warrants such a response. 1, 2, and 3 are all overkill. We reserve the first 3 for something a bit more serious.
I don't know if you're being difficult on purpose, or what. The fact of the matter is all of these behaviors have had their eyes rolled at forever because when women try to bring to light the fact it makes them uncomfortable, you are literally telling us to brush it off and get over it. Hell, you can do that, so why can't I? Oh, and that's cool that your wife will also roll her eyes and move on. And guess what, I have also managed to 'get over' the fact the guy did it to me on the plane. But why should I have to? Why is it a problem to begin with? Because you and people like you are effectively condoning the behavior. You can't contain this behavior to just 'old guys' or 'married guys' or 'guys that mean well' or 'good citizens' and saying it's ok for one group just normalizes and makes it somehow acceptable on a wider scale.
Why should your wife even be in a position to have to brush something off. Why is it up to me to have to figure out how to respond to these behaviors. Why can't men just NOT FUCKING TOUCH MY ASS.
People like you need to step in and say, blanket statement, THIS IS NOT OK. This is never ok. Is it rape? Is it aggravated assault? No. It doesn't matter. It is still NOT OK.
Stop trying to tell people that it is ever ok.