I should’ve written this post a few weeks ago, but the latest sexual assault allegations against San Diego Mayor Bob Filner leave no doubt that he has to leave office and fast. Better yet, he should be in a jail cell somewhere. This is just truly appalling:

Fernandez, along with Army veteran Gerri Tindley, joins 11 other women who have publicly accused Filner, 70, of making unwanted advances, from groping to verbal passes.

They are also among at least eight female veterans and members of the National Women’s Veterans Association of America (NWVAA) in San Diego who have made accusations against the mayor. Almost all of the women were victims of sexual assault while they were in the military.

The women, like Fernandez, say the former chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee used his significant power and credentials to access military sexual assault survivors, who they say are less likely to complain.

That’s just so vile. There certainly have been calls for Filner’s resignation over the past month, but they should be even stronger. The evidence against him is solid (he’s already checked himself into therapy, basically admitting he has a problem) and the allegations against him are so nasty. Every newspaper should be out with an editorial demanding that he resign. That’s what makes this graph a little disconcerting:

This is a Google Trends search of newspaper headlines over the past 90 days. The first allegation against Filner came on July 11th and the story picked up steam towards the end of the month, but the last couple of weeks have seen a drop in coverage. Maybe this new revelation will cause a firestorm of news stories that force Filner out of office. I hope so. Because this is beyond unacceptable for an elected official, particularly for the Mayor of a major US city. Enough of this: Filner needs to resign. Immediately.