It\u2019s Not for Me to Say<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not for me to say. It\u2019s not for men to decide what consequences are justified in responding to sexually inappropriate behavior of the powerful towards the powerless. Men should not co-opt the response from women (or from other men); that\u2019s just another way of making the victim even less powerful: the whole problem in the first place.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not for me to say. And it isn\u2019t necessarily for Democrats to say either. Many are compromised already. Anyone who found a way to support Bill Clinton after Monica Lewinsky was revealed has \u201csold their own soul.\u201d Senator Kristin Gillibrand of New York is right: Clinton should have resigned. That\u2019s called taking personal responsibility for his actions \u2013 as opposed to: \u201c\u2026it depends on what the meaning of the word \u2018is\u2019 is\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
The Clinton impeachment: impeached by the House of Representatives for perjury and obstruction of justice, NOT for his actions with Monica Lewinsky. The House leadership was itself compromised: Republican Newt Gingrich, just removed as Speaker of the House while having an affair with a staffer, and Bob Livingston, his replacement, resigning from the Speakership and Congress after revealing he too was having an affair. They couldn\u2019t charge Clinton with the \u201csex\u201d part of his actions, they would have had to take too much responsibility themselves.<\/p>\n
But it shouldn\u2019t have been Hillary paying the price. Her decision to \u201cstand by\u201d her husband was hers alone \u2013 none of us have the right to tell her what she should have done. Bill Clinton\u2019s actions and his failure to ever take responsibility for them, have altered our political history. Reasonably its impact cost Al Gore the Presidency, and probably Hillary as well. They are two of only five Presidential candidates that won the popular vote but lost the election.<\/p>\n
Think of the changes a Gore Presidency might have made: no Iraq war, more climate agreements, perhaps no economic collapse of 2008 \u2013 the world would definitely be a different place. And a Clinton win last year \u2013 well \u2013 we can see what differences that would have made.<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s not for me to parse the differences between Al Franken imposing a kiss, Larry Craig reaching under a bathroom stall in Minneapolis, or Clinton\u2019s actions in the hallway with Lewinsky. But here\u2019s what I can say: the victims should not pay the consequences. Monica Lewinsky was unwillingly dragged into the Clinton mess, her \u201cfriend\u201d Linda Tripp revealing her to the Starr investigators. Her life, twenty years later, is still controlled by those moments. And how many other victims were further victimized by being willing to tell their story \u2013 from Anita Hill (Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas) to the sixteen women who spoke out about President Trump\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n In the same way the Congress should not be able to \u201cpay off\u201d women (and presumably men) who have been harassed by Members. $15 million has been paid out in the past ten years in sexual harassment settlements, with non-disclosure agreements guaranteeing the silence of the victims and the anonymity of the perpetrators. That\u2019s our money, protecting Congressional misbehavior. We all should have a say about that.<\/p>\n Last year we entered an era that said: no matter what transgressions \u201cour\u201d candidate may have committed, as long was we agree with them politically, it doesn\u2019t matter. While Donald Trump was obviously a beneficiary of that view, many from the other side would say that WE accepted Hillary Clinton\u2019s \u201ccorruptions\u201d in this devil\u2019s bargain (I obviously don\u2019t agree with that<\/em>.) \u00a0Let\u2019s hope that our nation can step back from that view.<\/p>\n And then there is clearly criminal behavior. Judge Roy Moore, currently playing the victim of the \u201cBezos-Amazon-Washington-Post,\u201d is accused of committing sex crimes with minors. The statute of limitations has run out on these actions: it will be the voters of Alabama who will act as the jury. It IS for them to say, and I expect they will do what\u2019s right, deny the devil’s bargain, and make sure Moore\u2019s political career ends now.<\/p>\n In the final analysis, in this moment when our society is recognizing our responsibility to the victims, it should not be up to the \u201cold white men\u201d of the government to determine what size changes should be made. Sexual harassment is all about the powerful and the powerless: it should be the powerless who get to exercise the determination of what should happen next. IT IS FOR THEM TO SAY.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"