Serious Stuff

                Almost daily it seems like there is new evidence that this country is losing its collective mind. For several weeks it seems like there was a deranged mass shooter on every corner and then suddenly we are focused on over a dozen sex scandals that all seemed to come to light in the same week.

                Not to mention the acquittal of five-time deportee Jose Garcia-Zarate, the murderer of Kate Steinle in San Francisco in 2015, strictly because a jury made up of California’s finest citizens, no doubt, wanted to flip off President Trump for wanting to end sanctuary cities, which are the craziest phenomenon of all in this country right now and one of California’s favorite symbols of defiance.

                What was a seven-time convicted felon doing with a gun anyway? California, normally feverish about anyone possessing a firearm, was strangely content that this poor (illegal) immigrant just looking to better his life was playing with a gun that “accidently” went off and shot Steinle squarely in the face.

                Fortunately, the Department of Justice seems concerned about that minor oversight and it also seems Zarate may find himself on trial again for the illegal possession of a firearm in a new and improved venue.

                This is serious stuff, murder and rape. It shouldn’t be ignored. But how is it the news we receive seems to be theme-based from week to week? Anyone else find that odd? Are editors and reporters currently sitting in a room (imagine the stench) planning next week’s daily news diet?

                I don’t have an answer. I just think it’s weird.

                This latest rash of sexual assault scandals has to make everyone’s heads spin. They weren’t all last week, of course, but that seems like when the media chose to make it the daily headline. What I will call the “current” media feed of allegations actually began back in October with Harvey Weinstein followed shortly thereafter by Roy Moore.

                Since then the list of accused offenders trumpeted daily in the press includes but is far from limited to comedian Louis C.K., Ben Affleck, Dustin Hoffman, Al Franken, Garrison Keilor, music mogul Russell Simmons, Kevin Spacey, Nick Carter (Back Street Boys), Congressman Blake Farenthold (R-TX), Senator John Conyers (D-MI), NYT White House Reporter Glenn Thrush, Disney Animation Director John Lassiter (Disney!!!) and more. So many more. I’m sorry if I missed your personal favorite villain.

                Bill Clinton even has four NEW accusers that we have never heard from before.

                Massage Envy, operating 1100 locations with over 1.5 million clients, is currently under investigation for 180 separate sexual assaults.

                And perhaps the most alarming revelation in a fire-hose stream of alarming revelations is that, according to the Office of Congressional Compliance, $17 million tax dollars have been paid out in the last 10-15 years to settle 260 sexual harassment suits brought against the men (almost exclusively, I think) we freely elect to represent us in our Federal Government.

                Those funds are paid out of a special treasury fund actually created by the Congressional Accountability Act (let the irony of that sink in for a second) just to deal with “unanticipated expenses on a case-by-case basis.”  We will likely never know the details of those assaults or harassments because all 260 checks were issued in exchange for signed non-disclosure agreements.

                And those are just the ones we know about (well, now we know) because the monies came out of an official fund that has some accountability and the OCC guys had to come clean when asked.  How many other settlements have there been paid out of individual legislator’s office budgets like the $27,000 settlement paid in “salary” over three months by Senator Conyers?

                Seems he failed to get a signed nondisclosure agreement.

                Whatever is going on has apparently been going on for a long, long, long time, even though it seems like ground-breaking work by our esteemed (steaming) media unprofessionals. And thank goodness it has come to light in a big way. This is horrible. In addition to seeking solutions to the problem, however, my other concern is will the spotlight stay on the issue long enough to change some things or will the media be off slaying new dragons next week?

                Additionally, we could use some clarification of the issues and we need some discussion of the topic(s). Some of these situations involve rape or other serious physical sexual assault. Some were disgusting occurrences of putting people (I guess not all the victims were women) in horribly uncomfortable situations. Some may have been what we used to call “innocent flirting,” and we need to decide if we’re going to continue to call it innocent. And I’m afraid some of the charges may have been completely made up—hold on to your horses, I’m not looking to give anyone a free pass here.

                I am sorry I don’t remember who said it and all I can find online is that an estimated 120,000 innocent people are in prison and there are a bunch of songs about “innocence,” but last week a feminist spokesperson said something along the lines of “It doesn’t matter if some innocent men go to jail, these women need to be believed and taken seriously.”

                I couldn’t agree more that any woman brave enough to come forward and tell her story needs to be taken seriously but I can’t go along with imprisoning innocent men just because they are accused. Imagine the Salem Witch Hunt environment that could create if disgruntled employees or gold diggers too lazy to even do the digging merely had to make an accusation to get a check or send whomever they were angry at to jail?

                Nope. If we are serious about curtailing an abhorrent situation for many women in this country we need to brace ourselves for the long, messy and expensive process of adjudicating every case. That’s the process we have always used—innocent until proven guilty, even when it’s obvious. I think we make a mistake if we let the current emotional frenzy over so much sudden information dictate a shortcut of our justice system.

                Indeed, should there not also be stiff penalties for false accusations? If for no other reason than to take the “witch hunt” factor out of it?  I think so. I don’t think or intend for that suggestion to discourage women from coming forward. Just because a man may not be convicted doesn’t mean the woman should be.

                But remember the Duke Lacrosse Team? How many young men’s lives were changed if not ruined by fabricated charges and overzealous prosecution. Please. We need to be wary of letting the pendulum swing too far the other way.

                And we need to keep noise out of the process as much as we can. If hoaxes and fabrications become as numerous as genuine crimes it will make it all the more difficult to try and curb what is a legitimate, horrible and serious problem.  And the resulting cynicism will make it more difficult for women to come forward and less likely there will be support for an ultimate solution.

                The abundance of current information, no matter how old, is nauseating. So often we believe that merely bringing attention to an issue in this nation leads to solutions through raising awareness and much of the time we are right. I am the absolute last person to give today’s media credit for anything other than sucking but if they have at least accomplished that much in this case: well played for once.