Now among the newly accused of sexual harassment, another cluster of left-leaning moral scolds: we've got Garrison Keillor (that one was a shock), Matt Lauer (ironically, the guy instrumental in getting Trump's "grab 'em by the pussy" audio aired), and Teddy Davis (CNN producer who works with Jake Tapper).
I'm under no illusions that this current moral panic (to use Styx's term) will affect only the left, but for the moment, it does seem to be taking down mostly lefties, with the media doing its level best to highlight the occasional rightie (e.g., Roy Moore and Donald Trump) as a deflection. I don't care who gets taken down, left or right; a housecleaning of this sort has been long overdue, and the way I see it, what we're witnessing are the karmic fruits of mostly male abuse of power, fame, and authority. Fundamentally, yes, this strikes me as more of a male thing than a lefty thing, but if you're looking for an explanation for why so many liberals are currently being accused, look no further than Glenn Reynolds's theory:
As for where this [sexual-harassment furor] came from all of a sudden, I think the deliberate effort to weaponize female anger — before, and especially after, the 2016 election — had a lot to do with it. It was aimed at Trump, but since Trump seems immune, it discharged into whatever targets were available. And the targets around Democratic women are mostly Democratic men.
Speaking of "weaponized female anger," stay tuned for my review of "Atomic Blonde."
For a long time, it seems, rapey or grabby men of the left were given a pass because the "progressive revolution" took precedence over all else (see: JFK, MLK, Slick Willie and countless others). That dynamic is now breaking down for several reasons:
ReplyDelete1. Social media allow individuals to circumvent the traditional gatekeepers in the corporate media, who have been aligned with the neoliberals of the Democratic Party for many decades now, and directly accuse or confront those who may have transgressed.
2. The "coalition of the fringes" on the left is not really unified by anything except hatred of conservative whites. (How else to explain feminists allying with Islamists?) Keeping them all together is akin to herding cats.
3. Anyone who understands female psychology recognizes that women are more susceptible to peer pressure and social trends than men, and the current climate seems to be to go all in on "MeTooism."
Feminism is a call for equality between the sexes but it is also a will to power. A truly strong woman should be able to handle a few flirtatious comments in stride and tell an overly touchy-feely man to fuck off, but when social power can be enhanced by mere accusation, then all bets are off.
The irony here is that SJWs have become the new Church Ladies, which is to say rather unpleasant and humorless scolds. But given that progressivism is itself a vulgarized form of Christianity, such a development should surprise no one.
4. Virtue-signaling is like smoking crack or shooting smack. You build up tolerance after a while and need ever more potent hits to get high. After a year or more of telling the world that Trump is Literally Fucking Hitler (TM), many may feel an urge to go to the next level. Hence, MeTooism.
ReplyDelete5. The legacy media are under assault by the new online media, and the entertainment industry is finding that social justice is not always so great for the bottom line. In other words, the money is not pouring in like it used to, and yet they're still tied in many cases to fat contracts with big names that they'd find convenient to get out of if at all possible. Are you catching my drift?
I'm sure there are many more reasons, if one cares to think about it for a while.
As I was saying, not much holding the Coalition of the Ascendant together apart from hating whitey:
ReplyDeleteKim disagreed with Bass's characterization of businesses like the one he owns, and said when he called police about people loitering, the response time was usually slow.
He said he believed that he was being targeted as a Korean-American. Business owner Mike Choe agreed with him.
Choe, who runs a non-profit that supports Korean-owned businesses, said that he planned to raise $100,000 to fight the bill.
"I do think it's a bad bill that will endanger Korean Americans,” he said.
https://www.themaven.net/bluelivesmatter/news/philly-lawmaker-moves-to-ban-bulletproof-glass-in-businesses-Saf1_mzuD0qK2UuImYTtkQ
6. "Blowjobs for abortions."
ReplyDeleteMoly make an interesting argument: That the Dems made a deal with the devil back in the 1990s when they overlooked Bubba's sexual transgressions in exchange for political power, and with Hillary gone the "liberal" establishment no longer has an incentive to prop up its own corrupt patriarchy.
Matt Lauer Fired Over Sexual Assault Allegations
https://youtu.be/y7d7u4KybgY