Less than a month ago, the #MeToo hashtag went viral and we started to have a collective conversation about sexual assault, abuse and harassment.
I was both dismayed and simultaneously heartened to hear the many people willing to start speaking up about a topic that has been shushed for far too long. It was a brief moment of unity on a somber topic.
That all came to a screeching halt with U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore and allegations of sexual assault from multiple women, one of whom was 14 years old at the time.
Judge Moore said he “didn’t remember dating girls without their mother’s permission.” What in the (expletive deleted)? Let me spell it out. Fourteen-year-olds CANNOT.GIVE.CONSENT. Especially to predatory men in their 30’s.
The fragile, newly-born willingness to speak about sexual assault from both sides of the political aisle is taking a beating by the wagon-circling taking place.
Alabama State Auditor, Jim Zeigler, said: “Take Mary and Joseph. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus…There’s just nothing immoral or illegal here. Maybe just a little bit unusual.” Gross.
A GOP county party chair says he would vote for Moore even if the allegations are true, because voting for a creepy sexual assaulter is better than voting for a Democrat.
Moore’s brother says he is being persecuted “just like Jesus” and his wife is pushing (false) claims that 50 evangelical ministers support him after the allegations were revealed. Moore himself claims that it’s the Democrats or establishment Republicans who are “out to get him.”
He and others are using the allegations to fund raise — fund raise! — talking about a vast, left-wing conspiracy (my words) and those nasty women out to get him.
This is exactly why more women don’t speak up.
The attacks against the women who have spoken up are vicious and unrelenting. How dare those women derail a political position for “their guy.” The best example I can think of who knows what those attacks are like is Monica Lewinsky. She was excoriated. Crucified. She became suicidal. Her parents wouldn’t even let her close the door when she was showering.
Over 11 million people have watched her TED talk on “The Price of Shame.” “Public shaming as a blood sport has to stop,” she said. But it hasn’t.
The TED social media editor - herself the recipient of many nasty-grams, including requests that she put a gun in her mouth and pull the trigger, said she was horrified by the level of vitriol spewed towards Ms. Lewinsky when her talk was posted. Slowly, though, she saw a change in the conversation.
There is a glimmer of hope in this mess. People are speaking up and saying “This is NOT OK.”
I applaud Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who withdrew his endorsement of Moore, tweeting “Having read the detailed description of the incidents, as well as the response from Judge Moore and his campaign, I can no longer endorse his candidacy for the US Senate.”
The Salt Lake County GOP, under chair Jake Parkinson tweeted: “New Rule: If you’ve had sex with a minor or lesser things like texted explicit pictures of your reproductive anatomy ... or anything like that, let’s go ahead and agree you’re not running for office. Glad we had this talk,”
Mitt Romney said: “Innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not elections. I believe Leigh Corfman. Her account is too serious to ignore. Moore is unfit for office and should step aside.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell had four powerful words: “I believe the women.”
Mormon Women for Ethical Government - a powerhouse of a new group - released a statement that says in part: “In the strongest possible terms, we assert that sexual harassment, assault, and violence preface the fall of a culture at large and should not be normalized or condoned in any way or by anyone, especially those charged with political leadership. Hence, we boldly condemn any attempts to justify such inexcusable and reprehensible behavior and demand that our elected leaders set a morally sound example.
For those who seek by any means to protect those guilty of sexual aggression and who deflect blame by either accusing the victim or by hiding behind the smokescreen of “fake news!” we issue a warning: Those who hide truth are themselves liars, and share in the greater guilt of a culture sinking into depravity.”
Evangelical preacher Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission tweeted, “There are girls and women in our churches, right now, wondering where they can turn as they are molested by predators.” And then, “A church that worships Jesus stands up for vulnerable women and girls. A church that worships power sees them as expendable.”
Finally, today Matthew Yglesias, “left-of-center” correspondent for Vox, wrote that Bill Clinton should have resigned. “We argued about perjury and adultery and the meaning of the word “is,” he said. “What we should have talked about was men abusing their social and economic power over younger and less powerful women.”
When I wrote about #MeToo, I said we could not be satisfied with a viral hashtag. It must include action. At the very top of that list is hear and believe the victims. Nowhere on that list was a qualifier of, “Unless the perpetrator is ‘our guy’.”
Holly Richardson | The Salt Lake Tribune
Holly Richardson is sick of the win-at-all costs mentality and the idea that political affiliation should trump EVERYTHING, including morality. Time for a reboot.
