In a world where we’re finally starting to take allegations of sexual misconduct seriously, what is next? How do we as a society treat the perpetrators? Does it matter if they are contrite? Are there different levels of seriousness? All these are very tough questions that I don’t think we, as a whole, quite have the answers to yet. Here to help us get the dialogue started are Dr. Kristi Winters and Charone Frankel!
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Isn’t it bizarre that Donald Trump has admitted to behavior as bad as Roy Moore’s and probably worse than Al Franken’s, but we’re not discussing Trump’s behavior at all—nor is he? It seems we have accepted that there are enough people in the congress, the Republican party and the corporate oligarchy who will support Trump regardless of his character and behavior that there is no point in even discussing his transgressions—they are off the table. Other offenders are being fired from jobs and professional situations and having their careers pulled out from under them, but Trump is immune, I guess because the Court of Public Opinion, via the 2016 election, found him not guilty, or at least not guilty enough. Otherwise deplorable behavior can be excused, it seems, if the offender is acceptable to a power base that is, for the time being, unassailable—or simply too much trouble to assail.
Hey Thomas, to give my opinion on the hypothetical you’ve presented in the show and also to the question posed at the end: I don’t think the answer would ever be to vote in (or leave in) someone who has that blemish (or more than a blemish, obv.) on their record. First, I don’t, at all, think that Moore’s and Franken’s behaviours are worthy of comparison and am not equating them to each other in the least. But, as many (manyyyy) men are quick to respond #notallmen to a discussion of systemic problems, I need to point out that, indeed, not all men are guilty of such behaviours. They are the ones who should become welcome and desirable in the positions that Moore and Franken now hold, and such zero tolerancy policy can demonstrate, phisically, monetarily and hierarchically, that only men who have clean records may be public servants and in ANY position of power. If you believe that a democrat with a crusty past can do more good with their policies, you also need to be aware that by voting such a person in, you are demonstrating with your vote that we as a society are willing to overlook impropriety and even crime as long as we agree with the positions of a person we wish to support (whether or not those are the “right positions” to take or not).
And that, to me, is very very scary.