It is virtually impossible to believe anything we hear from the Left.
Why is that? The answer is simple: the truth is seldom an element of what we hear. One thing that is certain is everything that those on the Left say or write supports a Leftist political agenda. And everything and everyone are secondary to the importance of the fulfillment of that agenda.
In addition to this objective always just below the surface of what we see and hear, there is the ever-present double standard about everything they are part of. Take the current state of “political” affairs — that special Senate election in Alabama next month. Certainly the horrendous details of Judge Roy Moore’s sexual philandering as many as 40 years ago with underage women have not been lost on you. The chargers and the charges are daily piling up new allegations like Canadians are piling up firewood to get ahead of the winter weather. Women of all ages, from all backgrounds, and from everywhere in the nation are stepping forward to cast a cloud of evil over the Alabama GOP candidate running to fill the empty seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. With every new allegation or salacious story about Moore comes new charges against the former Alabama Supreme Court Justice. Please know that ANY sexual harassment by anyone is evil and unacceptable. This in no way is an effort to legitimize anything Moore has allegedly done. It is simply to show by comparison how politicians on the Left do not receive the same treatment for the same sins as those on the Right. (Please see the story posted here “Judge Roy Moore: Bulletpoints”)
Is What’s “Good for the goose, good for the gander?”
Not so much if you’re a Democrat. When it comes to the sexual misconduct of Dems, the ever-present double standard pops up every time. Let’s look at a few:
Former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer and Congressman Anthony Weiner
Spitzer was disgraced and ultimately resigned his post as NY Governor when his involvement in a high-end prostitution ring was made public. Weiner — the estranged husband of Hillary Clinton confidant Huma Abedin — was “exposed” (pun intended) when he was caught posting pictures of his own various body parts in internet communications with underage girls. Even though both ended up relinquishing highly visible political posts in their scandals’ aftermaths, Democrat leadership locally and in Washington failed to step forward to publicly register their horror for the NY Governor or the former Congressman.
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford
Sanford disappeared for almost a week without notifying his staff or his wife. With South Carolina’s capital, Columbia, buzzing with talk of impeachment, Sanford, 49, held a press conference to explain himself: he’d gone to visit an Argentinian woman with whom he’d been having an affair. Apologizing to his wife and four sons and choking up repeatedly, Sanford said he’d spent “the last five days of my life crying in Argentina” and had ended the yearlong dalliance. Sanford now serves in Congress.
Congressman Barney Frank
The powerful Massachusetts Congressman almost undid his D.C. career in 1989 after having an affair with Steve Gobie, a male prostitute. Although Frank was single at the time — thus not committing adultery — he did pay someone for sex (with personal funds), which is illegal in his state of Massachusetts. Congressional leaders never even talked about Frank and certainly never took any negative action for his illegal activities. He served in Congress until he was ready to retire and never lost any prestige or power.
Bill Clinton
In the early days of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, the most damning evidence was presented by Linda Tripp. A close friend and confidante of Monica Lewinsky, Tripp recorded her conversations with the White House intern — conversations that revealed intimate details of what Lewinsky said was a sexual affair with the President. It was these tapes that, when handed over to special prosecutor Kenneth Starr in 1998, led to the expansion of the investigation into Clinton and Lewinsky’s supposed relationship, paving the way for an eventual impeachment vote by the House of Representatives. Of course the President survived the impeachment proceedings and until this day is held in the highest political regard by millions. And he was never attacked in the media or by Democrats on the Hill. The women who stepped forward detailing sexual harassment by the former Arkansas governor and President were Juanita Broaddrick, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willy, Arkansas news reporter Leslie Millwee, former fundraiser Sandra Allen James,
Senator Al Franken
The former SNL comedy star was exposed for sexual harassment today — so far by two women. Also released today were the audios of appearances Franken has made in front of live audiences where he makes comic remarks about sexual harassment. In one of the cases a picture showing his attempt at sex comedy with one of the women who was asleep at the time has been released.
“Rocky Balboa”
Almost simultaneously with the release of the Franken information was a verified story of Sylvester Stallone and an associate having simultaneous sex with a 16-year-old girl in a Las Vegas hotel room. And a police report was filed by the girl. Details of the report and the incident are pretty graphic. Of course a spokesman for Stallone has denied any of the details in the report. Reportedly Stallone threatened the girl if she went public because “both men were married.” Las Vegas police decided to not move forward with any legal actions against the Hollywood star even though because she was a minor they could have. Their reason? The girl who was obviously petrified declined to file charges.
Summary
There’s a disparity in the way Leftists treat the allegations against Clinton and those of other powerful men. President Trump, Harvey Weinstein, Bill O’Reilly and now Judge Roy Moore and the rest are unequivocally denounced as sexual predators, and their alleged victims are believed. But when Leftist pundits even bother to comment on Bill Clinton’s wrongdoings, the former president is merely accused of crimes; he has alleged misdeeds on his record; his actions require us to uncomfortably re-evaluate his legacy; his accusers are untrustworthy, or they’re simply promiscuous; and besides, it doesn’t matter, because he’s not running for president anymore. Most of the others detailed above received the exact same treatment. But maybe things are changing.
Geraldo Rivera today evaluated the apparent change in the way America globally is viewing sexual harassment from its view of harassment during the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. It seems that society may have stopped totally turning its back to such shenanigans. As an example, one writer for a well known New York daily reached out to about a dozen individuals who had years ago publicly stood by then President Clinton during the volley of sexual harassment (and even rape) allegations against him. Today, NONE would reaffirm their support of the former Harasser in Chief.
The “case” against Roy Moore may best illustrate this change in attitude. How? Every accuser has shared horror stories about their treatment by the Senatorial candidate that were mostly from incidents from 30-40 years ago. NONE has provided any evidence. Yet many in the public automatically believed the allegations and immediately turned against Moore.
Franken and Moore may be the sacrificial lambs in this process. It seems Americans may have gone from one extreme — ignoring claims of sexual harassment unless proven — to the other — believing all claims of sexual harassment even without evidence. Historically, when circumstances like these unfold that influence such drastic and immediate changes, eventually at resolution the process evolves into a solution in between. In those cases, for a period of time there will be those caught-up in one extreme or the other. We may be at that stage now.
Regardless of how the process plays out, it absolutely MUST play out fairly. The standard of sexual harassment must be equally meted out to any offenders regardless of political or economic status. After all, aren’t we all promised “equal justice under the law?” That Constitutional promise should be universal and apply here as well, even outside criminal circumstances. Americans deserve no less than that from other Americans.
In these cases, “What’s good for the goose MUST be good for the gander.”
