2017-12-10
Sacrificial Clown at the Altar of Hipocrisy
The recent resignation of Al Fanken brought to mind Malcom X's discussion of American democracy as hypocrisy. Thank you Maureen Dowd for shedding light on this most recent Democratic party great hypocrisy. As if Clinton Inc. did not know that Weinstein was as rapist (even Jane Fonda knew!), as if they believed the women who accused Bill Clinton.
The accusations against Al Franken pale in comparison to those against Weinstein and Clinton---if they are even real. Yet, all the Democratic party senators who are now so outraged with Franken, including Gillibrand, were holding hands with Bill Clinton in the 2016 convention and in their own campaign events---as if the women who accused him never existed---and taking money from Weinstein. All of them, plus Gloria Steinem, Madeleine Albright and Hillary Clinton, should now apologize to Clinton's accusers for not believing their recollections---those women are still there waiting for that recognition, and there is, after all "a special place in hell for women who don't help each other".
Democratic party leaders should apologize that the most well known feminist in the land, as well as the first woman nominated for the presidency by the Democratic party, fat-, age- and slut-shamed rather than believed those women, as now they so sanctimoniously shout we should do in the Franken case. They should also explain better how they did not know about Weinstein. This has nothing to do with excusing X because Y is worse, but about simple fairness and decency, rather than hypocrisy and shamelessness of mythical proportions.
My guess is that Franken is the sacrificial clown so that the Democratic party doesn't deal with the bigger offenders and its collective guilt on the topic. Franken's actions should certainly be investigated and taken where they should. But the idea that the party is doing this because of a watershed moment against sexual assault is a joke. I will believe that when all those apologies start coming out. As Maureen Dowd says, "that's no way to be the party that protects women."
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The accusations against Al Franken pale in comparison to those against Weinstein and Clinton---if they are even real. Yet, all the Democratic party senators who are now so outraged with Franken, including Gillibrand, were holding hands with Bill Clinton in the 2016 convention and in their own campaign events---as if the women who accused him never existed---and taking money from Weinstein. All of them, plus Gloria Steinem, Madeleine Albright and Hillary Clinton, should now apologize to Clinton's accusers for not believing their recollections---those women are still there waiting for that recognition, and there is, after all "a special place in hell for women who don't help each other".
Democratic party leaders should apologize that the most well known feminist in the land, as well as the first woman nominated for the presidency by the Democratic party, fat-, age- and slut-shamed rather than believed those women, as now they so sanctimoniously shout we should do in the Franken case. They should also explain better how they did not know about Weinstein. This has nothing to do with excusing X because Y is worse, but about simple fairness and decency, rather than hypocrisy and shamelessness of mythical proportions.
My guess is that Franken is the sacrificial clown so that the Democratic party doesn't deal with the bigger offenders and its collective guilt on the topic. Franken's actions should certainly be investigated and taken where they should. But the idea that the party is doing this because of a watershed moment against sexual assault is a joke. I will believe that when all those apologies start coming out. As Maureen Dowd says, "that's no way to be the party that protects women."
"They attack the victim, and then the criminal who attacked the victim accuses the victim of attacking him. This is American justice. This is American democracy and those of you who are familiar with it know that in America democracy is hypocrisy. Now, if I’m wrong, put me in jail; but if you can’t prove that democracy is not hypocrisy, then don’t put your hands on me." Malcolm X.So Hillary, married to an alleged sexual abuser, took $ from an alleged sexual abuser to help her defeat an alleged sexual abuser and ended up losing partly b/c of an alleged sexual abuser. https://t.co/8nHzvLvbV1— Amy Chozick (@amychozick) December 6, 2017
Labels: #hipocrisy, #politics
