Sexual Harassment and Political Revelations
Posted by estiator at 11 December, at 15 : 25 PM Print
THE American public is in shock over the countless recent revelations by women alleging they were sexually harassed by politicians, actors, journalists, and businessmen. These stories bring to light a very grave social issue that affects not only the U.S., and which cannot go overlooked here.
The most notorious case involves Alabama’s Republican U.S. Senate candidate. The accused party, Roy Moore, denies the claims made against him by nine women, among them some teenagers. Despite the sharp criticism directed at him by leading members of Congress from both parties (but not from President Trump, who endorsed him!), he is refusing to end his candidacy.
This story was followed by a complaint from a woman claiming she was harassed by Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.), who admitted his guilt and has issued an apology.
President Trump immediately attacked Sen. Franken on Twitter. This is reminiscent of the old saying about the “pot calling the kettle black,” bringing back to the political forefront allegations made by 13 women against Trump when he was campaigning for the presidency—claims that he categorically denied. He had called his accusers “liars,” threatening to sue them right after the election. (Meanwhile, the audio in which he boasted about how easy women are, whom he could “grab by the…,” and how happily they welcomed his overtures was on television day and night.) One year later, not only has no suit been filed, but the ongoing claims made by these women against the president may end up going to court—as if he didn’t have enough problems to face.
Was the president’s criticism of Sen. Franken, who was accused by two women instead of the 13 who came out against Mr. Trump, a mistake? Many critics and analysts say no. The latter believe that the criticism made by the president was meant to sidetrack public opinion from the serious revelations coming out each day about the investigations regarding the meddling of the Russians in the election and the possible “collusion” between the Republicans’ election campaign—or possibly the president himself—and the Russians.
That fact is that despite the charges brought against former top aides to the president (including “our very own” George Papadopoulos, who has admitted his guilt), nothing has yet to be proven about anyone. The U.S. is not Greece, where the accused are sentenced by politicians, public opinion, and the press before they are even brought to trial. Regardless of anyone’s personal feelings toward President Trump, we all ought to wait. The truth will come out of the four ongoing investigations by Congress, and of course, the most important one, conducted by special prosecutor Robert Mueller.
