What is it with those who think they're powerful?
What is it with those who enable them to mistreat staff?
From David Letterman (Also, come to think of it, at NBC) who apparently viewed the women working for him as his own version of Kim Jong-un's "pleasure battalions," to Matt Lauer, to allegations against Bill O'Reilly to charges against Sen. Al "Touchy Feely" Franken and Rep. John Conyers, to now former State Representative Jimmy Jacks (D-49), it seems their sense of entitlement includes their view... shared by so many other allegedly powerful (mostly) men that women are their to be used as there own sex robots.
Chatting with my wife this morning over the Lauer debacle, she pointed out that NBC knew about Lauer for years and did nothing.... rumors of his behavior had been going around for several years... and they looked the other way.
As they would have THIS time if we weren't in the era of Weinstein.
She said she "...bet there are dozens of men sitting in their offices this morning, shaking in their boots, wondering when the women they've mistreated are going to talk."
As it should be.
But it got me to wondering: when are we going to be hearing about that sort of thing around here?
That attitude isn't limited by the borders of Washington, D.C., or New York or Hollywood.
It was the stuff of legend in Olympia where so much of it and plain, good old-fashioned adultery was the order of the day.
I suppose, if it's "consensual," it's somehow "different." But Olympia requires "favors" of all types to make things happen and when you know who's sleeping with who, and which staffers are subject to this kind of mistreatment, and you remain silent in the face of it, THAT is the kind of thing that enables this conduct.
NBC feigned surprise as if they didn't "know" about Lauer. That's as likely as the democrats in Olympia not "knowing" about Jacks. Of course they knew.
When you see those in government dramatically change their positions on the issues, ponder what's forcing that change to occur. When you see them lie and betray, wonder what the cause of that might be.
We see the end results at all levels of government.
We've even seen it here locally.
So, one wonders: who is guilty of this sort of thing around here? And why are they allowing themselves to be used as tools for the "powerful?"
And then ponder, perhaps, how that enables this sort of behavior... and how silence makes you complicit.
Those in the business and political realm expressing their fake outrage... if they express anything at all... uniformly claim they "didn't know."
Rest assured.... they knew. They just kept their mouths shut, either because of fear... or because they engage in some version of this conduct themselves.
"Fear" isn't a justification. My blog would have maybe 3 posts in it if I was concerned about the personal fall out... which has been huge... over the reaction to what I write.
But I write it anyway, because the truth is worth a few lumps.
What is it with those who enable them to mistreat staff?
From David Letterman (Also, come to think of it, at NBC) who apparently viewed the women working for him as his own version of Kim Jong-un's "pleasure battalions," to Matt Lauer, to allegations against Bill O'Reilly to charges against Sen. Al "Touchy Feely" Franken and Rep. John Conyers, to now former State Representative Jimmy Jacks (D-49), it seems their sense of entitlement includes their view... shared by so many other allegedly powerful (mostly) men that women are their to be used as there own sex robots.
Chatting with my wife this morning over the Lauer debacle, she pointed out that NBC knew about Lauer for years and did nothing.... rumors of his behavior had been going around for several years... and they looked the other way.
As they would have THIS time if we weren't in the era of Weinstein.
She said she "...bet there are dozens of men sitting in their offices this morning, shaking in their boots, wondering when the women they've mistreated are going to talk."
As it should be.
But it got me to wondering: when are we going to be hearing about that sort of thing around here?
That attitude isn't limited by the borders of Washington, D.C., or New York or Hollywood.
It was the stuff of legend in Olympia where so much of it and plain, good old-fashioned adultery was the order of the day.
I suppose, if it's "consensual," it's somehow "different." But Olympia requires "favors" of all types to make things happen and when you know who's sleeping with who, and which staffers are subject to this kind of mistreatment, and you remain silent in the face of it, THAT is the kind of thing that enables this conduct.
NBC feigned surprise as if they didn't "know" about Lauer. That's as likely as the democrats in Olympia not "knowing" about Jacks. Of course they knew.
When you see those in government dramatically change their positions on the issues, ponder what's forcing that change to occur. When you see them lie and betray, wonder what the cause of that might be.
We see the end results at all levels of government.
We've even seen it here locally.
So, one wonders: who is guilty of this sort of thing around here? And why are they allowing themselves to be used as tools for the "powerful?"
And then ponder, perhaps, how that enables this sort of behavior... and how silence makes you complicit.
Those in the business and political realm expressing their fake outrage... if they express anything at all... uniformly claim they "didn't know."
Rest assured.... they knew. They just kept their mouths shut, either because of fear... or because they engage in some version of this conduct themselves.
"Fear" isn't a justification. My blog would have maybe 3 posts in it if I was concerned about the personal fall out... which has been huge... over the reaction to what I write.
But I write it anyway, because the truth is worth a few lumps.
Thank you for always being straight forward.
ReplyDeleteAs one of the children of a (California) state legislator, I (unfortunately) had a "front row seat" during the divorce proceedings of my parents. It seems that there are (apparently) plenty of women who seem to be attracted to "men of power" and the result is a considerable amount of adultery. Another aspect is that legislators -- especially those in positions of power and influence for long periods of time are often in an environment of near-constant praise (often coming from those who wish to benefit in some way). No matter how well centered (and possibly idealistic) a new officeholder might start out -- over the years, there is a danger that they may begin to believe their press releases and lose perspective about their relative importance (and lack of actually invincibility). Many legislators manage to complete their political careers without scandal but some are simply fortunate that their worst behaviors were never revealed to the public. (Too often those who know about such things just keep their mouths shut.)
ReplyDeleteI would observe that the recent flurry of sexual misconduct being reported about members of Congress, the media, and other celebrities started with a leftist attack intended to "cut down" Fox News by revealing the improper activities of Roger Ailes and Bill O'Reilly. However, once having launched these attacks, (the left) did not realize or understand the extended fall out from their concerted attack.