Has there ever been a greater
volcanic eruption of news on a single topic than the one on sexual abuse in
Hollywood, the media, and the Washington Swamp? To use an apt metaphor, the
lights have come on and the cockroaches are scurrying for cover in all directions.
We’ve always known, I suppose, that
the movie producer’s couch was used for more than interviewing star-struck
ingenues. But did we know that the
abusers in the media included so many of our trusted icons? Rose, Halperin, Zimmerman, Oreskes, Steele,
Fish, Wieseltier, Thrush, Ailes, O’Reilly, Bolling. The list grows every day and will keep
growing, as victims of abuse now realize they can speak out without fear of
being ridiculed, disparaged, or fired.
Scandals in Hollywood and the media
are bad enough. But now the sex-abuse volcano is about to blow the lid off the
Capitol Dome. Revelations that Congress has shelled out $15.1 million in
taxpayer money to shut up victims of its members’ predations have produced outrage
across the land, and the people demand answers. Who were these guys? What did
they do? Who were the victims? Will they be allowed to come forward now? Why
did taxpayers have to foot the bill?
At the heart of this scandal is a
system of rules designed to shield culprits from accountability by first
preventing victims from filing timely complaints and then maintaining strict
secrecy on who the abusers were and how much hush money was paid to keep
victims quiet. Who designed that system? Who, among the sitting senators and representatives
signed on to it? The answers to these questions should be made a matter of
public record, and the guilty should be made to reimburse the taxpayers.
And more. Congressman Conyers is the
first to have been caught with his pants down (figuratively and literally). He
should resign immediately, followed by Senator Franken and every other member
of Congress unmasked by this scandal. Open the books! Drain the Swamp!
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