I’m not referring to Donald Trump this time when I say we’ve never seen anything quite like this before in American history. In mere months a swath of cultural and political overlords who previously reigned supreme, only rarely successfully challenged and only then momentarily, have been destroyed by the acid of their hypocrisy being made public in the most excruciating ways possible. Some would say delicious ways and I would be among them.
Legendary producer and Oscar generator Harvey Weinstein was finally revealed for the pig that he has been for years. Rape charges are not out of the question and will provide yet another shock to the degenerate, bloated corpse known as Hollywood. It is now easier to find someone there who knew about his behavior than someone who did not. Moralizing against mainstream America is a feature at the hours long bore fest known as the Academy Awards. La la land can never again be seen except through the prism of hypocrisy, deceit and decay. Cue the applause sign.
As if this weren’t enough, the unctuous Kevin Spacey went on his own decades long sexual abuse spree only his was against men as opposed to Weinstein’s against women. Ah, Hollywood diversity. Both careers are destroyed, Spacey too may yet face criminal charges, and both, weirdly, went to some faux “rehabilitation ranch” in Arizona where for thousands daily they can learn not to rape, masturbate in front of others, and otherwise sexually force themselves upon unwilling others. The only upside was the terrible show “House of Cards” being canceled. Perhaps Americans will now watch the far superior, original British version starring Ian Richardson, a genuinely accomplished actor.
While we were watching real time karma unfold on the Left Coast, arrogant political commentator and television prima donna Mark Halperin was destroyed by revelations of his own sexual harassment. Coming as quickly as it did on the heels of “The Day of the Locust” come to life in Tinseltown, it was almost too good to be true. Halperin was the preeminent talking head when it came to politics and it’s humorous to see old clips of him holding forth on equality, the treatment of women and the general “better than you” issues.
Then came New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush being suspended for a host of behaviors for which, in a healthier day, most fathers or brothers of the women involved would have knocked his teeth out. Thrush claims health setbacks turned him to drink and his alcoholism was the source of his sexual harassment. Only a mean spirited, vile progressive would suggest he was using that as cover (when the person involved was on the Right) but you don’t have to be a monster to have had the question pass your mind. Here’s hoping for Thrush’s successful recovery but not, to be clear, his book deal with fellow media member Maggie Haberman. For good media measure, NPR News chief Michael Oreskes and Vox editorial director Lockhart Steele were both accused of harassment and summarily fired.
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A quick pointy headed aside: Leon Wieseltier, formerly of The New Republic, was similarly disgraced for behavior that went well beyond the merely boorish toward women. Fired from his current perch at The Atlantic, he was a legend among a certain strata of the intellectual Left. Over in what’s left of Europe, Tarik Ramadan, for years the self-promoting fake face of “moderate” Islam and darling of the Regressive Left worldwide, had numerous substantive allegations of sexual harassment and rape leveled against him, forcing a shamefully reluctant Oxford University to suspend him but not before disgustingly suggesting that the charges could have been motivated because he was a Muslim academic. The cultural rot in Western Europe is terminal.
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Closer to home–well, actually at home–Sen. Al Franken was sent reeling by publication of a now iconic photo of him cupping a sleeping woman’s breasts on a flight back from a USO tour in 2006. Leeann Tweeden, the woman involved, also said Franken forced a repulsive French kiss upon her, causing her to name Franken “fish lips.” Matt Drudge ran with “Senator Perv.”
Swamp headmaster Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (a Republican to the extent it makes a difference in the Uniparty) immediately said the matter should be sent to the Ethics Committee for investigation. Franken immediately agreed. You might lose your job or be sued for such conduct but not a member of the Senate. It’s cute how rubes think we live under one system of justice when weekly the evidence to the contrary is thrown with some force in our face.
Franken might have ridden this out because of the creepy lifeline thrown to him by McConnell. Precisely zero sitting Senators have called for him to resign. Remember this when Republicans pretend they stand for something while asking for your money & your votes.
A second woman accused Franken of firmly grabbing her buttock while posing for a picture at the 2010 Minnesota State Fair. Her husband was present and she complained to him immediately after. This second allegation elicited a feeble response from Franken, saying he didn’t remember the incident and was sorry if the encounter left her feeling “disrespected.”
He was forced to respond yet again when two more women accused him of groping and fondling, one of whom was in a “feminist choir,” whatever that is. Perhaps they have just one song in their repertoire “I am woman, hear me roar.”
Franken has agreed to be interviewed by WCCO’s Esme Murphy, a signal that the effort is at damage control and not accountability, the myth media pretend they serve in our country. Twin Cities television news is unwatchable, which is I why I don’t.
Before you could catch your breath, though, the longest serving member of Congress, Democrat John Conyers was revealed as even worse than Franken, doubtless to the latter’s relief. Conyers is alleged to have flown women in to D.C. for trysts courtesy of taxpayer money, discussed matters with female staff in his underwear and settled at least one harassment matter by using office funds as opposed to the 17 million dollar slush fund only recently brought to light. Some laughed at Trump calling D.C. the swamp; they’re not laughing now.
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Undergirding all of these stories is the delayed reckoning of a media, a political class and a cultural elite that covered up for and defended for decades the sexual predator in chief, Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton herself was in charge of destroying the women he had victimized when they came forward. The media knew and didn’t care. Their collusion with the degenerate Left goes back some time: to President Kennedy and his widespread abuse of women, to his brother who drowned a woman and who became, according to their lights, the “Lion of the Senate.” Other historical personages will likely come to light but for now there is no need to be greedy given the present embarrassment of riches.
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Franken won’t resign, at least not until sitting Senators call for him to. Don’t hold your breath. Online petitions won’t cut it either but for a change, my side is employing them, a page out of the Regressive Left’s playbook. They’re not used to that here. Kudos to American Majority, Minnesota chapter, Lonny Leitner & Jennifer DeJournett, whose petition to resign has over 15,000 signatures.
Referral to the “ethics” committee is the swamp’s way of protecting their own. Why is this? Because other Senators could likely have allegations made against them. To throw one overboard is to throw others. Hence establishment and media firepower is directed at Roy Moore. You’d have thought this wouldn’t work after November, 2016, but as Elvis Costello once sang “some people learn the hard way.”
A friend pointed me toward an interesting article by Richard Fernandez who talked about the ancien idea of true privilege and remarked: “Now with the decline of prestige leadership the time for amateur hour may be here again. As late as July, 2017 Vox could still write with confidence that ‘political amateurs are a threat to democracy. What we need is more expertise and experience, not less.’ Today that advice seems doubtful. Now that we know the kind of experience our betters actually possess, maybe we can do with less.”
Quite so. The story of Trump is the story of the outsider against the insiders. All other analyses miss the point.
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Now Americans can see firsthand the duplicity and cravenness of their political and cultural elites. Nancy Pelosi just today defended John Conyers by saying he was an icon. She must be unaware of the phrase “kill your idols.” Only here there’s no reason to do so when they’re committing suicide through the exposure of their own conduct and steadfast refusal to take meaningful accountability.
The current reckoning is not likely to end soon. Yesterday it was reported that the LA police department has set up a “Hollywood unit” to deal with the flood of accusations against formerly untouchable types. More people in our corrupt and dishonest press will likely be outed as well as those in politics.
The net result of all of this is to destroy the cultural influence of these mandarins and with it their ability to shape, enforce and inhibit what the rest of us can think and say. This is a watershed moment and no, I’m not tired.
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In addition to Alpha News, John Gilmore is also a contributor to The Hill. He is the founder and executive director of Minnesota Media Monitor.™ He blogs at MinnesotaConservatives.org and is on Twitter under @Shabbosgoy. He can be reached at Wbua@nycunarjfza.pbz
Image credit:ROH/Clive Barda 2012, from Wagner’s Götterdämmerung, presented by Donald Macleod at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
John Gilmore
John Gilmore is an author, freelance writer & former opinion columnist for Alpha News. He blogs at minnesotaconservatives.org & is @Shabbosgoy on Twitter
