By Laura Ainsworth, Staff Writer
September 18, 2018
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In this time of anonymous op-eds, it was tempting for me to write this without putting my name to it, but it would be unfortunate to see the message diluted with accusations of “Coward!” My work as a staff writer typically does not carry my byline, and there’s a certain freedom in that. I have many friends on both sides of the political aisle and can generally predict what the reactions will be to what I say or write. I have tried to keep my online presence as politics-free as possible, even declining friendship requests from people whose pages are relentlessly and hatefully political. But what is happening with the Kavanaugh vote and the total politicization of the #MeToo movement is just the last straw for me when it comes to left-wing politics, and it’s time to speak out.
It’s gotten to the point that, thanks to the left, I’m embarrassed to be female.
Let me preface this by explaining that I have an unusually varied professional background, embracing both the entertainment world –- music, comedy, theater, radio, journalism –- and also the corporate world. I even spent some time in Hollywood pursuing film work, which I do not recommend. Without a doubt, the abundant stories of sexism and predatory behavior are real and have existed since long before any of us were born. I know what it’s like to have to humor men who have held the key to that next promotion or part and how to gracefully but firmly shut my hotel room door at a corporate conference to keep the boss from following me inside. I know what it’s like to walk into a meeting room full of men, some of whom are checking me out, and think, “What fresh hell is this?”
So does all this stuff really happen? At the risk of sounding like Sarah Palin, “You betcha!” And it’s gratifying to see the stories coming out. (I especially appreciated Linda Bloodworth-Thomason’s firsthand account of the way sexism and misogyny can destroy a woman’s career in Hollywood, but then I became confused by the vague recollection that she was a longtime Friend Of Bill, who is responsible for bringing illicit sex with underlings right into the White House. It would be great to have a long lunch with her and discuss this. Call me, Linda!) But the problem now is that politics has ruined #MeToo.
It was inevitable that at precisely this point in Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation process, the women (in this case, woman) would emerge. This tactic has become the magic bullet to take out candidates and nominees who don’t lean sufficiently left on key issues, particularly abortion. Sometimes the women appear, perform their function, and then essentially disappear back into the void. Call me cynical, but in Kavanaugh’s case, the politically expedient timing of this development, thanks to the deliberate delay by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, is enough to discredit the whole thing. Sure, let Ms. Ford share her story, but it should have been shared in July, when it could have been carefully assessed. We know what this is, and I’m not going to spend my time here making that case. None of us can say with certainty what did or did not happen to Ms. Ford 36 years ago, when they were all kids in high school, but the politics behind this is becoming clearer with each passing hour. WE KNOW.
So you on the left, spare me your concern for women. You use women for political purposes, just as surely as many powerful men use women for sexual purposes. If you really cared about what happened to women, Juanita Broaddrick’s detailed and corroborated story about being raped by then-Arkansas Attorney General Bill Clinton would not have been shoved to the back pages and essentially dismissed by most in the media for decades. Just give me a break.
The #MeToo movement showed some potential at first for calling attention to pervasive sexism, but it has been ruined by “p***” hats, mindless calls to “resist,” and demands that absolutely every woman is to be believed. Isn’t it obvious that saying every woman is to be believed is just as ridiculous as saying every man is to be believed? I’ve had enough of these outrageous double standards.
Maybe in a few decades, people will have regained their sanity and will look back on this time with laughter and derision, the way we look back on the decade of the ‘70s with its lime green shag carpeting---in bathrooms, yet. (Well, a few bathrooms. I digress.) They’ll see it as an odd period when politics “jumped the shark” and people just went bat-dirt crazy, with “safe spaces,” p-hats, wildly unequal justice, and 57 different genders. At the risk of sounding like Cher in MOONSTRUCK, I'd like to figuratively slap you on the cheek and yell, "Snap out of it!!"
Perhaps in the future they’ll blame President Trump for all this, as many do now, but they shouldn't. They should put the blame squarely on those of you who have gone off the rails in your reaction to him. If we’re lucky, the President will go down in history with some pretty solid accomplishments --- such as some great Supreme Court appointments --- but you will be remembered for having completely lost your minds.
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