The US elections and the lessons of the Clinton impeachment crisis

The US elections and the lessons of the Clinton impeachment crisis



All filled with useful lessons for today's sexual harassment scandals! (Not the same in detail: but the same political principles possibly lurking behind it all...



Also take a look at this for a bit of Bill Clinton contemporary perspective! 😉



www.neopagan.net/ReligiousReich.html. (A pagan liberal's take on the Religious Right - and their not that successful attempts to impeach Clinton! Isaac Bonewit's view as to why is very funny.. Third Function and fertility gods indeed! 😄)

The politics of the Harvey Weinstein scandal

The politics of the Harvey Weinstein scandal



 #metoo people, supporters please take note..

'What is involved here? Setting aside the superficiality and frenzy of the media, what is the politics of the Weinstein scandal?

Unquestionably, something more is involved than simply Weinstein’s behavior. We hold no brief for the Hollywood producer, a renowned bully and abuser of his employees, if nothing else, nor vouch for his morality. If only a fraction of the sexual harassment allegations are true, his conduct has been repugnant and perhaps criminal.

Of course, boorishness and crudity are not illegal and the allegations of assault and rape remain just allegations at this juncture. Like everyone else, Weinstein has constitutional rights, including due process and the presumption of innocence. If there is evidence of criminality, he should be prosecuted.

However, when a lynch mob begins to gather, it is always wise not to jump in and participate. Everyone deserves a trial in which he or she can mount a self defence.

On the basis of bitter experience, one certainly has the right, even obligation, to be suspicious of the Times, theNew Yorker and the pressure-cooker atmosphere that has been almost instantaneously generated, or summoned up.

There is a lengthy history of sex scandals in America (and Hollywood—Charlie Chaplin and others), none of which has led in a progressive direction. The sex scandal is a mechanism through which other issues are resolved, often to the satisfaction of powerful economic interests and generally with the result that politics is pushed to the right. The Clinton-Lewinsky affair, manipulated by the right wing and a subservient media, took center stage in American political life for nearly two years and almost led, in what was an attempted coup d’état, to the removal of a twice-elected president.

The Times and the New Yorker went to some pains to pursue the Weinstein issue. Farrow claims his article required ten months of investigation.

Rumors about Weinstein have apparently been circulating for decades. Veteran publicist Cari Ross, writing inVariety, confesses that “I can’t remember a time when I didn’t hear stories about Harvey and his behavior as a sexual predator.” If the charges against Weinstein are true, and such people knew about them, their present actions are all the more disreputable.

Why the decision to go after Weinstein now? Of course, if the accusations are true, it could be argued, we should simply be pleased that his conduct has come to light, whether this month or a decade ago. But, again, that would be to assume only the highest, most disinterested motives on the part of the Times and the media as a whole—a reckless assumption.

Those who have made accusations have the right to tell their stories. However, the demand being made by the media and certain prominent figures, that people who don’t know anything must issue denunciations, is simply foul.

Frankly, aside from the alleged victims, no one comes out of this looking well. Nearly everyone seems to be acting out of cold-blooded business calculations. Actress Meryl Streep, who once called Weinstein a “god,” has issued her mandatory verbal attack.

Even assuming that much of what has been alleged is true, one would have to have a heart of stone not to see an element of tragedy in this affair. It does not excuse anything, but to the extent that there has been any life in the mainstream American film industry in recent decades, Weinstein has had some hand in it. He hasn’t produced great films, but he has done some interesting work. Now he has been thrown to the wolves, by his own brother, by his wife …

Let’s say he is guilty of reprehensible conduct—and there is still a line between harassment and rape—nonetheless the commentaries that have been published, the bloodthirsty comments, the ridiculous tirades against “men,” are all rather disgusting and even frightening to read.

And what about the role of the Times? As the world teeters on the brink of nuclear war, and a madman shoots and kills or wounds hundreds of people in Las Vegas, this is what the “newspaper of record” zeroes in on. TheTimes has thrown considerable resources into this investigation for reasons it has not explained.

The sanctimonious comments of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, the Times editorialists et al, expressing their outrage and amazement over Weinstein’s activities reek of hypocrisy. These are people responsible for, or who lost no sleep over, drone strikes, illegal bombings and assassinations and the murderous activities of the American military and CIA in every corner of the globe.

It is also not pleasant to read the comments, in theTimes, of complacent petty bourgeois like Lena Dunham, the brains behind the television series Girls, moralizing about Weinstein. The latter may well be a first-class swine, but he is not a war criminal like Clinton, up to her elbows in the blood of thousands of Libyans, Syrians and other defenseless peoples, who Dunham vehemently supported in 2016.

In any event, it may not be possible for us to determine, at this point, which particular accounts are being settled and whose interests are being advanced. It is not necessarily the case that such articles are written with a fully worked out plan, although the Times is unquestionably pushing its identity politics agenda. It is safe, however, to assume that the scandal will have consequences.

We would issue a warning: a process has been set in motion that some of those now piling on may live to regret. Predictably, the fascistic Breitbart News, a breeding ground for anti-Semites and other scoundrels, is making a meal of the Weinstein affair. “Liberal Hollywood” can still reap a whirlwind.

The hysterical atmosphere, the recriminations, the new opportunities for feuding and name-calling, have produced an intimidating climate in Hollywood.

And who is next?

It is not that difficult to envision a new round of Congressional hearings, this time on sexual practices or harassment in Hollywood, which has ‘polluted our culture’ and ‘corrupted the nation’s morals,’ instead of producing ‘healthy Christian films’—hearings run by the House Un-American Sexual Activities Committee. And writers, directors, producers and actors, sadly, would be too terrified not to testify.

The middle class moralists never stop to think about the convulsive political context in which the scandal has erupted, and which it has helped to deepen. The victory of Donald Trump—an enormous shock to the affluent upper echelons of the entertainment industry—has been followed by a series of vicious conflicts within the ruling elite itself over foreign policy, including the dishonest, malicious anti-Russia campaign (spearheaded by theNew York Times). The phony drive against “fake news” has now become the pretext for escalated, McCarthyite attacks on dissent and freedom of speech.'

Exactly. "Liberal Hollywood" may indeed "reap the whirlwind". Sown by such "liberal" papers as NYT. The Right wing, Breitbart etc, stands poised to take over all such scandals, if it doesn't start them. The level of right-wing figures (Roy Moore) caught up in such scandals will always be kept below that of the left. The Bill Clinton impeachment affair proves that.

What, indeed, if all sorts of left-liberal figures get caught up in this supposedly "feminist" witch-hunt?? Kevin Spacey is only the first of many. As McCarthyism shows, things might start with "the usual suspects", but they never stay there... The web of accusations spreads and spreads... Things like this develop an insatiable life all their own.

😏👎

How not to fight Judge Roy Moore

How not to fight Judge Roy Moore

Yes, exactly! Precisely!

'Even if the allegations against Moore did lead to a trial, one of the requirements of due process is that there remains a presumption of innocence for the defendant until a jury returns a finding of guilty. This is an axiomatic democratic principle that has been completely forgotten in the current atmosphere. In the wake of the torrent of accusations of sexual misconduct against numerous Hollywood figures, charges of sexual abuse and even rape are treated as indisputably true as soon as they become public.

Those on the American “left” who have embraced the anti-Moore charges, and the “me too” sexual abuse campaign more broadly, must confront the serious implications of the abandonment of the principle of “innocent until proven guilty.”'

'Those who wish to apply the principle of “guilty as soon as accused” to Judge Roy Moore must consider what precedent is being established for the future. What happens when a nominally left-wing candidate for president, say, Bernie Sanders in 2020, faces similar allegations and salacious reports? It is not difficult to imagine Breitbart, Fox News and the Wall Street Journalleading the charge, producing women to allege misconduct by Sanders in his college days or during his bohemian existence as a carpenter in Vermont before he turned to politics. In the present environment of hysterical piling-on, Sanders could expect mass desertions from his campaign and overnight political collapse.

The presumption of innocence is a democratic principle with far-reaching implications. If Roy Moore were to be removed as the Republican candidate by means of such allegations, after winning a clear victory in the party primary, how would this develop the political consciousness of working people in Alabama, or in the United States as a whole?

Those working people who mistakenly support Moore and the Republican Party, against their real class interests, would see rank hypocrisy, as a candidate was driven out of the race for offenses that were both unproven and not much different from those alleged against several presidents, including Clinton, Trump and even, most recently, the 93-year-old ex-President George H. W. Bush.

The successful use of such charges to achieve a political result would only encourage the proliferation of such mudslinging. American political life is already debased: Donald Trump is, after all, the elected president. To turn elections into a referendum on the alleged sexual practices of the candidates would only debase it further. And what debases political consciousness and drives public debate into the gutter aids only the right wing, which thrives in an atmosphere of ignorance, prejudice and slander.'


wsws.org hits the nail on the head on this subject yet again! 🔨

#metoo supporters please note!

May a word be spoken on behalf of Kevin Spacey?

May a word be spoken on behalf of Kevin Spacey?



Read this people! It's a brilliant, humane article on the whole Hollywood witch-hunt by WSWS's top arts writer David Walsh.



And it's attracted 100s of comments! Some of which are mine! (I'm liz_imp on Disqus.)



Make sure you click on the link if you stumble upon this!

Trump to build on Obama’s antidemocratic legacy

Trump to build on Obama’s antidemocratic legacy

Again, a thousand pities, both of these presidents!

As can be seen from the article subheadings:

Unlimited spying

Torture

Assassination

Immunity for police [VERY bad idea: and I hope you don't have to be black to see it!]

Criminalization of dissent and the persecution of whistle-blowers [Eg, Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning.]

Unchecked presidential powers

Emergency powers and states of emergency


Oh dear! Let's hope the American elite can still spell "constitutional" by the end of Trump's (4-year) reign.

Author Steven Brust replies to petition of writers against Trump

Author Steven Brust replies to petition of writers against Trump

Yes, exactly! SF/fantasy writer/musician Mr Brust puts it very well! Obviously a smart and switched-on kinda guy. But I could not have signed this petition even had I wanted to; for one thing because I am not an American and do not live in US but in UK; and secondly, because in May of this year I was in hospital - for MONTHS - and it was an emergency admission so I had brought no laptops or tablets with me - supposing I'd had any - and anyway what I really needed was a new smartphone; and I've only had this one just over a month! ☺

Anyway it looks like they only wanted (published) writers. That mean conventional-publisher, MSM-published writers? How outdated! 😄

But anyway. Due to lack of funds and crappy stuff breaking, plus various other disadvantages/disasters, I've been largely off the internet and social media since sometime in 2013. Well, I'm back now; and intend to pay a lot more attention to several of my blogger accounts.

I would only like to comment further on the above-linked article to the effect that it is not my opinion that there is much that will be constructive in defeating neo-fascism or demagoguery by voting for a minority or even a "third" party under the current electoral system. The US needs to change its electoral system and introduce Proportional Representation. The old two-party system is about as useful today as a 1970s computer!

The Democratic party likewise needs to totally reform its selection procedure. If it had allowed Sanders the nomination then he would be in today instead of Trump. Sanders might not be a socialist's socialist, but he would have been a lot better for the American people than either Trump or Obama. IMO.

Trump’s authoritarian government of nationalism and war

Trump’s authoritarian government of nationalism and war

Yes, unfortunately! This looks like how it will go.. However, will Trump manage to cosy up to Russia more than Obama managed - or wanted to - or dared to?

And what about the Middle East? How will that go?

Trump is such an unknown - and unproven - quantity. Thus far, I think it's still a case of Watch this space.