Wednesday, August 28, 2013

No Means No - For Everyone

It's not like me to kick a man when he's down. I wait until I'm sure that he's asleep and down that I move in for the swift boot to whatever unprotected area presents itself. This is why I am currently so interested in the daily schedule of his honor, Bob Filner, the mayor of San Diego. I am wondering when his nap time is. In Filner's case, I might even waive that down and asleep rule.
Why? Well, if you have to ask, you a) don't live in San Diego or b) aren't into the seamier side of southern California politics. Filner will be leaving office on Friday after surrendering to calls for his ouster from the community at large. Those calls come from those who see their mayor, not as the champion of the working man and progressive Democrat in an historically Republican city, but rather as the serial sexual harasser that he is. Eighteen women have come forward with allegations of unwanted touching and suggestive comments. This, along with the attendant uproar one might associate with such behavior, is what Bob is referring to as lynch mob mentality. “I faced lynch mobs many times when I was younger,” Filner said, a reference to his activism in the 1960s as a Freedom Rider in the segregated South when he spent two months in a Mississippi jail. It could be that this is where he also experienced unwanted touching and suggestive comments.
This comes at a time when righteous indignation seems to come along as part of the package when public officials get caught in compromising positions. The indignation expressed by Anthony Weiner after he haughtily confessed to a continuing difficulty dealing with is his package as a candidate for mayor of New York City exemplifies this: "I want to bring my vision to the people of the city of New York. I hope they are willing to still continue to give me a second chance." If his vision involves a sexting persona named "Carlos Danger," I would like to believe that the people of New York will do the right thing. Thi is especially true since this would be the third chance, at least, for Mister Weiner and his long-suffering wife, a former assistant to Hillary Clinton.
Clinton? Where have I heard that name before? The guy who lied, repeatedly, about his liaisons with a young intern? Well, that may not be mere coincidence. Could it be that the liberal agenda put forth by the Democratic party for all these years has made it easier for these men to feel somehow entitled to their infidelities. Or still worse, that that they had somehow earned their missteps with all their prior good works on the behalf of so many oppressed individuals?
Gads, I hope not. My hope is that this was the summer where we were reminded of how things can go off the track and our collective moral fiber will tested more when lying to the people about weapons of mass destruction or the existence of alien life stored in government warehouses. In the end, it should be noted that I am not making up the name of the law firm that represents Bob Filner: The are Payne and Fears.

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