Pandora's Box Revisited

The names of sexual predators are flying out of Pandora’s Box at an increasing rate.  There is panic in the media and the halls of Congress.  Deals are being frantically made to stop the bleeding.  The efforts to defeat Roy Moore’s campaign for the Senate from Alabama have resulted in a historic social transformation.  Even with access to Obama’s database and NSA records, the best the deep state can come up with is 38 year old allegations of sexual abuse by Moore.  Moore’s alleged crimes are trivial compared to what prominent politicians and media personalities are being accused of.

People who were outraged at allegation about Moore’s behavior 38 years ago now appear to be defending more recent behavior that is often backed up with photos and documents. 

The scandals have exposed the Congress’s methods to conceal embarrassing incidents.  The Congress Office of Compliance (COC) was set up to deal with complaints.  It reportedly disbursed $17 million over a twenty year period to cover complaints.  The admission about the COC is a distraction of sorts and the 17 million figure is a gross underestimate.  In addition to the COC there is the House Employment Counsel advising members how to conceal their behavior.  These are two institutions that have been reported on in the press.  Are there any more?   

Much has been made of the $17 million payout.  However, neither one of the two prominent politicians who have been exposed paid their victims out of this fund.  Rep. John Conyers paid a former employee $27,111.74 out of his Member’s Representational Allowance account.  Rep. Raul Grijalva gave $48,395 to the female employee who left her job after three months.  Grijalva’s settlement was reportedly arranged by lawyers at the House Employment Counsel.  Is spite of politicians receiving advice from lawyers, these arrangements may be illegal.   Also the COC may be dealing with only a fraction of the complaints.  Tracy Manzer, Congresswoman Speier’s spokesperson told CNN that 80 percent of people who have come to her office to share stories of sexual misconduct never told the COC.

In order to protect themselves from charges of complicity, people in a position of power must claim that the charges against an individual came as a complete surprise.  Matt Lauer’s co-host Savannah Guthrie fought back tears when she announced Lauer had been fired for “inappropriate sexual behavior.  She stated, “we do not know more than what I just shared with you.”  NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack told staff it "may not have been an isolated incident."  If Savannah knew nothing about Lauer’s behavior she has no business in the news business.  If Andrew Lack thinks Lauer’s behavior “may” not have been isolated he has no business being in management.  In 2012 Lauer's former co-host Katie Couric said he pinched her "on the a-- a lot."  Joe Scarborough claimed he attended a Friars Club event for a roast of Lauer.  He claims many of the jokes were made about his sexual pursuits at work.  He added, "So was this whispered behind closed doors? No, it was shouted from the mountaintops and everybody laughed about it,"

This type of behavior is virtually impossible to keep secret.  Politicians have the advantage of paying their victims with other people’s money.  Cokie Roberts, NPR correspondent and ABC News commentator, claimed "every female in the press corps knew" to avoid being in an elevator with Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), and has apparently known about this "for years."  She added, “you know they are so used to it. I mean, the culture of Capitol Hill for so many decades was men being bad.”  Conyers’ attorney Arnold E. Reed, claims there are allegations against "many members" of the House and Senate. He might be suggesting that Conyers does not intend to go down alone.  The Congress of the United States is like a small fraternity.  Members are fully aware of what other members are up to.  Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer know who has stepped over the line.  They knew about Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy.  Kennedy made no effort to conceal his affairs “including public sex in 1985 and 1987 at La Brasserie restaurant.  Yet his colleagues referred to him as “the gentleman from Massachusetts.”

There is an obvious double standard when it comes to aberrant behavior by progressives.  If Judge Moore had drugged and had intercourse with a 13 year old girl that would be a crime.  When Roman Polanski did it Whoopi Goldberg claimed it was not “rape-rape.”  The excuses used to defend Bill Clinton’s behavior are too numerous to recount.  The media does its best not to cover incidents that would embarrassment colleagues or politicians unless they disagree with them.  The attack on Judge Moore appears to have failed.  In fact it has exploded in the face of the left.    They are most likely working on a new revelation that will be announced on December 11, one day before the election.  This will not give Moore’s defenders time to refute it.