I have mixed feelings about this wave of sexual harassment allegations against rich and powerful men.
I’ve even been a fan of some of these characters…Louis C.K. and Al Franken in particular. However, they are “characters”, so misbehavior of a sexual variety on their part is not all that shocking to me.
For starters, I certainly believe that if a rich and powerful man attempts to take advantage of that position in order to coerce sexual favors, of any kind, that’s just plain wrong…and should be roundly condemned and, if the facts and elements of assault (or worse) are present, prosecuted. If this wave of outrage and condemnation is about exposing such behavior, then it’s a good thing.
But you’ll have to admit that the current phenomenon goes a bit further than that. We now have “anonymous accusers” suddenly empowered to “bring down” the celebrity or politician of their choosing. Could some of this be politically motivated? Well, it’s certainly possible, now isn’t it?
The bottom line is that we humans are sexual animals. We like sex. Sex is often a motivator for success in life, i.e., we are motivated to be more successful in order to get more sex. Women spend countless hours and dollars making themselves attractive to the male species. There’s nothing wrong with that…it’s natural. And when their efforts succeed, should they be allowed to cry foul and potentially ruin a career because the attraction got a little out of hand?
Well, perhaps yes and perhaps no…like most things in life, it depends on the facts…doesn’t it?
And then we come to the curious case of Roy Moore (while lurking in the shadows of the uproar circling around Moore is the even more egregious case of our sitting President)…
Moore, a professed devout evangelical, has been accused of sexually assaulting underage girls when he was in his 30’s. He’s now 70, so we’re talking about incidents that go back some 4 decades and are hardly prosecutable due to the statute of limitations for such crimes. So, we’ll never know for sure whether these allegations are true or not, will we?
Should 4 decade old allegations of sexual assault against minors disqualify a man from holding one of the highest offices in the land, that of a U.S. Senator?
Some say yes, others no. Ultimately the people of Alabama get to decide that issue. So, we will know for sure come election time on Tuesday.
However, the curious case of Roy Moore has peaked my curiosity for other reasons as well.
On the one hand, you have the allegations of some pretty bad sexual misbehavior. But even more troubling for me are his abhorrent ideological views.
Such as…
-clinging to the now completely debunked birtherism charge…
-his hatred towards gays…
-and Muslims…
-and his unconstitutional notions about the role religious views should play in actual government policy.
If you add all of the above together, it’s a pretty toxic mix.
Nevertheless, he very likely will win on Tuesday and become a sitting U.S. Senator. Apparently the ideological bent of the majority of Alabama voters is such that they see eye to eye with Moore…as crazy as that seems to me and many others.
Or is there something else going on?
Moore will of course give Republicans a more solid hold on the Senate and that will help Trump get his “agenda” passed. An agenda I of course vehemently disagree with.
Could it be that all this Republican support flowing towards Moore is motivated by pure political expediency?
That even though most Republicans find Moore abhorrent on many levels, they’re willing to hold their collective noses and support him anyway?
Hell, Trump even stated bluntly that political expediency is exactly the reason behind his support for Moore.
And that brings me to the salient point of this post on the curious case of Roy Moore …
One of the fundamental ideas that undergirds impact mindfulness is that of putting ones impact over self-interest. And it would seem that elevating a character like Moore to the office of U.S. Senator is a perfect example of the opposite, i.e., self-interest over impact.
Why do we keep doing that?
It seems that American politics has devolved into this ideological battle where one side must defeat the other, at all costs. Even the costs of electing a lunatic as Senator…or even as President.
The thing I’m afraid of is that ultimately we all will pay the costs of this type of thinking…and voting.
And one of the most impactful and patriotic ways to put one’s impact over self-interest is in how you vote.
It’s not about winning…it’s about governing.
And governing is about doing what’s best for everyone, not just those on your ideological team.
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