Monday, February 26, 2018

Monica, Your Ship Has Sailed. Make Way for the New Generation

I just read Monica Lewinsky's latest attempt to explain herself to We, the People, in Vanity Fair. You can read it, too. She has found a new platform for shifting ownership of her actions in labeling herself as victim. 
Sure, my boss took advantage of me, but I will always remain firm on this point: it was a consensual relationship. Any ‘abuse’ came in the aftermath, when I was made a scapegoat in order to protect his powerful position.” I now see how problematic it was that the two of us even got to a place where there was a question of consent. 
Now she sees that as problematic. Let's think this through. She's an intern in the White House which used to mean you were smart, well-spoken, and basically mature, even for a kid right outta college. She goes on to say,
But it’s also complicated. Very, very complicated. The dictionary definition of “consent”? “To give permission for something to happen.” And yet what did the “something” mean in this instance, given the power dynamics, his position, and my age? Was the “something” just about crossing a line of sexual (and later emotional) intimacy? (An intimacy I wanted—with a 22-year-old’s limited understanding of the consequences.) He was my boss. He was the most powerful man on the planet. He was 27 years my senior, with enough life experience to know better. He was, at the time, at the pinnacle of his career, while I was in my first job out of college. (Note to the trolls, both Democratic and Republican: none of the above excuses me for my responsibility for what happened. I meet Regret every day.)  
This is the heart and soul of the issue. She wanted the intimacy; she admits she owns the behavior, but at the same time she casts herself in the role of victim. Pretty good trick. We don't know which version to believe. 



Frankly, I don't care if she was hunting big game in the Oval Office or just playing courtesan. It doesn't matter. I think I liked her better when she owned her actions outright without shading them in the forest of Me, Too. 

This is a new and not-so-improved version of sleight-of-hand. Pay no attention to the brain behind the curtain.  It's easier to look pathetic if you kinda admit wrong-doing, but then blame others. Al Franken is a perfect case in point. It didn't matter that Tweeden was a showgirl who dished out as much as she got. It didn't matter they had her on film grabbing Robin Williams by the nuts...but then again, Mr. Williams wasn't around to counter her claims of victimization. Garrison Keillor was railroaded the same way, as the new interview in the Strib seems to confirm. Both men owned their behavior and were destroyed by it. Lewinsky profits and that pisses me off. 

Shifting focus isn't limited to sexual peccadillos. It's any time a story is hijacked for personal gain. Our current administration is turning this into an art form. Every time there's a story they don't like, they shift the focus with a tweet from the oval potty or a declaration of "fake news." The complicit press runs after the new rabbit and the rest of us are left to figure out what we're supposed to be seeing or not seeing.

The White House hosted a meeting for Feckless with survivors of school mass murder. Victims and families from Margery Stoneman Douglas High School, Columbine, and Sandy Hook were present. 

Washington Post/ Ricky Carioti
This is bait'n'switch. Feckless leader baits the hook to bring these people together under false pretenses. They believe they are there to talk about gun violence. They want to convince this spineless NRA whore that the problem is the easy accessibility of guns, but instead, he had the unmitigated nerve to ask them if they thought arming teachers was a good idea. Instead of following the talking points in his hands, he says the stupidest thing possible: the problem can be solved by giving teachers "a little bonus" and arming them for the classrooms. Availability of military-style weapons is not the problem at all. Unarmed teachers are. 

Really?

His emotional deficit renders him not only incapable of human empathy, it makes him unfit to serve as leader of this nation. There is no more important a function of the President of the United States than to be, when needed, the Consoler-in-Chief. And my kids thought my empathy chip was removed??? 

Today, however, Feckless Leader stepped over a line at the Governors' Conference that was so grotesque it defies sane explanation:
You don't know until you're tested, but I think I really believe I'd run in there even if I didn't have a weapon, and I think most of the people in this room would have done that, too.
Do We, the People, really look that stupid? Cadet Bone-Spurs is gonna run into a building where there is live ammo going around? I don't think so and here's why. Let me remind you of another incident when an 80 year-old man was hurt at a charity event he was hosting:

I was at Mar-a-Lago and we had this incredible ball, the Red Cross Ball, in Palm Beach, Florida. 
And we had the Marines. And the Marines were there, and it was terrible because all these rich people, they're there to support the Marines, but they're really there to get their picture in the Palm Beach Post. 
So, you have all these really rich people, and a man, about 80 years old - very wealthy man, a lot of people didn't like him - he fell off the stage. 
So what happens is, this guy falls off right on his face, hits his head, and I thought he died.  
And you know what I did? I said, 'Oh my God, that's disgusting,' and I turned away. 
I couldn't, you know, he was right in front of me and I turned away. I didn't want to touch him. He's bleeding all over the place, I felt terrible. You know, beautiful marble floor, didn't look like it. It changed color. Became very red. And you have this poor guy, 80 years old, laying on the floor unconscious, and all the rich people are turning away. 
What happens is, these 10 Marines from the back of the room. They come running forward, they grab him, they put the blood all over the place—it's all over their uniforms—they're taking it, they're swiping [it], they ran him out, they created a stretcher. They call it a human stretcher, where they put their arms out with, like, five guys on each side.  
I was saying, 'Get that blood cleaned up! It's disgusting!' The next day, I forgot to call [the man] to say he's OK.  It's just not my thing.                                                             Interview on the HOWARD STERN SHOW July 16, 2008


No wonder this piece of human detritus needs cue-cards for talking points. 

But the masses are rising up. They are armed with cellphones, social media, and righteous indignation. We, the Children of the 60s, are gonna be a mere warm-up for how this generation will motivate a tsunami of anger over guns. Look around, folks: United, Delta, Hertz, and Enterprise/National are all taking note and pulling out of their contracts with the NRA. More will follow. These kids spend money, and money talks. And they know exactly how to make money talk really loud. And they know exactly how to direct all that righteous indignation.

Feckless Leader and his coterie of spineless jellyfish are already doomed. They just haven't sunk to the bottom yet. They will. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Ms Lewinsky, your ship sailed long ago. 
You are not part of this wave, and you are not really a Me, Too kinda gal either. 
Heres's some cheap advice: get out of the way. 
You are about to be run over by a new, empowered generation. 

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