The Uses of Disgrace

[EasyAce]

What and whom we shame determines what kind of society we are.
By Mona Charen
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/453771/bill-clinton-harvey-weinstein-democrats-abuse

. . . In the 1990s, liberals and feminists unloaded on Senator Bob Packwood and Justice Clarence
Thomas. These were teachable moments, they said. A superior must never take advantage of his position
to pressure a subordinate for sex or even for dates. Anita Hill was anointed as the “Rosa Parks” of sexual
harassment.

And then came Bill Clinton — and a resounding “never mind” echoed through liberal world. Gloria Steinem
herself offered Clinton absolution in a New York Times op-ed. “If President Clinton were as vital to preserving
freedom of speech as he is to preserving reproductive freedom,” she asked, “would journalists be condemned
as ‘inconsistent’ for refusing to suggest he resign? Forget it.”

Bottom line: Having the “right” views amounted to a get-out-of-jail-free card. Hapless Harvey Weinstein
thought the card was still valid. When his gross conduct was first reported in the New York Times, he issued
a statement promising to go after the NRA with renewed vigor.

Of course, some conservatives are now up to their nostrils in hypocrisy themselves. They believed Kathleen
Willey and Juanita Broaddrick, but the multiple accusations against Donald Trump were just political hits
(despite his acknowledgement on the Access Hollywood tape). And with Roy Moore, we’ve reached a truly
upside-down world in which social conservatives find themselves saying that a district attorney accused of
scouring shopping malls and courthouses hitting on girls who couldn’t even drive yet was okay because,
well, something about Joseph and Mary. Republicans have come a long way since Daniel Crane . . .