Expressing "Common-Sense Skepticism" Doesn't Mean You're On The Side Of Predators
Smart piece by Margaret Wente in The Globe and Mail in Canada about the accusation against Steve Paikin, a straight-shooter whose show I've been on a couple of times.
The story:
His accuser, former Toronto mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson, alleges that he asked her to sleep with him back in 2010, during a lunch at which her executive assistant was present. This seemed improbable: Who would proposition someone with a witness present? Everyone who knows Mr. Paikin (I know him slightly) seems to have shared my response.Mr. Paikin, widely known as one of the most upright men in journalism, is host of The Agenda, the flagship public-affairs show for TVO, Ontario's public broadcaster. It's a must-see for wonks. In the olden days, his employer would probably have dismissed these allegations out of hand. But in the #MeToo age, it had no choice. As soon as he informed management of the charges, they summoned him for a grilling. (Ms. Thomson made her accusations, without naming him, in a lengthy blog posting, then sent him an accusatory e-mail demanding that he step down.) Within hours, TVO went public with the news that it had launched an independent investigation. Unusually, it didn't suspend or fire him. It simply announced that he would be removed from stories involving sexual misconduct (which, as you may know, have sent Ontario politics into quite a tailspin).
Mr. Paikin was lucky not to be suspended, people say. Some luck. His name is in the headlines, generally on the same page as all the other #MeToo stories that now dominate the news. I imagine that most people who know him don't believe a word of it. Others will think, "These days you never know."
And Wente's take -- and I agree:
I have no idea what happened at that lunch. Maybe everything Ms. Thomson said is true and Mr. Paikin is lying through his teeth. Maybe he made a stupid joke. What I do know is that questionable or careless or unfounded allegations deal a tremendous blow to the #MeToo movement because they undermine the real victims of sexual assault and help stoke a backlash. Women should be extremely concerned about this problem. Sad to say, some are not. Too many of us have embraced the principle #BelieveAllWomen - a formula for miscarriage of justice if there ever was one. Unfortunately there are plenty of false or exaggerated claims out there. Women (just like men) lie for all kinds of reasons, including the fact that they are unbalanced or unhinged. Remember the sensational Rolling Stone piece from 2014, detailing a brutal group rape at the University of Virginia? It caused an uproar. "[T]here is a reason that people believed and continue to believe Jackie: There are so many people - too many people - who report similar attacks," the arch-feminist Jessica Valenti wrote. But the story was entirely made up, and Rolling Stone was forced to retract it in its entirety.Too many people think that common-sense skepticism - or even a willingness to withhold judgment until the facts are in - puts you on the side of the predators. The truth is that not all men are guilty of what they've been accused of, and others aren't that guilty of very much. The world's a messy, complicated place. And given what there is to go on, I'd bet that Mr. Paikin is the same guy I thought he was last week. I may be wrong. But I don't think so.
It's only going to get worse.
Snoopy at February 9, 2018 3:56 AM
Why let facts and reason get in the way of a good-ol'-fashioned witch burnin'? They draw a much bigger crowd.
bkmale at February 9, 2018 6:43 AM
Feminist: Consent is simple, ask before you act
Guy: OK, I find you attractive, want to have sex?
Feminist: OMG How dare you ask me for sex, the answer is no.
Guy: Whatever
Feminist 15 years later: HELP, HELP, THIS GUYS IS A RAPIST FOR VERBALLY REQUESTING SEX BEFORE TOUCHING ME EXACTLY AS I ASKED (never mind the fact he never touched me or asked me again after I said no) FIRE HIM FROM HIS JOB AS HE IS A FILTHY RAPIST
lujlp at February 9, 2018 7:08 AM
I find it interesting that this stuff has been going on for quite a long time (decades) and now that high powered Democrats are getting hit people are willing to publish opposition to it.
Ben at February 9, 2018 8:05 AM
"Due process? Real life is beginning to mimic college tribunals. When the perpetrator of an anonymous list accusing dozens of men of a whole range of sexual misdeeds is actually celebrated by much of mainstream media (see this fawning NYT profile), you realize that we are living in another age of the Scarlet Letter. Moira Donegan has yet to express misgivings about possibly smearing the innocent — because the cause is far more important than individual fairness. Besides, if they’re innocent, they’ll be fine! Ezra Klein has openly endorsed campus rules that could frame some innocent men. One of the tweets in response to some of my recent writing on this has stuck in my mind ever since: “can anyone justify why the POSSIBLE innocence of men is so much more important than the DEFINITE safety and comfort of women?” And yet this principle of preferring ten guilty people to go free rather than one innocent person to be found guilty was not so long ago a definition of Western civilization."
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/we-all-live-on-campus-now.html
Snoopy at February 9, 2018 9:28 AM
Rolling Stone was forced to retract it in its entirety
Not only that, but they've had to pay a shit ton of money to people who were wronged by their article, and there are still some judgements pending.
I R A Darth Aggie at February 9, 2018 10:35 AM
Women, by letting feminists control the situation, are well and truly killing the goose that has been laying golden eggs for them. At the same time, they are inviting an authoritarian governmental Dracula over the threshold -- which will be necessary for their "protection".
But, it just FEELZ too good to stop now.
Mother and wife? NO. Cog in someone else's machine? YES!
You go, grrrrrls.
Very sad.
Jay R at February 9, 2018 10:46 AM
Snoopy,i always ask the what their plan is for when someone accuses their father/husband/brother/son.
What is the innocence of the one or two men they love compared to the comfort and safety of the women who will accuse them?
lujlp at February 9, 2018 10:58 AM
It's going to get worse before it gets better:
"It’s time we all acknowledge an overwhelmingly powerful source of shame and silence — in the bible.
The story that begins the bible, the first one that we learn in Sunday school, the founding story of man and woman upheld for thousands of years by Judeo-Christian religion, is actually the story of the first sexual assault of a woman. The woman’s name is Eve. And the perpetrator? God."
https://forward.com/scribe/393778/the-first-story-in-the-bible-was-the-first-case-of-metoo/
Snoopy at February 9, 2018 5:34 PM
lujlp, I think a lot of the problem is these women dont have fathers or brothers. Theyve literally no men in their life to show them good/normal male behavior. Or if they have a brother, there was no father to raise him right. So they literally have no basis whatsoever for knowing how to interact with males. No famiarity with males. Theres a reason it takes 2 genders to make a kid. It takes 2 genders to raise them functionally, but more and more people in each generation are only raised by women, who themselves may have only been raised by women. Its destroying society.
Momof4 at February 10, 2018 5:47 AM
Life is growing more complex, and we all have gone along at some point with the crowd mentality in order to simplify it.
I'm going to spread a new meme and hope it becomes a supermeme: victimhood trumps accomplishment.
Or am I too late?
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at February 10, 2018 7:07 AM
So you literally cannot ask for sex? I thought that was what getting consent meant. Perhaps it was the asking before taking her to dinner that was wrong? Remember, that comedian asked for permission also and was a bad person simply for wanting sex. If no one is allowed to want sex, then everyone is a criminal and we will soon go extinct.
cc at February 10, 2018 9:53 AM
Nope cc, as the Ansari story shows us failure to ask for consent is rape, and asking for consent is also rape.
If you recall that 'woman sexually abused while walking through NYC' half her abuse was people saying 'hello'
lujlp at February 11, 2018 10:20 AM
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