Me Too, Not So Much
It’s hard to believe, but none-the-less true, that it’s been LESS than a year since the first allegations of “sexual impropriety” by Hollywood Producer, and liberal activist, Harvey Weinstein surfaced (October, 2017). In less than the 12 months that followed, a tsunami of sexual allegations against him and countless other public figures (overwhelmingly male), broke upon the “shores” of our society. And with this enormous wave, there has been a seismic shift in America’s attitudes toward and treatment of those accused of sexual abuse. Can anyone imagine Hillary Clinton’s “slut shaming” treatment of Bill Clinton’s accusers (Paula Jones, Juanita Broderick, and others) being tolerated today? I certainly wouldn’t have imagined it, either….But now, I’m not so sure.
It seems, that even today, the amount of “traction” that accusations of sexual and even physical abuse can garner depends, in large part, on WHO’S being accused, and what his standing in the liberal hierarchy is.
I’m referring to the accusation that a prominent Democratic politician PHYSICALLY ASSAULTED his girlfriend. In fact, the politician in question is highly placed in the liberal pantheon, indeed. He’s Co-Chairman (With Co-Chair Tony Perez) of the Democratic National Committee. I’m referring to Keith Ellison, who sometimes also uses the name Kieth Hakim (his Muslim name). Ellison/Hakim converted, in college, from Catholicism to Islam. He is currently the Congressman representing Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District (Minneapolis and its surroundings). He was also recently elected Minnesota’s Attorney General. And it just so happens that he has written numerous articles in support of racist, antisemitic and black supremacist Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation Of Islam.
Islam is purported to be a “religion of peace”, but it seems that Ellison/Hakim’s home life is not so peaceful. Ellison/Hakim’s former girlfriend, Karen Monahan, has, in a number of online posts in July, reported that she suffered domestic abuse, but did not name Ellison/Hakim at that time. On Saturday August 11, her son, Austin Monahan, posted on Facebook that it was Ellison/Hakim who abused his mother, and that he (Austin) had, in fact, seen a video of the abuse on his Mom’s computer. Although it doesn’t appear that her original intention was to “out” Ellison/Hakim with her online posts, on Sunday August 12, she posted that her son’s claims were true, and filled in some details of the altercation. Reportedly, on the morning after an argument the previous evening, Ellison/Hakim became aggressive when Monahan chose to ignore, presumably out of hurt and anger, his instructions. He became increasingly abusive and she proceeded to discreetly video his behavior with her iPhone. Apparently unaware of the video recording, Ellison/Hakim pulled her by her feet off the bed while berating her verbally. She has recently stated that, though the video is on a flash drive, she will not release it because its release would be both humiliating and traumatizing to her and her children. Obviously, if the video does corroborate what she’s described in print, concerns about humiliation would be, understandably, warranted.
For his part, Ellison/Hakim has vigorously denied the accusations. Does that give him a “get out of jail free card”? No, it doesn’t. Harvey Weinstein vigorously denied the accusations leveled against him (which later ran up to more than 80 accusers!). Matt Lauer vigorously denied the accusations (ultimately from multiple accusers). Charlie Rose vigorously denied the accusations (from, eventually, 9 accusers). In fact ALL of the accused (219 at last count) vigorously denied the accusations initially. All have become political and business pariahs. Why hasn’t Ellison/Hakim been similarly disparaged? Could it be for “lack of evidence”?
No, not really. Although, physical evidence has yet to be disclosed in this case, the lack of physical evidence is not necessarily grounds for dismissal of her claims. It is one of the principles of the #metoo movement, that lack of physical evidence should NOT result in an automatic discounting of an accuser’s claims, simply because, in many instances, physical evidence does not exist. So, by today’s ad hoc protocols, further investigation would seem warranted.
A common strategy used in such cases, is to see if there are people that can corroborate, at the very least, the victim’s REPORTING of the event to them, especially if it was done during a plausible period of time, thereby suggesting that, at least, SOMETHING had occured. Well, it turns out that, in this circumstance, there ARE people that have come forward saying that Monahan reported this episode to them, and did so in an appropriate interval of time. In fact there are THREE such corroborators. So, the more Monahan’s accusations are investigated, the more credible they seem. But, still, at this point, her accusations would not be considered to be exactly solid.
What to do in a murky situation such as this? Well, another strategy that, unsurprisingly, is used in this type of situation, is to look for OTHER accusers that have reported similar attacks. Abusive behavior is often a recurring phenomenon. And, yes, there is another accuser. It turns out that back in 2006, a liberal activist, Amy Louise Alexander, accused Ellison/Hakim of physical violence following the breakup of their relationship that occurred in June of 2005. What should we make, then, of HER accusation? Well, again, Ellison/Hakim, vigorously denies the accusations. But, wait. There’s corroboration here too. On August 13, a transcript report from ECHOS (Emergency Communications Historical Online System) shows a 911 call from Amy Louise Alexander on May 16, 2005, that reads, verbatim: “CLR RPTG SHE WAS ASLT’D BY ELLISON/KEITH/BM/41/WRG SUIT LS LEAVING APT”.
So here we have MULTIPLE women accusing Ellison/Hakim of the same type of violent behavior, and there are corroborating factors in BOTH cases. So, WHERE are the calls for resignation that we are so used to hearing in circumstances like these? Where is the moral indignation? The outrage? Why hasn’t Ellison/Hakim been treated the same way that hundreds of other male accused have been?
Could it be that, as Vox has reported, he’s considered a “rising star” in the Democratic Party (he’s CO-CHAIRMAN, don’t forget, of the Democratic National Committee)? Could it be that, despite these accusations being out in the open, the Democratic voters of Minnesota, went to the polls, as expected, and elected him to be the state’s new Attorney General, anyway? This speaks volumes about the contemporary Democratic constituency, doesn’t it?….A history of domestic violence TWICE?…No sweat!…Arrogant denials?…NOT a problem!….Verbal and psychological abuse of women?…FORGET ABOUT IT!…The only thing we haven’t heard in this case so far is “Hillaryesque” “slut shaming” of Karen Monahan by the Democrat minions. But that may not be far behind.