Buck Up!

December 2, 2017

I had to title this with some hope.  Not only has our country been slip sliding into the toidy, now there's this big fat tax bill that may deep six zillions of Americans.  But.. somehow.. like that line by Geoffrey Rush in Shakespeare in Love, it all works out.  We hope!  I don't have the answer, but cannot allow myself to think that these guys really want to ruin the USA. 

Tonight on NPR, coming back to Glendale from a gorgeous day with gorgeous women and great foodies in San Pedro.. I heard a discussion regarding the ongoing sexual misconduct issue.  At last, intelligent folks.. during the "Barbershop" segment of All Things Considered, discuss this ongoing hew and cry of 'sexual harassment.'  What is brought to light turns on something that I've been trying to get people to get a handle on.. what ..exactly.. is 'misconduct' "harassment' .. ? Abuse, etc.. This discussion gets to the point with both a man and a woman finding a way to some better understanding. I found it refreshing.

"Legal analyst Paul Butler, New York Times correspondent Susan Chira and ethicist Jack Marshall join NPR's Michel Martin to discuss harassment in Congress and how to know if you've crossed a line."

https://www.scpr.org/programs/all-things-considered/2017/12/02/52153/

Copy and paste that into your browser and spend a few minutes listening to a reasonable discussion. The essence has to do with past 'misconduct' bubbling to the surfce under the current coming out of stories by women who have kept silent ..sometimes for decades.  

The discussion says it better than I can.. so.. for some reasonable ideas and insights into our current situation, give it a listen. Of course, if you are a republican, it will all probably sound like pinko, commie, nazi, lefty jargon.. but.. it sounded reasonable to me.. a pinko.. etc.. 

It all comes back to feeling powerless, of course. And, it's time for women to not feel compelled to keep silent about being taken advantage of.. The part of this program that discusses George Clooney and Steve Buscemi is really interesting to me.  And.. it's pointed out that all someone has to do is to make an accusation.  No need for verification or such.  What? The accusation is enough?  No.  It is not. And, it is the 'victim' who calls the shots about whether something that might have been.. shall we say.. maybe okay.. years ago? Might be remembered in the current light of what's going on as not okay? 

This is why I've been asking for a graph that will delineate the type of the offense and the severity of it.  A leer is not a rape.. as examples of type.. and 'sneering leering' not as severe and a rape and a murder.  "Every bad act does not deserve a 'nuclear option!'"  Due Process!?

This is NOT to demean any victim. It's just a step back to examine what's going on. I think that a majority of Americans are compromised by the severity of the political climate that has most folks I know in a major tizzy! Angst!   We are tizzified by the incredible happenstance of what is going on in our country that seems antithetical to good health: physical and financial and even aesthetic.  Scary.. but.. buck up and do something good for someone else.. That, at least, we can control. 
michaelsheehan