The Accused

So more foundational principles of American culture crumble as we watch the orgy of sexual assault accusations sprawl from Hollywood to Alabama. At least in the case of Weinstein we have an audio tape in which he admits to having groped a woman. So there is at least one case where police were involved, an investigation done but not followed up. However, what we are seeing in Alabama is an entirely different fiasco once again showing that so called "conservatives" are not about conserving anything but their own access to power and money.

The US justice system is NOT an inquisition. Persons accused of wrong doing, particularly that of a criminal nature do not have to prove their innocence. Rather the accuser, in criminal cases that would be the state, must prove that a crime was committed. Now a days many people say that that is reserved for the courts. Technically that is true. However as is pointed out by various cultural observers, the nature of a state is determined by the culture of it's people which grows out of the people themselves. The US would not have such a legal state if it did not come out of the culture of the people who founded it. Hence it would and should be common for persons to take such principles as 'innocent until proven guilty" into their own behavior and attitudes.

Today with the willingness of corporations to play cultural police and rush to believe anyone this side of white heterosexual male and punish accordingly, the very foundations of US culture is being removed. Black people should not welcome this turn of events but too many are glad to jump on this train because "white folks". How soon they forget the black people lynched, burned alive and if lucky run out of town on the mere say so of a random white woman or white man that a sexual assault was attempted or a theft of some sort had occurred. With such a history, you would think black folks would be front and center in a push against accusations being believed and acted upon at face value.

In the case of Moore we have the use of accusation for blatant political ends. Moore who has run for many offices, many times, should have had any such allegation or rumor appear long before this month. Since I have heard commentary to the effect that "it was known...", then why didn't such accusations appear during the Republican primary? Why didn't these accusations come up when Moore was going head to head with the state over his hanging of the Ten Commandments? These two questions alone ought to make the voters of Alabama very suspect of the Republican party which has already shown itself to be the right wing of the Democratic party, full of people like McCain who openly state that they are working in the interests of non-citizens and who openly turn about on basic campaign promises.

But more than just the rank political opportunism is the fact that Moore has no way to clear his name. There is a reason for statute of limitations. Eyewitness testimony is already a faulty proposition. People get key details wrong all the time, particularly when they are still in shock over an event. Physical evidence deteriorates or is destroyed. And with the exception of murder where finding a dead body shows that the crime did in fact occur (even if the last best suspect turns out to not be involved), crimes in which the only "evidence' is the testimony (and credibility) of the accused and accuser leaves no way to discern the truth.

No jury of fair minded people can dismiss the fact that people will lie about an event in order to get even with the person they have accused. This is not limited to women nor is it limited to the subject of sexual assault. Currently in the cases against individuals involved in the riot in Charlottesville a number of persons have had charges dropped because Antifa types were shown to have lied. Lies and hoaxes happen all the time.

I have little respect for the French people or government due to their attitude towards the slow moving destruction of their country by the leadership they continue to elect but I do respect the law that they have there in which the media cannot splash accusation against a person all over the public. Such a rule would of course be unconstitutional in the US but it would be a good policy to adopt. But back to Moore.

Hannity said on his program that he was giving Moore until sundown...no sorry...24 hours to "prove his innocence". How was Moore to do that? And why is an American saying this? Can more get video tape of him meeting said female(s) from 40 years ago? Nope. Can Moore get all the phone records from that time? No. How exactly is Moore to prove that something that allegedly happened 40 years ago didn't happen. We don't prove negatives anyway.

Also of importance is that many of the women involved met the Alabama age of consent. So they cannot claim statutory rape or even attempted. Hence why the stories are now about how Moore allegedly forced himself on the then teenagers. Whether we agree with it or not, like it or not, 39 year old Moore was perfectly within his legal rights to chat up a 16 year old (in Alabama) and have sex with her if she consented. He could even call her house.

In the end the "accusation culture" in which folks can drop bombs on people decades after alleged acts occur is going to claim a lot of people's lives (literally and figuratively). It is a rot on American culture and will poison relationships between men and women as men seek to protect themselves against future legal entanglements and financial ruin brought on by upset and vindictive ex girlfriends and ex-wives. As black American history shows, mob rule via accusation never leads to good outcomes.