@detroitmechworks Well, you can refuse to consent. But then you're a white supremacist, and probably a fifth columnist too. Have you been to Moscow lately?

but then, the Democrats are all about claiming that we have no right not to consent to their candidates, their policies or their lies.

I no longer consent to be ruled by these slimebags.

@dervish

The Consent of the Conned

they typically have a blanket immunity. The rare exceptions, like Bernie Madoff are people who have transgressed against other rich and powerful people. If Bernie had only ripped off poor widows, he's be walking around free today.

@CS in AZ
a footnote in a lurid period of Hollywood history.

But it isn't just history, it's still going on. Weinstein is - no, nothing as respectable as a dinosaur - a trilobite. He's that far out of synch.

First, there's a huge number of non-wealthy, unknown men who get away with sexual harassment and assault every day. I'm not sure why you think non-wealthy abusers would go right to prison, but let me assure you, they don't. The vast majority of sexual predators and abusers never face any consequences, regardless of their station in life.

Two, Weinstein's targets were not wealthy stars. In fact it appears he preyed primarily on young women who were trying to break into the business. After they became successful or powerful stars, he left them alone. (e.g., Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rosanna Arquette, and others have said they were his victims when they were young and just getting into the movie business.) He went after young, powerless women who needed work and were trying to make it, not "wealthy starlets" who had any status. He used his position of power over women who had none. And several women have said he raped them, not "just" groping or coercion.

You write off his behavior as "groping wealthy starlets" ... so big deal, who cares. I strongly disagree. Being raped or sexually assaulted by a man who has power while you have none is a big deal. It changes you for life, forever. Minimizing this behavior as insignificant is really unsettling to me.

@CS in AZ @CS in AZ The point is, I think, not the wealth of the target, but the wealth of the perpetrator. For me, anyway.

Wealthy perpetrators get protection, no matter what their crime. The wealthy are notable because there's so few of them and so many below them, that it's really bleeding obvious that they are unaccountable pretty much all the time. But of course, that works for most higher/lower status relations: whites get protection if they're attacking blacks, men get protection if they're attacking women, etc.

This is complicated, these days, by the fact that the narrative of female and minority victimization is highly popular with the mainstream press and with the powerful in politics, so if there's any political use that could be made out of the spectacle of a woman or a minority being victimized, there's a chance that that "side" would be given precedence over the traditionally powerful one.

Few seem interested in determining what actually happened in any given case, and attempting to deal out a reasonable and appropriate punishment for wrongdoing.

First, there's a huge number of non-wealthy, unknown men who get away with sexual harassment and assault every day. I'm not sure why you think non-wealthy abusers would go right to prison, but let me assure you, they don't. The vast majority of sexual predators and abusers never face any consequences, regardless of their station in life.

Two, Weinstein's targets were not wealthy stars. In fact it appears he preyed primarily on young women who were trying to break into the business. After they became successful or powerful stars, he left them alone. (e.g., Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rosanna Arquette, and others have said they were his victims when they were young and just getting into the movie business.) He went after young, powerless women who needed work and were trying to make it, not "wealthy starlets" who had any status. He used his position of power over women who had none. And several women have said he raped them, not "just" groping or coercion.

You write off his behavior as "groping wealthy starlets" ... so big deal, who cares. I strongly disagree. Being raped or sexually assaulted by a man who has power while you have none is a big deal. It changes you for life, forever. Minimizing this behavior as insignificant is really unsettling to me.

@Nastarana Lorne Micheals tells reporters SNL chose to ignore the Weinstein story because " its a New York thing ". Whatever the fuck that means.

from Of Two Minds

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogoct17/oligarchy10-17.html

Note Smith's point that every now and then the oligarchy will expel a sacrificial goat, which is supposed to reassure us that everything is all fine now, problem taken care of.

@Nastarana What's truly noteworthy here is not the sordid allegations and history of payoffs--it's the 27 years of intense protection the Hollywood/ media /D.C. status quo provided, despite hundreds of insiders knowing the truth.

from Of Two Minds

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogoct17/oligarchy10-17.html

Note Smith's point that every now and then the oligarchy will expel a sacrificial goat, which is supposed to reassure us that everything is all fine now, problem taken care of.