ANALYSIS/OPINION:
2017 is the year of the left-wing sexual predator or at least the year of their demise. These guys are dropping so fast, it is hard to keep up with them. Harvey Weinstein, ex-Hollywood mogul, is out of a job and may soon be a candidate for the orange suit club. Actor Kevin Spacey may not be joining him in lock up, but the actor is done.
Al Franken has been named. Garrison Keillor was fired. John Conyers is under fire, with demands that he resign from Congress. Rap mogul Russell Simmons now admits an encounter that was less than consensual with a woman, and Matt Lauer’s career crashed and burned faster than the Hindenburg.
As horrific as the stories of the women violated by these men are, there is a fact that is even worse and no one is asking the most important question.
What did they know and when did they know it?
“They,” are the liberal elites of Hollywood, the media and Washington politics. For years, and in the case of Mr. Weinstein, decades, rumors have dogged these men. Matt Lauer was the focus of a number of blind-gossip items about his peccadillos. Turns out NBC, the network that not only employed Mr. Lauer but killed a major story on Mr. Weinstein, had gotten wind of Mr. Lauer’s activities but had reportedly turned a blind eye to them.
The abuse inflicted upon women and upon some men did not simply happen in a vacuum. People knew about it and said nothing.
On ABC’s “This Week,” Cokie Roberts made a stunning admission. The John Conyers story had broken and she told the world that, “every female in the press corps knew” not to get on an elevator with Mr. Conyers. Not only was this well known, it was well known for years.
Why didn’t reporters break the story? Because protecting liberal congressmen was more important than reporting the news.
They are the very embodiment of Jim Treacher’s famous tweet, “Modern journalism is all about deciding which facts the public shouldn’t know because they might reflect badly on Democrats.”
On Capitol Hill, female staffers have an unofficial “creep list,” of members of Congress and staff employees that they should avoid at all costs because these men are harassers.
Despite this being “common knowledge,” no one reported it.
At NBC’s headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, in 2001 Mr. Lauer had a remote device installed on his office door that allowed him to close and lock the door without ever having to get up.
Mr. Lauer lost his job but the real scandal is that he seemingly was allowed to prowl with impunity for years with the apparent acquiescence of NBC executives.
While Hollywood, media and Democrat leaders are busy virtue signaling, someone needs to start holding these people accountable.
The elites are quick to dump these celebrities who become expendable due to their scandals.
But the real outrage is while the perpetrators will see their careers and reputations destroyed, their enablers will continue on creating a new generation of predators.
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