Tag Archives: Megyn Kelly

Sexual Harassment. The New ‘Political Weapon of Choice?’

As a child, did you ever go into the deep end of a pool, when you knew it was wrong?  We all have experienced the reckless sense of adventure at one time in our lives, and that is what I am experiencing as I write this blog.

As I reflect on 2017, I am intrigued and concerned that the new ‘political weapon of choice,’ is the accusation of sexual harassment.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, there are definitely some first class slime balls in this world that use their position and authority, such as Harvey Weinstein.  But are there innocent people being accused?  And what the heck entails sexual harassment anyway?  Does it involve physical actions or can it be words?  So here I am, Grandpa T, wading into the deeper water without my pink and lime green water wings.

One of my concerns about the subject of ‘sexual harassment’ is that it can be almost indefensible if you are accused of sexual harassment.  Let me provide a scenario.  Accuser: “I was subjected to sexual harassment from my boss at my workplace.  Response: “Why didn’t you report this?”  Accuser:  “I was afraid I would lose my job.”  Whether it be true or not, how does the accused defend themselves against such an accusation?  No witnesses.  No proof.  But the accusation itself receives the prominence of a verdict without a trial.  This is especially so in today’s over-reactive society.

The first person that set the stage for sexual harassment was our POTUS, Donald Trump.  If you remember, during the Republican primaries, about a dozen women jumped on the bandwagon and accused Donald Trump of sexual harassment.  What was intriguing about these accusations was that they all were within about 36 hours, and they were made only when it appeared Donald was a viable candidate to receive the Republican nomination.  Donald’s response?  After denying the accusations, he said he would sue each and every accuser. (When you are a billionaire, you can afford such things!)  The result?  The accusers disappeared…almost miraculously!  Hmmmm.

But now, Trump did receive the Republican nomination.  So, the media had to jump into the sexual harassment foray.   The Washington Post, one month before the November election, released a 2005 video of Donald Trump discussing his ‘lewd treatment of women.’  Admittedly, Donald did shoot his mouth off when he said that, “if you grab a woman by her xxxxx, you can get anything you want.”  Lewd?  Absolutely!  Sexual Harassment?  I’m not so sure.  Doesn’t sexual harassment involve the occurrence of an actual physical act?  The reason why I mention this, is that in my lifetime, I have had occasion to be in a locker room or two.  The conversations in those locker rooms seldom were about such subjects as global warming, world peace or balancing the federal budget.  They were usually about the physical attributes of the opposite sex, the desire to be able to study those attributes more closely, or the desire to initiate contact with those physical attributes.  All kinds of ‘locker room’ talk, but no action.  Is that sexual harassment? (Does this kind of talk not take place in female gatherings?  Why are the Chippendale’s so popular?)

A couple of weeks ago, on her NBC morning show, Megyn Kelly had a program interviewing women about  sexual harassment.  I caught part of that program.  One of her guests spent an inordinately amount of boring time relating that she had been ‘ogled’ in the workplace.  Ogled?  Are you kidding me?  So let me get this straight.  This woman thought that because of the way men look at her, she is being sexually harassed?  Call me old-fashioned, call me ignorant, but in all the days I have walked on planet Earth, I thought women wanted to be noticed by men.  If you are married and your wife just gets back from having her hair and nails done, what do you think you are having for dinner if you don’t notice said hair and nails and make a positive comment about the beautiful results of those treatments?  I’m smart enough to know where my bread is buttered as I always notice and make a positive comment that is always appreciated by Grandma P.  My personal Grandpa T theory is that if women did not want to be noticed, they would all dress like the Amish!  I have never been accused of sexual harassment, by any woman, when I commented on how lovely they looked, how nice their hair looked, or the beauty of her dress.  I was thanked every time.

2017 has become a milestone year for the accusations of sexual harassment as the ‘political weapon of choice.’  Look at all the men who have fallen from grace this year.  Representative John Conyers of Michigan, Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, and senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama have all been in the cross-hairs of sexual harassment accusations.  Each of the circumstances for these three men are different.

John Conyers is the most interesting in that he has been a Congressman for over 50 years.  He was the first black person to achieve this goal.  But, one of his staffers accused him of sexual harassment, and was paid a $27,000 settlement with the use of public funds.  A second accuser came forth, and after an investigation by the House Ethics Committee, it was determined that these accusers, plus sexual harassment allegations by others, were true.  The Democrats in Congress withdrew their support and called for his resignation.  He resigned on December 5.

I am not exactly sure of what Republican senatorial candidate Roy Moore did in Alabama.  During Moore’s election campaign for the Senate, a total of nine women accused Moore of inappropriate sexual or social conduct.  Three of the women said they had been sexually assaulted by Moore when they were aged 14, 15, and 28.  The other six described him pursuing a romantic relationship with them while he was in his 30s and they were as young as 16, (the age of consent in Alabama) but said there had not been any inappropriate sexual contact.  I find a couple of disturbing items about the Roy Moore affair.  Firstly, Roy Moore had been in 8 previous elections in Alabama.  Why did these accusations not surface at an earlier election?  Secondly, these accusations were made 40 years after the events occurred.  Should there be some kind of ‘statute of limitations’ on sexual harassment accusations?  Don’t think for one minute that I am defending Roy Moore.  I am not and I am glad he lost even though I would have appreciated a different Republican candidate in the race.

But my favorite victim of sexual harassment allegations is that mental giant from Minnesota, Senator Al Franken.  Al has a distinction among the disgraced and fallen that the others do not….proof.  Lots and lots of pictures as proof.  Forgetting that he was no longer a writer on Saturday Night Live, and was a U.S Senator, Al thought it would be hilarious to have a picture taken with his hands cupped over the breasts of a sleeping beauty while on a USO tour.  Now there is a display of class!  After this picture became public, more accusers came forth describing how he grabbed their buttocks while having their pictures taken with him at the Minnesota State Fair.  After that admission, numerous other accusers have come forth.  Apparently, Al had roaming hands and an inquisitive tongue.  He has appropriately resigned the Senate, and will be replaced on January 2 by the female Lt. Governor from Minnesota.  In a resignation speech that contained no apology and absolutely no remorse for his actions, the fallen Senator took the podium to point out the faults of the POTUS.  Apparently, Mensa Al was drug-addled during the Bill Clinton administration.

Most of these guys got what they deserved.  But that still does not adequately define sexual harassment.  Should a woman be required to tolerate unwanted ‘touchy feely?’  Absolutely not! (I am being sexist here, and assuming all victims are female.)   And I would believe that a stern verbal warning would stop 95% of the men in their tracks.  The other 5%, as repeating offenders need their faces slapped!  A woman always has the option of reporting the harassment.  If it cannot be reported to the boss (because he is the accused!), report it to the authorities.  With the temperament of intolerance in today’s society, the authorities will definitely get involved.

The real gray area in the sexual harassment equation is the unwanted verbal harassment.  Are words really harassment?  The receiver may not appreciate the words, but at least there is no physical contact.  My advice?  Refer to the paragraph immediately above.

Does sexual harassment exist?  Absolutely!  I am concerned that it has become the ‘political weapon of choice.’  There seem to be no time limits, as witnessed in the Roy Moore case.  It seems to appear when it is politically convenient and makes the most impact, such as for Roy Moore and Donald Trump.  And, the accusation itself can have the prominence of guilt without trial. All of these items make it the perfect ‘political weapon of choice.’

There you have it for 20017.  I completed two grueling laps around the pool after I found my pink and lime green water wings.  Should I be concerned when I caught Grandma P attempting to pull the air plug?

PS:  Happy New Year everyone!  May everyone have a healthy and prosperous year.  Yesterday, on the anniversary of my blog, I received over 200,000 additional unique hits over the last year.  Thank you for allowing me to indulge in my hobby.

Newest Reality TV Show, Survivor…Washington, D.C.

When did the election year politics turn into a bad reality show?  Do we blame the Amazing Race? Do we blame the Bachelor?  How about the Kardashian’s or any of those Housewives of Wherever shows?

Trust me when I say that this is the most devisive and unprofessional year I have ever seen for people that are contending to be President of the United States.  What happened to dignity?  What happened to respect?  What happened to important issues?

The only winners in this media circus is the ………well, the media.  One pundit said that this year’s electoral campaigns are good for CBS, but bad for America.  No fooling!  As of this writing, there have been eleven Republican presidential debates.  I am being overly gracious when I actually describe these events as debates.  Same issues.  Same mud-slinging.  Same name calling. Different time slots, moderators and channels.  Why so many?  Frankly, I have watched about half of them and the debates I missed were pretty much reruns of the debates I watched.  Ugly!

After hours of contemplation, I have decided to contact Mark Burnett and propose a new show for the Republican debates….. Survivor….Washington, D.C!

Can you picture it?  Cue the music!

Blast the irritating horns!  Show some tribal symbols in the promo!  Show the panoramic view of the island that the competition will take place!  Yes, we can’t have this competition in the actual Washington, D.C  The crime rate there is high and  that would be too dangerous!  We will select a deserted island somewhere close to the continent of Africa; close to where the last Survivor winner was born.  With any luck, this island will be  full of cannibals.  Could we be so lucky?

Now the introduction of the contestants.  Firstly, the Gabber from Gotham, Donald J. Trump!  His opponent, from the state of Florida, Marco (I am the son of Ronald Reagan) Rubio!  Their opponent, representing the state of Texas, Ted, I can be trusted because I know what a Bible looks like, Cruz! And our last contestant, representing the state of Ohio and responsible for anything good that has ever happened in that state, John Kasich!

Jeff Probst was unable to be the moderator at this contest as he was previously committed to moderating the Democratic Survivor contest titled, Survivor…Leningrad.  In his place will be the intelligent, charming and witty, Megyn Kelly.  Ms. Kelly of Fox News fame has demonstrated impartiality when it comes to who survives and who wilts like a pansy without water.  And, she is just gosh darn good looking and as long as this is my idea, she will be the moderator!

Our first reward challenge will be the name-calling challenge.  First out of the gate and with a large lead is Rubio.  He is being closely followed by Ted Cruz.  Both attempt to trip up Trump.  Trump makes a half-hearted, half-assed rebuttal to the two leaders.  Con Man.  Charlatan.  Faker.  Failure.  Liar.  The competition is furious and vicious.  Kasich?  Well, this was obviously not his best challenge.  The name calling becomes more intense. The three leaders are miles ahead of Kasich. Eventually, Megyn calls a time out as it has been determined that more negative adjectives were used during this contest than in the last twenty presidential elections combined.  The winner?  Marco Rubio…by quite a distance over his opponents. As he approaches Megyn Kelly to receive his reward, she informs him that while he and Trump and Cruz were flinging the adjectives, Kasich had eaten the reward.

The next reward challenge will be the body part challenge.  Again, Rubio jumps off to a fast start by bringing up the size of Trump’s hands and feet.  He presses on that because these are small, it may be concluded that his man parts may not be adequate or manly.  Cruz is befuddled.  He is more concerned about the size of his Bible.  Trump counters by calling Rubio…little Marco Rubio.  He again, in a half-hearted and half-assed rebuttal counters that his man parts are adequate and manly and that his hands are strong, as verified by his golf instructor.  Kasich again is trailing in this challenge as he continues to ramble about such things as the national debt, ISIS, creating jobs and all those other unimportant things that no one cares about during this challenge.  It was suggested that maybe the boys should just expose their man-parts, and winner takes all!  Megyn Kelly knows a good story when she sees one, so she orders additional cameramen to film this historic event.  The co-winners of the body part challenge are Rubio and Trump.  Cruz and Kasich were outdistanced in this event.  The idea of exposing their man-parts is dropped as Vladimir Putin wanted to enter this part of the competition, which was determined to be against the spirit of this competition. (It would have been to easy to suggest Hillary would have won this competition, but that would be tacky.) Rubio and Trump are contented to each get half of a crap sandwich (I can’t say shit sandwich, as my grandkids could read this) as their reward.

The next and final reward challenge is the back stabbing challenge.  Megyn allows each contestant to select their weapon.  Cruz selects an old-fashioned Bowie knife in honor of the Battle of the Alamo, which of course took place in the great state of Texas.  Rubio selects a switchblade stiletto knife, as it is the knife of choice in Miami.  Trump selects a Scottish dirk as it honors his Scottish heritage.  Kasich selects a 2″ pen knife in honor of the pen knife he uses to open his mail.  The contestants take their places.  Megyn raises her hand and says, “are the contestants ready?”  All contestants nod their preparedness.  “Ready…….stop!”  Stop?  “What do you mean stop?”  Megyn replies, “we now have a new addition to this competion.  Now entering the back stabbing challenge, representing the great state of Utah, Mitt, (the Mormon Mauler), Romney!”  Romney, the loser in the last Survivor contest, makes his presence known.  The Mormon Mauler selects his weapon, a double edged machete, as he intends to cut a wide swath through his challengers, one in particular.  The final reward challenge is over before it really began.  Mitt Romney back stabs Trump repeatedly, much to the amusement of the other candidates.  No contest…Romney wins the back stabbing competition.  And….like all good things, my Survivor….Washington, D.C. fantasy must end.

What exactly is happening to the Republican party in general and why did Romney do what he did specifically.

If you have been observant, you will notice for every political pundit advancing one theory, there is another pundit advancing the opposite opinion.  Can Trump beat Hillary?  Yes responses followed by no  responses.  Can any of the other candidates beat Hillary?  Again, some yes polls followed by no polls.  Will Romney’s scathing and vicious attacks on Trump help or hurt the Republican party?   Again, opposite responses.

I have a theory about Romney.  If you remember, last summer he hosted Jeb Bush in Utah.  After their weekend together, Romney announced he would not seek the Republican nomination.  Jeb was the fair-haired boy.  He had name recognition and a vastly successful money machine for campaign funds.  Then. lo and behold, Jeb gets a lukewarm public response for his presidential bid.   My opinion?  Jeb has not been governor of Florida since 2006, campaigned as if he still was governor, and lost contact with the anger and concerns of most Republican voters.  Mitt must now feel like he opted out too quickly.

His attack on Trump is nothing like I have ever seen in my life.  Vicious, deliberate, unethical. Regardless of who Romney attacked, he has made me regret voting for him in the 2012 election.  All of this after he received financial and personal aid from Trump in 2012,    I have heard the 2012 Trump endorsement of Romney and I have heard Romney’s appreciative comments and over the top descriptions of the virtues of Donald Trump.  In the words of comedian Dennis Miller, “It’s too bad Romney didn’t go after Obama like he has after Donald Trump.”  I find Mitt Romney’s action despicable by any measure.  If his attempt is to become the Republican nominee, he can forget it.

The Republican party?  My theory is that much like Jeb Bush, the Republican party has lost contact with the majority of the people that call themselves Republican.  The ‘king makers’ may have lost track of the desires of the pawns.

I do not want to see a third party candidate.  That’s how we got Bill Clinton.  With a third party candidate, we would have Hillary Clinton and that would mean Survivor….Leningrad would become a reality.

Wake up Republican party!  Your debates have become bad reality TV.  Stop these candidates from ripping on each other and get into the business of ripping up the Democratic side of the house.  The last eight years should provide adequate ammunition for ripping the present administration…so start using it!  Get off your butts and come up with a party plank that the American public can understand. Much good and bad can be said about Donald Trump, but I and everyone who has watched this circus, knows where he stands on issues.  Where does the Republican party stand on issues?

Has Washington, D.C. become such a cesspool of graft, corruption, influence peddling, waste, fraud and abuse that an outsider like Trump, an outsider that can’t be bought, scare the hell out of them? The recent actions of Romney, coming out of the woodwork the way he did, makes me wonder.

The upcoming election could be Survivor…..USA!