Over the last few weeks, sexual harassment allegations have occurred up the ying-yang. It's to the point where none of us can keep track of who's been accused and who is on the verge of joining the ever-growing perv club.
On Wednesday, MSNBC had Hawaii Democratic Senator Maize Hirono on Chuck Todd's "Meet the Press" to talk about the growing number of allegations taking place in Congress. It was very obvious that the theme of the interview was to deflect how prevalent the issue is amongst Democratic members of Congress.
That thought was reaffirmed when MSNBC decided to chop up Hirono's interview and cut out Todd's initial question:
Rather convenient that @MSNBC leaves out @chucktodd's initial question to @maziehirono. So, here it is. pic.twitter.com/W9AjgMcQuj
— Beth Baumann (@eb454) November 29, 2017
Instead, MSNBC wanted to promote the idea that we have a cultural problem.
Sen. @MazieHirono on sexual harassment in politics: "I think everyone should be held accountable." #MTPDaily pic.twitter.com/eD9sLNINLj
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) November 29, 2017
Huh. Interesting that producers chose to cut out Todd's question and Hirono's deflecting.
Let's be real here. I'm tired of "news organizations" like MSNBC acting like they're high and mighty. I'm tired of them trying to act like all they do is report the news without any kind of bias. Their anchors package their questions up in a way to try to get the narrative they want. They ask questions that provoke a particular kind of answer.
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What is even more disturbing is how Hirono deflected. Democrats are so quick to call out people's bad behavior because, you know, they are feminists and they supposedly are women's greatest advocates. Now that the Democrats are having to deal with the same thing Republicans have long dealt with, suddenly they are silent. Suddenly, this is no longer a right vs. left issue. Suddenly, this is a cultural issue. How convenient, right?
It's silly that Democrats are backing away from this issue when it's something that should naturally be in their wheelhouse. Taking a stand against these politicians who choose to engage in sexual harassment would be consistent with their prior messaging of "championing women's rights." But why is no one is stepping up to the plate to hold these elected officials accountable? The sad reality is that the media and entertainment industries are proving to have more of a moral backbone than the most powerful legislative body on the planet.
If members of Congress aren't going to hold their colleague's feet to the fire then us, as constituents, need to do it. If these officials who are accused of sexual harassment don't decide to step down and their party isn't going to force them to retire, then their constituents have an obligation to vote them out of office.
I've been on campaign side of politics. I know that there are plenty of decent men and women who are willing to take on these sexual predators in a primary and general election.
Sen. Hirono is right about one thing: our nation is still figuring out how to respond to this rampant problem. And there is definitely a need for us to have some due process among the allegations along the way. Hollywood has addressed it. The news media has addressed it. Now, it's time for Congress to do the same.
If they don't fix the problem, we'll do it for them. And they won't like the outcome.
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