Blind Spot: When #MeToo Became "What, Me Worry?"

Allegation No. 1 took place on an unknown date thirty-five years earlier at an unknown location with unknown others present. There was no corroborating physical evidence, no contemporary witnesses, no indication of the incident until a psychiatric session years later. In fact there was no evidence the victim had ever met the alleged assailant— who categorically denied the incident. 

Still, the charge was immediately given national acceptance from liberal political and media sources hot to hand Donald Trump a defeat.. This despite no one ever making a previous insinuation of sexual misbehaviour against the alleged assailant. Once the complaint by Christine Blasey Ford was blown wide open in the press and by the U.S. Senate several other uncorroborated charges were also given immediate unqualified credence by the media. None was judged remotely credible beyond the fact the man in question liked to drink beer in college.

Allegation No. 2 of sexual assault has a victim, a specific date in 1993, a specific location, contemporary witnesses and many specific evidentiary details. The alleged assailant admits knowing the woman— who was a campaign staffer— and has a long history of groping that annoyed women. Thus far, major media outlets that went 24/7 on Allegation No. 1 have completely ignored this story or delayed reporting it. 

Allegation No. 1 was against the Supreme Court nominee of a controversial Republican president. Allegation No. 2 was against the Democratic Party’s nominee for president in 2020, Barack Obama’s vice president.

Discuss.

In the litany of media fails since Donald Trump became president in 2017— RussiaGate, teenagers defamed for wearing MAGA hats, impeachment, the 25th amendment— the crucifixion of Brett Kavanaugh in 2017 was a disgrace to the reporting profession. The abdication of all evidentiary standards, the show-trial theatrics, the #metoo hysteria fed by a willing press corps. 

Of course, politicians are going to do politics. The most dangerous place to be in Washington was between the Democrats hit squad and the gibbet they’d fashioned for Kavanaugh. That’s how alleged feminist Elizabeth Warren could excoriate Biden’s sexual past last September then endorse him for the presidency this week, saying “one thing I appreciate about Joe Biden is he will always tell you where he stands.”

But the media? Their eager participation in the ugly spectacle ought to have removed any shred of credibility fhat those who promoted the murder of Kavanaugh’s reputation were even-handed..

Now comes possible president Joe Biden, who’s credibly accused of a crime the media could never remotely make stick against Kavanaugh. Media outlets like the New York Times had reported lurid, unsubstantiated ravings of someone called Julie Swetnick the same day they were made in 2017. (For added sauce she was represented by lawyer Michael Avenatti, who went from media darling to convicted fraudster.)

It took the Times 19 days to bring forth a report on Tara Reade’s credible claims. Why the difference?

Times executive editor Dean Baquet said that Kavanaugh was “already in a public forum in a large way. If you ask the average person in America, they didn’t know about the Tara Reade case. We needed to introduce it with some reporting and perspective ... and help people understand what to make of a fairly serious allegation against a guy who had been a vice president of the United States and was knocking on the door of being his party’s nominee.”

Because the guy who’s favoured to be the next president is “not in the public forum in a large way”, see? And the Times hadn’t made it a story yet. So what’s the rush?

The Times gave Joe the love tap it denied Kavanaugh (buried on page A20) saying Reade’s credible story was the only, onliest #metoo standard sexual assault allegation it could find. “The Times found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr. Biden, beyond the hugs, kisses and touching that women previously said made them uncomfortable. (“the seven other women who had complained about Mr. Biden told the Times this month that they did not have any new information about their experiences to add, but several said they believed Ms. Reade’s account.”)

Even that proved too harsh, so the Times later took out the final sentence about the hugs ’n kisses when Biden’s campaign complained. Guess how much of its reporting on Kavanaugh the Times removed after complaints of unfairness by the SCOTUS nominee? Bagel.

Baquet’s tapdance met with the approval of his NYT staff (two of whom wrote a book that tried to destroy Kavanaugh.) Kate Kelly sniffed, “It was a just a different news judgement moment” between the SCOTUS judge and possible 46th president of the U.S.

At least the Times reported the story. The Democratic house orchestra at CNN, MSNBC, Washington Post, ABC and others— who did wall-to-wall on Christine Blasey Ford’s #metoo takedown— have yet to even report on the allegation against the man who’s favoured to be the president. The mind boggles.

Naturally the SJW Canadian media that dined out on the Kavanaugh show trial have gone mute on Tara Reade, too. But then the self-congratulatory scribblers have experience in moving the #metoo goal posts. When Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau— he of the no-tolerance standard for sexual assault— was credibly accused of sexually assaulting a reporter, they bought his banal putdown “she experienced it differently” and deftly moved onto Andrew Scheer’s opinions on abortion.

The impotence of the Canadian media in holding Trudeau to his own standard on #metoo and blackface and women in politics allowed his re-election last October. But then, he’d only recently topped up their financial tanks from a slush fund for media experiencing duress. Not that there’s any connection.

This is just the tip of a double standard employed every day to further the editorial biases of the woke culture that has purged newsrooms of moderates and intimidated veteran people like Baquet to do their bidding. 

The question that must be asked is why they think anyone outside their lonely hearts club takes them seriously anymore. And what can we replace them with that will serve the public in the fashion they deserve?

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster (http://www.notthepublicbroadcaster.com). He’s also a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster, he is also the best-selling author of Cap In Hand which is available on BruceDowbigginBooks.ca