Powerful Men, Powerful Allegations

I just read the Ronan Farrow article alleging sexual misconduct by many at CBS but especially C.E.O. Les Moonves. Here's a link to it.

It's quite damning and quite thorough and it was all I could do to remind myself that it may be only one side of a complex matter. No matter how strong a case may seem, you need to wait and hear all the evidence before you make up your mind.

That is, if you do make up your mind and that isn't always necessary. I can certainly condemn the kind of behavior alleged and contribute in my own small way to stamping it out without deciding this guy I barely met touched that woman I never met in those inappropriate places during incidents years ago at which I was not present. (I met Mr. Moonves once but nothing in that brief encounter gave me a scintilla of insight into whether he was the kind of man who'd do what the article says he did.)

What I guess I'm saying is that I don't have to form a firm opinion as to his guilt or innocence, and I may not even be qualified to do that. But we're all qualified to say that anyone who would do stuff like that is a horrible human being and we oughta be saying it more. The problem of sexual impropriety is bigger than any one case and it wouldn't/shouldn't be lessened if it somehow turns out that Moonves is innocent.

Crimes are crimes. Every day in this country it seems, someone who is accused or even convicted of murder is found to be Not Guilty. That doesn't make murder any more acceptable.

So that was one thought I had while reading Farrow's article. Another is that as a reporter, he's very thorough when he writes of cases that do not involve his own family.

When it comes to damning the man who may or may not be his father (and he doesn't seem to want to even clear that up), he believes we should believe every word of testimony by his younger sister and we should ignore all evidence to the contrary, including the testimony of his older sister and older brother. It's easy to build an iron-clad case against someone when you can pick and choose your facts…something to remember any time an article makes you believe someone is guilty.