Schneiderman faces criminal investigation over abuse claims
Former New York attorney general steps down, denies assault allegations.
The allegation that New York Attorney General and #MeToo champion Eric Schneiderman assaulted several women has New York and the Democratic Party reeling. The stories are horrific and, in this time of #MeToo, disgustingly familiar.
Within a few hours of the Jane Mayer and Ronan Farrow New Yorker Magazine allegations going public, Mr. Schneiderman denied the accusations and then tried to explain himself by saying he engaged in consensual “role playing” with sex partners. An unbelievable excuse for many, and directly refuted in the story itself, that evening he announced his resignation, effective the end of Tuesday.
Here is another story of a super-powerful liberal man, who touted himself a savior of women, friend and leader of the Democratic hero class, and slayer of evil, misogynist conservatives, who ends up being all that he condemned. But now we also have some honest reflection in the report about the political nature of the decision for some women to remain silent, even in the face of horrific abuse.
While sexual harassment and domestic violence transcend politics, the #MeToo movement emerged when the liberal, feminist establishment’s massive infection with misogynist abusers was exposed.
An alarming development for so many, the Weinstein scandal exposed the depth of a fraud difficult for many to comprehend. But now we know and understand more. It’s about monsters using politics to gain power while cultivating a liberal environment that will protect them.
In the immediate aftermath of the allegations, this columnist noted on Fox News that “All these liberal men clothe themselves in the cloak of feminism. Weinstein did the same thing, Bill Clinton was doing the same thing. It was all about ‘we’re your protectors, we’re your advocates.’ And that had kept them safe.”
In this new expose, Ms. Mayer and Mr. Farrow valiantly bring to light this core of the scourge.
During a television interview, Mr. Farrow explained how it was party politics that kept the women, in part, from coming forward, “A lot of their friends and loved ones said, ‘Don’t do it. Don’t speak out against him.’ And in some cases, that was because they feared the risk of reprisals. They feared him threatening people, using his office and power to say he could wiretap people or he could come after people. But also in some cases … those friends warned them off of talking because they thought that he had the power to do too much good for the Democratic Party.”
The height of irony, but also an indication how manipulated liberals have become by their own leadership: Some women are willing to look away from physical and emotionally abuse, rape, and beatings and say nothing, in the name of saving women from … violence and abuse.
The psychological trauma of abuse is significant. The process itself sneaks up on you until you are conditioned under threat of a wide variety of harm to comply with whatever your abuser asks or demands.
One of Mr. Schneiderman’s alleged victims noted that she “understands how incomprehensible it may seem that she stayed in such an abusive relationship for more than a year. But, she says, ‘now I see how independent women get stuck in one.’ The physical abuse, she notes, ‘happens quickly.’ … It’s so disorienting. You lose a little of who you are,’” the New Yorker Magazine reported.
The women Mr. Schneiderman allegedly assaulted are confident, independent, secure women, powerful in their own right. They, too, are liberals and committed to causes they believe will help make the future a better place. When confronted with being abused, one of his victims appealed to friends for advice.
“After the former girlfriend ended the relationship, she told several friends about the abuse. A number of them advised her to keep the story to herself, arguing that Schneiderman was too valuable a politician for the Democrats to lose. She described this response as heartbreaking,” the magazine reported.
Another victim, described as being prominent in the legal field, was direct about her decision-making process about whether or not to report his alleged behavior, “… I thought, He’s a good attorney general, he’s doing good things. I didn’t want to jeopardize that.”
Some argue this is about hypocrisy, but it’s more than that. Liberal women must begin to reject the training they’re put through that convinces them anyone who does not pay allegiance to the liberal agenda is the enemy. The liberal leadership insistence that those who are not liberal are to be hated must be jettisoned. This action could inspire, as Kanye West might note, more free thinking, but also more independence, better relationships and safer lives.
Get the recap of top opinion commentary and original content throughout the week.