Political Hacks Ruin Everything, #MeToo Edition

Anne

I woke up this morning, made myself a cup of coffee, and then made the mistake of scrolling through Twitter. I no longer watch awards shows, because the preening and self-righteous hypocrisy on display hit peak gross-out long ago, but then I read about the Grammys and discovered that Hillary Clinton was honored and cheered for reading an excerpt from “Fire and Fury,” a book that smears Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley by accusing her of having an affair with Trump. Meanwhile, the crowd showed off their white roses in honor of the “Times Up” and “Me Too” movements. I nearly threw my cup of coffee across the room as rage swept through me.

As a woman who experienced an abusive relationship at a young age, the #MeToo movement had a profound effect on me. I was so excited to see women coming forward, shedding their guilt and shame to bravely speak out. Yes, I said guilt and shame. As any survivor of abuse can tell you - guilt and shame are a package deal with the abuse.

What a slap in the face, what a kick in the gut, to witness the continued idolatry of Hillary Clinton, a known sexual predator enabler. A woman who smeared Bill Clinton’s victims, and actively chose to protect her “faith advisor,” Burns Strider, a serial sexual harasser of women.  

While many liberals regularly sicken me with their rampant hypocrisy, so do many on the right. I was heartbroken and angry that my (former!) “side” chose Donald J. “Grab ‘Em By the Pussy” Trump to lead the Republican party. They lost me forever with that. I was heartened to see many Senate Republicans publicly denounce Moore, but far too many Alabama Republicans staunchly defended him. Jim Ziegler, Alabama’s state auditor, had the gall to compare Moore with Joseph - yes, the one in the Bible.

I was a conservative almost my entire life, and I’ll always hold certain conservative ideals in my heart, but the Republican Party is a joke at this point, so I am politically homeless.

I’m really okay with that - being politically homeless, that is - politicians can all go jump in a lake as far as I’m concerned. However, here’s what I’m not okay with: when important national movements rise up, each political side quickly dives in, claims their piece of the pie, begins hurling accusations at each other, and turns it all into a parody of a WWE event. The importance of the message gets lost in the carnage.

In the case of #MeToo, it’s a disgrace to see the righteous and seriously overdue rising up of voices that have been silenced for far too long being overshadowed by politics as usual.

When it comes to sexual harassment, assault and abuse, women shouldn’t be categorized in boxes like “Republican,” “Democrat,” “Socialist,” “Libertarian,” or any other party. If there was ever a topic where a majority of people could have put differences aside, come together and push to make progress, it should have been the #MeToo conversation.

With the Grammy Awards show’s appalling decision to promote and cheer Hillary Clinton, what could have been a movement to give voices to women of all ages and races and backgrounds, has been thrown into the pigsty of politics, and trampled by partisan hacks.