WASHINGTON, DC COULD JOIN HOLLYWOOD AS THE NEXT SITE OF
POTENTIALLY MULTIPLE SEXUAL ASSAULT AND HARASSMENT CHARGES.
TODAY THE HOUSE HELD A SEXUAL-HARASSMENT COMMITTEE
MEETING WHERE PEOPLE CAME FORWARD AND TALKED ABOUT THEIR
EXPERIENCE EITHER AS REPRESENTATIVES, AND SENATORS,
OR AS INTERNS, PEOPLE STAFFING MANY OF THE OFFICES IN DC, AND
SOME OF THOSE EXPERIENCES ARE SCARY ON THEIR OWN, BUT
CERTAINLY COULD COME WITH SOME LEGAL CHARGES IN THE FUTURE
PERHAPS.
HERE IS A MASHUP OF THOSE STORIES.
WHEN I WAS A FRESHMAN LEGISLATOR IN MY 20S IN MISSOURI
AS A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES I WENT UP ON THE
DAIS TO ASK THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE FOR ADVICE ON HOW TO GET
MY FIRST BILL OUT OF COMMITTEE, AND HE ASKED ME IF I BROUGHT MY
KNEEPADS.
THAT'S ONE EXAMPLE.
IT'S ABOUT A MEMBER WHO IS HERE NOW, I DON'T KNOW WHO IT
IS, BUT SOMEBODY I TRUST TOLD ME THIS SITUATION.
THIS MEMBER
ASKED A STAFFER TO BRING THEM OVER SOME MATERIALS TO THEIR
RESIDENCE, AND THE YOUNG STAFFER, A YOUNG WOMAN, WENT
THERE AND WAS GREETED WITH A MEMBER IN A TOWEL, A MALE, WHO
THEN INVITED HER IN.
AT THAT POINT HE DECIDED TO EXPOSE
HIMSELF.
SHE LEFT, AND THEN SHE QUIT HER JOB.
SHE LEFT, SHE FOUND ANOTHER JOB.
WHEN I WAS AN INTERN I LEARNED TO AVOID ELEVATORS,
BECAUSE ELEVATORS WERE WHEN YOU WERE CAPTURED.
SO AFTER ONE
UNFORTUNATE INCIDENT IN THE ELEVATOR I BEGAN TAKING THE
STAIRS EVERYWHERE I WENT IN THE STATE CAPITOL WHEN I WAS
THERE AS A COLLEGE STUDENT.
I WAS EAGER TO PRESENT A PROPOSAL TO HIM I HAD BEEN
WORKING ON, AND I DID SO IN HIS OFFICE, IT WAS JUST HE AND I,
AND AS I GOT UP TO LEAVE HE STOPPED ME AND SAID MY GOD, YOU
JUST LOOK AMAZING TODAY.
REALLY STUNNING.
WOULD YOU MIND
TWIRLING FOR ME?
TWIRLING, LIKE SPINNING AROUND IN A CIRCLE?
YES, I HAD A DRESS SUIT ON AT THE TIME, AND I WAS STUNNED.
BUT
I WAS 22, I WAS INEXPERIENCED, AND I RESPECTED HIM.
HE WAS MY
MEMBER, HE WAS DOING A LOT OF GOOD WORK IN CONGRESS, AND I
COMPLIED.
I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO.
I WAS CONFUSED AFTER
THE INCIDENT, I WENT TO SIT DOWN AT MY DESK AND JUST KIND OF
REGROUP, WHEN SHORTLY THEREAFTER I RECEIVED A PHONE CALL FROM OUR
WASHINGTON OFFICE SAYING WELL, REBECCA, CONGRATULATIONS, I
DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU DID BUT GARY CALLED AND SAID YOU NEED TO HAVE
A BONUS IMMEDIATELY.
AND I WAS SO FURIOUS AT THE TIME BECAUSE I
KNEW EXACTLY WHAT I DID.
I TWIRLED.
IN FACT THERE ARE TWO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, REPUBLICAN AND
DEMOCRAT, RIGHT NOW, WHO SERVE, WHO HAVE BEEN SUBJECT TO REVIEW,
OR NOT SUBJECT TO REVIEW, BUT HAVE ENGAGED IN SEXUAL
HARASSMENT.
THESE HARASSER PROPOSITIONS SUCH AS ARE YOU
GOING TO BE A GOOD GIRL TO PERPETRATORS EXPOSING THEIR
GENITALS TO VICTIMS HAVING THEIR PRIVATE PARTS GRABBED ON THE
HOUSE FLOOR --
RIGHT THERE AT THE END, SHE ALSO SAID THAT WHEN SHE WAS JUST
STARTING HER CAREER IN POLITICS THE CHIEF OF STAFF IN HER
OFFICE SEXUALLY ASSAULTED HER.
IT FEELS TO ME, AND I THINK TO A
LOT OF PEOPLE, LIKE THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING.
LIKE, WE KNOW
THAT WHAT LEADS TO THE CERTAIN BEHAVIOR IS UNBRIDLED POWER,
HOLLYWOOD HAD THAT, IT HAD THE CULTURE THAT PROTECTED THESE
PEOPLE AND ALLOW THIS SORT OF THING TO GO ON, AND WE KNOW THAT
STUFF LIKE THIS HAPPENS IN DC.
THESE ARE NOT SIMPLY LIKE, HEY,
SOMETHING HAPPENED DECADES AGO -- PEOPLE CURRENTLY SERVING HAVE
SEXUALLY HARASSED AND ASSAULTED PEOPLE.
AND I THINK THIS IS THE
MOMENT WHERE THIS SORT OF THING COULD COME OUT AND I WOULDN'T BE
SURPRISED -- AND THERE IS PRECEDENT FOR THIS, PACKWOOD
BACK IN THE 90S -- THAT PEOPLE LOSE THEIR CAREERS, JUSTIFIABLY
SO, BECAUSE WHAT THEY HAVE DONE ONCE PEOPLE START COMING
FORWARD.
FOR ALL WE KNOW THERE ARE REPORTERS COMPILING THESE
STORIES INTO BOMBSHELL REPORTS THAT IN A WEEK OR A MONTH OR A
YEAR WILL TAKE DOWN PEOPLE.
AND DC NEEDS IT.
I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT THE IDENTITIES OF PEOPLE THAT WERE
RECENTLY ACCUSED WILL SOMEHOW BE LEAKED, WE WILL FIGURE IT OUT.
BUT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN GOING ON IN OUR CURRENT
CONGRESS, THAT APPARENTLY SOME MEMBERS OF CONGRESS HAVE KNOWN
ABOUT, AND JUST THINK ABOUT HOW DEEPLY ROOTED FEAR IS WHEN IT
COMES TO IDENTIFYING THESE INDIVIDUALS.
NOW, I'M NOT
CRITICIZING THEM FOR NOT WANTING TO COME FORWARD AND IDENTIFY
THEM, THAT IS THEIR DECISION TO MAKE.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT'S
SO IMPORTANT TO HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE AND CALL THEM OUT,
BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T THEN THE BEHAVIOR CONTINUES.
THEY THINK
THEY CAN CONTINUOUSLY VICTIMIZE OTHER PEOPLE WITHOUT
CONSEQUENCES BECAUSE THEY RECOGNIZE THEIR POWER AND THEY
RECOGNIZE THE FEAR OTHERS HAVE IN IDENTIFYING WHO THEY ARE.
AGAIN, I'VE SAID THIS A BILLION TIMES WHEN IT COMES TO ALL THE
SEXUAL ASSAULT STORIES THAT COME OUT, I DON'T CARE IF IT'S A
DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN, THEIR POLITICAL IDEOLOGY IS IRRELEVANT
TO ME WHEN IT COMES TO THIS TYPE OF PREDATORY BEHAVIOR.
IT'S THE MAKEUP OF THE SYSTEM.
THERE ARE A LOT OF
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN HOLLYWOOD AND DC, WHEN I WAS THERE THE
FIRST COUPLE TIMES I WENT, IT WAS DURING W'S ADMINISTRATION,
AND SHE WAS LIKE POLITICIANS AROUND HER, IT'S LIKE HOLLYWOOD.
SHE WENT TO SCHOOL OUT HERE WITH ME IN L.A. SO THERE WAS A DIRECT
COMPARISON, SHE SAID THEY ARE LIKE CELEBRITIES, WHEN THEY ARE
APPROACHED OR RECOGNIZED SOME WAY THEY ARE LIKE, YOU KNOW WHO
I AM.
THEY WOULD TAKE IT IN AND THEY LOOK AROUND LIKE I'M SO
MUCH OF THIS -- SO WHEN THEY KNOW THEY HAVE POWER OVER
CERTAIN PEOPLE, THERE OUR SIMILARITIES TO HUMAN NATURE
THAT PEOPLE LIKE TO DO, ASSHOLE HUMAN NATURE, TO TAKE ADVANTAGE
PEOPLE TO GET THEIR ROCKS OFF HOWEVER THEY LIKE TO.
AND THEY
HAVE BEEN GETTING AWAY WITH IT SINCE FOREVER OBVIOUSLY, THE
SYSTEM ALLOWED IT TO HAPPEN.
SO PEOPLE WHO WERE VICTIMS OF IT,
ONE WOMAN FELT HORRIBLE ABOUT JUST A NORMAL THING THAT JUST
HAPPENS, SUDDENLY SHE HAS A BONUS, AND AT THE END OF THAT
SHE ALSO SAYS AND I NEEDED IT.
EVERYONE KNOWS THEY BARELY PAY FOLKS, THEY USE THEM FOR
THEIR OWN GRATIFICATION, AND THE SYSTEM JUST KEEPS MOVING.
AND WE KNOW ONE OF THE REASONS THAT INITIALLY THERE
WASN'T MUCH DONE ABOUT THE ALLEGATIONS OF THOSE IN
HOLLYWOOD IS THAT THERE ARE HUGE SUMS OF MONEY ON THE LINE.
HARVEY WEINSTEIN'S POWER ISN'T PHYSICAL POWER, IT'S FINANCIAL
AND INFLUENCE POWER, AND EVERY ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE ALLUDED TO
IN THE VIDEO YOU JUST SAW, THEY HAVE NOT ONLY THE POWER
THEORETICALLY OVER CAREERS, LIKE HARVEY WEINSTEIN AND SOME OF THE
OTHER PEOPLE ACCUSED TO DO, THEY HAVE LITTLE GOVERNMENT POWER.
THE PEOPLE ACCUSING ROY MOORE SAID THEY DIDN'T WANT TO COME
FORWARD BECAUSE HE WAS THE DA, HE WAS THE JUDGE, HE WAS
INFLUENTIAL, THINK ABOUT A SENATOR OR A REPRESENTATIVE.
AND
THERE WILL BE DEFENDERS OF THEM, BECAUSE A LOT OF PEOPLE WILL SAY
SURE, I WOULD LOVE IT IF PEOPLE WEREN'T GETTING SEXUALLY
ASSAULTED, BUT I HAVE TO HAVE MY MAJORITY IN CONGRESS AND I WON'T
JEOPARDIZE THAT JUST TO STAND BY MY SUPPOSE AND PRINCIPLES.
SO AS
MORE OF THESE STORIES COME OUT, AND I HOPE REPORTERS ARE DIGGING
INTO IT, EXPECT THAT DEFENDERS WILL BE THERE, AND EVERYONE WHO
MAKES ALLEGATIONS IS PUTTING EVERYTHING ONLINE FOR IT,
BECAUSE JUST LIKE ROY MOORE THEY WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO
DESTROY YOU.
AND AS ANA SAID, REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS.
SO EVERYONE
WATCHING, BE PREPARED TO BE DISAPPOINTED IN SOME OF THE
NAMES YOU WILL HEAR.
THERE WILL BE REPRESENTATIVES OR SENATORS
THAT YOU LIKED, PEOPLE WHO YOU LIKED THINGS THEY HAVE DONE, OR
LEGISLATED, BUT MANY HAVE DONE THIS STUFF SO BE PREPARED AND
DON'T DEFEND THEM JUST BECAUSE YOU LIKE THEM, WHAT THEY
SEEM TO BE.
IT'S LIKELY TO BE FROM BOTH REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS.