This one is going to be short and sweet. I don’t want to cheapen what women have to experience by coming across as some kind of savior. 100 words or 1000 words or 10000 words won’t lessen the effect.
Fox News recently fired Bill O’Reilly amid sexual assault allegations. We all know that by now.
First off, Fox News is not about to get a pat on the back from me for finally letting him go. There’s no way they found about all this at the same time we did. They’ve known for a long time. The network has paid a LOT of money in settlements for women who have come forward over the past several years.
In fairness, a settlement doesn’t automatically mean someone is guilty of wrongdoing. When a person is in a high-profile position as Mr. O’Reilly is, settlements cost much less than pursuing. However, after so many of them, I refuse to believe all these women are making this up.
Also, Fox News lost a many advertisers in the past week. Only then did they decide to let him go. So essentially, it wasn’t his wrongdoing that got him fired. It was the finger-wagging by the advertisers.
I’ve noticed so many instances where sexual assault happens and often, it’s not the acts themselves that get the perpetrators relieved. It’s only the external backlash, like here.
Which is why yet again, we get another cold reminder of how little sexual assault is taken seriously. When people ask, “How come women don’t report?!!”
THIS is why.
This is not to say that every woman who comes forward is telling the truth about being assaulted. Like anything else, there are the bad apples who take advantage. But those who do so do not nullify all those who are legitimate. And the sad part is that so much of it is excused all because of those who lie about it.
People are quick to question why women don’t come forward right away. Is there any wonder when this is the response? First, it’s horrible, terrifying and embarrassing enough for her to have gone through the ordeal to begin with. Often, she’s already blaming herself for things. Then comes the thought that people won’t believe her. Not to mention, like in this case, no action is taken even when something is said right away.
Even worse is that I’m reading comments on Twitter, and because Fox News is mostly conservative politically, the conversation has shifted to that. Sexual assault has been reduced to a “Democrat” and “Republican” fight. Folks are bringing up Democrats who have done this or that and comparing the two.
I’m not a big fan of politics, so that’s not a discussion I care to get much into. I don’t follow it and I won’t pretend to know what I’m talking about. But I DO know that this has nothing to do with politics.
This is about right and wrong. It doesn’t matter what political party you are a part of. And what people fail to realize is that the minute you decide to say that “someone else did it,” you’re not really saying that he is wrong here. You’re saying he should be excused because it happened before with someone else.
How does that make sense?
As a father who has a daughter, what I also hear so often is other fathers being quick to dismiss claims like this, yet be ready to raise all kinds of hell and want to kill everyone if it happens to their daughters or other family members.
That does NOT help, nor does it make one sound any better.
It shouldn’t have to happen to our daughters or other family members before we declare it as wrong. I don’t know if men say this to make themselves sound tougher or if it just doesn’t matter to them unless it happens to a family member. Or maybe, they think it’s impressive to women to hear them say this. Well, think of that woman who has been sexually assaulted before. How much difference does it make for you to say you will “kill the bastard” who does this to your daughter, but you show little to no compassion about the fact that this has happened to her?
As I said before, short and sweet. I will finish with this. Remember that every woman is someone’s daughter. If you can’t care for any other reason, then please…care for that one.
Care BEFORE if happens to our little girls.
People's Court 
It’s suspicious only the top earners and (and for Bill, the most popular person at Fox) are called out as sex fiends. This man is not stupid, and can certainly control his libido. The simple and obvious is they are calling out the guys with the fat wallets … specifically because the girls know he’s more likely to pay money, than to fight back.
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Do you have some solid evidence of this? Because this excuse has gotten old and tired. No one is buying the bullshit “suspicious” angle anymore.
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