Monday, November 19, 2018

#Metoo takes more victims

David Paulin: A suicide at the University of Texas Reveals Dark Side of #MeToo Movement
. . . "Morrisett's research offered new insights into alcohol-related brain disorders and alcoholism – an arcane area of research among neuroscientists. Some colleagues called him “brilliant.”
"Morrisett's career, however, was destroyed by a single newspaper article. Published by the Austin American-Statesman, a metropolitan daily, the article dredged up an ugly episode from Morrisett's past – a domestic violence incident involving his girlfriend at the time. It was the sort of inexcusable incident that, sadly, the police and courts handle all the time. There were no serious injuries; it hadn't even merited a headline when it occurred on May 28, 2016. Morrisett, in a plea deal, pleaded guilty to a 3rd degree felony. He was sentenced to four years of probation, called community supervision in Texas, and ordered to receive counseling, take a class on avoiding family violence, and perform 100 hours of community service. Morrisett had thought he was moving on with his life. He had accepted responsibility for his actions and, moreover, had put an apparently volatile and dysfunctional relationship behind him.
"Then, more than a year and a half after the incident, a Statesman reporter contacted Morrisett about the domestic violence case. On his lawyer's advice, Morrisett declined to comment. And not long after that, on Thursday, January 25, his nightmare began: He woke up to see a banner headline across the Statesman's front page: “UT declined to sanction professor who pleaded guilty to violent felony.” The incident had suddenly become timely – tied as it was to the #MeToo movement that, starting one year ago with Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, has since targeted and disgraced a number of prominent or famous men for being sexual predators and abusers." . . .

Clarice Feldman: Then They Came for the White Women  "As the incompetent election managers in Florida finally finish counting ballots barely in time for the 2020 campaigns to begin, and Georgia’s governor candidate Stacey Abrams chooses to "acknowledge defeat" rather than concede, it’s time to take a look at the role of women in politics.
. . . 
"But there was even more to cheer those who were upset by the Kavanaugh hearing debacle. Senator Joe Manchin, who broke from the Dem pack and voted for Kavanaugh, won his re-election campaign. Senators Donnelly,Nelson, Heitkamp, and McCaskill, who voted against him, lost. Certainly, other factors may have played a part, but obviously the Democrats forgot there are still plenty of women who love men and fair play."

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