May 8, 2018
Shock, revulsion and disbelief. We all find ourselves cycling through these emotions after the stunning revelations in The New Yorker that progressive champion, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, was simultaneously an alleged serial abuser of women. According to the meticulously reported article by Jane Mayer and Ronan Farrow, Schneiderman subjected his romantic partners to horrific physical and emotional abuse. Four women reported being slapped forcefully in the face by Schneiderman. The two women who went on the record by name recounted a litany of demeaning comments; alcohol abuse and physical assault. It is impossible to square Schneiderman’s public persona as a hard charging champion for progressive causes, and specifically, as an advocate for victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault, with the sociopathic monster depicted in The New Yorker. We shouldn’t try.Schneiderman’s exposure as a serial abuser of his intimate partners has disqualified him from public office, as it should, but it in no way undercuts the legitimacy of the policies he championed. We should keep in mind that scores of highly capable attorneys remain in the Attorney General’s office, ready to continue pressing forward in coordinating with the Special Counsel’s office to ensure that Trump cannot not dangle the carrot of pardons to completely derail the investigation.
Still, we are left with the unsettling fear that no one is as they seem. It is as if we are living in a Dostoevsky novel, surrounded by Raskolnikovs. After all, it is one thing for a tortured narcissistic genius like Kanye, isolated by wealth and fame, to turn his back on those who propelled him to stardom and throw his lot in with racist authoritarians. It is quite another thing for an earnest, Harvard trained progressive public servant to privately conduct himself like an abusive sociopath who betrays everything he purportedly believes in.
The words of Yeats once again come to mind:
“The best lack all conviction, while
The worst
Are full of passionate intensity” Yet, we cannot afford to give up when those we venerate turn out to have feet of clay, or worse. The forces among us that wish to enshrine patriarchal white supremacy are proceeding undeterred, running roughshod over our rights, untroubled by any concern for decency. While we were preoccupied by the lurid details of Schneiderman’s misdeeds, serial perjurer and committed racist, Jeff Sessions, was announcing that the DHS would now begin separating undocumented children from their parents at the border (Source: “U.S. says it will separate families crossing border illegally,” by Jennifer McEntee and Mica Rosenberg, Reuters.com, 5/7/18). This is in conjunction with his recently announced “zero tolerance” policy that would prosecute those fleeing political repression or gang violence in search of a better life. Our country is rapidly descending into a fascist state that is herding Latino immigrants into forced labor camps with messianic zeal. So, waste no time crying over fallen idols. Remember, no one fights for freedom harder than those who aren’t free.
#Fightforourselves