When there is such an outcry over alleged sexual misconduct, many who have some doubt about a rush to judgment are silent because of the fear they will be seen by the public as taking the side of the accused, which might be costly to their livelihood, especially for a politician. Every day you see more and more politicians join in the demand that the accused fellow congressman resign without any type of hearing, hoping they won't be next in line.
Many of the people now being accused of sexual misconduct were engaging in conduct many years ago that at the time was considered permissible; however, today there is change in the public's attitude, which I concede was overdue, but I believe there should at least be a discussion whether this change should be applied retroactively.
According to the view of many, such allegations cause the burden of proof to be shifted to the accused to disprove the accusations. This reminds me of the system of criminal procedure in Russia in which the accused is presumed to be guilty and has the burden of proving his own innocence. The United States has always been critical of their system, since it is patently unfair, yet we are inching in that direction in dealing with the sexual misconduct scandal.
I also believe the media is partly to blame for this rush to judgment in the way they have covered the issue. They have a salacious subject they knew was sure to attract a lot of viewers and are hammering away at the subject 24 hours a day, being clearly on the side of the victims, and appear ready to throw the accused to the dogs. This type of coverage only adds to the groundswell to summarily punish the accused, which makes it all the more unlikely for anyone to come to their defense.
There also are the allegations of sexual impropriety against President Trump which must be addressed. As usual his response is in the alternative: (1) that the Billy Bush recording was not his voice and therefore is not proof that he admitted to any wrongdoing; (2) that if it was his voice (which he had previously admitted) it was only locker room talk (can you imagine how he would define that term?); or (3) as president he is above the law and he can do whatever he wants to do. In any event, any discussions about politicians who engaged in such misconduct should also apply to you know who, and it is sad to see that he is once again getting a free pass.
Now that the sexual misconduct issue is front and center, it is essential the authorities arrive at a standard of behavior and spell out how charges are dealt with. Despite the groundswell for action, this is not the time to abandon our concept of due process.
Bass Trumbo
Fayetteville
Editorial on 12/15/2017