The Sins of the Left

by Mona Shaw

There is no question that if Anita Hill had made the same allegations against a “liberal” nominee (say Stephen Breyer) to the Supreme Court, she would have not have been believed by even the same “feminists” who pushed her to make her experiences public.

There isn’t much I’d rather not do than write about this. To do so submerges me in days of pain while I think of women betrayed by “liberals” and “left-wing” activists.  Women who suffer at the hands of those on the “left” who dare to try to expose that abuse are far more often than not brutalized more by those who should have supported them.

Few will bother to read this.  Fewer will care enough to modify their behavior at all.  That’s a depressing truth that I don’t enjoy revisiting.

However, there is a tether here that goes to the core of misogyny.  It needs to be cut.  I.e., until we acknowledge this, the body count will go higher and hope for all women will remain lost.  Plus, the women we've casually thrown under the bus are human beings who matter.

Anita Hill provided a political payoff.  Most women don’t have that currency.  Moreover, the allegiance to class superiority is as dangerous to that woman as her abuser.  If a man is publicly identified as a champion of women’s rights, he can essentially do whatever he wants to women with very little risk to himself.

Anita Hill

The casualties are endless.  The betrayal leaves life-long agony in its wake.  Still, the “left” is just as inclined, if not more so, to cover it up.

One case is that of Anna Mae Aquash, an incredibly brave spirit and devoted AIM member.  Anna Mae was raped and murdered by fellow activists in 1975.  At first AIM blamed her murder on the FBI, plausible since the FBI is known to kill human rights activists.  And, it was likely the FBI that planted the false accusation that Anna Mae was an FBI informant.  Eventually two AIM members were convicted of her murder.

Anna Mae Aquash

However, darling of the left Leonard Pelletier, who many have said interrogated Anna Mae while holding a gun her mouth and knew of her murder during the time he was blaming the FBI, has never been charged in her death. This is excused with statements like, "Well we'll never know, and he is in prison for something he didn't do.  Let's just let sleeping dogs lie."

Sue Daniels

Susan Daniels was murdered by a fellow activist and former lover in 2004.  Daniels was a valiant peace activist whose stellar resume of activism included being arrested during a School of the Americas protest. It wasn’t only that popular activist Niklan Jones-Lezama murdered her.  For months his stalking behavior had left Daniels in fear of such an outcome, but was ignored and accused of “over-reacting” when she said so.  Even after her death, many insisted it was a set-up by the FBI.  "Sure, Niklan had some issues. but he was a kind and compassionate man."

It took 23 years for the anti-war activist Ira Einhorn to be brought to justice after he murdered his girlfriend Holly Maddux in 1977.  Many were aware that Einhorn treated Holly abusively, but dismissed at as a good man under great stress. 

Left-wing or progressive men, of course, don’t always kill women.  Most just torment and use them and destroy the lives of any women who tries to stand up to them. 

Brandon Darby a charismatic activist who was eventually exposed in 2008 as an FBI agent was given a pass for horrific misogynistic abuse. Later, Lisa Fithian wrote in a blog in 2010.

"There are many people in the activist community who have crossed Brandon’s path and have been hurt, demoralized, alienated, frightened, or run off by him. Those of us who were lied to or lied about, spied on, bullied, must deal with the trauma of his abusive behavior. We must also come to terms with the behavior of those who supported and enabled Brandon. And, as a community, we must deal with those parts of ourselves that were seduced, manipulated, and marginalized by Brandon so that we can defend each other, our political work, and ourselves."

When “leaders” lose people from the fold through a chronically revolving door, it should be regarded as a red flag.  Usually it's not.  These men are given passes because “no one is perfect. I prefer to focus on the good he does."  The abuser's accusations against those who leave or are forced to leave the “flock,” if not believed outright, are given undue credence, no matter how lumpy the rug becomes from sweeping people under it.

It’s characteristic for these men to go through women like Kleenex as sexual partners.  People will giggle about how many women had to be told about him when he went to jail or to the hospital, etc.

When a group of the women in leadership challenged Brian Darby’s sexual exploitation.  He gave a shameful, but common, response “I like to fuck women, so what.”

You can’t go to any leftist discussion group and not see blasts of misogyny.  I was recently threatened with being kicked to the curb when I suggested that “sleeping with underage girls,” was not only not a joke; it was rape.  “He didn’t mean anything by that.  You’ve gone too far.  Women like you give feminism a bad name.  I’m so sick of identity politics.”

Perhaps the most pernicious acts of all are those committed by those who want to be “fair” or “stay out of it.”  Fears of community reprisal or even looked at askance will leave those who should be the helpers refusing to get involved. The pain of that for woman abandoned is unmitigated.

I can’t join groups anymore.  I just can’t.  I’ve given up trying to find one that will hold their “leaders” to the very standards they espouse. 

Let’s face it most “progressives” would not have risked life and limb to hide Anne Frank’s family.  Most don’t want to risk losing cocktail party invitations.  Betrayal of these women isn’t simply lying about her to cover up wrong doing.  It’s expecting her to meet you in an out-of-the-way cafe so you won’t be seen with her.  It’s coming up with a contrived excuse for not supporting her, e.g. “She’s not qualified” or “I’m not comfortable with how she brought this forward. She's just not a good poster child for this issue.”

There is a bottomless reservoir of conscious-numbing salve used by those who just don’t want to get any of the pain on them.  A lot of people like to quote Martin Luther King that character is shown by what you do in times of controversy.  It’s just not something they want to do.  People like to say they’ve done the best they can, but only if their “best” won’t cost them anything.

Our enemy isn’t the right wing.  Our enemy is our delusion that we’re any better than any of them. That log in our own eye requires our attention now.