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When the Greek financial crisis broke, we spoke of the "first shoe dropping." At the time, we believed that the Greek crisis would overload the European Union's financial system and anticipated a second shoe of collapse. We couldn't imagine German taxpayers being willing to "let the good times roll" in Greece at their expense.
So far, the second shoe hasn't dropped. The EU and Greece have come up with fudge after fudge. Some government spending has been cut, some government-owned businesses have been sold, but no-show government jobs and unsustainable pensions are like 'Ol Man River, they just keep rollin' along. The leaders of the EU have demonstrated that they'd far rather kick the can down the road than ask voters to submit to the pain of not receiving government's unrealistic promises.
Looking back on a turbulent few weeks, the Weinstein affair looks very much like another first shoe, albeit one dropping off a quite different foot.
Mr. W. had made a habit of taking advantage of his ability to cast aspiring actresses in movies and get them Oscars to "persuade" them to grant him sexual favors, willingly or unwillingly. His exploits were widely known in Hollywoodland, but he bought himself protection by donating to liberal causes such as Planned Parenthood and the political campaigns of Hillary and Mr. Obama.
To our complete astonishment, and doubtless his as well, the entire liberal MSM abruptly and savagely turned on a man who'd been such a big-time Democrat contributor that Mr. Obama's daughter had interned at his Hollywood establishment. He's now been hounded from the public stage and his own company, and may soon be facing criminal charges.
Once the dam broke, it turned out that many other liberal stalwarts and Hollywood denizens - but we repeat ourselves - were guilty (or at least accused) of similar crimes, and some of them have had their incomes and status compromised, at least for now.
The question is, now what?
We've known since his impeachment that Slick Willie was at least as big a sleazeball as Mr. Weinstein was recently shown to be - arguably worse, because Mr. Weinsten did at least deliver Oscars to many of his reluctant paramours, which is a lot more compensation than Hillary's husband ever provided to any of his victims.
The question is, will anything happen to President Clinton? And where else will this sordid trail lead us?
We're learning that Mr. Clinton isn't the only Democrat sleazeball out there - and that's without including the Kennedy brothers, now deceased. Photos show Sen. Al Franken (D) groping a sleeping woman before assuming his Senate seat.
Leftists are in a lather about how to react to this. On the one hand, Sen. Franken is "right on the issues" as was said of Slick Willie back in the day, and feminists are saying he shouldn't resign. This is consistent with their past view of Slick Willie, but do we want powerful men to get away with maltreating women even if they're otherwise politically correct? In 1998, feminist author Nina Burleigh crudely expressed what most feminists believed:
I would be happy to give him [Slick Willie] a blowjob just to thank him for keeping abortion legal. I think American women should be lining up with their Presidential kneepads on to show their gratitude for keeping the theocracy off our backs.
This has since become known as the "Nina Burleigh Rule" in her "honor," which the ever-helpful Wikipedia describes as follows:
If the accused men were powerful supporters of unrestricted rights for women to have abortions, the logic runs, women should be grateful to them and not damage their ability to fight for those rights.
Sen. Franken isn't the only one attempting to take advantage of this rule, of course. The Washington Post reports that our public "servants" have set up a secret slush fund to pay off women who complain of sexual harassment by elected officials.
Between 1997 and 2014, the U.S. Treasury has paid $15.2 million in 235 awards and settlements for Capitol Hill workplace violations, according to the congressional Office of Compliance.
Great. They abuse women and pay them off at our expense!
Sex scandals involving current and former lawmakers have been infrequent but steady. A count by The Post shows at least a dozen members have resigned or chosen not to seek reelection in the last 15 years because of extramarital affairs, inappropriate contact online and other sexual misbehavior.
Al Franken doesn't want to resign his plum post, of course, so he's called for an "investigation." We know how that works - politicians hate, simply hate, penalizing each other. As with financial misbehavior by Rep. Charlie Rangel (D) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D), history suggests that the investigation will drag along until the storm passes by. We'll get back to business as usual without any penalty being applied.
That's why we don't know if there is a second shoe to drop. Feminists supported Slick Willie because they agreed with his political positions on Planned Parenthood, abortion, and other issues that mattered to them; they didn't care how he treated individual women. If that attitude prevails, this will blow over, nothing will change, and the resistance better get ready for more years of Mr. Trump.
So far, the firestorm of protest has damaged more Democrats than Republicans because it's been more or less confined to Hollywood, a liberal bastion where there basically are no Republicans to get caught in the crossfire. Now that the waves are beginning to spread into places where Republicans can actually be found, like politics, accusations with varying degrees of weight are being made. Given that Republican voters already know that the media is not on their side, it remains to be seen how effective these accusations will be.
There are a few potential signs that might show the wind blowing toward change.
N.Y. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who took Hillary's Senate seat when she became Secretary of State, told the New York Times that she now believes that Slick Willie should have resigned instead of fighting his impeachment. Now she tells us, decades after it would make one iota of difference! But at least it's a start.
Philippe Reines, a Clinton supporter, fired a warning shot back at her: "Over 20 yrs you took the Clintons' endorsements, money, and seat. Hypocrite. Interesting strategy for 2020 primaries. Best of luck."
Mr. Reines has cast the issue into stark relief. Are the Democrats going to cling to Slick Willie as their patron saint, or are they going to throw him under the bus along with Mr. Weinstein and Anthony Weiner where he manifestly belongs?
Ms. Gillibrand is said to be thinking of running against Mr. Trump in 2020, and impeccable credentials of not tolerating sexual assault will be most helpful. If she says nothing now, she knows that Mr. Trump will easily dispatch her accusations of his misbehavior as he did so effectively when Hillary attacked him.
Criticizing Clintons carries risks, of course:
If, on the other hand, Senator Gillibrand is somehow able to take down Slick Willie and a lot of other abusive politicians, she'll have a much better shot at Mr. Trump.
Will the Democrats feel that losing a lot of well-known Democrat politicians is a price worth paying to improve their chances of regaining the White House? How many national officeholders would go down in a blood bath of that magnitude? Do they even know? We hope she makes the right choice: it would be a good start on draining the Swamp, regardless of her motivations.
Having mothers, sisters, and daughters, we'd like to see details about the "235 awards and settlements for Capitol Hill workplace violations" that were paid by the secret slush fund. We'd also like to see Sen. Franken go, but we suspect that many of his colleagues have at least as many real skeletons in their closets as Roy Moore has phony ones, so they don't want that particular closet opened.
If the past were any guide, we'd say that Franken will survive because, like Ted Kennedy and other serial abusers, he's "right" on issues liberals care about. There may not be another shoe - but we hope there is, and (to shamelessly mix metaphors) we hope it squashes the maximum number of denizens of our national Swamp.
And yes, that applies regardless of party.