The
novel The Godfather
tells the story of a Mafia don or boss, Vito Corleone, and how he runs
"the business." One of the most famous lines from the movie is the Godfather explaining how he'll
prevail, how he'll get what he asks for: "I'll make him an offer he can't
refuse."
One
such offer is made to a big band leader who won't release Vito's godson from a
contract: $10,000 to sign the release. When the offer's refused,
Vito goes back to the band leader with his enforcer, Luca
Brasi. Luca holds a gun to the man's head, and Vito explains that
either his brains or his signature will be on the contract.
The media are
the Democrats' Luca Brasi, the #MeToo movement the gun.
Democrats
have repeatedly warned the GOP not to confirm Judge Kavanaugh, but Republicans
aren't getting the message. Send in the muscle.
Dr. Christine
Blasey Ford steps forward to say she was attacked by Kavanaugh at a drunken
episode somewhere, sometime, somehow. Dr. Ford claims that 36 years
ago or thereabouts, she was assaulted by two boys, who, stumbling drunk, jumped
on top of her and tried to undress her. One horrifying detail is
that one boy (Judge Kavanaugh) covered her mouth so no one could hear her
scream.
On
its face, the charge is ludicrous. Judge Kavanaugh is a sterling example of a
decent, honorable man. He coaches his girl's soccer team, feeds the
homeless in his spare time, and has spent a lifetime building his impeccable
reputation. Yet this woman wants us to believe he attacked her in a
drunken mêlée.
To
accuse Judge Kavanaugh of being wildly drunk and attacking this woman is like
accusing Mother Teresa of stealing from the poor before she became a nun –
though I'm sure that if Mother Teresa had been nominated for the Supreme Court,
she'd have had to prove she'd never taken bread from emaciated children.
With
the charge levied, the media pounce on this story as a means to bludgeon the
president and Judge Kavanaugh into submission. Every headline, cable
show, and news outlet features indignant senators railing against "old white
men" picking on this woman, "blaming the victim,"
"bullying her."
Ironically,
the real victim here is Judge Kavanaugh. Whether or not Dr. Ford
ever suffered this attack, it wasn't by Kavanaugh. His high school
classmates can't even remember seeing him drunk, much less aggressive.
No
one wants Luca Brasi at his doorstep, so all of these people tout the
seriousness of the charge, the victim's right to be heard. And by
God, no one had better grill her for details that could cast doubt on her story.
Media
continually step up their game. Afraid that "almost
molested" won't carry the day, they work in the word "rape" as often
as possible. They couch it in "attempted," knowing that
even the alleged incident never came close to rape. But see what
they do here: get me and others to defend against the escalated charges, to
argue that it wasn't really rape, thereby indirectly validating the alleged
crime.
Media
are able to control the attack narrative because we, unsuspecting viewers,
allowed them into our homes, delegated them the authority to filter and deliver
our news. They're now all-powerful.
In
another scene from The
Godfather, a Hollywood producer, Jack Woltz, refuses to cast Vito's
godson in his movie. The next morning, Woltz wakes to bloody sheets,
the severed head of his prized horse in the bed next to him.
Media
also send warnings to anyone thinking about opposing them.
One
example is Matt Lauer. After he asked
Hillary Clinton hard questions about her private server in the
"Commander-in-Chief Forum," months later, Lauer was accused of sexual
misconduct, a charge
that cost him his career and reputation.
The
left leaves a trail of destruction for their enemies: Corey
Lewandowski now labeled a bully, Judge Roy
Moore among those too damaged by media to even defend, careers
torched, reputations in ashes. The message: Those who step out of
line will pay – not with brass knuckles and billy clubs, but with accusers who
can't be doubted and must be believed, no matter how outrageous the charge.
Whether
or not the event actually happened, the coverage is the
same. Politicians and news and cable hosts lecture us on the
severity, the horror of whatever. They repeat identical talking
points over and over, tyrannize audiences with interminable coverage of the
beating. Waterboarding could not be more torture than these
screeching, hateful liberals lecturing us on how we "must" think and
act.
Sadly,
too many conservatives join the pile-on. Due to their abject terror
of the enforcer, Republicans and conservatives actually echo the left's talking
points. Sean Hannity repeatedly says "this is a serious
charge" and "she must be heard" while furtively looking over his
shoulder for Luca to step out of the shadows with a tire iron.
We
can't expect congressional Republicans to stop the madness; they're cowering in
chamber corners, pleading with the mob not to dismember them.
It's
a protection racket, an extortion scheme not at all different from the
shop-owner who pays the mob $100 a week to protect the shop from destruction,
his family from harm. People are willing to pay to be left alone,
not to be attacked.
So
it is with Republicans: either they stand down or they're next. Then
they will be the poor saps facing an accuser who must be believed, who can't be
challenged, who will have groups making ads to condemn the accused, 24-7 media
confirmation of the alleged crime, and an accuser who's off-limits.
So
they allow the media to hammer home the charges until everyone in this country
is aware of the accusations. They let Dr. Ford set up all parameters
of when she'll speak, if ever. Senator Grassley sets a deadline,
then postpones it again and again because Dr. Ford is scared, she can't fly,
she's trying to think, OK?
Whether
Judge Kavanaugh's confirmed or not, Senate leaders have allowed his reputation
to be sullied, the only black mark on a great man's record. They've
let media broadcast this travesty for more than a week – wall-to-wall coverage
of the smear.
But
Congress doesn't really have a choice. The enforcer is waiting for
these congressmen to make the wrong move. Either they cave to Dr.
Ford's every demand or they face a brutal media campaign that could cost them
the majority in upcoming midterms.
It's
an offer they can't refuse.
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