Weinstein is a Dangerous Distraction

When folks are really scared – I mean really scared, they look everywhere for a distraction. They are really scared, or they should be, and Harvey Weinstein and his despicable behavior is an easy one to hide behind.

The guy, Weinstein, is as scuzzy as they come. Using his position, power and money, he did some terrible things to many women. What he did, what he did to so many, and the fact that it has taken so long to become public are all worthy of public scrutiny and shaming. His behavior and the reaction by the public are important reminders that this kind of behavior is still out there and is shameful.

BUT, however pathetic, hurtful, and harmful Weinstein and all that he did may be, the story is getting even more attention in the media than would normally be expected, primarily because everyone – the media included – is trying to very hard to forget something far more heinous that is taking place at the same time.

And, that, dear friends, is all that Donald Trump is doing to shake the very foundations of the United States and to threaten the world order as we know it and have known it for centuries.

He is a life-threatening tumor on the body politic, and it is metastasizing at an alarming rate. In only the last day or so, he has openly moved to start a war with North Korea that will kill millions in days, to cancel freedom of the press, to pull FEMA out of Puerto Rico, to shame key members of Congress by calling them ugly names, to kill healthcare for the most needy, to play a shell game with tax proposals, to fire up the fringe with fake assertions, and to end the Iran deal, NAFTA, and global warming agreements, and so on and on. This man is on the verge – literally – of destroying our and our children’s world.

And, unlike the Weinstein manner, the silence from every corner is deafening. Checks and balances are not working, and the people who should stand up, notably those in Congress, have retreated and are in hiding.

So, let’s acknowledge quickly that Weinstein is a pathetic and disgusting man. But, let’s take our heads out of the sand as quickly and raise the alarm about a man far more dangerous and unchecked.

Rome is burning.