There are a number of threats to stable, rational Western civilizations these days, ranging from the trivial, such as homeopaths, to the abnormally large number of major threats, such as the rampant attacks on the free press, which are both physical, in the form of the recent bomb mailed to CNN, and rhetorical, as in President Trump’s unsupportable rhetorical attacks on the veracity of the mainstream media.
But one of the dramas playing out here in Minnesota embodies, I think, one of the stronger threats which is not really recognized for what it is. I refer to the relatively recent allegations of Karen Monahan that Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN), now running to be Attorney-General of Minnesota, engaged in misconduct during their recent, now-terminated, relationship.
The key to my concern lies in the details of the scenario, which I’ve noted before but will briefly recap. Monahan claims he abused her one evening:
“We never discussed — the video I have of you trying to drag me off the bed,” Monahan wrote to Ellison, quoting abusive language he allegedly shouted at her. [MPR]
The key piece of evidence, the video she cites, has never been released nor leaked to the press. In point of fact, its existence and contents have not been verified in a court of law or in a public news piece, at least as of yesterday (KSTP.com).
Ellison, naturally, has flatly denied any improprieties in this or any other relationship.
In terms of circumstantial evidence, both sides have brought some support to the table. Monahan claims to have told friends and has a medical report on the matter (same KSTP.com report):
“You can’t discount what Karen Monahan has reported and all the evidence she has,” said Monahan’s attorney, Andrew Parker.
During the DFL-hired lawyer’s investigation, Monahan provided medical records, therapy notes and text messages where she mentioned the allegations, along with several friends who heard of the claims.
“She told them about the physical abuse more than a year before it ever came out publicly,” Parker said.
Meanwhile, Ellison’s circumstantial evidence of innocence comes from his ex-wife:
Kim Ellison, who is Keith Ellison’s ex-wife, came to the congressman’s defense Sunday in a statement that was emailed to reporters.
“We may be divorced, but we are still a family,” she wrote. “I want members of our community to know that the behavior described does not match the character of the Keith I know.” [MPR]
Since the cited MPR report, the divorce papers of the Ellisons were unsealed, against their wishes, and nothing of a violent nature pertaining to Keith Ellison was found.
The situation may be summed up as a political candidate facing an unsupported accusation of misconduct, which he cannot effectively refute. Note the victim needn’t be a man, and in fact there have been a few cases publicized of powerful women being accused of misconduct.
How has this affected Ellison’s chances at election as MN AG? His poll numbers on Sept 19 in a local StarTribune poll looked fairly good, as you can see on the right – a 7 point lead, with 15% undecided and another 6 voting for others.
But that was a month ago, and that’s a month of uncertainty and accusations flying about. How is the race going now? For a race in a national atmosphere in which Republicans face substantial doubt (or, in my mind, they’re a national disgrace who should be booted out of power en masse), Ellison is now severely under-performing, as can be seen on the left, down by 7, but with 16% still undecided.
So much for quantification. Let’s talk civilization, shall we? Our current form of civilization traces from ancient Greece crucially through the European Renaissance period, during which concepts such as rationality and its cousin, proof, came to the fore. It is on these concepts that many important parts of our civilization are dependent, in fact so many that I hesitate to list them. Understanding that I will forget my reader’s favorite while noting those relevant here, occupants of this list will include science, technology, and justice, which in turn enable core institutions such as the Western democratic governments which we enjoy, comparatively speaking, today.
When examining how the Monahan / Ellison controversy stacks up, I was struck by this quote from the recent KSTP.com report referenced earlier:
Monahan says she feels abandoned by some in her party, that’s she’s worked for as an activist and fundraiser, since stepping forward.
“The Me-Too movement goes back and forth, to each party, when it’s in one person’s hands the other wants to distance themselves,” Monahan said.
It’s a vague statement, but reminds me of something Andrew Sullivan has brought up more than once in his weekly column. Here’s one useful quote:
A month or so ago, a friend and I mulled over when exactly the backlash to the then-peaking #MeToo moral panic would set in. Mid-January, we guessed, and sure enough here we are.
No, we were not being clairvoyant, just noting certain dynamics. The early exposure of Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly, and Harvey Weinstein — achieved by meticulous, scrupulous journalists and smart, determined women — quickly extended to more ambiguous and trivial cases. Distinctions among many different types of offenses — from bad behavior at private parties to brutal assault and rape of employees and co-workers — were being instantly lost in the fervor. Punishment was almost always the same — social ostracism and career destruction — whether you were Mark Halperin, who allegedly sexually assaulted women in his workplace, or Al Franken, damned because of mild handsiness and pretending to grope a woman’s breasts as a joke. Any presumption of innocence was regarded as a misogynist dodge, and an anonymous online list of accusations against named men in the media was created and circulated with nary an attempt by its instigators to substantiate a single one. Within a few weeks, the righteous exposure of hideous abuse of power had morphed into a more generalized revolution against the patriarchy. …
But the French signatories also worried about due process: “This expedited justice already has its victims, men prevented from practicing their profession as punishment, forced to resign, etc., while the only thing they did wrong was touching a knee, trying to steal a kiss, or speaking about ‘intimate’ things at a work dinner, or sending messages with sexual connotations to a woman whose feelings were not mutual.”
In essence, an accusation can be as good as a conviction. This would be a violation of the ascertainment of believable evidence before conviction.
Without the claim of the video, I’d shrug this off as another he-said / she-said, a little frustrated that no dispositive evidence was available. But that video has the potential to be dispositive, and this is where I’m get a bit angry, because this claim, unsubstantiated as it is so far, is an attack on civilization.
Why?
[Interviewer] Chaloux asked, “Why not to show it to put all these doubts aside?”
“I’ve had so many survivors say, do not cater into these demands, because we don’t have tape. I’m not trying to make it harder for people who have been victimized to come out,” Monahan replied.
To me, this simply screams Believe me because I say so. This is no better and no different than the bully exercising their illicit power over the weaker, taking all the fruits of their labor to themselves, or pedophilic priests telling their unhappy victims to not mention a word because this is the Will of God.
It’s a willing dissension to the rules of civilization because they happen to be inconvenient to the selfish desires of the person in an advantageous position who wants something.
Does Monahan have anything at all? Beats me. If she does, I’d be happy, in a sad sort of way, to watch and/or listen to this video, and, assuming it’s an authentic video (see recent posts on deepfakes), come to a judgment based on that.
But there’s one more thing about this I’d like to talk about. Once, perhaps twice, I’ve talked about how we tend to look at things from an individual’s point of view, rather than society’s. This has ranged from whether or not everyone deserves a living wage regardless of what they do, to questions about whether or not society should subsidize college / university educations to a greater or lesser extent.
Something Monahan said in that interview reminded me of this little teapot tempest (where the teapot is my brain). Along with this:
“If and when I decided to share that video, it will be in a time that works for me,” Monahan said. “This is my process, my number one responsibility is my own self-care and doing what I feel I can handle.”
Was also this:
Monahan says she feels abandoned by some in her party, that’s she’s worked for as an activist and fundraiser, since stepping forward.
“The Me-Too movement goes back and forth, to each party, when it’s in one person’s hands the other wants to distance themselves,” Monahan said.
Monahan said she will not be voting in the AG race for any candidate.
“I’m not looking or expecting any kind of outcome, this isn’t about an election for me, this isn’t about politics, you’re not thinking about an election and neither is your family when you are dealing with something like this,” Monahan said.
Although I’ve read very little about ancient Greece, their concept of polis always seemed to imply a consciousness concerning the good of society, of the City of which they were members. That is, we’re not always working towards our own good, but sometime we take actions for our City’s, or society’s, good, regardless of how it impacts us personally.
American society has notable societal good mechanisms, such as military service, charitable giving, and charitable work, but I think we’re notable for how we compartmentalize this sort of thing. Thinking about this sad little controversy, it seems to me that no one is really coming out ahead on this, outside of Ellison’s opponent – and even he, whatever his name is, is not achieving a clean win.
For Ellison, his reputation is damaged forever. Even if Monahan were to recant, there’ll be wretched rumors forever.
The Democrats will probably lose an easily-won race, and their reputation, as Monahan is a member, will be damaged by her attack on civilization.
The Republicans will probably survive in their current pathological form a little longer because of this victory, when they really need to burn to the ground and rebuild on more rational grounds – which would benefit the nation as well. Speaking of rationality, the Democrats lose a bit because of the missing video and their frenzied response – not that they could do much better. For the record, the investigating lawyer dismissed Monahan’s claims as unsubstantiated.
Minnesota society doesn’t benefit from this, either.
The culmination of all this is someone either making a false allegation or, due to selfishness, has damaged civilization by disregarding and discarding our best traditions. Is it hard to release a tape that shows your former lover hit you or humiliated you?
Maybe it is. Although, to me, vengeance would be far, far sweeter, but maybe that’s not how it works for other folks.
But damaging the civilization on which we rely is, or should be, a far greater concern than personal emotional discomfort. If she’s concerned about how her own allies are treating her, maybe it’s not because they’re disloyal – but wary of her.
Let me finish by borrowing an aphorism from the skeptics community – extraordinary claims require, as proof, extraordinary evidence. Certainly, an actionable claim of misconduct against Rep. Ellison is an extraordinary claim. That video may constitute that extraordinary evidence. Why not make it available so that we can come to an agreement as to the truth of her claims?
