Democrat big Susan Estrich is no GOP-style wimp. She regularly appears on Fox News Channel to denounce Republicans and praise her own party. So it's especially noteworthy that she has the decency and guts to condemn the Los Angeles Times' latest attempt to destroy Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Excerpts from her column "A Deplorable October Surprise," which, in a rare display of fairness, the Times published today:
None of the six women interviewed by The Times filed legal charges. Four of the six were quoted anonymously. Of the two who were named, one, a British television hostess, had told her story to Premiere magazine years ago, and it has been widely known and largely ignored. The other recounts an alleged incident of fondling at Gold's Gym nearly 30 years ago.
The anonymous incidents occurred on movie sets and consist of touching a woman's breast in the elevator, whispering vulgarities and pulling a woman onto his lap. ...
As a professor of sex discrimination law for two decades and an expert on sexual harassment, I certainly don't condone the unwanted touching of women that was apparently involved here. But these acts do not appear to constitute any crime, such as rape or sodomy or even assault or battery. As for civil law, sexual harassment requires more than a single case of unwelcome touching; there must be either a threat or promise of sex in exchange for a job benefit or demotion, or the hostile environment must be severe and pervasive.
But none of these women, as The Times emphasizes, ever came forward to complain. The newspaper went looking for them, and then waited until five days before the election to tell the fragments of the story.
What this story accomplishes is less an attack on Schwarzenegger than a smear on the press. It reaffirms everything that's wrong with the political process. Anonymous charges from years ago made in the closing days of a campaign undermine fair politics.
Estrich, a professor at USC who ran Michael Dukakis' presidential campaign, points out that the rabidly pro-Democrat Times "has been acting more like a cheerleader for Gray Davis than an objective source of information," and she predicts voters will reject the smear "as more Davis-like dirty politics."
She concludes: "To his credit, Schwarzenegger apologized for 'behaving badly.' So should the Los Angeles Times."
GOP Fondling Worse Than Democrat Rape
FNC's Brit Hume on Thursday pointed out the Times' extreme hypocrisy: When Juanita Broaddrick reported that Bill Clinton had raped her, the paper buried that news item and refused to run George Will's related column.
After all, to the partisan hacks at the L.A. Times a Republican gubernatorial candidate who touches a woman's breast is far more heinous and newsworthy than a Democrat president who rapes a woman.
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
California Governor's Race
Media Bias
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