What is the best defense against Pink McCarthyism? A good offense.
Pink McCarthyism is a political tactic. It is based on a dominant opinion (no matter that it may not be your opinion) that women are an oppressed class in America who are subjected to rampant harassment in the workplace by men in power.
It is similar to McCarthyism, a tactic based on a former dominant opinion that America, torchbearer for individual liberty and locked in struggle with international communism, was threatened by communists lurking in the shadows of American power.
McCarthyism brought forth accusations of communist collaboration against public persons. Some of the accused, like Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and Alger Hiss, turned out to be actual communist spies. This gave the tactic credibility. Attacking political opponents, McCarthyites trotted out the charge of communism, and forced the accused to deny it. The McCarthyites chose the ground upon which their opponents would fight.
Pink McCarthyism employs accusations against men, public figures, of sexual misconduct. Some of them have admitted guilt, like Matt Lauer, and some of them are alleged to be monstrous perverts and abusers, like Harvey Weinstein. There is even a crass gag artist, who also happens to be a (now former?) United States Senator.
The exposed abusers lend credibility to Pink McCarthyism. But that is the beginning not the end of Pink McCarthyism. The Pinks attack a political opponent by charging him with sexual misconduct (or, barring that, then with complicity or association with sexual misconduct) and then force him to deny it. The Pinks thus choose the field of conflict and you, the accused, fight in the valley where Misconduct’s tributaries, Harasser, Abuser, and Molester, meet.
Pink McCarthyism won in Alabama, destroying Roy Moore (a fantastically flawed candidate on many levels, but all of that is beside this point). It has won elections in local Republican strongholds. It is now and will continue to be (so long as it works for the Left) the playbook.
Pink charges—combined with a sophisticated ground-game—drive the Left’s turnout in an otherwise unengaging election. Many on the Right, who still hold decency as their guide with regards to sexual matters, shrink from the accused. Others join the attack, and still others (the ones the Left loves best) simply do not turn out to vote.
McCarthyism sought to drive Leftists from public life. Nailing a few communist spies in the process was a collateral benefit.
Pink McCarthyism seeks to win elections, and scalping a politically friendly abuser or two is likewise merely collateral damage to the Left.
If successful, the tactic will culminate in the impeachment of Trump on the basis of sexual misconduct (Russian collusion and obstruction being by all appearances now lost for the Left). This may or may not result in a Senate conviction of Trump in 2019 (brace yourselves, because the republic is finished if that foolish precedent is set). But whatever the outcome, in 2020 Democrats intend to campaign on Pink McCarthyism.
For the Right to defeat Pink McCarthyism, the Right must not meet Pink McCarthyism on the field where Pink seeks to join battle. The accused should not answer Pink charges. The accused should accuse the accusers, forcing battle elsewhere.
Coleman Young, the disastrous Detroit mayor who brought that great city to its knees with slashing identity politics, was no dummy. Young had connections to communists and was a rising leftwing union leader. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) desired to hobble Young, and called him to testify in 1952.
But Young wisely made the decision that he was not going to “take any shit” from HUAC. Young took the Fifth on the question of communism—a risky move—and turned the tables on the representatives arrayed before him, addressing committee chairman John Wood of Georgia directly:
“I happen to know, in Georgia Negro people are prevented from voting by virtue of terror, intimidation, and lynchings. It is my contention you would not be in Congress today if it were not for the legal restrictions on voting on the part of my people.”
An embarrassed Wood quickly shut down inquiries into Young.
The Right needs to take a page from Coleman Young’s story. The accusations are coming from quarters that have no moral authority, from parties who, if they continue to have their way, will destroy your (and their own) individual liberty.
Point a finger and say “J’accuse.”
The Left is anti-semitic, with their BDS initiatives and their hatred of Israel. The Left still smells of the cologne of the Venezuelan Chavistas, who have starved a nation, which is becoming a joint client state with Russia and China in the Caribbean basin. The Left destroyed the Middle East, bringing—my God—genocide to Syria and Iraq and chattel slavery to North Africa. The libertine world of Leftist dreams requires some kind of gestapo to enforce its claims. It’s not liberty but a prison, guarded by a hidden praetorian made up of the likes of FBI Agent Strzok.
So in the spirit of Coleman Young, don’t “take any shit.” Don’t just fight. Choose the battlefield.