Again, or should I say still, sexual harassment is all everyone is talking about. Al Franken has just been accused by a second woman, of grabbing her butt at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010 while being photographed.

I’m afraid this issue is becoming a witch hunt. I confess, I’ve grabbed the butt of a friend or two through the years, both male and female. It almost always resulted in a smile…never a lawsuit or a loss of my career and friends…not to mention public humiliation.

To get away from the issue, I turned to TMC which is showing the 1939 movie Nothing Sacred starring Carole Lombard and Frederick March. They are in a bedroom pushing each other around. Fred just threw Carole onto the bed 4 times. My, my. That scene would be viewed quite differently in today’s ultra-sensitive atmosphere.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m as disgusted by true sexual abuse as anybody.  I believe that the collateral damage to the victims of true abuse, is immeasurable. Even the one-time sexual assault leaves a burn mark on the victim’s soul. The degree of abuse and the duration, should be factors in investigating the experiences of new voices speaking up.

Harassment to me is something else. It’s the person that always comments on women’s bodies because it’s “what guys do” to get a laugh. It’s the guy that thinks flirting is always attractive and welcome. It’s the guy that thinks HE’s always attractive and welcome. It’s the person that thinks everybody thinks alike…just like him. My answers for him would be: it’s not, it’s not, you aren’t, and they don’t.

I do support people speaking up. Silence, I have found, is the most powerful weapon that that abuse, and corruption have. If nobody says anything, it simply doesn’t exist. So, the voices are welcome, probably cathartic for the victims and things obviously must change.

The abusers, assaulters and predators must be held accountable, and the harassers have been told “Stop it…or, we’re gonna tell!”

I consider this a huge step in the advancement in female equality. As with all the steps needed to obtain it, the shell (sometimes shotgun) around white male supremacy is breaking away.

The ultimate message that is reverberating is that people will not be bullied…which, after all, is what the bottom line is here. I believe that there should be continued efforts to address the elimination of bullying…of every kind.

As for Roy Moore, I am not judging him based on his being a dirty old man. I oppose him because he touts Christianity as his credentials, and spews verbiage that reflects anything but the Golden Rule…and, he’s a dirty old man.

I hope we don’t go “Beanie Baby crazy” with the bad behavior of people that dates back into the dark ages. We don’t want to hear all the experiences of playing doctor with the neighborhood kids. The stories, I’m afraid, would fill the news daily, for a very long time. But true bullies, that have hurt people, must be held accountable.

By the way, the Minnesota State Fair bills itself as “The Great Minnesota Get-Together”. I’m thinking Al took that a little too literally.

The Pandora’s Box on male chauvinism has been opened. The word chauvinism is defined as: the strong and unreasonable belief that your own “group” is the best. In this case, the group would be white males.

Unless you’ve been under a rock, you know that being a white male puts a person on the top rung on the ladder, in all societies except for a few, and most of them are remote. Some of them even prefer white meat.

Even if you are in a level of bottom feeders, the white male will be the most privileged and at the top of that particular level. It’s just the way it’s always been.

I truly believe that most people, especially those over 35, are not actually surprised about the sexual harassment allegations that have flooded the airways. For years we’ve heard the term “director’s couch” when talking about the steps in becoming a successful actress. And going to the boss’s hotel room at the convention, for a late night “dictation” session was even a plotline in movies.

Who knows? We may see Della Street “out” Perry about those late-night meetings. And now, with what we know about Raymond Burr, Paul Drake might have some stories to tell too.

I’m thinking Miss Buxley might finally bring General Halftrack up on charges of workplace harassment. (Come on, even the name Buxley…simply a coincidence that it sounds like buxom? I think not…and she definitely is).

We may hear that Dagwood’s leg brushed Tootstie’s one too many times under the Bridge table.

You get where I’m going with this? The term “dirty old man” dates back to the Prehistoric Days. Back then they were very open about dragging their women around by the hair. There was no question of who controlled who.

When Archie Bunker’s 1974 statement regarding women in the workplace was, “Men are worth more than women…it says so in the Bible. God made man in His image. He made women from a rib…cheaper cut”, the laugh track exploded. But many of the men watching didn’t think it was a joke.

The point is, we’ve always known about it and even found humor in it.

But now we’re going to hear about it occurring, for real but in secrecy. Secrecy is the best weapon for anyone pursuing shady behavior. But once the victims see that the consequences for speaking out now weigh on the accused, they are unloading. In the millions responding to the “me too” campaign. The existence of social media has made a major impact too.

I’ve been around the “good old boy” network all my life. I’ve never been sexually harassed. (Even that could be fodder for a joke…like “So, what was wrong with ME?”)

I’m actually grateful that I bypassed that experience, but I have lived during the reign of white male chauvinism. In my 40’s, I was referred to as “Girlie” by a group of “good old boys in the athletic world” from my own generation. It made them feel better than it made me feel, which I know since they were the only ones laughing.

There were many times that I remembered my mom telling my brother and me,” If you’re not using them, it shouldn’t matter what your genitals are.” That thought was an equalizer for me in many circumstances.

What we will soon be witnessing is the cracking and rupturing of old rules that we’ve lived by, written by the while male segment of our history. Whatever they got away with, is coming back to haunt them.

Unfortunately, I believe there will be collateral damage done to some good people because they were inappropriate, in minor degrees at some point in their life. The line should be drawn between cases that are serious and must be addressed (repeat offenders), or cases that will fill the sheets of the National Enquirer and fill the opposing Parties’ rhetoric tomorrow. One-time stupid act, we’ve all got them.

If every person that acted inappropriately to another person when they were drunk, was publicly exposed, that would take out a large population of people who attended Class Reunions and New Year’s Eve parties…no matter when.

As we watch this chauvinism crumple, we must not take our eyes off the White House and the crumbling of the political system. When the “Powers that be” are meeting regarding taking the button away from Trump, there are bigger issues to keep our eyes on. Who’s in charge and what have they done in secrecy? Taxes and healthcare are bouncing off the Congressional walls…our future is seems to be for the taking.

And, as the web spun by the Russian spider is exposed, I think the financial numbers and connections will blow everyone away.

But for now, people’s names will hit the headlines because they didn’t follow another piece of my Mother’s advice: “Never live it up so much tonight, that you’ve got to live it down tomorrow”.