Gabriel: Harvey Weinstein outrage proves how hypocritical the elite are
More women in Hollywood are recounting ever-uglier allegations about abusive mega-producer Harvey Weinstein.
For every household name like Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow, there are a few more lesser-known victims; assistants, waitresses and reporters sharing the same M.O. A foul, disgusting older man exposing himself, demanding massages and threatening their futures if they didn’t oblige him.
Hollywood has the gall to wag its finger
America knows that the same culture that enabled Weinstein spends much of its time scolding us about our sexism, racism and retrograde morality.
George Clooney lectured the nation at the 2006 Oscars, saying Hollywood’s “out-of-touch” elites were “the ones who talked about AIDS when it was just being whispered, and we talked about civil rights when it wasn't really popular.”
Clooney credits Jabba the Weinstein with his big breaks into acting and directing.
MORE:Clooney rebuffs a Hollywood 'witch hunt' against Weinstein
At the 2003 ceremonies, Michael Moore thundered "Shame on you, Mr. Bush!" Weinstein has produced several of Moore’s deceptive documentaries, including his upcoming Trump-thrashing screed slated for 2018.
Perennial awards favorite Meryl Streep scolded Trump voters for sexism in her 2017 Golden Globe speech.
"This instinct to humiliate, when it's modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody's life, because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing,” she said. “Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence. And when the powerful use their position to bully others we all lose."
This is the same Streep who used her 2012 Globe speech to thank “God – Harvey Weinstein,” praise be unto him.
Hypocrisy running amok in D.C., too
For some Americans the Weinstein scandal didn’t come as a huge surprise. They expect Hollywood elites to be hypocrites, whether it’s Leonardo DiCaprio flying 8,000 miles in a private jet to pick up an environmental award, or Alec Baldwin attacking Wall Street while working as a pitchman for Capital One.
They also expect Washington elites to be hypocrites. Democrats preach feminism while lionizing abusers like Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy, and denounce capitalism while nominating ultra-rich candidates like Hillary Clinton and John Kerry.
That’s a big reason a Ben and Jerry’s socialist like Bernie Sanders garnered so much support among the party base.
Republican hypocrisy is equally breathtaking. The GOP repeatedly voted to repeal Obamacare, but stopped as soon as they had a president who would sign it.
They laud free markets, yet spent hundreds of billions bailing out Wall Street grifters. They insisted character mattered in our politicians, yet lined up behind Donald Trump.
'Burn it all down' impulse is strong
A big reason Trump found so much support is the sense that American institutions have become so corrupted that it’s time to burn them all down.
If a moral paragon like former Gov. Mitt Romney is portrayed as a sexist monster, why not nominate his opposite? Voters demanded a Samson who would pull down the pillars of the establishment; who cares if he had the same moral blindness as Harvey Weinstein and former President Bill Clinton?
MORE:Why #MeToo is taking over your social media feeds
Trump consigliere Steve Bannon understood this nihilistic impulse. “I want to bring everything crashing down,” he said, “and destroy all of today’s establishment.”
Bannon’s support of Alabama firebrand Roy Moore and his promise to primary nearly every GOP senator confirms this urge.
Middle America's contempt won't fade
Apparatchiks in each party are still expecting voters’ fever to break so they can get back to handing each other golden statuettes and plum government contracts. But Middle America’s utter contempt for all elites won’t fade until they dispose of their hypocrisy.
Libertarian-leaning Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) described the “burn it down” impulse when asked to describe Trump’s rise.
“I realized when they voted for Rand [Paul] and Ron [Paul] and me in these primaries, they weren't voting for libertarian ideas – they were voting for the craziest son of a bitch in the race,” he said. “And Donald Trump won best in class, as we had up until he came along."
Unless our leaders start fixing real problems fast, there might be someone even crazier in 2020.
Jon Gabriel, a Mesa resident, is editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com and a contributor to The Republic and azcentral.com. Follow him on Twitter at @exjon.
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