Sexual Harrassment, Sharon Bialek Wants a Mulligan

I'm not sure whether or not Sharon Bialek plays golf.

For the record and those who wander here... I am an uber conservative Libertarian. That means I am not even sure I like Herman Cain yet. I probably don't. But what I dislike even more, are the professional victims and whiners in this country who come forward when it is politically expedient to do so. Or they have some ax to grind. Or some lawsuit to file. Or some notoriety to gain. Some rub with greatness. What I really hate is their timing. You see, it is the timing that raises my inner cop instincts.

Comes now the plaintiff, one Sharon Bialek. Ms. Bialek has come forward with an allegation that Herman Cain "groped" her. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57321426-503544/sharon-bialek-herman-cain-knows-who-i-am/

The alleged incident occurred fourteen years ago in 1997. Does that mean it's not true? Nope. Please read this writer's opinion as to what should be done. Fascinating. http://theiowarepublican.com/2011/questions-and-answers-about-the-herman-cainsharon-bialek-accusations/

A few people in this country have a very active victim mentality that is always on hyper vigilant mode. If someone does something which they consider inappropriate, they launch an attack. This is evident in many areas of our lives- well beyond the scope of sexual harassment. In fact, it is the very cornerstone  of politically correct speech as defined by some self anointed appointed experts but I digress. Ultimately, society is left to sift through the she said-he said back and forth. So what are we going to do every time someone decides to bring up a similar allegation gathering dust for a decade and a half?

Several years ago in my policing life, two kids had sex and created a baby. The mother was 15, the father was 18. The young female had the baby. Three years later, the young mother and her mother came to the police station to file charges. They wanted to file rape charges on the young father. In Idaho, what had happened back then fulfilled the elements of rape. We were still within the statute of limitations. So I had to ask the question. Why had it taken three years to come forward with the rape allegation? They told me that the father was in college and refusing to pay child support. They of course, had no custody agreement or support agreement. A rape charge they assured me, would cure all of that. It reminds one of extortion.

There was that timing thing again. 

Let me state this for the record. I believe that millions of us have been sexually harassed or are the victims of sexual abuse (as children and adults) and that millions of us have never reported those incidents. Each of us, in our own way, decides how best to proceed. Once we make those decisions, we live with them. What I am saying is this. Sharon Bialek was a grown woman  in 1997. If in fact she was the victim of a battery or sexual battery, then the law is clear and she has recourse. You file the charge and it gets investigated promptly when the best evidence is still available. This occurs at a moment when perhaps there are still witnesses to interview or evidence which can be gathered. We do this to protect the rights of the victims as well as the rights of the accused. There's that timing thing again.

So here we are, 14 years later with no police reports, no evidence. We are left with some unsolved allegation/mystery with absolutely no way to resolve it. Not because it didn't happen but because Sharon Bialek made a decision not to report it. Clearly Ms. Bialek chose to live with whatever happened that night and she should have. Since Ms. Bialek somehow cannot live with her decision and is now demanding a mulligan, please allow the following helpful suggestions.

Anytime someone decides to play a mulligan, they must do so while they are still at the golf course on the first tee. You cannot leave the golf course, come back 14 years later, drop a new ball on the 1st tee box and hit an iron instead of a wood. That goes for the rest of the people in your foursome. Those are the established rules and that's how most of us play. Once you leave the tee box, it's just bad etiquette to go back.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Your argument is sound, Brian. Sharon Bialek is not Monica Lewinski with her stained dress at hand, is she?

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