I have avoided putting my political beliefs into my blog as much as possible throughout the years. I continue to do that today in terms of which party I support or don’t support. This blog post is not about being a Democrat, Republican, Independent or Other — it’s about basic humanity.
I am shocked and amazed at the lengths people go to to defend one of their own. Whether it’s:
• A pro football player defending his buddy for raping a woman
• An entire high school defending their star athlete for raping a girl
• The wife of a basketball player defending her husband for raping another woman
• A police sergeant defending a fellow officer for illegally strip searching a 14-year-old girl, while ignoring her cries
• Or a United States Senator defending this sergeant, now a fellow party-member, for denying the illegal strip search ever happened
…It is shameful.
If we want violence against women – including your mothers, wives, daughters, sisters and girlfriends — to stop…then women AND men need to step up and stop it. Stop blaming victims for speaking up. Have the guts to do the right thing. Men, in particular, need to step up. I don’t care if the perpetrator is your best friend, your son, your political party’s candidate or your priest — if they committed the crime, don’t you dare defend them for it.
This defending of one’s own is going on right now in politics. Although this particular defending happens to be by Republicans, make no mistake that Democrats have also done the same thing on their end throughout the years. It is not okay by any party and is a huge part of why our society doesn’t trust politicians. Clean it up!
A police officer in Massachusetts pled guilty and was convicted of illegally strip-searching teenage girls in the 1990s. Jeff Perry, his sergeant at the time, admitted being nearby in a position to see and hear the crimes, but, now that he is running for congress, denies knowing about them or having any responsibility to stop them. One of the victims recently came forward to say that Perry heard her screaming and crying. The distressing part is how fellow Republicans have circled the wagons around Perry, robotically dismissing the girl’s story and the candidate’s earlier testimony in order to back their fellow party-member.
Read the full story here:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/23/jeff-perry-strip-search_n_772547.html
People who truly put the best interest of our country first, would never have allowed a candidate with the questions like those in Perry’s background to get this far. Would they be backing him if it had been their daughters who he allowed to be strip-searched? The idea that people who are questioning Perry’s integrity are “mudslingers is despicable.” Many questioners are parents who are doing the best they can to protect their daughters. All men should be doing the same.
We, the people — men and women alike — need to stop overlooking or excusing unconscionable actions of our would-be leaders. We defend those in the limelight or those with the deepest pockets or those with the most clout in our society left and right and it is killing our society. I don’t care what party, what team, what nationality or what gender you are, it’s time to stop defending your own just because they are your own and, instead, start defending humanity. Until each and every one of us dares to step up against outrageous behavior — regardless of the doer’s clout, position, relationship to us or finances — we will never create the world we wish for.
Women and men alike need to step up. Men need to step up and refuse to defend other men who, frankly, give men a bad name. Find another candidate for your party, follow a different professional athlete, hold the perpetrators accountable and stop punishing the victims. Those victims may very easily be your wives, daughters, nieces or mothers one day. Do NOT just defend one of your own and perpetuate the legacy of violence in our world.
CHALLENGE: My challenge to everyone reading this article is to read it through the eyes of your daughter, wife, mother, etc. I challenge you to not judge me for writing it or question my motives, but instead take it at face value; that is how I mean it. Men and women need to stop protecting their own and instead do the right thing. Change will never happen unless we have the courage to create it.