feedMy Mayor is a Predator / Jim West Accused of Sex Abuse in the 1970s
So I tend to not comment on a lot of news here unless it's local because, well, there's already a heck of a lot of news commentary in the world, and I don't know if it's always informative or even interesting so much as it is noise. But here's a thing. My newspaper arrived this morning and the entire front page is covered with a story about the mayor and how he's being accused of sex abuse. What? Oh great. I have a feeling this will get a bit of broad coverage. And my guess? The thing that people will remember most is that the mayor has been trolling for dates on gay.com. And this is what annnoys me. Because frankly, I don't care if the man is gay. Or bi. Or whatever. I care about the fact that he's accused of abusing young men. I care that he's using his position as mayor to snag sexual favors (apparently offering perks and an internship to an internet investigator for the Spokesman-Review). I care that this is a man who, despite my general disagreement with his politics, has made a number of moves in my city to actually make it a better city... because all this news is going to tear him to pieces and for awhile our local government will be a shambles and all the news about our town will be bad news for the near future. So all the good he's done or may have done in the future will likely be for nothing. It may even be damaging enough to come to a loss. Here's the thing. If you have power, do not abuse it. Even if you are an otherwise good human being. If you help people. If you feel the people you are abusing "deserve" what it is you are doing to them. They don't. And it isn't your place to give them what they deserve anyway. What they deserve is justice. It's what we all deserve. And now, Mr. West, our community will hopefully see that justice is served. Do I question the Spokesman-Review story? I really don't. This is not a cutting edge, put itself on the line newspaper. I've read the material here, and they've done they're homework. This is not a paper that's going to stick its neck out for a story like this. Not to sell newspapers. Not to be the first with the story. Not for anything or anybody. I really want to see some different news now. To stop thinking about this. To move on. So on I will move. Link: Jim West :: Spokesmanreview.com.
