Enter the Witchsmeller Pursuivant

And Geoffrey Rush is the latest witch.

Another day another exposé…

The Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush has denied allegations of “inappropriate behaviour” during a Sydney Theatre Company production of King Lear, after the company said it had received a complaint against him.

The killer quote though, is this:

At the time the complaint was made, the complainant requested that the matter be dealt with confidentially, and did not want Mr Rush notified or involved in any investigation. STC complied, acting in the interest of the complainant’s health and welfare.

And that is outrageous. This man has been accused of impropriety, but was not notified at the time and is to be given no opportunity to defend himself.

Which links in nicely to Natalie Solent’s current comments over at Samizdata. In particular the risible bullshit spouted by Ashley Csanady:

At its core, Pence’s self-imposed ban is rape culture.

Nor is that a label I assign lightly (sez she, doing just that – Ed). “Rape culture” is a phrase so overused it’s become almost meaningless, like calling someone a Nazi on the internet. But it has a very clear meaning: the notion, whether conscious or unconscious, that men can’t control themselves around women because “boys will be boys.”

The explicit reasons for Pence’s restriction are religion and family, but the implicit reason is that he must avoid alone-time with women lest his stringent religious moral code fall apart in the presence of a little lipstick and décolletage. That is rape culture.

Nonsense on stilts. Mike Pence isn’t taking a chaperone with him to protect the wimminz; he is taking the chaperone with him to ensure that there are no false allegations of impropriety made that he will be unable to defend. He’s taking a witness to defend himself before the event. And given today’s witch-hunting culture that is squarely aimed at white men, who can blame him?

8 Comments

  1. For all of his faults (and there are very many) this isn’t one of them. I have given similar advice to my son and I take the same approach myself. I play in a band and that does occasionally give rise to the situation of having women trying it on (yes even at my age) so I make sure that I am never alone with any. Not even just standing outside having post gig smoke…

  2. My daughter is in her university drama society. They recently did a performance of ‘The Crucible’ by Arthur Miller. The play was about the Salem witch hunts. The author had wanted to do a play on the subject for quite a while but he couldn’t quite work out what exactly had occurred to trigger the hysteria that was involved. It was the American obsession with Communism that gave him the answer. The Crucible isn’t something that I would normally have gone to see but I’m so glad that I saw it. The current hysteria over alleged sexual impropriety is following exactly the same pattern.

  3. In the current Guardian-fuelled mass hysteria, “inappropriate behaviour” can be summarised as being white + possessing a penis + drawing breath. Those guilty of all three counts are obviously to be vilified and harassed out of employment and have their lives totally ruined. All this from a vociferous but palpably certifiable tiny minority:- probably less that 2% of the population.

    • @Ted Treen

      “inappropriate behaviour”

      Virtually impossible to defend against as it means whatever accuser deems it to mean. (H/T Peter Hitchens)

      Another example of Left’s newspeak:
      Offensive, potentially xxx, may be xxx, hate-crime… and Blair/Brown made them laws – no proof reqd.

    • Dear Mr Treen

      Add “+ possession of a large fortune” and the ‘+ drawing breath’ can become past tense.

      Consider the legal fees that that fortune can be spent on.

      DP

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