Re: [tor-talk] Decoding Jake Appelbaum

[ja.talk <ja.talk@xxxxxxxxxx>]

https://lexgill.com/2016/06/06/three-hundred-and-twenty-four/

Lex Gill

Hard to look away from Twitter the past few days, because Iâve watched this happen with half a dozen different activist men in recent years and itâs always the same story. And so, not specifically about the situation at hand, but about every time this happens.

What Iâve learned is that the real test is what happens after the accused makes a statement. One that muddies the waters, takes partial responsibility, questions the stability of his victims, implies ulterior motives. One that exposes a flawed process, or sheds light on true-yet-unflattering internal politics that make things seem âcomplicated.â

Heâs been reflecting carefully, you know. On his values. He was going through a tough time, before this. He is âdismayedâ and âdisheartedâ and âtroubledâ and âashamedâ and âhurt.â If there is truth to these allegations, if thatâs what the victims âbelieve happenedâ then he wants to make it right with them. His is a politics of ownership. He is an ally. He is kinky. He is sorry for your misunderstanding.

But he canât face specific allegations because his lawyer advised him against it. There are no specific allegations to face because his accusers are anonymous. The victims never spoke to him directly: why is that? Why come forward now? There has been an ongoing campaign for some time, you know, to discredit him, to hurt him. That much is probably true. He accepts some wrongdoing. He is humble.

And if only he had been given a chance to clear this whole thing up, but people are so quick to judge. The court of public opinion that built his career turned on him. People donât have all the facts, but he canât share them eitherâthe lawyer, remember? Is it progressive to cast people out of our communities like this?

The pitch of these statements is always the same. People will feel discomfort in their hearts but they will retreat anyway. It could be true. That is the point of the genre. Heâs taking some space.

The people that matter will be spoken to, quietly. They will tell others how itâs âdestroying him,â how heâs suffered enough. Itâs âcomplicated,â but theyâre not at liberty to discuss. Heâll be kept on payroll, somewhere.

A year will go by and eventually youâll notice that heâs consulting again, albeit in a slightly different community. Heâs got a new writing gig, heâs on a different conference circuit now. Less public, but still powerful, maybe even more untouchable than he was before. Because youâre not really sure, are you? You werenât there. Let it go.
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