By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — The pressure on politicians to rush to judgments about their fellow politicians must be overwhelming. On Monday, Democratic Congressman Scott Peters, who has been constantly badgered by the Republican National Committee to join in the howls for Mayor Bob Filner’s resignation, succumbed. So too did Democratic Congresswoman Susan Davis. And City Councilman Mark Kersey, a Republican, also joined the hue and cry for Filner’s head.
I don’t think any of these elected officials–or the other ones who also have demanded that Filner resign, based on the allegations of still unnamed victims — have given sufficient thought to the kind of precedent they are setting.
Yes, I know that the stories that were told at a news conference held by Donna Frye, Marco Gonzalez and Cory Briggs were disgusting. The mayor now stands accused of forcing his tongue down an unwilling woman’s throat, grabbing the breast of another woman, and in another instance advising a woman that her job performance would be better if she didn’t wear panties. With the news media’s panting help, they painted a picture of a sexual predator, a man unhinged, a bully. And adding fuel to the fire, the mayor’s former fiancee, Bronwyn Ingram, said prior to their breakup she witnessed Filner texting messages of a sexual nature to other women.
And, after telling about these alleged outrages, the mayor’s antagonists renewed the call for Filner’s resignation. On the say so of people who weren’t behind those closed doors, who didn’t witness any of the horrible moments that were described–oh, so many people said, yes, it’s time for that disgusting guy to leave the mayor’s office.
You may believe that the inflammatory picture that Frye and the two lawyers painted is accurate — especially since Filner’s former fiancee has also dumped him — but what if their stories aren’t true? What if this former city councilwoman and lawyers were themselves duped? Or what if their motives are not as pure as they say they are? I am just hypothesizing here, and I give their sincerity the benefit of the doubt. But, wouldn’t we all feel awful about trying to hound a guy out of office who was innocent?
Those politicians who today are in the hunt, might, with the awful political lessons we are learning today, find themselves run out of office tomorrow.
By now, we have all learned how it could be done. Get together a group of people who want an officeholder out of office. Hire lawyers to represent them and to conceal their identities. Let the lawyers say that their clients are too scared to come forward themselves, but they have been terribly victimized. Then, with as much emotion as possible, assert that the terrible fellow — and you can insert any name here that you want such as Todd, David, Kevin, Scott, Mark — did horrible things behind closed doors, disgusting things, and the only way we can uphold the honor of our city is to get the SOB out of office right now.
Then someone else might yell and scream and emote in front of the cameras, and get the news media all riled up, and next thing you know, the chosen victim becomes a pariah. Next persuade the news media to run a poll on how good a job of character assassination you have done. And make certain there is a mob to dutifully yell for his head, and, while you’re at it, send justice flying out the window.
If Bob Filner did the things that he is alleged to have done, we all know that his political career is over. If he did those things, and it can be proven, legal ways will be found to remove him from office, whether via a criminal case, or by recall election.
However, Filner says that he did not do those things, and that while he “failed to fully respect the women who work for me and with me and at times … have intimidated them” he contends that nothing that he did amounted to the sexual harassment described by Frye, Gonzalez, Briggs, and the growing number of his other critics.
We have constitutional safeguards to protect a defendant who everyone believes is probably guilty. We put that person on trial, and have a jury of his or her peers decide, based on evidence, who is telling the truth. For some reason, those yelling loudest for Filner to resign don’t trust that justice system. Yet they want us to trust them. They tell us that with his political alliances in shreds, Filner can’t possibly run the city. Actually, that’s not true. As long as Filner is the mayor , even his most ardent critics on the City Council will be required to continue respecting his office, even if they don’t respect him. He will continue to make appointments, veto legislation, and serve as the executive of the city — and that power, in the hands of someone who they have tried to politically undo — scares them.
Filner’s appointment of Walt Ekard, formerly the chief administrative officer of the county, to perform a similar function for the city guarantees that the day-to-day business of San Diego won’t be ignored. To say otherwise is disingenuous.
So, my advice to the angry politicians and others who want Filner’s head, is that they should take a deep breath, stifle their emotions, and concentrate on providing the facts to a fair-minded and reasoned forum.
Let a plaintiff come forward, either in making a claim against the city, bringing a civil suit against the mayor, or persuading the District Attorney’s office that a crime has been committed. Then, let’s honor the justice system by allowing it to do its work. Let’s remember that here in America, the accused is innocent until proven guilty. Political lynchings have no place in a civilized society.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com