Are you crazy about movies? One of my favorite flicks is the 1976 thriller "Marathon Man," in which Babe (Dustin Hoffman) is repeatedly asked under dental torture by Nazi war criminal Dr. Christian Szell (Lawrence Olivier), "Is it safe?" What does this have to do with anything, you ask? Answer: Everything.
In a CNN interview with Fareed Zakaria to be shown on Sunday, Hillary Clinton informs the alleged serial plagiarist that she is "sick," "shocked" and "appalled" by the allegations of sexual abuse leveled against Harvey Weinstein.
Will I watch this interview on Sunday? Not a chance. I can think of many other ways to make myself ill. But perhaps someone capable of watching Hillary and Fareed will be kind enough to inform us whether Zakaria asked Hillary if she is "sick," "shocked" and "appalled" by the allegations of sexual abuse leveled against her husband.
My guess is that Zakaria did not ask Hillary this question. After all, it wouldn't be "safe," not if he ever wanted to interview Hillary or Bill again.
Which is why the allegations against Weinstein didn't arise earlier: It wasn't "safe," particularly when President Trump's "Grab ’em by the pussy" declaration barely elicited a yawn from his army of supporters. As Donald observed in that same discussion with Billy Bush:
"And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything."
And consider: A majority of Americans voted for Hillary for president, notwithstanding her long-standing marriage to a man alleged to have raped, groped and sexually harassed other women. Hillary herself has been accused of attempting to intimidate the women who complained about Bill's alleged conduct.
How many of us don't dare raise allegations of wrongdoing in the workplace, owing to fears that a given person or organization, with a war chest of tens of millions of dollars, will hire a Goliath law firm and attempt to squash you like a bug?
Which is why all of us must constantly ask ourselves, "Is it safe?"
In fact, it rarely is.
