The #MeToo Movement: IOKIYAR Edition

Apparently, Steve Bannon, the white nationalist and former "wet nurse for a seventy-one-year-old" is convinced that the #MeToo movement will bring the patriarchy to its knees.

While watching the Golden Globes he blurted out this:

“It’s a Cromwell moment!” Bannon said. “It’s even more powerful than populism. It’s deeper. It’s primal. It’s elemental. The long black dresses and all that—this is the Puritans. It’s anti-patriarchy.”

#MeToo is a very important and historic movement but I am convinced that it will not have the same effect on the right.

You can abuse and assault women and It's OK If You're A Republican (IOKIYAR).

Take the case of Rob Porter, the White House Staff Secretary. He physically assaulted both his ex wives, Colbie Holderness and Jennifer Willoughby, and they both mentioned it to the FBI during his security clearance investigations.

They reported the abuse contemporaneously to their church elders. They called the police.

Willoughby even filed for a protective order. She also wrote a blog post (under her name) detailing the abuse.

The first time he called me a "fucking bitch" was on our honeymoon. (I found out years later he had kicked his first wife on theirs.) A month later he physically prevented me from leaving the house. Less than two months after that, I filed a protective order with the police because he punched in the glass on our front door while I was locked inside. We bought a house to make up for it. Just after our one year anniversary, he pulled me, naked and dripping, from the shower to yell at me.

Source

That's a picture of his first wife Colbie Holderness, her black eye is courtesy of Rob Porter.

What is interesting is that most of the senior people at the White House knew.

According to Politico, John Kelly, Donald Trump’s chief of staff and Porter’s boss, also knew of the 2010 protective order against Porter. Don McGahn, the White House counsel, also knew, according to Politico, because in recent weeks a third woman, an ex-girlfriend of Porter’s who also works in the Trump administration, told him that Porter had abused her and his two ex-wives.         

In fact, the FBI, being unable to give him full security clearance because of these incidents, provided him with an interim one.

But what is even more telling is the reaction of White House senior figures once the story broke. Chief of Staff John Kelly issued this statement:

“Rob Porter is a man of true integrity and honor, and I can’t say enough good things about him. He is a friend, a confidant, and a trusted professional. I am proud to serve alongside him.”

When the Intercept published Holderness' black eye picture this was Kelly's reaction:

I was shocked by the new allegations released today against Rob Porter. There is no place for domestic violence in our society. I stand by my previous comments of the Rob Porter that I have come to know since becoming Chief of Staff, and believe every individual deserves the right to defend their reputation. I accepted his resignation earlier today, and will ensure a swift and orderly transition.

What he is saying is that those lying bitches destroyed a fine man's reputation and he has every right to defend himself.

And he is standing by his previous comments.

In case, you assume this was an isolated reaction, this is how Orrin Hatch, Porter's former boss, handled it.

It’s incredibly discouraging to see such a vile attack on such a decent man. Shame on any publication that would print this—and shame on the politically motivated, morally bankrupt character assassins that would attempt to sully a man’s good name.

Here, there is no longer an insinuation about lying and character assassination. It is a full frontal attack on these women.

When Porter resigned after Holderness' picture was published this is what Hatch said.

I am heartbroken by today's allegations. In every interaction I've had with Rob, he has been courteous, professional, and respectful. My staff loved him and he was a trusted advisor. I do not know the details of Rob's personal life. Domestic violence in any form is abhorrent. I am praying for Rob and those involved.

Dahlia Lithwick put it perfectly:

Note that the central moral issue was no longer the scurrilous women who must have lied to a slanderous press, but Hatch’s own heartbreak. He didn’t apologize to the women he had maligned hours earlier, and it’s not entirely clear if they are part of the group of people for whom Hatch is praying. 

Right after Porter's resignation, a White House speech writer by the name of David Sorensen had to quit as well as the Washington Post revealed his history of abuse with his ex-wife Jessica Corbett.

She said that on separate occasions her former husband ran a car over her foot, threw her against a wall and extinguished a cigarette on her hand.

Once again, the FBI knew because Corbett told them about the abuse during a background check. And no one cared once again.

Trump's reaction to all this, you ask?

Well, the man who called for the resignation of Al Franken and John Conyers and wanted Hillary Clinton locked up without due process suddenly discovered "due process."

What about female Trumpkins?

They stand by him one hundred percent. Read the whole interview.

Or better yet, watch the clip.


This is a man who was accused of sexual assault and misconduct by at least 22 women.

This is a man who bragged on tape about "grabbing pussy" as a way of introducing himself.

And this was the female Trumpkin reaction.

So I am all for #MeToo but I also know that IOKIYAR is too powerful a forcefield for conservative women.