#MeToo to “Me Who?”: US media has turned off the sexual witch-hunt for the moment

It may well be that the immediate electoral concerns of the Democrats, once Weinstein was disposed of, loom large in this. The charges of sexual misconduct leveled by former staffer Tara Reade in March against Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic Party presidential candidate, were received coldly by the Times and the media generally (except for its openly pro-Trump wing). Unquestionably, in that case the #MeToo campaign and its slogan of “believe women” cut across the plans and politics of the Times, the New Yorker, Time and the sections of the American ruling elite for whom they speak.

Reade’s claims have been treated with skepticism, as they may well deserve, and she has more or less disappeared from the headlines.

Alyssa Milano, Jessica Valenti and other #MeToo promoters have made clear that whether they believe Reade or not, that will not stand in the way of their supporting Biden. Valenti’s comments on Medium (“The Importance of Believing Women—Even When It’s Politically Inconvenient”) were remarkable for their sophistry and anti-democratic spirit.

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Farrow too presumably belongs to this #MeToo/pro-Biden camp. His silence may in part be self-censorship: “Let’s keep everything under wraps until after November.” Or he may simply have been given the word to keep his mouth shut.

The Jeffrey Epstein case, with its far-reaching ramifications, has also created considerable nervousness. His “black book” includes the names of many prominent New York Democrats and entertainment figures in particular.

Is the Times concerned that one or more of its leading figures may show up in the headlines at some point? The #MeToo campaign may be proving too much of a minefield.

For the time being at least, the Times and the media generally have staked everything on race. The need to block the development of a unified, multi-racial movement of the working class is a life-and-death priority for the ruling elite and its media representatives. The Times and its allies are treating every issue that arises first and foremost as a racial question.

In any event, the dropping of the #MeToo campaign is a further indication of its manipulated and fraudulent character. Never a deeply popular effort, it can be switched off and on as the Times and the Democrats require. Hollywood, or some equally amenable and abundant sphere, can always be relied upon to cough up a scandal, more or less to order. The American media is associated with endless conspiracy against the rights and conditions of the population.