1. CRIME
Assange has been charged with something called “sex by surprise,” which reportedly carries a $715 fine. According to Assange’s London attorney, Mark Stephens, prosecutors have yet to explain the charges or meet with the WikiLeaks chief to discuss them, which he’s agreed to do. “Whatever ‘sex by surprise’ is, it’s only an offense in Sweden—not in the U.K. or the U.S. or even Ibiza,” Stephens fumed.
— Mark Stephens, via Slate, 12/3/2010. None of the above statements are true. They have all been proven wrong. A retraction of these false statements has not been publicly made by Mark Stephens.
KeithOlbermann RT @BiancaJagger ‘#Assange “rape” accuser has #CIA ties’ [LINK REDACTED FOR NAMING AND THEREBY ENDANGERING ACCUSERS.]
— Michael Moore, on his Twitter, 2:22 p.m., 12/5/2010. The above statement is not true. It cannot be proven. It was taken from the website of MarkCrispinMiller.com, using information “broken” by a Holocaust denier who is associated with WikiLeaks. It leaks the names of both Assange accusers, thus endangering them immensely. A retraction has yet to be made by Michael Moore or Keith Olbermann.
And the issue here is that if he were any other just normal Brit, with this so-called ‘crime’ that he’s been accused of — which I understand isn’t, wouldn’t actually be a crime if it was committed in Britain, a condom broke I believe is the ‘evidence.’
— Michael Moore, while literally laughing out loud, BBC, 12/14/2010. None of the above statements are true. They have been proven wrong. They had been proven wrong before Michael Moore went on the air and made them. A retraction of these false statements has not been publicly made by Michael Moore.
2. AND PUNISHMENT
“Mr. Borgstrom said Mr. Assange’s statement that he has “heard no evidence whatsoever” to support the allegations was false, since the contents of the police report were made available to his Swedish lawyers weeks ago. By presenting the case as a vendetta, he said, Mr. Assange and his legal team were misrepresenting a justice system that required approval from Sweden’s highest appeal court before the extradition warrant was approved. “Those who say that the judges in our court of appeal were influenced by pressure from the United States don’t know what they’re talking about,” he said. “It’s absurd”.
He said by presenting the allegations against him as part of a political conspiracy, Mr. Assange had made “victims” of the two women, who now faced vilification on the Internet and regular death threats.
— The New York Times, 12/18/2010. This article also provides full and accurate information of the allegations against Assange, including that he (a) pulled one woman’s clothes off & snapped her necklace, then tore them off again when she tried to put them back on, (b) pinned that woman and held her down to prevent her from getting the condoms, then put one on to penetrate her — as per this account, penetration happening after he’d demonstrated force toward her twice and she had every reason to reasonably believe resisting him might get her physically hurt; that is to say, after physical force had been used to coerce the victim and remove her ability to consent, thus constituting rape — and apparently “did something to it” to make it break, (c) penetrated an unconscious woman, and (d) went back to the first woman, naked from the waist down, and rubbed himself against her without her consent. In the wake of one of the world’s most prestigious newspapers publishing proof that their earlier statements were false and had demonstrably endangered the lives of the two women in the case, neither Mark Stephens nor Michael Moore nor Keith Olbermann have issued a public retraction of their false statements.
I do not know who has given these documents to the media, but the purpose can only be one thing – trying to make Julian look bad.
— Bjorn Hurtig, lawyer of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, now apparently opposing leaks of accurate information that had previously been misrepresented to or hidden from the press if those leaks also happen to make someone “look bad,” 12/18/2010.
3. AND CONSEQUENCES (RUN IT ALL THE WAY DOWN).
We require — not ask, not prefer, absolutely require – progressive media and public figures to stand against rape in every case. Again, this is not negotiable. This is mandatory. This is a requirement: If you don’t stand against rape, and make that stand a crucial and central part of your platform, we do not accept you either as a real “progressive” or as someone who is in any way qualified for authority or a leadership position. We will not buy your merchandise; we will not support you; we will speak out against you. Because a progressive movement that doesn’t stand against rape isn’t a progressive movement. It’s just The Man, it’s just the oppressor, it’s just oppression, in a baseball hat, holding a camcorder.
— Tiger Beatdown, 12/15/10
And that’s what I wanted to write about—the friends, brothers, lovers in the counterfeit male-dominated Left. The good guys who think they know what Women’s Lib, as they so chummily call it, is all about—who then proceed to degrade and destroy women by almost everything they say and do: The cover on the last issue of Rat (front and back). The token pussy power orclit militancy articles. The snide descriptions of women staffers on the masthead. The little jokes, the personal ads, the smile, the snarl. No more, brothers. No more well-meaning ignorance, no more cooptation, no more assuming that this thing we’re all fighting for is the same; one revolution under one man, with liberty and justice for all. No more... A genuine Left doesn’t consider anyone’s suffering irrelevant or titillating; nor does it function as a microcosm of capitalist economy, with men competing for power and status at the top, and women doing all the work at the bottom (and functioning as objectified prizes or coin as well). Goodbye to all that.
Run it all the way down.
— Robin Morgan, “Goodbye To All That,” Year of Our Lord Nineteen Hundred and fucking SEVENTY.
I’ll suspend this account until/if this frenzy is stopped.
— Keith Olbermann, on his Twitter, 2:01 P.M., 12/16/2010
Keep dreaming, Keith Olbermann. And, for that matter, the suspiciously silent-again Michael Moore. We have been opposing the rape culture and misogyny of our pretend “allies” on the “left” — which is not a genuine Left, if it doesn’t stand by women, and if it doesn’t stand against rape in all cases — since this movement began. We have been exposing, protesting, and resisting it. We are the Left: We do not stand for rape apologism and rape culture. We oppose it. By definition, opposing rape apologism and rape culture is what the Left must do. If we agree on nothing else — if I, personally, disagree with Robin Morgan all the damn time, if I sometimes feel like I agree with her about literally nothing else — we agree on this. And, given that we’ve been saying this stuff since at least 1970, we can keep saying it for a few more days. A few more weeks. A few more months, or a few more years: We can keep putting pressure on you to apologize for giving false information, failing to correct it, and endangering rape victims and/or women who report rape for as long as we have to, until you come down from that tower and tell us you know what you did was wrong.
Hashtag: #MooreandMe. User name: @MMFlint. Until it stops.
*OH SHIT DID YOU SEE THAT??? Did you see THAT RIGHT THERE???? That was A CORRECTION, SON. That’s right: I got something factually wrong, and someone pointed it out to me, and I was all “oh whoops” and issued a PUBLIC FUCKING CORRECTION, as soon as someone pointed it out to me. And I am, despite all odds, not leaving Twitter, not crying in the bathrooms, not writing multiple angry Tweets about how angry the person asking for correction makes me, not hiding under the couch, and not actually, physically DEAD. Which means (a) that making corrections is physically possible, (b) that responsible writers, bloggers, media figures, AND JOURNALISTS ALL DO IT, and (c) the person running this website — “Sady Doyle?” — is apparently less of a wimp than Michael Moore or Keith Olbermann. And so are you. We are all demonstrably stronger than they are. These notably loud, vocal, opinionated, impressive, intimidating, world-famous and/or Oscar-winning men are evidently so intimidated by us asking them to be accountable that they have responded with temper tantrums and silence rather than look us in the face. Like, they can’t even come up with something about how we’re wrong. Because we aren’t, and it scares the shit out of them. Take a minute to think about how fucking impressive you all are for doing this. And then keep going. Because you’re winning. We all are. And we can win more, and better, tomorrow.
40 Comments
If you put the @ sign right in front of somebody’s username, it “mentions” them, like “@KeithOlbermann” or “@MMFlint”. You can’t direct-message someone not following you, that’s all.
Thanks Aoede. But if I don’t have any followers yet, who do I direct messages to?
You could direct them at Olbermann and/or Moore, and/or you could follow http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23MooreandMe and reply to people who are going “Huh what’s going on”, people who are still parroting the “IT WAS A BROKEN CONDOM” story, etc. You could also “retweet” messages from there which you think are relevant and deserve to stay in the public eye.
Some basics about Twitter and how to use it. (I hope this is helpful to those new to Twiter who have asked.)
Who knew, at the beginning of last week, shit would get so real?
I am truly impressed by what you’ve managed, and the way in which you’ve helped magnify a lot of small voices, with this twitter protest.
Keep up the good work, but also take care of yourself. And (as always) let us, your readers, know if there’s anything more we can do to lighten your load.
I’m a usual lurker, delurking to say that I’ll be on twitter again with you guys as soon as I get home from work, tweeting in between my Christmas baking! Four days of twitter and I can’t stop.
Take care of yourself Sady, we’re here with you!
I’m sharing every one of your posts and spreading the word as best I can. Keep up the amazing work!
Just found this website. THANK YOU THANK YOU. I am so sick of having to sit down and shut up and take one for the liberal team- on abortion, on equal pay, on birth control coverage etc, etc… Women have been taken for granted by political left for generations, and I am SICK OF IT.
I read the unmitigated BS from the prominent left wing (mostly male) bloggers about the Assange case and was astonished how casual their disregard of rape was.
One prominent example- Andrew Sullivan
Here is one link
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/12/the-assange-rape-case.html
He approvingly seconds this sentence (read the whole thing for context)
“It seems unlikely to me that anyone would include a situation that did not include an explicit ‘no’ under the category of rape, but then I’ve learned that feminists often believe things that I find impossible to imagine.”
Yes, big bad feminists.
And
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/12/the-weirdness-of-the-assange-circus.html
“I guess if you live in a country where the government stakes out an interest in whether a condom breaks or not in consensual sex, you may never find out.”
If there is so little critical thinking and consideration on a matter that is so important to women, I will reconsider my involvement in the causes that do not directly affect me.
Ihaveneverseenanythingasdepressingastryingtoreadtheslashdotcommentsonthiscase.*sigh*
I love you Sady Doyle. Because even though I don’t know you in real life at all, I matter to you and my daughter matters to you and I believe this in my heart. That is amazing. That is revolutionary. You will always matter to me.
http://www.memegenerator.net/Privilege-Denying-Naomi-Wolf?pageIndex=0
I’m glad you are on my side, Sady Doyle.
I joined twitter today to participate in the protest. Sady, you’re amazing for doing this.
“Strong is fighting! It’s hard, and it’s painful, and it’s every day. It’s what we have to do. And we can do it together.”
–Buffy
You are so brilliant, so decent, so brave. I can only hope I have the dedication to become even half the person you are.
OK, I just offered to volunteer at the local rape crisis center. Maybe I can help in that way? It doesn’t mean I won’t be out tonight with my utility belt on (cell phone, tear gas, free cab ride vouchers, fists, voice), ready to fight if I need to. I am rather violent- it’s all I know. But, I will fight for LOVE, and for right. Just like you. Goddamned PTSD… makes me write all crazy… sigh, want a beer… must numb my feelings… keep fighting. xoxo.
Thank you.
Donated $25 to RAINN and am volunteering at the closest women’s shelter I can find. I am SO ANGRY.
I just want to express my deep
admiration. You are
inspirational. Thank
you for your important work.
I just wrote a letter to the editors at Slate (corrections@slate.com) about that first link. If anyone wants to use my text as a base, it went like this:
To the editors at Slate,
I have been a long-time reader of Slate, and in all that time, I have been impressed with the insightful and solid reporting done by Slate. For this reason, I find it shocking that in the wake of the facts about the Assange rape charges coming out in such publications as the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/world/europe/19assange.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&src=twt&twt=nytimes), you have allowed an article (http://slatest.slate.com/id/2276690/) that states that he is wanted for some bogus “sex by surprise” or “broken condom” charge to remain without comment or correction.
Sincerely,
Agnes
I feel like it needed a third sentence (praise, correct, polish, as we discussed in my Teaching Reading and Writing class when we were talking about editing students’ work) but I was a little stuck on what to wrap it up with.
Heard Rachel Maddow is going to interview Moore on her show tommorrow.
Hey Sady. I’ve been watching all this with growing incredulity and frustration. Wrote a very concise blog post about it that I hope you’ll have something to say about.
http://lolabc.tumblr.com/post/2397987706
I wanted to let you know you’re not alone. I am so moved I am almost beyond words. Even though I’ve never been interested in twitter before I just now created a twitter account (ragemoore) so I can stand with you.
I have been a feminist activist for 4 years and I have never been more inspired and empowered than I have by reading your posts. I will do all I can to fight with you. Not just on this specific issue but on spreading prevention education and striving to end sexual assault for as long as I am alive.
Just remember that for every horrible, thoughtless, ignorant, close-minded and downright mean comment you get there is an impassioned, intelligent feminist who is stronger and more dedicated than they could ever hope to be.
Thank you so much. For being you, sharing it with us all in your eloquent, brilliant and hilarious way, and refusing to be quiet no matter what the cost.
I thought you should know that I described your efforts to a friend, and the fact that beyond never giving up, you’ve had a moving and inspiring blog post every day, and said friend then replied that you were like the Optimus Prime of feminism. I have to agree, with the addendum that you are also a superhero and if I had more than $5 in my bank account, I would buy you a cape.
Thanks Sady and everyone else. I tweeted for the first time today for this cause. You all inspired me.
Keep going, Sady. You’re an inspiration.
My thoughts on #Mooreandme here.
A friend of mine who considered himself a paragon of progressive thought turned on me and threatened me because I said a man doesn’t have a right to know if a woman is aborting his foetus. It doesn’t surprise me at all that Mike and Keith are also Liberal Dudes who only support women’s rights as long as it’s convenient to do so.
Sady, I think what you are doing is amazing, inspiring and important. Know that the hearts and minds of many, all over the world, are behind you.
I posted a link to this post and a comment on the Rachel Maddow Show page on Facebook. She will be interviewing Michael Moore tonight. I said I hope she will ask him about it.
Oh damn Sady THANK YOU SO MUCH for doing everything I would like to do and can’t, for standing strong in the face of all this crap. I’ve got a lot of misinformed geeks in my social circle, and I’ve been doing my best to correct the misinformation when I could in person, but I never even went on twitter once because I literally can’t stand the thought of having yet another penis picture @-replied to me. I hope that one day I can be as strong as you.
I don’t know where the fuck I have been, but I am here now. I don’t know what I can do, but I will do what I can.
Keep fighting, I am beside you.
This has completely changed my opinion of Moore. I don’t know what he thought he was accomplishing by ignoring #mooreandme, but I’ll never trust him again. Olbermann either.
I knew they were imperfect, but I really did think that they were working in good faith and that they were basically progressive. I won’t make that mistake again.
So my Twitter account died on me. I’m not sure why — I’m not getting any “too many tweets” or “you’ve been suspended” messages, just error messages every time I try to (re)tweet.
Oddly enough, my game account is working just fine. I will refrain from positing conspiracy theories and continue tweeting from there.
Thank you for this, truly. Stand tall.
Twitter has died for me too! I can log in but just get a blank screen and error on page when I try to do anything. Really strange…
Okay, my main stopped fritzing when my game started fritzing. WEIRD. But whatever, I’m back in the game.
Thank you, Sady, for doing this! I don’t know much about Twitter and really don’t want to learn it but maybe there are other ways we can help.
For example, we can also watch for comments that downplay the charges against Assange and then correct those commentators. It’s already started in the Rachel Maddow show comment section (http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/12/21/5692437-the-michael-moore-interview). Taking this beyond Twitter might also take this to another level that will reach an even wider audience…
This is why I’ve stopped calling myself a feminist. I won’t demean Sady Doyle or Kate Harding (et alia) for me to say “M3 T00!”
When Sady says “none of the above statements are true,” she means none of them. Including “and” and “the.”
Thank you for this, truly. Stand tall.
This has completely changed my opinion of Moore. I don’t know what he thought he was accomplishing by ignoring #mooreandme, but I’ll never trust him again. Olbermann either. I knew they were imperfect, but I really did think that they were working in good faith and that they were basically progressive. I won’t make that mistake again.
This hasn’t changed my opinion of Moore at all, I’ve figured he was a dipshit since before “Sicko.” And to me Olbermann has long had a ’60s-liberal vibe, misogyny and all.