Discussion: Ex-NBC Correspondent Calls Network's Internal Investigation 'Deeply Flawed'

I don’t know if Brokow is a creepy harasser or not but I DO know that this woman who feels she was wronged over 10 years ago is getting the 15 minutes of fame she thinks she deserves. It’s hard to feel sorry for someone who took no responsibility for her OWN life and now is so ‘outraged’. She was wronged, nobody cares, the investigation isn’t ‘good’ enough…what WOULD be?

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??

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The interview settings were admittedly a bit unconventional and off-putting.

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You really need to do more investigating what goes on in cases where senior men (it’s usually, but not always men) harass women or pressure them to have sex. You seem to think it’s a simple matter of a woman standing up for herself. It’s not. And while we may wish that women would speak out sooner, the delay is not by itself a good reason to dismiss allegations. Like life, it’s complicated.

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True. But for a woman to out a man for bad behavior 10-15-20 years after it occurred seems an injustice in the making. I understand some women think it will spare other women similar treatment, acting as a warning to not associate with the man. But does this allow for the possibility the man she’s outing has changed, and is no longer the lout he once was? There are dozens of behaviors that would justify being leery of a person, and having suffered some sort of wrong through those behaviors is rightly resented. But where in this “Me Too” movement does anyone allow for a current assessment of a man’s character and behavior as contrasted with events FROM GODDAMNED 30 YEARS AGO??

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Okay, but I’ve never done any of those things. Nor could I imagine doing them regardless of the culture or age around me. Some things are just wrong. These men benefited from abuse of power. Where’s the justice? Do we just sweep it under the rug? Is “I’ve changed” really enough? Why should more deference be granted the men who were already in power than the women (or anyone) subjected to it? Acting like the time lapse negates the crime essentially writes off entire generations of women (or anyone) as forgotten collateral damage.

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In a general sense (AND in this specific case) does this mean that the whole concept of “statute of limitations” is, or ought to be, invalid?

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Look up “power differential”, then consider how a lone, subordinate, woman would have fared back then against the “great” Brokaw!

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I am PROBABLY your age and I have been harassed more times than I can count. Sometimes I kept quiet and sometimes I spoke out but I always took responsibility. Older men pressuring younger women? For God’s sake…I don’t believe their is a woman alive that didn’t get some of that in their careers or school or life. What I am ‘uneasy’ with is this rush to call out a hug or a kiss on the cheek that looking back you believe stymied your career or was creepy or something. I had an ‘older man’ tell me I shouldn’t be WORKING because I was taking a job away from a man that needed to support his family…when I asked him who was supposed to support ME he leered and told me I wasn’t trying hard enough…yuck. This is just an inkling so yeah, I ‘get’ it.

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And interview conditions can make an enormous difference. If the interviewer doesn’t want to hear something, they have almost complete discretion to avoid it. (Anecdote: long ago, a friend was being investigated for a clearance, and the investigator asked about any crimes he might have committed. Another friend in the office said, “Hey, what about–”| and the interviewer cut him off. And I said no, I couldn’t think of anything. Turned out that a certain episode of hijinks had slipped my mind – the other friend was barred from talking about the episode because he only knew of it third hand, but was also barred from reminding me, even though I had firsthand details. The friend got the clearance…)

Legally? I don’t know, IANAL. I imagine there’s some good reasons to have them that I’m not privy to. But in terms of public opinion… yep.

[quote=“sysprog, post:10, topic:72222”]What I am ‘uneasy’ with is this rush to call out a hug or a kiss on the cheek that looking back you believe stymied your career or was creepy or something.
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Where is this happening in such abundance that it needs to be curtailed?

In general, I think most people can tell creepy intentions from innocent ones. Especially since women have a lot of basis for comparison as you say.

I think Brokaw is a singularly unpleasant man and I think it might be singularly unpleasant to have to deal with him in any way, including goodnight kisses on the cheek.

If there was actual sexual harassment beyond night night pecks, as Vester would have it, she has my sympathy. Or some sympathy. She doesn’t come off as terribly pleasant herself.

The operative word is if. But I am willing to believe that any contact with Brokaw could feel like harassment. There are men with that kind of capacity for negative affect out there, and he could easily be one of them.

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I care and responsible Americans cares. We cannot continue to harbor harrassment against women in the work place.

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Blaming the victim is very unpleasant to witness. We need facts and from a fair and impartial investigator.

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You don’t think these accusations are happening in ‘abundance’? REALLY? OK then…I see it, I hear it, it’s being discussed and yes, I have an opinion.

I ‘care’ too. Trust but verify…

You are right of course. But NBC’s apparently not willing to go the extra mile and they may have reason not to be willing.

On the other hand, they probably should hire outside counsel even if they feel there is nothing in the charges. That is really the only way to put the matter at rest, and one can only wait to see what they do. I suspect they’ll buckle eventually.

And if something else comes out, and it turns out Brokaw diddled women against their will every chance he got, then there we are. Till then, though, I’m not crusading for Linda. If you want to take that as “blaming the victim,” it’s your prerogative.

  1. A lot of us care. Just because you don’t, don’t project that on everyone else.

  2. How about one where the investigators aren’t also the ones being investigated? I assume you had this same reaction when Chris Christie’s lawyers announced that Bridgegate was all a hoax? And you would be okay with Jeff Sessions declaring that Trump did absolutely nothing wrong?

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