The Wheels Are Coming Off the Sexual Revolution

[Valin]

National Review/The Corner:

David French

December 2, 2014

 

And the breakdown is most evident on college campuses.

 

The only thing that’s truly clear about the raging sexual-assault controversy on campus is that it’s a royal mess. Given new life (as if it needed new life) by Rolling Stone’s now-famous story of an alleged gang rape at a University of Virginia — with a second round of stories now questioning Rolling Stone’s reporting – the battle is being waged seemingly everywhere, from pop culture to legislatures to courts. The federal government investigates colleges for not doing enough to stop sexual assault. Men sue colleges for campus-sexual-assault prosecutions so zealous that administrators ignore the most basic elements of due process. California passes legislation reducing campus sex to essentially a contractual relationship. There’s an epidemic of sexual assault, with fully one in four women victimized. Or, maybe, there’s less sexual assault and more sexual regret. But — in any case — real human misery abounds, with students facing an emerging mental-health crisis.

 

Heather Mac Donald summed it up best, in her outstanding Weekly Standard cover story, “It is impossible to overstate the growing weirdness of the college sex scene.”

 

It’s weird. It’s harmful. It’s sad. And, yes, it was predictable.

 

Colleges, as part of a toxic mix of radical politics and rampant consumerism, recreated the university experience as an ideologically charged Disneyland, where real academic work was deemphasized, traditional values were demonized, and the party became ever more important. The result wasn’t just an expensive amusement park, but one that was intentionally highly sexualized. Consider the following:

 

(Snip)

[SrWoodchuck]

:

David French

December 2, 2014

 

And the breakdown is most evident on college campuses.

 

The only thing that’s truly clear about the raging sexual-assault controversy on campus is that it’s a royal mess. Given new life (as if it needed new life) by Rolling Stone’s now-famous story of an alleged gang rape at a University of Virginia — with a second round of stories now questioning Rolling Stone’s reporting – the battle is being waged seemingly everywhere, from pop culture to legislatures to courts. The federal government investigates colleges for not doing enough to stop sexual assault. Men sue colleges for campus-sexual-assault prosecutions so zealous that administrators ignore the most basic elements of due process. California passes legislation reducing campus sex to essentially a contractual relationship. There’s an epidemic of sexual assault, with fully one in four women victimized. Or, maybe, there’s less sexual assault and more sexual regret. But — in any case — real human misery abounds, with students facing an emerging mental-health crisis.

 

Heather Mac Donald summed it up best, in her outstanding Weekly Standard cover story, “It is impossible to overstate the growing weirdness of the college sex scene.”

 

It’s weird. It’s harmful. It’s sad. And, yes, it was predictable.

 

Colleges, as part of a toxic mix of radical politics and rampant consumerism, recreated the university experience as an ideologically charged Disneyland, where real academic work was deemphasized, traditional values were demonized, and the party became ever more important. The result wasn’t just an expensive amusement park, but one that was intentionally highly sexualized. Consider the following:

 

(Snip)

 

 

@Valin

 

Any more of this.....and sex will become something we do in secret....in the dark...without telling anybody.

 

I think the PC police missed a step in not promoting/prosecuting the cases as "assault with a friendly weapon."

 

Too soon they'll be married with children & their years of extremely memorable indiscretions over....relegated to only oral sex....(where they pass each other in the hallway & say "Hey, 'F' you!" "Oh yeah? 'F' you, too.")

 

No animals were harmed in this parody. No offense meant to anyone. Names have been changed to protect the innocent me.

[Valin]

Rape Story Sends Shock Waves -- and Stretched Credulity

Jonah Goldberg

Dec 03, 2014

 

Rolling Stone has published an incredible story about a rape at the University of Virginia, sending shock waves around the country.

 

But when I say the story is incredible, I mean that in the literal, largely abandoned sense of the word. It is not credible -- I don't believe it.

 

I'm not saying that the author of the story, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, deliberately fabricated facts. Nor do I believe that all of her reporting was flawed. There may be an outrageously callous attitude toward sexual assaults at UVA. Rape, particularly date rape, may be a major problem there. I've talked to enough people with connections to the campus to think that part is credible enough.

 

But the central story isn't about a spontaneous alcohol-fueled case of some creep refusing to take no for an answer (an inexcusable offense in my opinion). It's an account of a well-planned gang rape by seven fraternity pledges at the direction of two members. If true, lots of people need to go to jail for decades -- if.

 

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

Rape Story Sends Shock Waves -- and Stretched Credulity

Jonah Goldberg

Dec 03, 2014

 

Rolling Stone has published an incredible story about a rape at the University of Virginia, sending shock waves around the country.

 

But when I say the story is incredible, I mean that in the literal, largely abandoned sense of the word. It is not credible -- I don't believe it.

 

 

 

 

More Questions about Rolling Stone and UVA

KC Johnson

December 2, 2014

 

Sabrina Rubin Erdely’s Rolling Stone article detailing an alleged brutal gang rape at the University of Virginia has triggered widespread outrage. But it also has prompted varying degrees of skeptical commentary from (most importantly) Richard Bradley, and also Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal, Reason’s Robby Soave, and Judith Shulevitz in the New Republic. I don’t intend to repeat the critiques in any of these pieces; I do recommend each of them. Rather, I wanted to raise three additional issues of concern with Rolling Stone’s (and Erdely’s) handling of the case.

 

In an interview with the New Republic, civil libertarian Wendy Kaminer stated, “If I had to guess what happened at UVA—and at this point, we can only guess (which is why we should not be passing judgment), I’d guess that the story is neither entirely fabricated nor entirely true, and, in any case, compels a real investigation by investigators with no stake in their findings.” That strikes me as a reasonable comment, based on what we now know. But there are many questions about Erdely and Rolling Stone got us to this point.

 

 

Troubling Explanations for Not Contacting the Accused Students

 

In the past few days, Erdely and her editor, Sean Woods, have offered deeply troubling revelations as to why Rolling Stone went to press without presenting the accused students’ version of events.

 

(Snip)

 

 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

I'm starting to think we may have a Duke LaCrosse situation developing.

[Valin]

Yes, You Should Be Skeptical about the UVA Rape Story
Truth matters more than the narrative
Charles C. W. Cooke
December 3, 2014

‘The truth may be puzzling,” wrote Carl Sagan. “It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what’s true.”

 

And the hecklers shouted, “Idiot!”

 

(Snip)

 

Now, this is not to say that Erdely is lying or that she set out to deceive her audience. On the contrary: She may well genuinely believe that her source is reliable. Perhaps she is. But, as far as we can know, it is as possible that the story is entirely true as it is that it is half true as it is that the whole thing was entirely made up. As Erdely herself admits, “What exactly happened, you know, I wasn’t in that room. I don’t know and I do tell it from her point of view.” Here, one might well ask, “And why do you do that?” Clearly, only a handful of people can know for sure what happened, and thus far Erdely has asked only one of those people for her account. For the zetetic among us to acknowledge that this is both unprofessional and bewildering does not suggest foolishness or obstinacy or sinister motivation on their parts so much as it reflects a capacity for basic reasoning and for the responsible filtering of evidence.

 

(Snip)