An Open Letter to Louis C K

Dear Louis,

I don't know you, I know your work.   You have always been funny and intellectually stimulating in your humor.  I sometimes had questions about the direction you took things but comedy should make the audience uncomfortable or at least make us think.  But what you did back stage was atrocious and troubling on many many levels.  You have rightfully been forced in exile in the celebrity world and I believe that you owe a lot more to the women you hurt by your actions then you can ever repay.  Your recent attempt at a comeback makes it seem like you don't understand the severity of your actions and that makes me sad.  The fact that so many people have since tried to justify you coming back also tells me we have a long way to go before we can fully make work places, be they comedy clubs, sound stages or board rooms fully safe for women.  That is something that must change and frankly men need to listen to women on this and then act.

Louis, in the current awakening of so many who are finally seeing the lives that women must endure when they are just trying to earn a living or work their craft I would think that you would have been more sensitive to the issues and pain you had caused.  You always seemed like a nice guy in interviews and there are people who know you that have suggested as much.  You could have reached out to a number of women comics who have been vocal in the #metoo movement or just wise women who have lived through the evolution of women in comedy.  You could have spoken to up-and-coming woman comics who are struggling with the sexism and sexual harassment that exists in so many industries but still lives in the late-night clubs in big cities and small towns.  You could have talked to a councilor who could explain the trauma you may have caused the women whom you violated by your actions and the extent of that trauma that was visited on other women who felt betrayed by you.  Surprising, when you walked off the public scene you said, "I have spent my long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want. I will now step back and take a long time to listen."  I am not sure who you listened to but coming back as you did and not addressing the issues that had you leave was not what smart people would tell you.

Look I know, I am just one person who used to call myself a  fan.  I don't have pull to help or hurt your career.  I write a blog that less than 100 people read.  In fact you will likely never see this.  But it makes me feel better to have written it.  You see men like you have made women on edge around so many men and all men are suspects.  Your lack of contrition and now your attempting to return in the hopes that many will forgive and forget is like continuing to assault the women and build barriers to their career. 

Look it isn't simple, it shouldn't be.  If you are suffering in your exile then that is just.  I am also a Jew who believes in T'shuvah, especially this time of year.  But asking forgiveness requires that you make up for the actions that caused others pain and strive to never make the same mistake again.  There are people who might be able to get you there.  Reach out to them.  But until that time popping up in places to perform because you need to do it is just not how to do it.  Please stop and please get help. 

QAnon and The Growing Dark Nonsense of the Right

Conspiracy theories are as old as civilization.  We have found rumors on the walls of ancient Roman cities.  Some were designed to hurt individuals and others entire people.  The blood libel of the Middle Ages led to the death of many Jews and laid the foundation for what was the 20th century's worst result of conspiracy theory belief, the Shoah (Holocaust).   But some are not so drastic.  The idea that Elvis still lives, that Men in Black run a secret alien control program or that moon landing was faked.  In previous generations these ideas, considered part of a lunatic fringe were shared via late night radio and mimeographed newsletters.  The dawn of the internet however made spreading all kinds of stories easier and influencing the person who may not have had a way to connect to others with similar ideas.  Like in ancient Rome where politicians were attacked with graffiti today a message board can start a story and before long it is popping up everywhere.

During the 2016 election, a story went around the right wing noise machine of a pedophile ring in Washington DC being run out of the basement of a pizza parlor by the Democratic National Committee.  Called Pizzagate the creation of this story on a dark corner of the internet rose to the level to be referenced by General Mike Flynn and his son.  Flynn for a brief time was the National Security Advisor and his son was on the Trump transition team.  This story was believed by many including a man from North Carolina who brought a gun to the place identified as the center of this false tale firing the gun.  He wanted to go into the basement, which doesn't exist.  Some denounced this long debunked story but it still comes up.  But now something more insane the Qanon conspiracy and this one is getting more mainstream followers.

The theory is a muddled group of accusations and stories.  Some that are mutually exclusive.  The main focus of this theory is the Robert Mueller is not investigating the President but is in-fact investigating Secretary Clinton, Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Senator John McCain among many others.  The charges are anything from their own collusion with Russia to a Global child trafficking ring (similar to Pizzagate).  It started with an anonymous post by a person referring to themselves as Q posting that he has a top-secret security clearance and that he has evidence (never produced).  This has been fully debunked over and over.  The favorite part for me is that the principles in this fictional idea all have ankle monitors on and will soon be picked up. As if they know they are under investigation and are doing nothing about it.  I mean we saw President Obama in France recently, what is the point of the ankle bracelet?  This is all part of the deep state argument that the President makes, that there is an internal opposition standing in the way of the President's vision.  That is a problem.

We expect that there will always be a handful of people who believe such nonsense, even when it makes absolutely no sense.  But recently the Q crowd is marketing to a larger group and are showing up at Trump rallies as he goes around the country to promote Republican candidates.  People seem proud of wearing t-shirts and hats suggesting the conspiracy is true.  There is a larger profile on social media and while some people are just bandwagoning on this pro-Trump movement, some are trying to convince others that this is really true and they are succeeding with many.  People will always believe stupid things, this feels different, it seems to be getting a foothold in the more mainstream Republican population.  People will go to the polls in November believing this garbage.  Believing that voting against Democrats is a vote against an evil secret attack on Donald Trump that is being administered by current and former government officials.  That is a dangerous way to choose our leaders.  So please don't ignore this like it is easy to ignore those that believe the moon landing was faked.  Learn to counter the stories you see, you may only change one mind, but each voter informed by facts and not some fictional construct is better for the country.  That is how democracy stays healthy.  That is how we can take our country back to reality.