Donald Trump, Bill Cosby and a prominent political scientist

Walk into a bar.

Sorry.  I couldn't resist.

Anyway, the prominent political scientist here is Bill Jacoby, at Michigan State, and now former editor of the American Journal of Political Science.  Jacoby is a big name guy, AJPS is probably the number 2 journal in the field, and Jacoby is at the center of the current big scandal in political science.  Rather than summarize it, I'll just link to the write-up from Inside Higher Ed.  Short version:  sexual harassment, abuse of power.

Think about Bill Cosby.  He's guilty, right?  We know this, right?  Not all accusations are true.  However, when you have enough women telling the same story, independently, the probability that they are all lying gets really low.  Cosby is a rapist.  Prior to the public revelations a few years ago, though, would you have looked at him and said, "wow, now that dude drugs and rapes women!"  Probably not.  He presents himself as a safe and upstanding person.

Then, there's Donald Trump.  He is... out of the closet and living his truth.  When the Access Hollywood tape came out, who honestly had their image of Trump significantly altered?  Trump presents as what he is, publicly and privately.

My point is that you may think you can tell who is scum and who isn't.  You can't.  This is an important part of how politics and society address sexual assault.  Most of the reliable estimates I have seen are that around 20% of women are sexually assaulted at some point in their lives.  That's not counting sexual harassment, because then the numbers are just too high.  It's too crass by far to say they should have seen it coming because predators act like Donald Trump, because they can act like Cosby too.

And that brings me to Jacoby.  I know Bill Jacoby.  Is he guilty?  The formal investigation hasn't come to a finding, but he stepped down as editor of AJPS.  And... he just doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would act like that.  The descriptions of behavior in the Inside Higher Ed story seem like a different kind of person than the one I have known for almost two decades.

But then, could I tell?  Could you?

Were you able to tell that Cosby is what he is before everything came out?

How people present themselves and what they really are don't always match.  Trump is interesting in that there is no distinction between his presentation and what he truly is.  Yes, he lies repeatedly and egregiously, but his lies are so transparent and stupid that he might as well have the words, "con man," tattooed on his forehead.  Of the many nicknames I have bestowed upon him, perhaps "Tommy Flanagan" is the most apt, and in that sense, if you are so up-front in your dishonesty, you are presenting as what you are-- that which should be avoided.  Nobody attempting to perform any good-faith analysis with any real brainpower could miss that Trump is reprehensible.

Cosby?  He hid his monstrosity well.  Then, on the other side, there are people who are, for example mildly autistic.  By missing social cues and behaving in unusual ways, they can come across in alienating ways without any ill intent.  And that's just one counterexample.

Do you really think you can find the monsters hidden in society?  Trump?  That's easy because he doesn't hide what he is.  Cosby?  He makes an important point.  Sometimes, the monsters hide behind smiles, manipulation, charm and cunning.  They're the worst because they're the hardest to find.  Thinking about that almost makes you a misanthrope, doesn't it?

I have a hard time passing judgment on Jacoby because, like I said, he has always treated me well.  Then again, I am clearly not his type, and by my own rules, I should believe multiple women telling similar stories.  See:  Cosby, Bill.  What do you do?  It really is harder when it's someone you know who has treated you well.

This is an on-going scandal in political science.  I'd type, "we'll see what happens," but, um...  no.

Tweet

Subscribe to receive free email updates: