Here come the sexual harassment stories from Congress

I'm inclined to believe them, including the ones from Democrats, because if we've confirmed anything in these past few weeks it's that this sort of thing pretty much comes with the territory whenever you've got an institution where men get drunk with power. Outwardly, of course, you'd never say it's OK. But on the inside, people constantly push the boundaries to see how far they can go. One line crossed, no consequences, push across the next line. No one says anything, because it's more trouble than it's worth, and you're a powerful and influential man that these little women won't gain by picking a fight with. Go ahead. Say something. Touch something. Suggest something. You're not really supposed to, but no one's going to say anythin

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That's how solid the dam was. But sometimes dams aren't as unbreakable as everyone thinks. The stories here are bipartisan, and they sound more than plausible. The only question in my mind is how long before we start getting the names?

The lawmakers declined to identify the perpetrators by name, but at least two of the men continue to serve in the House. None of the female lawmakers interviewed reported what happened, and some noted it was not clear where they would lodge such a complaint. At least three of the four told friends or aides about the incidents, which in some cases were witnessed by other lawmakers. “When I was a very new member of Congress in my early 30s, there was a more senior member who outright propositioned me, who was married, and despite trying to laugh it off and brush it aside it, would repeat. And I would avoid that member,” said Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif. She added that she would warn other new female members about the lawmaker in question, but she declined to identify him, while saying he remains in Congress. “I just don’t think it would be helpful” to call the lawmaker out by name, Sanchez said. “The problem is, as a member there’s no HR department you can go to, there’s nobody you can turn to. Ultimately they’re employed by their constituents.” Sanchez also said that a different male colleague repeatedly ogled her, and at one point touched her inappropriately on the House floor, while trying to make it appear accidental. She declined to identify the lawmaker but said he was no longer in Congress.

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Bono said she ultimately confronted her colleague on the House floor after he’d made repeated harassing comments. Bono, who arrived in the House at age 36 to replace her husband Sonny Bono after he died in a skiing accident, said it seemed like the lawmaker didn’t know how to talk to a woman as an equal. “Instead of being ‘how’s the weather, how’s your career, how’s your bill,’ it was ‘I thought about you while I was in the shower.’ So it was a matter of saying to him ‘That’s not cool, that’s just not cool.’” Bono declined to identify the lawmaker, saying the behavior stopped after she finally challenged him. He still serves in Congress, she said. “It is a man’s world, it’s still a man’s world,” Bono said. “Not being a flirt and not being a #. That was my rule, to try to walk that fine line.” Former Rep. Hilda Solis, now a Los Angeles County supervisor, recalls repeated unwanted harassing overtures from one lawmaker, though she declined to name him or go into detail. “I don’t think I’m the only one. What I tried to do was ignore it, turn away, walk away. Obviously it’s offensive. Are you supposed to be flattered? No, we’re adults. Not appropriate,” said Solis, who left Congress in 2009 to join the Obama administration as labor secretary. “It’s humiliating, even though they may have thought they were being cute. No, it’s not. It’s not appropriate. I’m your colleague, but he doesn’t see me that way, and that’s a problem,” Solis said.

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One thing I'm increasingly wary of, as this thing grows, is the potential for false (or greatly exaggerated) claims, either for revenge or just as a way of getting attention. Fifteen years ago you thought a boss was looking at your chest, and the gig ended badly. Suddenly he propositioned you in the broom closet or offered a promotion in exchange for sex. I think there's the potential for completely innocent men to get caught up in all this, and I don't know how you defend yourself in a climate that seems ready to take every claim at face value. But the stories from these congresswomen don't seem to fall into that category for me. For one thing they're not naming the perpetrators, so it doesn't really serve any sort of revenge motive. I think the point they're trying to make is that Congress has a boys club culture that considers this sort of thing acceptable, and they want people to understand what it's like to experience that when you're a woman. The only one I'm not sure about is Barbara Boxer's story because it doesn't strike me as the obvious sexual double entendre she insists it is. Maybe the tone gave it away where the printed words don't, but it's not jumping out as obviously piggish like the stories from Bono and Solis. Either way, though, I have no trouble believing the generalized narrative that men act like this - some probably out of ignorance without really meaning any harm, but others out of a power-fueled arrogance that says I'm gonna do this because I'm a powerful man and I can. All this needed to come out, even if some of those it takes down are on your side, so to speak. I suppose some conservatives might worry that all this fuels the fire of radical left-wing feminism. It doesn't need to, and if it doesn't then men have only themselves to blame. It's not hard to simply be a gentleman, guys. And if you're not already, this seems like a really good time to start.

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