Naomi Wolf is one person who really needs to learn it.
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In 2010, when I warned that Assange was being railroaded as a way to chill and control all journalists and punish whistleblowers, I was piled on by feminists as a traitor to rape advocacy; I am a lifelong antirape activist and survivor. Which is to say: reject binary thinking.
That's a deliberate distortion of what took place. You insulted women who may or may not have been raped. You mocked rape and you held the women up to ridicule.
Even now, there's no proof that those women did anything wrong.
You used your stature -- such as it was -- to attack those women and provide cover for others creeps to attack them. These attacks came from men who don't know the first damn thing about equality and you never called those men out.
Now I'd think you'd keep your head bowed down these days.
I was very kind and put the brakes on you as a topic at THIRD after your poorly researched book turned out to be built upon a premise that was completely wrong. It exploded in your face and this wasn't a Luna moment where you thought butterflies turned into caterpillars and not the other way around (Diane Keaton's character in SLEEPER), you built an entire book around a basic misunderstanding, the very foundation of your book was wrong.
We could have gone to town on you. Out of fairness to you and sympathy for you, I put the brakes on that. Also true, the publisher should have vetted the book and it shouldn't have been published.
I feel sorry for you because you're been attacked as a nut job for your focus on chemtrails (if I misspelled that, I don't give a damn, I don't have time to learn every theory or hypothesis out there). I didn't want to pile on you when so many were already mocking you.
But if this is what you're going to be saying re: Julian Assange, shut your damn mouth.
You are an idiot and your remarks are lies.
More to the point, Naomi, they will not help Julian. They will only the anger that so many have at you for your attacks on rape victims. And that's what happened.
You made outrageous comments and then, having painted yourself into a corner, you doubled down and worse. You were arguing that rape victims deserved no right to privacy. Do you not remember that?
We all make mistakes. It's not hard to own your mistake. "I was wrong. Not the first time, won't be the last." You say that when you're wrong and you can move on. But you wouldn't do that. You felt rage and anger and wanted to dig in. It was your last stand.
I've tried to be kind to you. (I only saw your Tweet tonight because I was trying to be kind. I was going to offer "Some Tweets from Naomi Wolf" to fill out the Thursday night focus on women.)
I've tried, how I've tried, to be kind to you.
But you make it so damn hard.
Here is reality: Julian Assange is a political prisoner. Julian Assange should be free. He is being crucified for being a publisher.
Some have refused to defend him and said it was because he was accused of rape.
That's a lie for many of them. They won't defend him because they're angry that he did this or that to whichever political hero they have.
Julian was accused of rape.
Those charges have been dropped.
Julian was never convicted of those charges.
To call him a rapist now is incorrect. The charges have been dropped. He was never convicted. If you're an American who believes in the US idea of justice, it is innocent until proven guilty. So Julian's innocent.
That's not in dispute.
Julian's supporters -- I'm talking 'celebrity' (I don't mean Pam Anderson, Pam's been loving and fair throughout -- I'm talking about pundits who fancy themselves famous) -- do more to hurt him on any given day. Unlike Naomi, I'm all over this country. Unlike Naomi, I'm speaking to various groups -- students, feminists, labor, veterans and anyone else who hears we're going to be in their area.
Julian's supporters do more to hurt him on any given day than anyone else can.
If you want to save Julian, Naomi, stop being such a liar and such a bitch.
You were called out, yes. And you deserved it. Learn from it for your own good.
But shut your mouth right now for Julian. You want to act the fool in the town square go for it, but do it after Julian's free.
Right now, all you do is harden divisions that already exist because of things you and his other 'celeb' supporters have done.
You harmed support for Julian. Right now, he needs support more than ever. So stop it, Naomi. Just talk about Julian and how he's being harmed. Don't drag your own preening ego into it. And don't start lying because it's only going to rip the focus from Julian to put it back on you and what you did earlier that was so wrong. We can have that discussion once Julian's free.
I've said it before and I'll say it, you are not now and have never been a friend of women who were raped. I'm not the tootsie in a push-up bra who glows while reading your do-me feminism (you loved it when ESQUIRE called it that). I'm a thinking person with a brain. Which is why when you pulled this crap back in 2010 and 2011, I'm the one who pointed the problematic nature of your books and the passage where you admit that a woman got raped and you had breakfast with her rapists because, well, what's a girl to do, spoil a wonderful frat party? I'm the one who pointed out your ingrained racism because I've read your work. Victoria Woodhull was beautiful and sexy and, of course, White, but you painted African-American C.J. Walker as something else because, according to you -- only White women can be beautiful. Naomi, check out photos of CJ Walker. She's very cute and very photogenic even if your own addiction to a White Beauty Myth won't allow you to recognize that.
Now you aren't a bad person and you have many good sides. And I would be happy to defend your right to question narratives and all other things. But you're not going to win me over while you do harm to Julian Assange. Your temper tantrum back then didn't help him and pretending that you've been vindicated now isn't going to help him.
You and your words did a great deal to destroy support for Julian.
His situation is much worse today. Grasp that and act accordingly.
