What began as just another ideological tug-of-war between liberals and conservatives has gotten out of hand. I am referring here to the campus rape fiasco and the dangerous precedent of affirmative consent.
How out of control is it? Hans Bader wrote earlier this week that Democratic Congressman Jared Polis wants universities to expel students who have been accused of sexual assault even if they were likely innocent, as long as there is a 20% or 30% chance of guilt. So much for due process.
Polis is not alone. Hillary Clinton, in a campaign speech at the University of Northern Iowa, said this, addressing women who claimed they had been sexually assaulted:
I want to send a message to all of the survivors. Don’t let anyone silence your voice, you have the right to be heard, the right be believed, and we are with you as you go forward.
While there is no argument that women who claim to have been raped have a right to be heard, the same is true under the laws of this nation, of those who have been accused of these crimes.
If liberals have their way, a time may come when visual evidence of consensual sex will be ignored if the female decides for whatever reason to claim she was raped. It already happened once at Ohio University’s Athens campus. In 2013, a coed there had sexual relations on a public street near campus. The act was so brazen that fellow students stood and watched and even captured the spectacle on cellphone video, a screen capture of which went viral. Everyone seemed to be having a good time — especially the young woman.
But that night, she went to the police, telling them it was not a consensual or playful romp but, rather, that she had been raped.
Many were initially unsure of what had happened. Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle told a local TV station:
You can view that picture and certainly suggest that sexual assault had taken place. It could also suggest other things.
Others assumed the worst and were outraged. Allie Erwin, a senior, was in that camp, telling reporters:
Our first instinct as a community was not to intervene and help this woman, but to post it on social media, and make a mockery of probably the most traumatic experience of her life.
But a student website, Total Frat Move, provided a very different account of what transpired:
The video is 1:27 in length. The male was clearly providing oral sex to the female. Generally speaking, the two appeared to be willing participants who were, frankly, enjoying themselves. At one point in the video, the female put her right hand on the back of the male’s head while he was engaged. This lasted about eight seconds. Two different times in the video, the male looked around at different onlookers and exchanged words with them. This was in response to jeers they hurled at the couple. His words were unintelligible. [Emphasis added]
Perhaps most damning of all to the women’s claim of sexual assault is that one bystander reported that “the two oral enthusiasts posed for pictures with each other and with several bystanders after they were finished.”
