Meta Prologue: In the first post today, Trump’s shallow, ignorant grasp of law, Constitution and governance is discussed with regard to federal enforcement of marijuana laws. In this post, the alternative is juxtaposed, as social justice rhetoric proves itself just as shallow and ignorant. The question isn’t which is better, as people will pick the lesser of two evils or the side most closely alsigned with their personal issues, but to note that both reflect an untenable depth of ignorance. It’s die by knife or drowning in the cesspool, but either way, you’re gonna die.

When the brilliant and beautiful Roxane Gay decided to condemn Nate Parker for being acquitted of rape, and the New York Times found this worthy of its precious real estate, it reflected the modern social justice conundrum. Not even a black man, tried and acquitted, could be permitted to move on in the court of racial and gender justice.

Casey Affleck won the Best Actor Oscar. There is no doubt that his performance in Manchester By The Sea was worthy. One might suspect that the win was deserved because of the performance, since the Oscar is about acting in movies. Except when it’s not.

For months now, the media has been taking Casey Affleck to task over his past sexual harassment allegations, which resurfaced in September in a Mashable article. But, as we predicted, it appears all the backlash over the 2010 incidents had no effect on the actor’s Oscar chances.

So the award went to Affleck because his acting merited the award? As it should?

There’s no doubt Affleck gives one of the best on-screen performances of the year in Kenneth Lonergan’s film about a man who becomes the guardian of his teenage nephew following the untimely death of his brother. But in this day and age, must we celebrate and honor an artist when unsettling personal transgressions haunt our perception of that person?

Even though he won, there is no letting go. What are this “unsettling personal transgressions”?

In 2010, Affleck was accused of harassing two women on the set of the Joaquin Phoenix mockumentary “I’m Still Here,” which he directed. One of the women was Amanda White, a producer with whom he had worked for 10 years, and the other was the movie’s director of photography, Magdalena Gorka. Both claimed they were subject to inappropriate sexual comments and unwelcome advances, which you can read more about here. At the time, Affleck denied the allegations and countersued, but later settled the case out of court to the apparent satisfaction of all involved parties.

Had Affleck murdered someone, it would have been done and over. Indeed, they might have built a statue of him if the victim met certain demographics. But inappropriate sexual comments and unwelcome advances? On women?!?

What happened will not be tried here. Unless you’re a witness, you have nothing to offer. And if you were a witness, so what? There was a dispute. The dispute was resolved. That’s where it ends. Except when it involves “unsettling personal transgressions haunt our perception of that person,” in which case it never ends, even if it was never proven in the first place because it never went to trial and was settled to the satisfaction of all involved.

All this being said, we must use this situation as a lesson moving forward. Let’s speak out against casting notices and hold studios accountable for hiring alleged harassers from the get-go.

This stinks of the creation of a blacklist of people accused of some amorphous sex-type crime, which makes it nothing like the blacklists of the McCarthy era of commies in Hollywood, because it’s not something ridiculous like being a commie but something critical like offending feminist sensibilities.

And there is no way, ever, to get beyond the accusation. If someone, say a “women’s” president, came to power, would this be institutionalized by the condemnation of all males accused of any vague offense of the ever-shifting female mores?

Meta Epilogue: Whether the election of Donald Trump was the worst choice or the least worst choice is a matter of personal opinion. That the choice was between untenable options, however, is another matter.