ERIC MASSA REDUX: THE FINAL WORD

Watching Eric Massa's final media tour was frightening

Eric Massa and the Media: A head-on collision

By Ove Overmyer

Guilty until proven otherwise-- this is the new American way. And, no evidence is required to destroy someone’s career or public identity. Just ask the ACORN folks or New York Democrats David Paterson, Charles Rangel and Eric Massa.

I am not suggesting these individuals are innocent of any wrong-doing.  To the contrary, we are all flawed human beings and we all make mistakes.  Some can be forgiven, some can not.

Everything Americans have worked for over the past two hundred years, to establish the democratic rule of law over the emotions of mob mentality has been nullified by overzealous media hounds, political wannabes, scared staffers and hateful observers.

Unsubstantiated accounts of ethics violations and wrong doing, fake fear and terror are being perpetrated by folks whose sole mission in life is to “take somebody down” or find their own journalistic 15 minutes of fame. Indicted conservative activist and ACORN video pimp James O’Keefe comes to mind.

Media vigilante justice is nothing new. Due process, the rights to a fair trial, the right to be safe and secure in one’s home are all things of the past-- things we used to defend as the best traits of American virtue before we succumbed to the overstated hyperbole of the War on Terror, the Patriot Act and the ever-present stench of political corruption.

Let's take western New York Democratic Rep. Eric Massa for example.  He faced a harassment complaint by a male staffer and said on March 5 that he was stepping down from his seat with "a profound sense of failure."  The ethics complaint said the staffer felt "uncomfortable" during an exchange with him. The exchange reportedly had sexual overtones.

At first, I thought this is what taking personal responsibility looks like -- unequivocally holding oneself accountable for one's own mistakes and bravely accepting the consequences. Are we sad and disappointed in Congressman Massa? You bet. As one of my CSEA colleagues so aptly put it, “We never got the return on our investment.”

A visibly upset Massa said he didn't want to put his family through an ethics committee investigation. Who could blame him? He also had to endure plenty of embarrassment that he was partially responsible for-- a jaw-dropping exchange with Glenn Beck and Larry King's insipid questions, including "Are you gay?"

In Eric's attempt to set the record straight, so to speak, he did himself, his family and everyone who cares about good government a huge disservice. The news about the Eric Massa debacle is particularly disturbing to all the local progressives and CSEA activists who worked very hard over the past four years to get him elected and for those who supported him while he was in office.

With a little help from himself, the media took a basically well-meaning honest man and made him look like a foolish court jester. Watching him unravel on national television was like witnessing a Plymouth Satellite vault over a mountain cliff.

Eric openly admits that the ethics issue is his fault and his alone. But in the incredibly toxic atmosphere that is Washington D.C., with the destruction of our elected leaders having become a blood sport as he calls it, especially in talk radio and on the internet, there is also no doubt that most reasonable people would not subject themselves to such scrutiny.

If you truly want to find out "the dirt" on someone, it’s there for the taking. If it doesn’t suit your needs, all you have to do is embellish a little. Why should truth get in your way?  It begs the question, who in their right mind would want to run for public office if this is what you can expect?

In today’s destructive and unforgiving 24/7 political environment, Massa was ripe for the taking. Media types of all political stripes were free to ask and search for anything about Eric going back to his naval career as an officer. Again, in his defense, he said he simply cannot rise to that level of perfection people expect. He said we are all flawed human beings and imperfect people, and he is no exception. What a colossal understatement that was.

I for one accept Eric’s apology with reservations-- and I am having a hard time reconciling his bizarre behavior. Despite the betrayal and making me recoil on several occasions, I still hope Eric can find some clinical help and heal. And, I hold contempt for the mass media vultures, who unmercifully circled over him like a rotting jackal.

Eric Massa used to be a beacon of hope for many of us in the labor community-- and I have to make something perfectly clear. Our support of his candidacy was never about his person. It was always about the issues facing working families and the struggles of the middle class.

Despite losing a strong progressive voice in Washington, let Eric’s story be a lesson to us all. Congress persons will come and go, but our issues remain. Our fight continues to be about speaking truth to power and against the deceptions of omnipresent aggressors.

This commentary is the opinion of the author only.