Ronald Reagan said “Trust but verify,” One Zerlina Maxell argues, don’t verify, just trust, from Washington Post [1]:
In last month’s deep and damning Rolling Stone report about sexual assault at the University of Virginia, a reporter told the story of “Jackie,” who said she was gang raped at a fraternity party and then essentially ignored by the administration. It helped dramatize what happens when the claims of victims are not taken seriously.
Now the narrative appears to be falling apart: Her rapist wasn’t in the frat that she says he was a member of; the house held no party on the night of the assault; and other details are wobbly. Many people (not least U-Va. administrators) will be tempted to see this as a reminder that officials, reporters and the general public should hear both sides of the story and collect all the evidence before coming to a conclusion in rape cases. This is what we mean in America when we say someone is “innocent until proven guilty.” After all, look what happened to the Duke lacrosse players.
Does this so-called “Jackie” even exist? In Maxwell’s fervid imagination, can imaginary characters be real victims? Should a fable concocted to advance a narrative about an imaginary “rape culture” be taken seriously? With no evidence of any rape, how can Maxwell refer to a rapist?
In her article’s original title, it was asserted that a woman’s allegation of rape should automatically be believed. Juanita Broaddrick alleged she was raped by Bill Clinton. Does Maxell believe Clinton to be a rapist?