Until I read Senator Elizabeth Warren’s comment using this term, I had never heard of the phrase “slut shaming.”  According to Wikipedia, it means …”criticizing women and girls who are perceived to violate expectations of behavior and appearance regarding issues related to sexuality.”  Warren was commenting on a Tweet President Trump’s penned saying that fellow Senator Kirsten Gillibrand would…”do anything” in order to receive campaign support.  Extrapolating from that remark the wherewithal to accuse the President of slut shaming speaks more about the filthy mind of Warren than the intention of the President.

Gillibrand’s own record regarding the use of sexual allegations as a weapon is quite interesting.  In her inaugural political campaign in 2005 seeking office the following year as the US congressional representative from New York’s 20th district, Gillibrand accused her opponent, incumbent Congressman John Sweeney, of spousal abuse, by releasing a 2005 police report detailing a 911 call allegedly from Sweeney’s wife.  The Sweeney campaign stated that the report was false but the damage was done and the accusation was widely credited with tipping the elections outcome to favor Gillibrand in what was a traditional Republican stronghold.

When Gillibrand was appointed to fill Senator Hillary Clinton’s vacancy, created when Clinton was nominated to be the Secretary of State, she had no problem cozying up to the Clintons by taking their mentorship, money and endorsements, yet recently she stated that former President Bill Clinton should have resigned in the face of the sexual allegations he faced during his tenure.  If it weren’t for the Clinton’s, Gillibrand would not be a Senator yet even though she felt he should have resigned, she took whatever he had to offer in spite of her own “convictions.”  Apparently Trump is right.

Senator Gillibrand used the bully pulpit to shame fellow Senator Al Franken out of office.  She has also called on President Trump to step down, yet in her own book, she accuses unnamed fellow lawmakers of inappropriate sexual comments and rude behavior towards her, while refusing to name them.  Doesn’t Gillibrand risk the perpetuation of the actions of these unnamed lawmakers on other women?  Doesn’t Gillibrand turn a blind eye to the potential abuse of others because she steadfastly refuses to out these evil men within her own ranks?

The only plausible reason for her refusal might be the fact that perhaps these accusations are fiction.  Maybe Gillibrand fabricated these stories as a way to make her book more interesting while posing as a hard-charging, strong-willed, take-charge woman who won’t be stopped.  It certainly is conveniently self-serving to portray her colleagues as sexual aggressors as it helps to make her appear to be stronger than she actually is.  Why else would she tacitly condone their continued behaviors when doing so puts other women at risk?  How is she helping other women?  Maybe she can’t out them because it never happened.

By looking carefully at Gillibrand’s record, it appears Trump is right; she will do anything to keep her power.