Commander Foxworth...How appropriate

Former Police Chief, Derrick Foxworth, in what is clearly a backroom deal, has been promoted just days after being demoted. In all the news and speculation that has surrounded the events of the past week, race and out of control media have been the overriding themes. But no one has raised the spectre of sexism, which is what is at the heart of this issue. With Foxworth's promotion to commander, it is clear that he, like all public male figures who engage in sexist behavior, is in command. Ultimately, nothing changes and the "boys will be boys" environment is reinforced. I worked for Clinton, I still view him as one of the smartest presidents we've had and I'm still drawn to the television when he speaks like a moth to a flame. But, when the President of the United States is not held accountable for his treatment of women, then how can we expect that anyone else will be. And, that act was played out again here in Portland.

A letter to the editor of The Oregonian asked today, "whatever happened to Angela Oswalt for her 'serious lapse of judgement'?" Yes, like most women with a miniscule pool of quality men to choose from she displayed bad judgement in choosing to involve herself with Foxworth. The difference between her and Foxworth, however, is that she lacked power and he had it. It was his responsibility to not abuse that power, which he clearly did. The emails alone show an abuse of power and a huge lack of judgement on his part. The he said/she said aspect of all of this can be debated but those emails and the existence of this dispropotionate relationship are indisputable. And, those unsubstatiated allegations were not substanitated by an internal reviewer. This wasn't an impartial jury of one's peers and no outside investigations were conducted. It is easy to dismiss what we don't want to acknowledge if someone with some degree of authority tells us what we want to hear. The truth is women have traditionally been shut out of the power structure that takes into account their experience and, to add insult to injury, often dismisses the reality of that experience.

What gets reinforced with these decisions is that people with power can run roughshod over people without it. When that power is attached to a penis there is even greater impunity.