Neil DeGross Tyson?

I guess everyone on earth will eventually be accused in the #MeToo frenzy, and then, having run out of scapegoats, we will have to start accusing each other’s pets.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson is currently in the grip of the feminist thumbscrews. The accusations don’t look all that exciting.

The first one came in October of last year. A woman who used to know Tyson claimed she was drugged and raped.

The alleged victim bills herself as a “renowned musician, healer, and teacher.” As soon as you read that, the bells start to go off. It’s not the kind of thing stable people tend to put on resumes. If you are renowned, you don’t have to tell people. That’s what “renowned” means. If you’re a real musician, you will generally identify yourself with an instrument instead of making a vague claim that looks like puffery. If you’re a doctor, you will say so. “Healer” sounds like someone who hangs around health food stores and has a collection of magic crystals. If you’re really a musician and healer, can you possibly have time to be a teacher? Maybe. If you’re a substitute teacher.

People who have actual careers can usually come up with unambiguous titles for themselves. Someone I went to law school with put up a self-worship website that listed his qualifications something like this: “attorney, warrior, scholar, poet, humanitarian, activist, inventor of the doorknob, Navy SEAL, 93rd-degree black belt in all known martial arts, astral projectionist, minor deity, leaper of tall buildings in a single bound, and close personal friend of the Pompatus of Love.” In reality, he was a failed attorney on his way to an endless suspension based on a complete refusal to do any work or respond to bar inquiries. He has been on suspension for around eight years, which is maybe seven years and nine months longer than they usually last.

The accuser has a music page on Amazon. I looked up one of her CD’s, and it has 4 reviews. Enough said. I can’t find anything online identifying her as a working teacher.

She says he gave her something to drink, and that all she remembers is finding herself back at work the next day. Look at this:

The ONLY way you could EVER be with a Black Goddess, a true Celestial Being, not just one that talks about them, would be by DRUGGING HER, THEN DRAGGING HER TO YOUR BEDROOM, WHILE FULLY UNCONSCIOUS, TAKING OFF HER CLOTHES, AND THEN, WHO KNOWS WHAT WITH HER, OR FOR HOW LONG, WHEN SHE AWAKENS, UNABLE TO MOVE, YOU CONTINUE YOUR DEMONIC ACTS.

Okay.

He gave her something to drink. She indicates she doesn’t know what happened after that. Somewhere else, she said she woke up naked with Tyson on top of her.

She says she doesn’t know how she got home, and she doesn’t recall waking up. She just remembers enough to get Tyson in trouble.

So you’re unconscious because you’re on some substance or other, you come to briefly, and then you pass out again. Then you tell your story and think people will find it so credible they’re willing to go along with the destruction of a man’s career and marriage. I dunno. If you had a good story, and you were willing to go public, why didn’t you call the police and have evidence taken?

How do you know you didn’t get drunk deliberately, black out, and then imagine the battery? Grad students have been known to drink and take drugs.

I feel like a person who is willing to make a rape accusation has a responsibility to preserve whatever evidence she has. “Believe the woman” is a fun slogan for non-thinking individuals to toss around in order to get social media likes, but in reality, life can never work like that. Our legal system runs on evidence, and it has to be that way. The alternative is deliberate systematic injustice on a nationwide scale.

Here is something she wrote about herself, for her website:

Tchiya is a “Keeper of the Dream”. The healing energy of her life is illuminating her music. Her natural singing voice & lyrics embody the spirit of beauty and variety as well as metamorphosis of rebirth, love & hope. The lion is her ally. Tchiya embraces the lion and learns to balance power, intention and strength with the feline grace and majesty. Her heartfelt change is transformational, leading the way to rebirth and clarity – that we are all related to one another.

Wow. I think she got a hearty dose of the liberal education complex’s self-esteem Kool-Aid.

I’ve seen this a lot. Educators tell minority kids they’re brilliant and handsome and as talented as Mozart, regardless of what the truth is, and the kids start to believe and repeat it. It makes adjustment hard when real life hits them in the face and tells them they need to think about managing Taco Bells or becoming x-ray technicians.

Hey, maybe he’s guilty. I don’t know. But this is not the kind of evidence that convicts people. My best guess is that this woman is seriously mentally ill. Whatever the truth is, her accusation is worthless, so it shouldn’t count against Tyson.

As a Christian, I suspect this lady is a witch, so she may have all sorts of problems. She is into astrology and mysticism.

What about the second accuser?

Her name is Katelyn Allers. She has a large tattoo that wraps around her upper body. She says she showed it to Tyson. While he was looking at it, he lifted part of her dress off her skin to expose more of it. There are photos, and she is smiling.

This is pretty weak. She consented to his exam, and she cooperated physically. She says it was not assault (“battery” is the correct word, but still). If it’s not battery, why are we hearing about it?

This may seem rude, but it’s pertinent: in the photos, she is a very unattractive woman. Very. Yes, women who aren’t beauty queens are often victims of sexual mistreatment, but lustful men at social gatherings are not all that likely to lose control and grope women who are not appealing. It brings no pleasure and serves no purpose. The most plausible interpretation of the story is that Tyson actually wanted to see the tattoo, and that Ms. Allers fell under the spell of #MeToo and raised a stink. If we were talking about Scarlett Johansson, and she were frowning in the photos or punching Tyson in the face, there would be a story here, but as it is, I find the allegations (or Allersgations) incredible.

The third accuser is the first one to come up with anything disturbing, unless accusing someone without solid evidence is disturbing. She says she was Tyson’s assistant. She says he invited her to his home at 10:30 p.m. to drink wine and unwind.

Okay; this is not proper employer conduct. Granted.

She says he took off his shirt and lounged around in a sleeveless T-shirt (sorry about the mental image), playing sex-based music on his stereo and replaying the dirty parts. She claims he said something about needing “release” and not wanting to hug her because it would leave him wanting more.

Not good. He’s married, for one thing. Also, an employee shouldn’t have to be concerned about gross, inept overtures from a superior. Still, she could have said “no” and left at any time, and for all we know, things would have been fine. This is not Weinstein or Spacey territory. It may not even rise to the level of harassment. It’s a bad idea to try to commit adultery with a subordinate, but it’s not necessarily grounds for a lawsuit, and it’s not even close to criminal.

Do I even have to say it’s a little weird to see leftists getting upset over attempted adultery? Aren’t they in favor of all types of fornication? Here’s a quick question: does anyone remember who was president in the 1990’s? Has anyone heard the name “Lewinsky”?

The fourth accuser should never have made it into the press. Essentially, she says Tyson was drunk and propositioned her. She was at a party with her boyfriend, and Tyson tried to get her to go to his office for what he said, or she presumed, was sex. This is not sexual misconduct. It’s a very normal effort to get consensual sex.

Ever hit on a coworker at a Christmas party? Congratulations. Now you’re a sex offender.

Here’s what I think, as a former sort-of physicist: Tyson is not a hit with the ladies. This is normal for physicists. When I was a grad student at U.T. Austin, one of the other guys said that when the told girls he was a physicist, they took off so fast they left skid marks. Tyson has probably had many awkward interactions with women during his life, because that’s typical for members of his occupation.

Physicists tend to be socially incompetent. Maybe Tyson simply isn’t able to discern and deal with boundaries like most successful men. When he goes overboard, he may simply be trying too hard to imitate alpha males he has observed.

It’s 2018, and he wears Jheri curls. Cut him a little slack. He may be a bit lecherous, and maybe he needs a lecture about fidelity, but he’s not Bill Cosby. Not unless the lady who says the lion is her ally is actually telling the truth.

I am not a Tyson fan. He seems supercilious and contemptuous to me, particularly with conservatives and Christians. I’m not the kind of person who would defend him reflexively. But #MeToo is a movement with no safety catch, and when people are targeted, others should stand up for their right to a defense, and they should also be willing to point out weaknesses in the accusations.

Now watch him turn out to be a serial rapist. I may be totally wrong about him. I’m just looking at the material we have in front of us right now. Based on that, I think he ought to be encouraged to act his age, and that should be the end of it.

Also, maybe he should be a little slower to get self-righteous with Donald Trump, whom he threatened to grab by the crotch because of his amorous proclivities. A sleeveless T, Luther van Dross, a single woman, and a married professor don’t add up to moral authority.