Here are a conservative’s tips for avoiding a Weinstein

If you are surprised by the news that Harvey Weinstein of Miramax fame, a man well known for profane tirades and physical altercations, is also the sort of charmer who loafs around seminude while asking subordinates for “back” massages, then you can be surprised by just about anything: the sun rising in the east, the fact that movie stars employ plastic surgeons, the news that “The Artist” didn’t actually deserve to win Best Picture.

Weinstein’s response to this paper’s impressive investigatory work was to issue a statement promising to spend even more lavishly on liberal causes. Like a knight promising a crusade against the Saracens as penance for raping and pillaging at home, the mogul’s assumption seemed to be that the right political commitment can cover over piggishness and vice.

Does it? Probably not; at the very least, he faces an extended period of exile. But Weinstein is older now and not as influential as in his heyday. The whole “forgive me, I’m a liberal” thing won’t protect him now, but it was part of his carapace for decades, during which time everyone who mattered clamored for his friendship and fundraising prowess despite all the stories there to hear.

Here it would be nice to say that cultural conservatism offers an alternative, one that welcomes female advancement while retaining useful ideas about sexual difference and restraint. I might have argued as much once. But in the age of Donald Trump and Bill O’Reilly, “pro-life” hypocrites in Congress and the “alt-right” online cesspool, the right is its own sort of cautionary tale.

So I’ll say that if liberals want to restrain the ogres in their midst, a few conservative ideas might be helpful.

First: Some modest limits on how men and women interact professionally are useful checks on predation. Many liberals were horrified by the revelation that for a time Mike Pence avoided one-on-one meetings with women not his wife. But one can find the Pence rules too sweeping and still recognize that life is easier for women if their male bosses don’t feel entitled to see them anywhere, anytime.

Second: Consent alone is not a sufficient guide to ethics. Caddishness and predation can be a continuum. If you cheat on your wife, you may be more likely to harass subordinates. Promiscuity can encourage predatory entitlement.

Third: You can’t ignore moral character when you make decisions about whom to vote for or work with or support. Yes, sometimes you have to work with a bad person or vote for a bad person or hold a fundraiser with a bad person for the greater good. But not nearly as often as you think.

The truth is that while not everyone knew exactly how Harvey Weinstein treated women, everyone knew what kind of man he was. The women he harassed didn’t have the power to restrain him, but plenty of powerful people did.