Roy Moore, Kevin Spacey, Harvey Weinstein, and the NYTimes

I dismissed the kudos he awarded himself when the Executive Editor of the NYTimes said that the biggest story he published was outing Harvey Weinstein's sexual assaults.  I wasn't sure that it merited all that praise; it was, after all, not the Pentagon Papers.  It was not taking down a President, nor stopping a war.

But now, less than a month later, Republicans are calling for their Senatorial candidate in Alabama to drop out of the race after allegations that he fondled and molested a 14 year old when he was 30.  Ridley Scott is reshooting his latest film, taking out Kevin Spacey and replacing him with Christopher Plummer, after a young man accused Spacey of sexual assault.  Those accusers were merely the first to speak out; others have followed in their footsteps.

Kasie Hunt told us that she and other women in the news business never spoke up about sexual harassment because they assumed that no one would care.  An Arizona state representative is on the receiving end of similar complaints lodged by female legislators and lobbyists.

So, perhaps I was wrong.  Perhaps the NYTimes did change our national conversation in a meaningful way. 

I'm not certain that it will prevent men from behaving badly, especially when our President is a party to the issue.  It does seem to have empowered the abused, and that is a significant change.  It's caused me to wonder, for the first time in 50 years, why I didn't tell anyone about the hospital employee who backed me into a corner of an elevator and tried to kiss me.  And, perhaps, it will allow another young woman to yell, to tell, to kick, to feel that she has the right to speak up and speak out and to place the blame where it belongs.

Maybe Mr. Baquet was right after all.  Maybe he saw the ripple effect before I did.