Is this fair?

.Who is Placido Domingo?

There is hardly anybody who does not know this Star -Tenor. 
Even if you are not an Opera fan, you likely ran across his name as one of “The Three Tenors.”

Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras and said Placido.

They were the “ni plus ultra” of the world of Tenors. There were many others, of course, among them such Greats as Jussi Björling and Benjamino Gigli. ( about this last named, I can tell you a funny, personally experienced story.)

But back to Placido Domingo:

Recently, several ladies accused Placido of “sexual molestation” going back to the 1980s, that is some 30 years ago.

As a direct result of these accusations Placido resigned his position as General Director of the Opera Los Angeles, (which he helped to found some 30 years ago), stepped back from his engagement with the Metropolitan Opera in New York and was forced to cancel, or canceled several other appearances.

The question of why the women did not come forth with their accusations then and there, is really not a fair one, since back then, in ancient history, and long before the

“me too” movement, women felt largely dis- empowered and, in some cases feared for their jobs if they spoke up.

It seems to me, however, that it is in the very nature of man to make a pass at a woman.

Nature seems to have organized things, so that men are the aggressors and women the more timid partners in this duality.

The prettier she appears, the more likely it is that such an advance will be made.

If men had always refrained from such overtures (pardon the operatic pun), the human race would not have flourished. (maybe that would have been better for the world.)

Twenty, thirty years ago, the largest part of society would have said: “What a macho, macho guy he is and smiled indulgently.

Today, for the same infraction, Opera Houses (in this case) divorce themselves from the alleged perpetrator or accept his resignation, regardless of how beneficial the association may have been. Sponsors cancel their contracts which they have with Sport Heroes, and the man, who put his arm around a pretty woman and kissed her shoulder, 30 years ago, gets put in front of the door in mid-winter.

Yes, thirty years ago.

Most States of the USA have a “Statute of Limitation” of varying numbers of years for different crimes. With exception of murder, which has no such limit, they amount to anywhere between 2 and 15 years.

However: Placido Domingo is charged in the press for “a crime” he committed some 30 years ago and must pay the penalty, although he has not been charged by any Prosecutor, has not been tried in a Court of Law and has not been convicted by a Judge and Jury of even a traffic infraction.

He is charged with sexual molestation today and fired tomorrow.

Please do not take from the above that I condone a man's disrespecting the dignity of a woman, or that I consider an unsolicited advance by any man upon any woman as acceptable, but consider it as a plea to be fair to an accused, and not have him accused, tried, convicted and sentenced by public opinion based on some report in the Media.

The loss of Placido Domingo to the world of Opera would be tragic, indeed.

Bertstravels
will continue to listen to his records