Actually, he said “not really” when asked “Did you notice anything that was a little ‘off’” in retrospect?"
If you think he had to have known something and kept silent, then that’s damning itself (I don’t know enough about the people in question, but for the sake of the discussion I’m willing to go with that idea), or obviously if you think he personally witnessed abuse. And if he did something himself let’s hope he’s the next one before the courts. But the ‘not really’ in his answer there adds nothing to the argument about whether that’s the case.
Let’s look at two alternate cases:
- Exactly the same case, only when he asked the question, he says “No, absolutely not.” If you’re just as convinced that he did, then he’s a liar, so that’s as be a sin as the ‘awkward phrasing’. You would emphasize those words and accuse him of just covering his ass, or worse, subtly trying to defend the guy by claiming he didn’t see any sign whatsoever, and it’s obviously not true.
- A case where you think it’s clear that he had NO idea, maybe an entertainer who was only accused of doing something to a family member and one of his co-workers who never spent significant time sharing the man’s personal life was asked the question. Then, if he said “not really”, do you think there’s anything worth emphasizing there?
IMHO, “Not really” is not, itself, damning. I use it pretty reflexively even when I mean no, because I’m super conscious that my own awareness isn’t complete and I can occasionally be oblivious. If somebody I knew were accused of that awful crime, and somebody asked if I saw any signs, and I didn’t (because there’s nobody in my life that I even have the slightest inkling towards), I’m sure I’d say “not really.” If somebody told me my best friend in elementary school was actually Elvis Presley in the Witness Protection Program all along, and did I notice any signs, I would probably say “No, not really,” despite the fact that we both were quite small and he certainly seemed to be born after Elvis died and was also Asian. Not really is a neutral position, it says, “No, let me take a quick run through of my memories to see if anything stands out… no, not really, there MAY have been some moments that in retrospect were a little odd, but nothing that I would have considered.” It doesn’t provide evidence that somebody’s guilty of anything or hiding something unless you’re already assuming it in the first place.
Again, he could well be this awful person who knew and should have done something. But emphasizing “not really” isn’t just seeing signs where none are there, it’s actually distracting from the issues. It’s the proverbial “count how many times the basketball is passed”, while the gorilla walks right by, unseen. If I were emphasizing that section, it’d be:
Goldsmith: No, not really. Not at all. But
you know, these things have been going on for years and years and years
so, you know, who knows what comes out of the woodwork. It’s just odd
that it’s taken so long anything to come out, you know. There’s a whole
slew of people. I’m sure there’s going to be more as well.
Goldsmith: Maybe witch hunt’s the wrong term, but
obviously they’ve been rooting people out, and clearly a lot of people
have suddenly come forward. I don’t know where they’ve been all these
years. It’s a mess. But things in those, you know, the early days, uh,
were completely different from what they are now. I mean. I don’t think
people had ever heard the word pedophile in the 70s or whatever. So
it’s a whole new regime today, and its very sad that all this is all
coming out now, and its sadder that we’ve believed in all these people
and heroes who’ve turned out to be not quite what we thought they were.
Because almost everything else he said is far more damning than the two completely innocent words you’re focusing on. The “where were these people before” suggestion trotted out, casually suggesting that they should have spoken up earlier, the “these were different times” justification and ass-covering, and the “the really sad thing is not all the children who were abused, but that our role models have disappointed us, and that it’s happening now of all times.”
