Toobin's CNN return after Zoom call was a class in performative accountability

Toobin described the sequence of deliberate choices that led to a masturbatory act on a work call as a “mistake,” as if it were a random error. Never once did Toobin say these acts were choices, because to do so would be an acknowledgment of deliberate intent over a period of time. He reinforced this language of the “mistake” by saying he “wasn’t thinking very well or very much.” He is able to say it is “indefensible” without a hint of hypocrisy because “mistakes” don’t need to be defended. Real accountability, in this moment, would not only be Toobin using the language of choice but acknowledging that his deliberate choice to masturbate during a work call was predicated on the assumption that he could take the risk and not face consequences. Yet, framed as a “mistake,” Toobin is able to avoid having to justify his deliberate choices that were calculated on the permissibility and success of risk. Time and again, what is apparent is that people who look like Toobin — white and male and heterosexual and cisgender — are more able to take risks not afforded to others. The presumption that accountability doesn’t apply reinforces this cycle of power.