I will admit from the start that I have never been the stereotype of a classic man's man. I have never been to a strip club, I find the concept of Hooter's to be childish, and I think the use of sex to sell hamburgers is cheap. But I also believe in a pro-sexuality life, I enjoy burlesque, I have friends who write erotica that makes 50 Shades seem more like 50 yawns, and I have been reluctant to judge people harshly for things they do that are consensual and not violating a promise to someone else. It is in this vein that I say what I am about to say.
I have never been in a locker room where someone was judged well when they suggested they sexually assaulted someone. Let me repeat, sexual assault have never been seen as manly among any group of men or boys I have hung around. Have they used crude language to describe what they would like to do with a woman or even to a woman? Of course. But every conversation I have ever had did not include lines that what my friends wanted to do was not consensual. I am quite certain that any of my friends today who talked about grabbing a woman's crotch without consent would be immediately and without reservation ridiculed. Perhaps when we were in 8th grade we would have thought that funny, but I can't think of a time since. You see when you engage in sexual behavior without consent, that is sexual assault not sex. Donald Trump was not talking about sex. Donald Trump, in his recently released hot microphone conversation, was bragging about assaulting someone. You may think this is just guy talk, but he has also been accused of doing exactly what he said on the tape he wanted to do. He is a sexual predator and looking to be excused for it.
Now his minion who not inexplicably works for CNN suggested to let it pass, suggesting we are not hiring a Sunday School teacher. (just to be clear I wouldn't let Trump near any of the kids in my school) And that is fair, except Trump has been not only running as a Christian Conservative but has suggested his Christian values are the reason that he has been audited by the IRS. Seriously, I wish I was making this up, I could get a book deal at least. He flaunts the fact that he has evangelicals on his side and proclaims that he would role back LGBT rights because of his faith. So he finds two people who love each other who are engaged in a monogamous relationship, vile, but as a newly wed he bragged he tried to get another married woman into his bed. Not to give her pleasure but to conquer her, another conquest or acquisition.
So his defense is the President Bill Clinton was worse. The childish defense of a failed soul. But let's think about it. Let's say everything that Bill Clinton was accused of is true. I am not certain all of it is. The things we know are true are terrible. I believe he should have resigned after the facts of Monica Lewinsky came to light, and wrote a letter to the White House saying as much. But in the end Clinton was embarrassed by his failures, blamed no one and moved on. He didn't brag about it and while he is a flawed human, he truly focused his energies for the greater good since leaving office. But he is also not running for anything anymore. So his background is not valid.
Evidence is coming to light that Trump has acted in the manner he described since he has been on the campaign trail. Think about that for a second. That while running for President of the United States he has harassed and in one cases allegedly assaulted a woman. And conservatives are still standing by him. That is failure of the party system far more than anything I can think of right now.
There are many people in the GOP who I feel are bad for women. They are not likely to fund programs for women's health, would make abortions relegated to back alleys and force woman to continue to earn less than men for the same work. But at least I know many of them are outraged by what Trump has been saying. My hope is that their outrage will make them see this is not conservatism, this is not what the republican party stands for and this is not a good candidate for President of the greatest (and we are still great) country in the world.
If you continue to support Trump after this revelation and his non-apology apology that was excuse filled and probably written by a spokesperson, then you are certainly free to do that. Overlooking flaws in politicians is a common practice and we all do it. But don't ever again call yourself a social-conservative, suggest that your positions are about protecting women or attack anyone over who they sleep with, either the sex, gender or number. You would be giving up that right to have any authority to speak of that.
I am not sure how this will move the needle for Trump. The anti-Hillary crowd will struggle to find a way to rationalize anything. You might simply say that this rawness is refreshing because he is like "one of us". Except it isn't, I can't think of a conservative friend I have who would talk or act like this. That is simply not who they are. I hope this finally breaks through to them to see they may need to give up 4 years and come back with a candidate that is at least a Republican. They can still believe the myths they have told themselves about Hillary. But at least the country will be certainly be more stable.
I have never been in a locker room where someone was judged well when they suggested they sexually assaulted someone. Let me repeat, sexual assault have never been seen as manly among any group of men or boys I have hung around. Have they used crude language to describe what they would like to do with a woman or even to a woman? Of course. But every conversation I have ever had did not include lines that what my friends wanted to do was not consensual. I am quite certain that any of my friends today who talked about grabbing a woman's crotch without consent would be immediately and without reservation ridiculed. Perhaps when we were in 8th grade we would have thought that funny, but I can't think of a time since. You see when you engage in sexual behavior without consent, that is sexual assault not sex. Donald Trump was not talking about sex. Donald Trump, in his recently released hot microphone conversation, was bragging about assaulting someone. You may think this is just guy talk, but he has also been accused of doing exactly what he said on the tape he wanted to do. He is a sexual predator and looking to be excused for it.
Now his minion who not inexplicably works for CNN suggested to let it pass, suggesting we are not hiring a Sunday School teacher. (just to be clear I wouldn't let Trump near any of the kids in my school) And that is fair, except Trump has been not only running as a Christian Conservative but has suggested his Christian values are the reason that he has been audited by the IRS. Seriously, I wish I was making this up, I could get a book deal at least. He flaunts the fact that he has evangelicals on his side and proclaims that he would role back LGBT rights because of his faith. So he finds two people who love each other who are engaged in a monogamous relationship, vile, but as a newly wed he bragged he tried to get another married woman into his bed. Not to give her pleasure but to conquer her, another conquest or acquisition.
So his defense is the President Bill Clinton was worse. The childish defense of a failed soul. But let's think about it. Let's say everything that Bill Clinton was accused of is true. I am not certain all of it is. The things we know are true are terrible. I believe he should have resigned after the facts of Monica Lewinsky came to light, and wrote a letter to the White House saying as much. But in the end Clinton was embarrassed by his failures, blamed no one and moved on. He didn't brag about it and while he is a flawed human, he truly focused his energies for the greater good since leaving office. But he is also not running for anything anymore. So his background is not valid.
Evidence is coming to light that Trump has acted in the manner he described since he has been on the campaign trail. Think about that for a second. That while running for President of the United States he has harassed and in one cases allegedly assaulted a woman. And conservatives are still standing by him. That is failure of the party system far more than anything I can think of right now.
There are many people in the GOP who I feel are bad for women. They are not likely to fund programs for women's health, would make abortions relegated to back alleys and force woman to continue to earn less than men for the same work. But at least I know many of them are outraged by what Trump has been saying. My hope is that their outrage will make them see this is not conservatism, this is not what the republican party stands for and this is not a good candidate for President of the greatest (and we are still great) country in the world.
If you continue to support Trump after this revelation and his non-apology apology that was excuse filled and probably written by a spokesperson, then you are certainly free to do that. Overlooking flaws in politicians is a common practice and we all do it. But don't ever again call yourself a social-conservative, suggest that your positions are about protecting women or attack anyone over who they sleep with, either the sex, gender or number. You would be giving up that right to have any authority to speak of that.
I am not sure how this will move the needle for Trump. The anti-Hillary crowd will struggle to find a way to rationalize anything. You might simply say that this rawness is refreshing because he is like "one of us". Except it isn't, I can't think of a conservative friend I have who would talk or act like this. That is simply not who they are. I hope this finally breaks through to them to see they may need to give up 4 years and come back with a candidate that is at least a Republican. They can still believe the myths they have told themselves about Hillary. But at least the country will be certainly be more stable.
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