Lose The Trough – Both of Them

October 9, 2016 by Eowyn 8 Comments

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So it’s come down to: “Our pig smells better than their pig”?

Before we go any further: Bill Clinton is Irrelevant: You Picked Trump, So Own Him

Some thoughts on the latest Disaster de Donald from guest author Sara Marks. Commentary by Yours Truly follows.

I have to say that I’m quite disappointed by this type of (shoulder shrug) reaction. I wasn’t going to say anything but I feel like I need to stand up for truth. What Trump talked about was awful. He crudely joked about SEXUALLY ASSAULTING women in a criminal way, and many Republicans are just giving him a pass. I served on a jury in which a 60ish-year-old man was accused of groping a teen girl on her crotch. We on the jury painstakingly went through the evidence and then came to the conclusion that this man had committed a crime and needed to pay the penalty for his wrongdoing. Unfortunately, Trump doesn’t have to pay for his crimes – he is above the law, and the way people are reacting to this shows that he will remain above the law, just liked he joked about. I was not willing to give the 60-year-old pervert a pass and I will not give 65-year-old (at the time) Trump a pass for his perverted behavior. Women deserve better. I’m ashamed at the women who are laughing this off. Sexual assault is NOT OKAY no matter who is doing it.

We can point at the wrong that the other side does all day long, but that still doesn’t make the wrong on our side go away. Are we not supposed to be the party of integrity and the party of Judeo-Christian values? Were we not rightly disgusted and repulsed by Bill Clinton’s sexual misconduct when he was in office, but are we now so willing to give Trump a pass because he is running in our party? If we can not call out wrongdoing where we see it, we are no better than the Democrat party. I don’t care if they don’t do it themselves. We should. Principles and integrity matter, or at least they still should. (Emphasis added.)

And don’t give me this crap that he apologized and somehow that makes it all okay. First, any of you who are parents know you would never accept an apology like that from your own child! He minimized his behavior by reducing it to the term “locker room talk,” he tried to shift the attention to someone else who has done something worse, and then he did not apologize for the actual behavior but only “IF it offended.” Are you kidding me? That’s no an apology. (Emphasis added.)

But secondly, even if he had done a thorough and complete apology and showed true contrition…are we still okay with an old man sexual predator who was crudely bragging about how he can grope and sexually assault women as he pleases representing our party? Yes, in some sense, I care more about what Trump has done than what Bill and Hillary have done….because Trump represents my party and the Clintons do not.

If you still want to vote for him, okay, that’s your choice….but please, please, please don’t make excuses for his behavior. It’s not fair to all the women and girls who have been sexually assaulted while their predators laughingly got away with it.

***

 I wasn’t going to weigh in on this here. But as one wag put it:

How far must we go to stop Hillary? If we need to endorse one who openly brags about sexual assault with a married woman in lewd terms (and with a fake apology afterwards without any sort of self-sacrifice or sign of remorse), must we also support a rapist? Exactly how far must we go? Is anything justified as long as it’s “better than Hillary?” When did morality become relative?

 

Yea, verily. Some of the best entertainment in town is watching Trumpsters twist themselves into semantic pretzels trying to defend this guy. The typical lines go something like: “Trump’s comments were made over a decade ago. So what?” Just “locker room braggadocio.” Or, “Everybody does it.” Or, “All men talk that way about women behind closed doors.”

Years ago? Really? Carly? Megyn? Melania? Ivanka?  Hello? Many of Bill Clinton’s misdeeds occurred some 30 years ago, yet are still fair game. And should be. But he’s not running for president (more on that in a minute).

As for the “everybody/all” argument: Besides being patent nonsense, that doesn’t pass the straight-face test.  What is this, junior high? Newsflash: “Everybody” isn’t running for president. A presidential nominee should be held to a higher standard.  As for the rest: No. They. Don’t. (I can name names if you want.)

 

A little food for thought: Bill Clinton is Irrelevant. You Picked Trump, So Own Him. Since some of you won’t bother to click that link, here’s a snippet:

Let’s get one thing straight.  As terrible a person as Bill Clinton is, Bill Clinton is not running for president.  Bill Clinton’s name is not on the ballot anywhere.  If someone wants to have a conversation about Hillary Clinton’s own personal treatment and degradation of women, let’s have the conversation.  That could actually be a fruitful discussion.

But if we are going to fault a woman for simply being married to someone who turned out to be a bad man, we are opening the door to all the judgment the left has been placing on us for years.  We are hypocrites, we are misogynists, we are simply holier-than-thou-jerks.

We cannot in good conscience go around touting the sanctity of marriage and the importance of marriage vows, and then turn around and judge a woman for staying in a marriage, for whatever reason. We cannot assign blame to Hillary Clinton for her husband’s indiscretions.

In fact, criticizing Hillary for staying married to Bill BECAUSE of his treatment of women, is only inadvertently admitting that this kind of behavior towards women is wrong.  So bringing it up to minimize Donald Trump’s behavior is even more ridiculous and short-sighted.

Bill Clinton should not even come up when discussing Donald Trump’s behavior.  He’s irrelevant to this conversation.  If something is wrong, it is wrong.  Period.  At least have the courage and moral decency to call it what it is without the excuse that someone else’s spouse is worse.(Emphasis added.)

This is your guy.  The guy you picked, despite our warnings.  The guy who has a long and well-documented history of degrading others.  The guy whose lack of morals was very well known at the beginning of the election cycle.  You picked him anyway, and you never hesitated to throw that in the rest of our faces.  So don’t you dare have the audacity to bring up Bill Clinton as if he has anything to do with Donald Trump being exactly the person we all said he was. (Emphasis added again.)

Again, if the argument is that Hillary Clinton also has a history of mistreating women, then have the conversation.  If the argument is that Donald Trump’s actions are wrong, and as despicable as he is, you still find him better suited than his opponent, then have that argument.  Disagreements will occur, but at least it’s an honest conversation.

But don’t push a false narrative where we’re comparing Donald Trump to Bill Clinton in the race for president.  You picked Donald Trump.  So own him.  And enjoy your Hillary Clinton presidency.

Note: If you’re going to condemn Bill Clinton’s behavior – as anyone with a shred of decency should – then at least be consistent and have the moral courage to likewise condemn Trump. (Here’s All the Times Trump’s Been Accused of Rape or Attempted Rape.)

If you’re still trying to defend The Donald: Shame on you. Get your head out of James Carville La La Land. Drop the Democrat play book. Character matters. “The issues?” Character is The Issue!  You think a long-time Clinton crony and serial philanderer can be trusted with your tax dollars? The same guy who cheats on his wife, et.al, can be trusted on public policy? Or Supreme Court appointees? Based on what?

That’s one reason Sen. Ben Sasse, Carly Fiorina, Rep. Chaffetz, Condoleezza Rice and dozens of ex-GOP lawmakers have pulled their support for this clown. Ditto Senators Mike Crapo, John Thune, Rob Portman, Mark Kirk, and Mike Lee. In fact, several prominent Republicans are running from this guy like he has The Plague.

And well they should. The damage Il Duce-NY has done to the “R” brand – what’s left of it – could take years to repair, if it can be done at all. How much damage his candidacy may inflict down-ticket remains to be seen.

So, will untrustworthy and corrupt beat unstable and porcine? Because that’s what we’re left with. The good news – if there is any – is that it doesn’t have to be this way. Solution: Trump can step aside and make room for Pence. (But that would take character and integrity. So don’t hold your breath.)

 

Meanwhile, stop debasing yourself by trying to defend this swine. The fact is, both nominees are unfit to serve. I didn’t pick Trump. I won’t pick Clinton. I won’t wallow in either pig sty. I would, however, vote for Mike Pence if he leads the ticket.

Over and out.