The Giuliani vs the Walsh:
Which is worse?
This idiot
- [Sexual assault] is what he's talking about... and ...men at times talk like that:
...or this idiot:
A man who talks dirty about women or a woman who tries to destroy the life of rape victims to protect her abusing husband?— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) October 9, 2016
Both of these fools are leaning on two flavors of misdirection: dirty talk (Hey, stop being such a prude!) and the locker room argument (Hey, when a bunch of guys get together, they sometimes sexually objectify women).If women are so outraged by Trump's dirty talk, then who the hell bought the 80 million copies of "Fifty Shades Of Grey?"— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) October 8, 2016
Grow up.
Both of these are complete and utter bullshit. First off, as has been pointed out by wiser folks than myself, Trump could have used purely medical terms to describe the anatomies he was violating and it would change nothing about the central offenses he is admitting. Namely, he has - repeatedly - made sexual contact with women without their consent. Moreover, he asserts that his fame allows him to do this without suffering consequences.
And, lest there be any confusion about his mental state over this conduct, "and when you're a star, they let you do it" tells you he knows this conduct is wrong, but he can get away with it.
You can do anything.
It's the locker room/guy talk argument that is truly offensive, though. And this isn't the "not all men" outrage of Chuck Todd or other self serving hogwash. Engaging with this argument on that level is accepting the misdirection that is its central goal.
The takedown it deserves (at least) is to point out the two key differences between the kind of locker room banter Trump wants to hide behind, and what he was actually doing.
Let's take an example of locker room banter and compare it with Trump, shall we? Say a group of guys who know each other are using crass language to talk about women they know/have heard of. Man, did you see Alycia in homeroom today? She is fine... I would so want to get into that.
The first key difference is one of familiarity - and this is clearly the lesser point to be made, but I think it matters. It is one thing to bring up sexual topics with a group of men you know and hang out with on a regular basis - and the fact that they are friends doesn't absolve them of bad behavior. But in Trump's case he is not meeting up with some of his buddies from the club and talking smack - he is not tight with Billy Bush - the guy's a freaking talk show host, and most of the people on the bus are going to be strangers to him. Trump is not wandering into lewd topics with a group of friends, he is introducing himself to a group of people he does not know as - "This is what you should know about me."
He is boasting in front of an audience, because he believes what he's saying will impress them. I've been in many social situations where guys new to a group feel like they need to advertise their heterosexuality by launching into crass talk - FYI, I'm straight, just so you know - but Trump is way past that. Most insecure hetero guys will fly the flag once and move on. No, Trump wants to earn the admiration of his new social circle, and he's convinced that lengthy discussions of sexual conquest and his impunity is the way to do it.
But the capstone to the awful is the item central to all the outrage - and rightly so. Trump is voluntarily describing things he claims to have actually done. I've assaulted women - and I get away with it. That is horrid beyond description and a universe apart from the "I would..." or "If I could.." locker room bullsh!t of your garden variety male. Trump is saying "I have done this..." and no amount of pretend is going to make that the same as some jackoff at the club rhapsodizing about how the waitress had a nice butt.
This admission - this boast - about actual behavior is what separates Trump's transgression from anything else in the news cycle. He did this, he's freaking proud of it, and he wants these guys to know it, so they are impressed by how he can do bad things and get away with it.
That is who the GOP is running for president - in his unvarnished glory.
And no, Donald, you cannot apologize "if people were offended," you f*cking monster. YOU CANNOT APOLOGIZE FOR OUR REACTIONS TO HOW HORRIBLE YOU ARE. You can only apologize for what you've done and said. If you had any humanity, you've have conceded the race already - but we know that's never going to happen.
The die hards in Trumpworld are trying mightily to minimize and distract - but there is just no way to avoid the cold truth: in 2005, Donald Trump told us exactly who he was.
This election cannot punish him or his defenders enough.
