Elena 
Gage Skidmore via Flickr, licensed cc
When I went to church this weekend, a friend was anxious to hear what I thought about the latest “discovery” about Donald Trump – the recordings from 11 years ago made on a bus with all sorts of derogatory remarks about women. My friend thought this was a game changer, but I had sort of shrugged the whole thing off.
A skunk stinks. So why are we so surprised when we discovered that one has sprayed?
Trump is who he is – loud, crude, rude, unsophisticated.
What did surprise me was the reaction of a lot of women to these remarks, because as a woman living in America I have experienced similar comments from men all of my life – starting way back in elementary school where the little 1st – 3rd graders road the bus with kids in Jr. high! My education in personally insulting and demeaning remarks continued into Jr. high school at Holy Redeemer. Entering Catholic high school just taught me that girls could be just as crude as the guys it they really set their mind to it.
I guess all of that was a good thing, because upon entering the work world, I at least had the basis for developing survival skills in the face of sexual harassment – a term that wasn’t even in the vernacular back then. From getting groped in the drive through, or blocked in the freezer at my McDonald’s job, to having my doctor supervisor make unwanted advances in the lounge, I learned early that men could be predators, and that I had to learn how to navigate through that if I wanted to keep a job and my sanity without having to “put out” to do either.
I’m not alone on this. Why women are feigning surprise that someone actually got caught talking about this on a recording is beyond me. It also surprises me that with the popularity of shows like Game of Thrones, or 50 Shades of Gray, that suddenly female sensibilities have become so delicate!
I wonder, where is the outrage for these women? The women who were personally assaulted and harrassed by Bill Clinton, who was then protected by his wife? Where is the outrage over their pain? or how about this life ruined?
wikipedia, via Google labled for Reuse
People should be asking instead, why didn’t this come out during the primary?
But of course we know why. The media wanted the weakest Republican candidate to challenge the anointed queen, and that candidate was Trump. Why destroy him in the primary when it would be so much more fun to try and do it during the last months of the campaign? This couldn’t have happened with a Cruz presidency – but I digress.
Last night, Donald Trump came out and did what he had to do. I think he put this “scandal” into perspective and put it behind him. Then finally, the Donald Trump that steam rolled the Republican primary field and garnered a legion of Trump loyalists showed up for the debate – and it was impressive. Cringey at times – but still impressive.
He finally mentioned some things I wanted to hear in the first debate – like Benghazi, or how Clinton has managed to escape prosecution for actions that have destroyed other people for committing the same crimes. And he said the one word that Clinton completely avoided when asked about picking a justice for the SCOTUS – “constitution!”
Just to be clear, I’m not a Trump supporter.
But my distrust and absolute abhorrence towards Clinton will give me the strength I need to go in there and vote for him.
I’ll probably choke back a shot before going into the voting booth, hold my nose and just do it.