When Megyn Kelly of Fox News asked Donald Trump her first question- "You've called women you don't like 'fat pigs,' 'dogs,' 'slobs,' and 'disgusting animals.' Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president?" she was accused of grandstanding, of trying to make a name for himself, and for unfairly attacking Trump.
In retrospect, Kelly, who came under vicious attack from Trump and his supporters after her opening question, was able to see through right through the GOP nominee from the start.
No matter what happens next month, Donald Trump has been defined, likely forever, as someone with no respect for women.
And that is the way it has been seen ever since the Access Hollywood video outtakes were leaked to the Washington Post Friday.
One political figure after another, in both parties, has condemned Trump's demeaning comments about women, his bragging about making a play for a married woman, and his talk of how he used his wealth and his star power to get any woman he wanted.
Many of them referred to their daughters, their mothers, or their wives. How could they look them in the eyes if they did not rebuke his statement, they asked.
Every one of them missed the point.
It's not just daughters, mothers, and wives- it's sons, fathers, and husbands.
When we allow someone to demean, diminish, and bully anyone and fail to take a stand, we make it that much easier for others to follow the same path.
No doubt there are still many who find Donald Trump amusing, who revel in his defiance of political correctness, people who love to whoop and holler when Trump talks about the size of his hands, the heroism of John McCain, and belittles his opponents by giving them childish nicknames.
It is true that political correctness gets out of hand at times, but common courtesy, as lacking as it may be in politics, has never gone out of style.
What Donald Trump, in his first apology, described as "locker room talk," is a feeble attempt to make it look as if this is something all guys do.
It isn't, not even in the locker room.
Most men do not treat women in that fashion.
When Donald Trump treats women like possessions or playthings and shows no respect for them, he doesn't just diminish women- he diminishes all of us.
Yes, yes, like Hillary, Turner understands how calling women names is so much worse than actually raping them like Bill Clinton did and then having Hillary cover it up or actually threaten women if they tell on Bill's past actual sexual assaults.
ReplyDeleteNot saying that Donald Trump is anything other than a boor. But at least he pays for what he humps, unlike Bill and Hillary.
Best of all, Donald knows how to talk his business on a secure line, and knows how to buy a politician and/or whore cheap. Unlike Hillary who has bought and sold influence while running the state department and giving arms to "moderate" Islamic terrorists. Oh well, as Benjamin Franklin would have said if he had lived to see Benghazi, 33,000 deleted e-mails and a dead fruit-fly ambassador running guns to Islamic rebels tell no tales . . .
The best thing is that what with Hillary and Turner all being all sanctimonious and self-righteous and all is when Hillary steals the general election like she did with Bernie Sanders is that it will prove that half the country cannot live any longer with the other half of the country and there will be a breakup soon enough, after the financial bubble bursts.
Thanks Turner. We love your sanctimonious hypocrisy but have serious doubts about how well you actually get along with women who get along with men. Who says evil is strong when it can't even live off itself?
I think a lot of people are missing the point here. This was not just "guy talk" it was a warning. You see this was an indicator of a someone who needs to be on a watchlist. It is not just loose talk it is fair warning not to allow this person to be alone with women or children. Contrary to the excuses his supporters will make, I remind you that it is your words and actions which totally define you as a person and this guy needs to be watched very carefully.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever kissed a girl?
ReplyDeleteYou're worried about an Alpha male acting like an Alpha male while our political establishment is moving towards war with both China and Russia? You're like that guy who wanted to dismiss General Grant because he drinks, your pearl clutching adds nothing useful to this political debate.
At least he's not a rapist like Bill Clinton and an enabler and crooked thief and murderer like Hillary Clinton.
ReplyDeleteThe "Alpha Male" in question admitted to sexual assault. What part of all right do you think is appropriate? There is a solution to Trump's problem, it is called chemical castration.
ReplyDeleteIt is not just loose talk it is fair warning not to allow this person to be alone with women or children.
ReplyDeleteThis would be the same warning that's on everyone's lips about the notorious rapist Bill Clinton??
That fact has started to get traction in various events where people impolitely point it out, some think the late Friday release of this, a very odd time for anything you don't want to bury, was due to panic. Of course, there's a lot of panic in the Clinton campaign as they head towards what's looking like a landslide defeat.
The "Alpha Male" in question admitted to sexual assault.
ReplyDeleteWhich nowadays is defined to be as little as looking at a woman the wrong way, or not looking at her while looking at some other woman.
Please be specific, exactly what did he "admit" to? And in what sane universe is it real sexual assault, you know, the "You better put some ice on that" kind?
He admitted that he will just go up to a woman and "grab her by the p***y" because he is a star and can do anything. That's non-consensual contact, and therefore assault.
DeleteYou are only justifying the SOB because you know that your wife or daughter will never be exposed to this guy. I guarantee you that if he had "groped" your wife or daughter, you would be after him with one of your guns in hand.
ReplyDelete6:55 AM: No, I'm "justifying" "this guy" because I don't want us to get into a hot shooting war with Russia, and getting back to the topic at hand, I've not heard anything yet that rises to a level any sane, healthy, non-pedestalizing man would get genuinely upset about.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm still not hearing any specifics, and you even put groped in scare quotes, clearly telling us that's not what really happened.
Your claimed insight into what would prompt me to lethal violence is also a failure.
Try again.
ReplyDeleteYou say in the title "Why Donald Trump's critics are wrong about the Access Hollywood video" yet then, in your writing, you prove Trump's critics correct, absolutely correct.
It doesn't make sense.
ReplyDeleteAnd to "Anonymous" 6:10--
First, you haven't the guts or courage or courage of your convictions to even put up a name for yourself, then you accuse another, Bill Clinton, of being a "notorious rapist."
There is no proof he ever raped anyone, first, let alone any solid accusations, nor charges and so, no trial and no conviction.
Don't you think if he actually raped someone, those things, above, would have occurred?
da'man your right Randy Turner is an Uber liberal and thank God he is not teaching children anymore. Spreading his socialist teachings to the young leaders of tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteWhile I never thought I would find myself replying to someone whose idea of cleverness to refer to himself as "da' man," if you had read what Mr. Turner wrote you would have understood, and he does make it clear, that Trump's critics were wrong in assuming that Trump's actions only affected women. As Mr. Turner put it so eloquently in his final sentence, Trump's comments and actions diminish all of us.
ReplyDeleteHe admitted that he will just go up to a woman and "grab her by the p***y" because he is a star and can do anything. That's non-consensual contact, and therefore assault.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's absolutely clear he's saying that in a literal vs. figurative way, or that he's being literally true vs. boasting, or that it's not without consent? And I'm not talking about modern day "consent" which requires an affirmation for each bit of an encounter, shall I say.
I ask because, you're still not quoting him in full, and where are his victims of these supposed assaults? You know they'd be lionized by the establishment, an exact mirror of what happened to Bill Clinton's many victims.
Ah, now I see what you're saying. He was merely bragging that he could grab a woman's genitalia. So are you saying that since there are no women coming forward to confirm that he does indeed use his star power to "grab them by the p****y" we should not be appalled by this? Or are you saying that it is ok to be appalled but that it shouldn't affect our voting opinion because the other candidate is married to someone who also possibly grabbed some p*****s? So since there are two p***y-grabbing parties we should ignore this and go back to the real issues because either way some p*****s are going to be grabbed come inauguration?
DeleteWell said Randy, well said!
ReplyDelete9:15 AM: One thing I'm saying is that his Alpha male bragging is more likely figurative, talking about raw sexual attraction instead of literal grabbing. Are you capable of understanding anything that's not starkly literal?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you can be appalled, I'm focusing on the really important stuff, like 5:13 AM is.
I actually do think he was being literal. He was saying he could literally go up and start kissing someone and touching them because of his power. I don't think he was being figurative. Now, does he actually do that? Probably not. But I do think he was bragging that he could. I am capable of understanding shades of meaning, and I am also appalled.
Delete@10:11
ReplyDeleteSo you're suggesting that Trump is merely bragging about committing forcible sex crimes (ie he is lying about committing forcible sex crimes), rather than not actually committing them?
If that kind of excuse floats your boat, then you must be one of his deplorables.
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous 7:43---
Facts--and history, for that matter--have a known Liberal bias.
1037. The PC POLICE march on.Never will I condone his comments but utter tripe to think men and women have not been part of this problem forever. We can work for better conduct but nothing is new....wish you were more concerned about growing the economy,stopping our open border rip-offs and calling out radical Islam.
ReplyDeleteThere you went and did it, Randy. :) I was wondering how long it would be before the "voters" would have something to pounce on. I have really enjoyed reading the comments on your blogs, it has given me reassurance lately that there are more vocal liberals around here than I expected, (and hoped for). Now your comment section is just like the big guys comment sections! (this one, at least). Anything you write from now on that has to do with Chump, I'll just know to stay away from the comments. :)
ReplyDelete10:37 AM:
ReplyDelete@10:11: So you're suggesting that Trump is merely bragging about committing forcible sex crimes (ie he is lying about committing forcible sex crimes), rather than not actually committing them?
I'm saying that's one of many possibilities, but not the one I think most likely, which is that he's being figurative instead of literal.
If that kind of excuse floats your boat, then you must be one of his deplorables.
About us deplorables: that's actually not the most important word in Hillary's statement of hate. She said we're "irredeemable", a religious word meaning in this context many bad things. Among others, she's declared ahead of time she's not going to be the president of the whole nation.
Trump bad. Him talk dirty.
ReplyDeleteIt was "just sex" when Hillary was busy attacking the victims of the accused rapist husband she has enabled and protected for decades. Who exactly has that diminished over the last twenty years?
But now Randy and his fellow proggies are clutching their pearls as they fall to their fainting couches in mock indignation because Trump talked dirty.
Cute.
Some Republicans today are defending Trump by saying, "We are electing a President, not a Pope." Fair enough, but strange coming from the party that cloaks itself in "family values." Next time a Republican criticizes a Democrat over infidelity or other moral issues, the perfect rebuttal will be, "Did you support Trump?" If the answer is yes, end of debate. The moral high ground, if it ever existed, is gone.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, no, I'm not supporting Hillary. I am planning to vote libertarian. So if you're gonna come at me, you're gonna have to use some other line than socialist liberal. How do you explain patriotic Americans and Republicans like John McCain withdrawing their support? Or Condaleeza Rice? Or Colin Powell? Or the 30 GOP ex-office holders who said Trump was unfit to be President? Can you explain them away as liberal socialists?
What would Trump have to do to make you stop supporting him? Or does "anyone but Hillary" justify absolutely, positively anything?
Never mind. I know the answer.
We don't expect you to act in any way other than a complete hypocrite given that you are nothing more than a political hack for whom Bill and Hillary always get a free pass for whatever criminal things they do and Trump never gets any pass for what Trump says, but now that you are going to get all preachy about what was said privately to others about that which doesn't concern you, what say that you stop whining about how CJ Huff and the School Board found that what you wrote about them got you justly fired and banned for life as a teacher of the young?
ReplyDeleteThat's what we like about Trump and not Hillary and to a lesser extent Bill: Trump has never pretended to be anything other than someone who will buy whatever some whore will sell or give away just as long as the price is right. If she has something to sell sometimes Trump would buy. But Bill Clinton would sexually assault oridinary women who didn't have any intention of having that sort of relationship with Bill Clinton. Then Hlllary would ruin those women. Ordinary women of all ages are perfectly safe with Trump as long as they don't try to throw themselves at him. Both the ex-wives of Trump have gotten huge divorce settlements and Trump cares for his children, unlike Bill who used his official power to assault numerous women, then leave them with his bastards to do as best they can with Hillary enabling.
None of us really know what we are getting with Trump but we sure know that we are getting more of the same stuff that is destroying this country with Hillary and we will be judged as "deplorables" by the sick, degenerate and vicious like yourself, Turner.
Still wondering why we are so sick of you liars and degenerates who think you ought to rule over us while we want nothing much more to do with you?
Could you please just go crawl off and die like an animal someplace where we won't have to look or at smell you and further spare us your sermonizing hypocrisies?
If Hilary is as bad as you say she is, just how long do you think it will be before Trump commits suicide, had a fatal heart attack or dies in an airplane crash?
ReplyDeleteTrump is so off the scale as a normal person yet you have no concerns. If your spouse said these words what. Would you think?
ReplyDeleteNobody's answering my questions.
ReplyDeleteHow do you explain patriotic Americans and Republicans like John McCain withdrawing their support from Trump? Or Condaleeza Rice? Or Colin Powell? Or the 30 GOP ex-office holders who said Trump was unfit to be President? Can you explain them away as liberal socialists?
What would Trump have to do to make you stop supporting him? Or does "anyone but Hillary" justify absolutely, positively anything?
It's easier to trash Bill, Hillary and Randy than to think outside your echo chamber. I'm asking you to try. This especially means you, 5:12.
How do you explain patriotic Americans and Republicans like John McCain withdrawing their support from Trump? Or Condaleeza Rice? Or Colin Powell? Or the 30 GOP ex-office holders who said Trump was unfit to be President? Can you explain them away as liberal socialists?
ReplyDeleteThe word is RINO? (Republican In Name Only).
People like Michele Bachmann have not withdrawn their support of Donald Trump, as Trump must have been chosen by God as the Republican nominee in the first place.
She explained:
I actually supported Ted Cruz. I thought he was fabulous but I also see that at the end of the day God raised up, I believe, Donald Trump who was going to be the nominee in this election. I don’t think God sits things out. He’s a sovereign God. Donald Trump became our nominee.
Bachmann also said Trump was the only candidate who could win the general election.
“Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know,” she said. “But I do know that the Bible is true and that Daniel teaches the most high God, which is one of God’s names, is the one who lifts up who He will and takes down who He will.”
If Hilary is as bad as you say she is, just how long do you think it will be before Trump commits suicide, had a fatal heart attack or dies in an airplane crash?
ReplyDeleteIt's the people associated with Bill Clinton who we suspect did things like that, it's very unclear they have any loyalty towards Hillary, who in private has been reported, for decades, to be an absolute rage beast towards Bill and the people below them. Note also how little she likes to use his family name, most recently on her private email server, where she used handles in the form of "hrod[some number]".
That said, I'm sure Trump carefully considered this, and as it is, already had good private security give his celebrity. And it's looking like the real threats are from others, especially with the press saying he's Literally Hitler, which they've said for every Republican presidential candidate since Dewey (except maybe Eisenhower, for that would have been really silly), except this time we really mean it. And going further than they did towards encouraging the assassination of Geroge W. Bush. Note also the wrist slap administered to the first person to try to assassinate him.
But anyone who knows history, and/or was alive and aware in the '70s and very early '80s (two attempts on Ford (?!?!!) and one on Reagan) like Trump was, knows it's a dangerous job.
As for all those GOP establishment figures, which don't include Colin Powell, who never supported Trump in the first place, are saying, often again, that they don't support him ... well, it's obviously escaped the notice of Steve Holmes, but we're supporting Trump in part because he's running against our current political establishment. Their continued opposition to him is a feature, not a bug.
Of course, that means his first couple of years in office will be particularly tumultuous, with the 2018 elections being particularly interesting as we expect he'll be running a campaign to eject a bunch of RINOs from the Congress.
And speaking of the establishment, "Donald Trump Makes History With Zero Major Newspaper Endorsements", which now includes The Joplin Globe (click here if you're willing to use up one of your free articles per month if you're not a subscriber, "Our view: A nation at risk").
ReplyDeleteExcept in that case, it's on the basis, and I swear I'm not making this up, her foreign policy team, experience and expertise.
The Middle East is in flames (and after killing Gaddafi it will be a very long time before another foreign leader trusts us, and the Russians have recently and correctly declared our government to be so screwed up it can't make any agreements with us), with the greatest number of Displaced Persons in history if memory serves, which is in turn destabilizing Western Europe, and we're getting really close to a shooting war with Russia. Meanwhile, our weakness in the Pacific is emboldening the PRC to the extent that Japan's former brutally treated colonial nations are allying with it.
Oh, yeah, even if we don't get in a nuclear war with Russia, one is looking more and more likely with our failure to suppress North Korea's efforts, which are in cooperation with the ones in the Middle East, with Iran likely getting close, and then the Saudis, who I'll note are under new and much more aggressive management, calling in their chit for financing Pakistan's nuclear program.
Oh, yeah, they mentioned terrorism: Hillary's responses to incidents of "domestic" (i.e. Known Wolves of foreign origin) terrorism are more gun control, and more "refugees" and immigrants from nations that you might refer to as terrorist producing ones. (Not that she's any different from the establishment Republicans, except they're quieter about the gun control. I believe the total failure of our establishment to realistically address this issue after 9/11 is the root cause of the nation arming itself like never before, which the election of Obama only accelerated.)
But let's get back to the biggest threat: ignoring the possibility of the PRC making an EMP attack on the US, only Russia is an potential existential threat to the the US, and only one major party's presidential candidate wants to avoid a war with it. When it comes to the domain of foreign policy, that's quite enough for me to decide which candidate is (vastly) better.
Who does the Globe think they're fooling?
And speaking even further of establishments, that our corrupt Joplin betters would pick Corrupt Hillary for President is, shall I say, not exactly "news".
ReplyDeleteLiberal thinkers several hundred years ago decided they wished to worship freely and left their motherland and start a new life where they would be free from oppression. Liberal thinkers defied their king, while breaking the law of their country, and declared this a new nation. Liberal thinkers fought for our civil rights as stated in the Bill of Rights. Liberal thinkers declared slavery unacceptable. Fought for and attained the right for women to vote. Fought for equal rights. Do liberal thinkers sometimes overreach? Sure. But where would we be without them? Paying homage to the queen. So, you all go ahead and pay homage to the queen and see what taxes you pay then. I will stay here, think openly, and I hope to someday be able to participate in civil discourse with those who think differently than I. In this vitriolic atmosphere, though, it is impossible. Common Sense has died to be replaced with bitter partisanship. That is what is hurting America the most.
ReplyDeleteAccusing Turner of hypocrisy because he is talking about Trump and asking if he has ever kissed a girl is probably not where you should be casting your gaze. Now accusing him of hypocrisy because he is upset about Trump hitting on married women, just saying. Now that is the pot calling the kettle black.
ReplyDelete@8:05 AM: Where did I use the word or concept of hypocrisy?
ReplyDelete(And why does your type still think that word is kryptonite? One defining characteristic of the Alt Right is that "We Don't Care".)
It's potential ignorance I'm quite literally, for once, talking about. Randy Turner may be many things, but I've never seen a hint that he's an Alpha male. Maybe a Sigma, though, which would explain his "inability to get along with others"; for a micro sketch of the difference, the classical John Wayne in westerns was an Alpha, Clint Eastwood's archetypal Man With No Name a Sigma.
So why should we treat his opinions on an Alpha male as being of particular interest? And Sigmas don't tend to understand or in particular get along with Alpha males, their normal behavior is seen as a threat to Alpha male social dominance, when it's actually simple indifference.
Of course, you or our host are welcome to suggest another basis or two.
7:54 AM: What you're referring to as "liberal" took a stark, and way beyond "vitriolic" all the way to eliminationist turn with the French Revolution. Compare the Founders exiling unrepentant Tories to the Terror executing their opponents.
ReplyDeleteSo I don't really see the continuity of ideology you do, except in the strain of New England Puritanism which is still running strong, or at least when it's politically convenient as it is now with all these ostensible pearl clutchers.
LEAKED NEWS!!! The video Donald Trump Does Not Want You To See. Must Watch! Donald Trump tried to ban this video! But Trump Can't Hide THIS Anymore! http://foxnews.com/funny/Top-10-Things-Donald-Trump-Doesn't-Want-You-To-Know (Best Viewed on PC or Mac)
ReplyDelete