If only the worst thing ever….
in retrospect, Binders full of women seems quaint….almost.
In 2012 The War on Women was covert. Easily denied. The only good thing about Donald Trump’s candidacy (IMO) is that denying rampant misogyny in the GOP is becoming less viable.
Today we have another confirmation that Donald Trump behaves deplorably toward women. He confessed to sexually assaulting a woman eleven years ago. Last night I wasn’t sure this story would be enough to push his most deluded supporters away. Scottie Nell Hughes going head to head with Ana Navarro was spectacular. This morning confirmed it. If you were a supporter of Trump before learning about Trump’s Access Hollywood tape, chances are you still are supporting Donald Trump today. This morning I watched Anthony Verdugo justify his support for Donald Trump and call for “forgiving” him as these comments were somehow a single episode of a simple lapse in judgement instead of just another example of a serial liar talking and laughing about abusing and assaulting women. I listened to Boris Epshteyn continue to shill for Trump this morning and go off on Joy Reid with “Hillary Clinton is worse” bullshit false equivalency. Melania Trump is out with a statement today standing by her man and a former producer for The Apprentice says there are worse tapes out there.
The water bearers are still bearing Donald Trump’s bilge water as if it were potable.
My brother and cousin who are political opposites of me are in real mental pain over this election. I’m trying and failing to be sympathetic. My sister is having a similar problem with her son-in-law and nephew. They are members of a political party that nominated an unqualified man for President. They are members of a political party that infantilizes women, denies climate change, thinks they are living in a post-racial U.S.A. and is hellbent on repealing the first attempt to expand healthcare access in generations. My cousin plaintively called out for less talk about politics on her social media feeds today. My brother called me looking for a way to justify to himself that he could vote for Hillary Clinton. I’m not feeling their pain. I’m trying to not say, “Told ja!”
One man I’m tutoring for a national medical coding certification test asked me why he should vote for Hillary Clinton. He went onto mention he was sure I’d say it’s because Trump is deplorable. I surprised him. I told him, “What do you think will happen if the ACA is repealed and 20 million people lose their health insurance? What would the health care sector do if 20 million customers suddenly stopped getting health care? Only went to the doctor when they absolutely had no other choice? What do you think will happen when 80 more million people go back to the old pre-existing condition rules and no longer get preventive care without a co-pay? Not all of that business will go away, but a good chunk of it will. We will see major lay-offs. And then, you will have invested $3,000 in becoming a certified medical coder for a job that no longer exists. Don’t think Donald Trump is going to bring back jobs for people like you. He likes cheap labor. He sent most of his jobs overseas and imports workers on H-1b Visas for many of his U.S. jobs. His jobs are mostly low paying jobs anyway. Look, Trump is not anyone I want to see making public policy. He doesn’t understand public policy. He can’t comprehend words matter. He does understand self-interest and he knows how to put a spit ball shine on a clunker.” At that point this guy had a Pauline, scales fell from his eyes moment, “I guess I’m voting for Hillary”. As satisfying as it would have been to rub it in, all I replied was, “That’s what I’m going to do,” and went on with the test prep work.
Throughout this election season I’ve had family members tell me to “wake up!” Others have sent me endless links to The Blaze or WND’s bogus smears on HRC. My response to all of these attempts to setting me straight have been the same, “Wait until you see the Donald Trump sex tape,” which always led to a de-escalation of sorts. Maybe I should lose that quip. From what I understand even Trump is warning his supporters there is more (worse?) to come.
We’ve been predicting this for months.
Remember when the misogyny was covert?, like, “Binders Full of Women”? At least this year it’s in your face, hard to deny misogyny. Painful, yes; but it might be forcing decent persuadable people to reassess. By late this afternoon, today it looks like the shit got real for Donald Trump. Late this afternoon I started to get more optimistic that more people are less comfortable with voting for Trump. He has fewer high profile supporters. Today, Ana Navarro’s message seems to be resonating through conservative circles.
Today, looks worse for Donald Trump and better for Hillary Clinton. Next week is looking even better.
Don’t Boo, Vote!