I have a self-imposed rule of not posting anything political or religous on Facebook. I have no such qualms on my blog, but since my political posts are few and far between, I’m putting the content of the post after the break so my home page is filled with things that are funner. Yes… “funner” is a word. Shut up.
Donald Trump and the Distillation of Hate
While morally repugnant, Trump’s recent Access Hollywood comments about sexually assaulting women (and please, no bullshit about how it’s just “locker room talk.” That dismissiveness is reprehensible) didn’t really reveal anything new about the man.
Trump has repeatedly shown a total disdain for women, Muslims, Mexicans, African Americans, and anyone who dares disagree with him. He mocked, like a bully on an elementary school bus, a disabled reporter. He verbally attacked (repeatedly!) a Gold Star family because they disagreed with his bile-spewing rhetoric. He has possibly the highest percentage of top-tier lies of any presidential candidate in history on multiple fact-checking sites (sites which are not, despite Trump/Fox supporter claims, left-wing lackeys). He regularly spouts conspiracy theories and then denies spouting them (…sometimes. Other times he doubles down on them). He’s a thin-skinned, tantrum-throwing bully.
He has shown himself to be despicable time and time again. I’m not going to provide links. Google’s got my back.
So when it was revealed that he bragged about sexually assaulting women and being able to do anything to them due to his celebrity, it was merely another confirmation of the man’s inherent vile nature. A damning confirmation, to be sure, but it should have come as no surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention even a little bit.
What’s even more reprehensible is that it took this long for some people to stop supporting him… and that he actually has any supporters left at all.
It’s like the ones who just bailed on Trump were standing neck-deep in a bubbling cesspool, holding their noses and thinking, “If I can just wait another two minutes, maybe they’ll drain this thing” and then a dirty tissue gets tossed in and they cry, “That’s it! I’m out!” It took the tissue for them to realize they were neck deep in sewage?
Trump’s constant, self-inflicted implosions have had the effect of gradually weeding out the people who may have leaned Republican in general, but became more and more appalled by his rhetoric of hate and his petulant, juvenile attacks on anyone who disagreed with him. At this point in Trump’s campaign, his core of support has been winnowed down to the self-righteous belligerents who choose to ignore Trump’s gross failings (moral, professional, and political) only through either their own moral bankruptcy or their own willful ignorance.
…or perhaps a vile combination of the two.