The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    Michael Wolraich's picture

    To Trump or Not to Trump

    By Michael Wolraich on Thu, 10/13/2016 - 12:16am | Politics

    You can't spin sexual assault. You can spin sex. You can spin assault. You can spin talking about sexual assault (Locker room talk!) But sexual assault can't be spun.

    Donald Trump's only option is to deny, to call these women liars, which he will do tomorrow.

    And then all the Republicans walking that tightrope between endorsing and denouncing will be forced to choose: Trump or his victims.

    If Mike Pence, Paul Ryan, and other Republicans accuse these women of lying, then they permanently tarnish themselves and their party by enabling a sexual predator.

    But if they don't accuse these women of lying, then they implicitly acknowledge that Trump is guilty of sexual assault. And you can't spin sexual assault. You can't forgive it or belittle it or pretend that it's not there. And you certainly cannot endorse it.

    In short, after today, Republicans can no longer straddle the fence. They're either all in, banging the drums in Trump's ghastly parade of misogyny, or they're all out and must face the wrath of Trump's supporters.

    We'll find out tomorrow.

    Sweet dreams.

    www.michaelwolraich.com

    Topics: 
    Politics

    Comments

    Tom Toles:

     


    by NCD on Thu, 10/13/2016 - 12:39am

    Mike, you're dreaming already. We know where they lie, we know how they lie. And even if they miracuously make a decent stand, it's only for self-serving purposes. They've laid themselves out as craven, nakedly cunning. Hopefully political suicide but not as certain as should be. Pleasant dreams in any case.


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 10/13/2016 - 12:38am

    Lovely, Pence doubled down on Hillary's special prosecutor just to show he's an ass.


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 10/13/2016 - 1:13am

    Yeah Mike. I am with you.

    There is no joking in all of this!

    Rachel says tonite that her informants tell us that Trump troops shall keep on keepin on.

    And so, we must keep on keepin on.

    Thank you for this Mike.


    by Richard Day on Thu, 10/13/2016 - 1:02am

    Update: Jerry Falwell Jr. still trying to thread the needle:

    On one hand: "I'm not going to say anything to besmirch the character of any of these women."

    On the other: "Donald Trump of five, ten years ago, even two or three years ago may have been a different person. The bigger point is he is going to appoint the right justices to the Supreme Court. He's going to control immigration. He's going to bring our country back to a position of strength again. And that is why I'm supporting Donald Trump."

    This ain't gonna fly. Either these women lied, or Donald Trump lied--yesterday. And if Trump lied that means he's an unrepentant sexual predator.

    Which is it Mr. Falwell?


    by Michael Wolraich on Thu, 10/13/2016 - 7:31am

    Falwell and the other male wingnut "Evangelicals" identify with Trump's misogyny. They believe that women are second class citizens.A group of Liberty University students have a petition condemning the university's association with Trump on religious grounds. 

    https://thewayofimprovement.com/2016/10/12/the-liberty-university-studen...


    by rmrd0000 on Thu, 10/13/2016 - 8:20am

    Ouch:

    We are Liberty students who are disappointed with President Falwell’s endorsement and are tired of being associated with one of the worst presidential candidates in American history. Donald Trump does not represent our values and we want nothing to do with him. A majority of Liberty students, faculty, and staff feel as we do.

    ...

    Not only is Donald Trump a bad candidate for president, he is actively promoting the very things that we as Christians ought to oppose. A recently uncovered tape revealed his comments bragging about sexually assaulting women. Any faculty or staff member at Liberty would be terminated for such comments, and yet when Donald Trump makes them, President Falwell rushes eagerly to his defense – taking the name “Liberty University” with him. 

    ...

    Jesus tells a story in the Bible about a man who tries to remove a speck of dust from his brother’s eye, while he has a log stuck in his own. “You hypocrite,” Jesus says, “first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

    ...

    While our president Jerry Falwell Jr. tours the country championing the log in his eye, we want the world to know how many students oppose him. We don’t want to champion Donald Trump; we want only to be champions for Christ.


    by Michael Wolraich on Thu, 10/13/2016 - 9:56am

    I listened to Jerry Jr. on CNN this morning as he defended the wonderful Donald for what he would do for the common man and for this wonderful country that is currently on a path to hell.  His words were predictable and I won't bother to go into them, but man o man!  He truly has the most monotone, boring voice I have ever heard in my life!

    If he preaches, I would just bet that people draw eyes on their eyelids so they can get a nice quiet sleep on Sunday mornings.  And it wasn't just his weenie voice; seriously, he was about as convincing as Mrs. Moboto from Nigeria who emails me regularly asking me to give her my banking information so she can deposit the $10,000,000 into my account.


    by CVille Dem on Thu, 10/13/2016 - 12:17pm

    Little Jerry is not a pastor. He merely inherited the Liberty Inc. mantle. Similarly, Pat Robertson is not a pastor.His son Gordon is CEO of Christian Broadcasting Network. Gordon has a law degree and is not a pastor.


    by rmrd0000 on Thu, 10/13/2016 - 12:59pm

    Glad to know it.  I once again wish I believed in hell, because it would give me great pleasure to imagine so many of these deplorables heading straight there!


    by CVille Dem on Thu, 10/13/2016 - 2:44pm

    So, now that Michelle Obama has delivered a strong rebuke being picked up everywhere... does he pivot to campaign against FLOTUS at the worst possible time?


    by Michael Maiello on Thu, 10/13/2016 - 7:19pm

    I sincerely hope so. 

    Her speech, combined with his Florida rant just hours afterward, is said to have crystallized the final month of the campaign.  It's been lauded, applauded and rightly described as empowering to women everywhere who recognize his vile behavior all too well.


    by barefooted on Thu, 10/13/2016 - 8:17pm

    I hope so too.
    Michelle Obama has clearly taken the lead on this.
    The gloves have truly come off now.


    by moat on Thu, 10/13/2016 - 9:03pm

    Remember all the talk about how much Michelle hated Hillary a few months back. Seems yet again another case of misfounded concern trolling.


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 10/14/2016 - 5:28am

    I've been surprised at how intense and full throated the Obamas support for Hillary has been. Like his embrace of her at the convention. He didn't have to do that. At most a quick hug would have been enough. Yet they walked around the stage for a couple of minutes arm in arm. Maybe it's just that a man and a women can do that while a man and a man cannot. But it seemed like more than just politics. The affection seemed real.

     

     

     


    by ocean-kat on Fri, 10/14/2016 - 7:28am

    Trump has exposed the Conservative movement and the GOP.

    Evangelical Christians are a joke. They have situational morals.

    Conservatives have no backbone to stand up against a man unqualified to be President.

    Wingnut radio has no philosophy but hatred.

    Nuts like Curt Schilling and Lou have been exposed as a pedophiliac and an Isamophobe, respectively.

    Trump and his surrogates are noe forced to attack Michelle Obama because Trump's ego demands it. 

    Trump is playing checkers while Hillary and the Obamas are playing chess.

    Elizabeth Warren is waiting in the wings to get him into a tweet storm.

    Edit to add:

    Wikileaks is now a joke because of its pro-Trump stance.


    by rmrd0000 on Thu, 10/13/2016 - 8:51pm

    It seems I was mistaken, or at least premature. The GOP candidates are just laying low, taking neither one side nor the other. We'll see if it lasts.


    by Michael Wolraich on Thu, 10/13/2016 - 10:47pm

    Trumps surrogates are not helping him. I mean, I caught this today while torturing myself and watching Morning Joe. Carson demands Joe cut Katty Kay's microphone. The entire panel is stunned and they yell no, but this is a telling little outburst by Valium Carson.

     

     


    by tmccarthy0 on Fri, 10/14/2016 - 9:33am

    Carson talks about the urgent need for religious values and then pushes them to the side. A political position is more important than a religious position. Carson is like the Pharisees. He is morally superior and is comfortable with everything he does. Suffering women are not important because he, the morally superior person, is more concerned with economics, the border etc.

    A pastor would tell Carson that he is like the church deacon scheduled to give a sermon at church who passes by a man suffering a heart attack. The man appears dish elves in Carson's eyes. Carson offers no aid to the man. He continues to church to demonstrate his love for God by attending services. Church attendance and delivering the speech is more important than the heart attack victim.

    Carson, and others like him, confirms that the wingnut view of Christianity is a false. He leaves it to lesser Christians and Atheists to save the heart-attack victim. Carson calls Trump's victims liars. He dismisses them. He supports a man who physically abuses women.On a secular level, Carson is a nitwit who can only function by referring to talking points written on a  page. Sad. He angers me.


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 10/14/2016 - 10:12am

    We also get Don Jr. opening that women just have to get used to workplace harassment 

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-jr-women-harrassment-wo...


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 10/14/2016 - 10:49am

    He's just relating to his favorite book - "everything I know I learned in Kindergarten", aka Sexual Harassment 101.


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 10/14/2016 - 1:58pm

    The longer they walk the line, the harder that line will get to walk.


    by Doctor Cleveland on Fri, 10/14/2016 - 1:48pm