I’d would love to believe that this new confirmation of Trump’s appalling vulgarity and misogyny means the end of his candidacy. But really: how is this latest macho locker-room leering and slobbering any worse than his revolting, sexist comments on Alicia Machado, Megyn Kelly, Arianna Huffington, Rosie O’Donnell, and the legions of other women he’s insulted and degraded over the years? If an American voter hasn’t already figured out that Trump is a loutish, amoral swine with the emotional maturity of drunken frat boy, why would this actually convince them?
The alt-right bloggers and media are being uncharacteristically quiet on this one. I suspect that’s because they’re waiting for tonight’s debate in order to figure out what the party line will be. There are a few options, all bad. Some of the responses to anticipate:
a)“Well, what about BILL CLINTON’s philandering?” Uh, yeah…what about it? That was a bad thing, for sure. And if Bill Clinton were running for President today, he’d get his butt kicked. However, for those not actually reading the news - Bill’s not running. But hey - if you want to change the rules of debate and introduce past spousal behaviour as a criterion, let’s talk about Melania Trump’s resumé, academic record, soft porn photos…no? You’d rather not go there after all? Ah. Well, that’s probably wise.
b)“C’mon, guys: who among us hasn’t snuck a sidelong glance at a woman and indulged in a little fantasy?” Wrong question. The right question is: who among us hasn’t bragged publicly about assaulting woman because we’re “stars”? Show of hands? Thanks.
c) “This is a non-issue, a distraction created by the Clinton camp to shift the focus away from the issues.” Oh I DO hope someone tries to claim this. Because Trump’s whole campaign has been a nearly total dismissal of the “issues”. It’s been a non-stop rummage through the Clinton laundry hamper, and a ceaseless parade of smears and innuendo, with a strong undertone of near-delusional paranoia beginning with Trump’s espousal of the lunatic birther movement to vague insinuations that the Clintons have been running a secret program of assassination to cover their evil deeds. When Trump does descent to earth to address an “issue”, his position is usually that of a late night drunk at closing time, slurring: “Hey, ya know what we oughta do about them Mexicans/Muslims/Chinese/Koreans? We oughta juss…”
d) “Hillary’s the real sexist here. She attacked the women who accused Bill.” Hmmm. I guess we’ll see whether women everywhere feel more dissed by Trump’s assertion of star-based fondling rights than by Clinton’s defense of her husband.
Just a few hours, and then we’ll know which of those lines of defense Team Trump will roll out. Now taking bets, with “All of the Above” currently in the lead.
I suspect there’s one other reason that some conservative pundits have not leaped in to defend the indefensible. I think many watched Trump’s ascent with exactly the same feelings as his opponents. Initial incredulity when he announced his candidacy; amusement during the early days; unease as momentum built; and sick horror as it became clear that this ill-informed, unprepared, immature, spoiled, vulgar egomaniac might actually win. Progressives had the luxury of expressing that horror right from the outset; intelligent conservatives have had to grit their teeth and either remain silent, praise Trump with faint damns, or, in an astonishing acrobatic feat of moral contortionism, argue that Clinton’s real weaknesses were somehow the equivalent of Trump’s utter and disastrous incapacity.
It’s that group that’s now at the tipping point. Trump’s core supporters - the ones who truly believe that Obama is a Kenyan-born Muslim and that Hillary personally orchestrated the Benghazi attacks - wouldn’t care if Trump buggered a Thanksgiving Turkey live on air tonight. But are there actually any conservatives with a shred of decency and a sliver of sanity who can still pretend that this man could be President?
UPDATE
It seems I missed an alternative approach. Our friend Jay Currie, after dismissing the folks who are offended by Trump’s vileness as either “nice girls”” or Republicans “clutching their pearls” , then proposes:
“The chance Trump has tomorrow is to demonstrate that he really is the tough SOB he has projected himself as. Does he have the capacity to knock Hilly down and then, while she is metaphorically lying on the ground, put the boots in so she simply cannot get back up?”
What a perfect choice of metaphor! Oh, Jay, you’re just SO MANLY! Perhaps you could have added something along the lines of “…and leave her bleeding from her whatever” to really do justice to the masculine power and eloquence of Your Master’s Voice, but that’s just a stylistic quibble.
