That bombastic, erratic, megalomaniac running for President has clearly crossed the line of what is acceptable political rhetoric, and he’s now being blamed for wrecking the Republican Party with his no-holds-barred style and scorched Earth attitude toward GOP leadership. But this one-man circus can better be described with up just one word: Patsy.
No, not that slang word he now famously used while bragging to Billy Bush about his misogynistic attitude toward woman.
So many people are offended by the recently released video of him admitting his blatant advances toward a married television show host, and how he thinks he can sexually assault women at will.
The vulgarity, however, isn’t his language, it’s his state of mind. His comments on that bus reflect his view that, as a star (as he called himself), the rules of society and decency don’t apply to him. His feeling that he can grab women in their most private parts and get away with it. His attitude of entitlement that makes him think it’s acceptable to waltz into beauty contest dressing rooms to “inspect” them and leer at naked women because he’s the owner of the contest, like they’re chattel or pets.
No one should be surprised by his recent statements or the more that are sure to follow. His entire campaign has been based on naming calling, insults, xenophobia, isolationism, and overtly sexist comments. This man seems to relish being a combination of Joe McCarthy, George Wallace, and Triumph the Insult Comedy Dog.
But it is not his fault. Blaming the symptom and not the cause is misguided. He is merely a reflection of what campaigning has become lately. He is a patsy for a much larger disease in our body politic.
Discussions around the dinner table, the office water cooler, and even the local bar used to revolve around our collective experiences and concerns, from the latest episode of a popular show or new movie, to current events affecting our lives.
Politics, of course, has always been a subject likely to provoke controversy, but only in recent years has the debate turned so personal, divisive, and destructive.
In the new era of talk radio and info-tainment “news” shows, partisan politics dominate the ratings game that now poses as journalism.
The politics of division took an ugly turn after the election of Barack Obama in 2008. Desperate to undermine the new president, neo-conservatives, and what was the core of the Republican Party, sought allies in their campaign to deny Obama any legislative victories and, therefore, a second term.
A willing sucker was easily found in a media savvy, reality star New York businessman already peddling his own conspiracy theory that Obama was born in Kenya and that he didn’t have an authentic American birth certificate. The birther movement was born.
And establishment Republicans stoked the flames of hate and division by using this neophyte political huckster to help delegitimize Obama. It became acceptable to question, not only the President’s birthplace, but also his religion, his core values, and even his allegiance to America.
This new lowered bar in politics emboldened others to join in the name-calling, back-stabbing, and questionable behavior that in past years would have ended a political career.
First it was that Obama followed an African-American pastor that hates America. Then he was a closet Muslim loyal to the Brotherhood. Then he was born in Kenya and falsified his birth certificate. Then he was a socialist follower of Saul Alinsky. And on and on. It didn’t even matter that most of the theories were contradictory to each other, but never let the facts get in the way of a good political hit.
Of course it’s acceptable to debate politics, disagree on policies, and even criticize our politicians. It’s protected speech enshrined in the Constitution that serves to preserve our other freedoms.
But using political speech to misinform and scare the public in hopes of gaining
an election advantage does a disservice to the American people. We have stopped expecting politicians to actually do work in Washington D.C.; instead, they are involved in a life-sized game of chess with no clear strategy except to continue the match as long as possible.
Don’t compliment Trump by giving him credit for single-handedly changing the political climate in America. He’s just the hired help in a scheme to dumb down the public debate, and allow those making money from the broken system to continue milking it.
Donald Trump is just a patsy, not the problem. The real problem is that we let this kind of behavior dominate our politics.
Voters should look hard at their choices in this election, and decide if they want to be pawns in a life-sized chess game.
Voters have the ability to check Trump, and call Check Mate. Game over. Go home.