Last Friday evening while FOX news, the Weather Channel, and local TV stations throughout the South were keeping us updated on Hurricane Matthew, CNN devoted their broadcasts to Hurricane Donald. Earlier that day, the Washington Post had published the text of a video tape from 2005, on which Mr. Trump could be heard having a raunchy conversation with TV personality Billy Bush. CNN acquired the tape, and aired it over and over again, creating a perfect storm of controversy and outrage.
The now infamous recording was made on the Access Hollywood bus as Trump was about to visit the set of Days of Our Lives. Both Trump and Bush had been pre-wired for sound, but were not aware that the tape was rolling. In the few moments they spent together aboard the bus, Billy and Donald engaged in what can only be described as bombastic banter of sexual braggadocio. At one point Trump says, “When you’re a star, they (women) let you do it. You can do anything—grab ’em by the p*#%y…” Trump also referred to a time when he tried to “f*#k” a married woman, but was rebuffed. So there you have it. Two grown men were acting like college frat boys in a locker room, talking about women in a disgusting manner. To millions of men around the world who have ever participated in team sports, the Trump/Bush exchange was nothing they hadn’t heard before. But to CNN’s panel of holier than thou political analysts, Trump’s misogynistic language was shocking and appalling.
CNN anchor Don Lemon and his basket of deplorable panelists called Trump “lewd”, a “pervert,” and, a “sexual predator”. For hours they cast aspersions upon Trump, and feigned disgust over a tape which they hypocritically kept airing repeatedly. With each passing hour, CNN continued to grow the story as if to throw fuel on an eleven-year-old fire, all with the intention of increasing their ratings by stirring up a national frenzy. One of the panelists became so unhinged that she had to leave the set. Meanwhile, a parade of Republican congressmen who never liked Trump in the first place, responded to CNN’s morality play, and called for the nominee to step down.
Let’s be clear. I am not a Trump supporter, but I have several problems with how the Washington Post and CNN went about their business on October 7.
First of all, Donald Trump was a private citizen in 2005, not a presidential candidate. Second, he never admitted to Billy Bush or indicated in any way that he has ever raped or sexually assaulted a woman. He merely bragged about how women would let you grope them if you are a “star”, and how he once tried, but failed, to have sex with Nancy O’Dell. Third, even if the tape had been recorded yesterday instead of eleven years ago, Trump’s off-color remarks pale in comparison to the expletives of Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and both Clintons.
So why the furor over a few words spoken a decade ago by a brash billionaire, who didn’t know he was being recorded? And why after all this time was the tape leaked? Let’s not be naive. My instincts and several decades in politics tell me that the Clinton camp probably knew about the tape long ago, and was waiting to unleash it at the right moment. That moment came last Friday, coincidentally just as some of Hillary’s bank buddy speeches were leaked to the press. The text of those speeches proved what Bernie Sanders had said all along—that Clinton was in bed with Wall Street, and that she only pretended to be an advocate for the middle class. Had those speeches and the DNC emails been leaked eight months ago, Senator Sanders would be the Democratic nominee today. Instead, Hillary’s deceitful duplicity has been buried under an avalanche of outrage over Donald Trump’s potty mouth.
Meanwhile, CNN’s panelists continually mused over what they should tell their daughters about a presidential candidate who talks dirty and objectifies women. Perhaps instead they should worry about how to explain to their daughters why CNN never questions Hillary over her villification of the women who slept with her husband, or why CNN ignored a hurricane that killed 900 people.
Again, I’m not excusing how Trump acts, or how he treats people. And now that California has eliminated the statute of limitations for rape and sexual assault, with more states to follow, Donald should go to prison if he is ever found guilty of aggression toward women. Until then, he is merely a childish, spoiled brat, whose erratic hate speech is turning America into an international joke. We don’t need Hillary’s covert political machine, or her buddies at the Washington Post and CNN to give us reasons not to vote for Trump. He gives us those all by himself.
Still, I hate to be lectured to by drama queen journalists with a political motive. Last Friday, CNN’s pro-Hillary team blew more hot air than Hurricane Matthew, and feigned concern over the long-term damage Donald Trump’s obscenities would do to children. In the process, they managed to sensationalize a private conversation, and build it into a national crisis. Lemon and company simply ignored a basic precept of common sense: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. Go tell that to your daughters.
Bad Words Matter?
Last Friday evening while FOX news, the Weather Channel, and local TV stations throughout the South were keeping us updated on Hurricane Matthew, CNN devoted their broadcasts to Hurricane Donald. Earlier that day, the Washington Post had published the text of a video tape from 2005, on which Mr. Trump could be heard having a raunchy conversation with TV personality Billy Bush. CNN acquired the tape, and aired it over and over again, creating a perfect storm of controversy and outrage.
The now infamous recording was made on the Access Hollywood bus as Trump was about to visit the set of Days of Our Lives. Both Trump and Bush had been pre-wired for sound, but were not aware that the tape was rolling. In the few moments they spent together aboard the bus, Billy and Donald engaged in what can only be described as bombastic banter of sexual braggadocio. At one point Trump says, “When you’re a star, they (women) let you do it. You can do anything—grab ’em by the p*#%y…” Trump also referred to a time when he tried to “f*#k” a married woman, but was rebuffed. So there you have it. Two grown men were acting like college frat boys in a locker room, talking about women in a disgusting manner. To millions of men around the world who have ever participated in team sports, the Trump/Bush exchange was nothing they hadn’t heard before. But to CNN’s panel of holier than thou political analysts, Trump’s misogynistic language was shocking and appalling.
CNN anchor Don Lemon and his basket of deplorable panelists called Trump “lewd”, a “pervert,” and, a “sexual predator”. For hours they cast aspersions upon Trump, and feigned disgust over a tape which they hypocritically kept airing repeatedly. With each passing hour, CNN continued to grow the story as if to throw fuel on an eleven-year-old fire, all with the intention of increasing their ratings by stirring up a national frenzy. One of the panelists became so unhinged that she had to leave the set. Meanwhile, a parade of Republican congressmen who never liked Trump in the first place, responded to CNN’s morality play, and called for the nominee to step down.
Let’s be clear. I am not a Trump supporter, but I have several problems with how the Washington Post and CNN went about their business on October 7.
First of all, Donald Trump was a private citizen in 2005, not a presidential candidate. Second, he never admitted to Billy Bush or indicated in any way that he has ever raped or sexually assaulted a woman. He merely bragged about how women would let you grope them if you are a “star”, and how he once tried, but failed, to have sex with Nancy O’Dell. Third, even if the tape had been recorded yesterday instead of eleven years ago, Trump’s off-color remarks pale in comparison to the expletives of Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and both Clintons.
So why the furor over a few words spoken a decade ago by a brash billionaire, who didn’t know he was being recorded? And why after all this time was the tape leaked? Let’s not be naive. My instincts and several decades in politics tell me that the Clinton camp probably knew about the tape long ago, and was waiting to unleash it at the right moment. That moment came last Friday, coincidentally just as some of Hillary’s bank buddy speeches were leaked to the press. The text of those speeches proved what Bernie Sanders had said all along—that Clinton was in bed with Wall Street, and that she only pretended to be an advocate for the middle class. Had those speeches and the DNC emails been leaked eight months ago, Senator Sanders would be the Democratic nominee today. Instead, Hillary’s deceitful duplicity has been buried under an avalanche of outrage over Donald Trump’s potty mouth.
Meanwhile, CNN’s panelists continually mused over what they should tell their daughters about a presidential candidate who talks dirty and objectifies women. Perhaps instead they should worry about how to explain to their daughters why CNN never questions Hillary over her villification of the women who slept with her husband, or why CNN ignored a hurricane that killed 900 people.
Again, I’m not excusing how Trump acts, or how he treats people. And now that California has eliminated the statute of limitations for rape and sexual assault, with more states to follow, Donald should go to prison if he is ever found guilty of aggression toward women. Until then, he is merely a childish, spoiled brat, whose erratic hate speech is turning America into an international joke. We don’t need Hillary’s covert political machine, or her buddies at the Washington Post and CNN to give us reasons not to vote for Trump. He gives us those all by himself.
Still, I hate to be lectured to by drama queen journalists with a political motive. Last Friday, CNN’s pro-Hillary team blew more hot air than Hurricane Matthew, and feigned concern over the long-term damage Donald Trump’s obscenities would do to children. In the process, they managed to sensationalize a private conversation, and build it into a national crisis. Lemon and company simply ignored a basic precept of common sense: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. Go tell that to your daughters.