Men and Women

The conventional wisdom is that the reason why so many of the Trump associates are abusive toward women is that these types of men tend to flock together (“birds of a feather”). It is an impressive list of either men accused of abusing women or covering up for them, but there is something much more significant about the most recent scandal to hit the already most scandalous Administration in history. Lewindowski, Gorka, Ailes, Bannon, Porter, Sorensen, Kelly – all hired by the vagina grabber himself to the surprise of… anyone? Kelly attempted to save Porter’s job even after the photo of Porter’s second wife with a black eye. The only comment made was one of sympathy for Porter. Trump even went farther and bemoaned the lives of men that are being ruined by these allegations, without a word about the lives of beaten women.

This is a problem that is not restricted to Trump associates. It really is a serious problem in our country. Domestic violence is one of the most common and most dangerous calls police get. The cycle of violence and silence is well documented, yet we still hear skepticism when women call out their attackers years later – even when the evidence is obvious. What did Trump think – that the woman ran into a door and got a black eye? And don’t mistake Kelly’s cover-up and Trump’s sympathy for Porter as a virtuous example of loyalty. One can be loyal to a friend and still not enable them to beat women and pay no consequence. This was enabling and endorsing, not loyalty.

Porter and Sorensen may have lost their jobs as a political consequence of their violence, but their violence was not the issue in losing their jobs. That’s the problem. They will dismiss their own actions because the “liberal media” wanted a political pelt. Trump’s calculated comments afterwards provided permission to not only the abusive men in his administration, but to all abusive men who feel that a black eye or a broken arm are being blown out of proportion. I have even heard some men ask what the big deal is with being dragged out of a shower to be emotionally abused and why a man should lose his job for abusing a wife! If the man recognized his problem, admitted the abuse, paid a penalty and has not shown any violence since then, that may be a different story. These are men who feel there is no problem beating women. Kelly can give all kinds of lip service to “holding women as sacred”, but his history in the Marine Corps and in the West Wing speaks louder than his words.

What of the family values, religious right that Republicans have claimed to be in the past? Gone down the same drain as the Party of Fiscal Conservatives. Evangelical Christians have long been known for their tolerance of abuse toward women (after all, they must submit to an abusive husband as they would to Christ – so they say). A West Wing full of wife beaters and sexual predators is of no concern to the Republican base. This is the same base that supported a pedophile for Senate, for god’s sake! Do you really think that Republicans care about women being beaten?

The bottom line is that the latest Trump scandal is a reflection of a much larger problem of violence against women. It is also a reflection of the lack of moral leadership in government and among the “Christian Conservatives”. Hopefully, women will assert their dignity and worth at the election box. Then again, most white women supported the abuser in chief.