Grab Him by The Presidency

"Turning a human being into a thing,

Is almost always the first step,
Towards justifing violence
Towards that person."

-Jean Killbourne





My thoughts today are not so political as much as a question of how any president of our country should conduct himself. Again the President of the US has shown a moral failure in his leadership. In fact he's gone back to the locker room talk again. Whether you're into politics or not, you can only shade bad behavior so much. I'm taken aback again by the very man who should be setting the highest example of what we all should aspire to be as people and Americans. Donald Trump, in the midst of his bid for the presidency, was caught on a now infamous and verified tape from Access Hollywood joking with Billy Bush on his expertise in predatory behavior towards women.

Trump tells Billy Bush about a failed attempt to seduce Nancy O'Dell, who was Bush's co-host at the time of the recording:
"I moved on her actually-- you know she was down in Palm Beach I moved on her and I failed. I'll admit it--- I did try and fuck her she was married. You know Nancy---  I moved on her very heavily

Trump exiting the Hollywood Access with Billy Bush

and I took her out furniture shopping--- she wanted to get some furniture--- I said I'll show you where they have some nice furniture--- I moved in her like a bitch, but I couldn't get there and she was married. And all of a sudden I see her she's now got the big phony tits and everything--- she's totally changed her look. --- I'm gonna use some tic-tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful--- I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet--- I don't need to wait and when you're a star they let you do it. ---You can do anything whatever you want-- grab them by the pussy.---" -Washington Post October 8, 2016 

When the news broke about the frat boy convo, Billy Bush was sacked faster than you could say, "give me a Tic-Tac" and Trump sat in front of a camera and offered up an apology via teleprompter. In his apology statement back in 2016 he promised: "

"Anyone who knows me knows these words don’t reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize. I’ve traveled the country talking about change for America, but my travels have also changed me. I’ve spent time with grieving mothers who’ve lost their children, laid-off workers whose jobs have gone to other countries, and people from all walks of life who just want a better future. I have gotten to know the great people of our country, and I’ve been humbled by the faith they’ve placed in me. I pledge to be a better man tomorrow and will never, ever let you down."- NY Times November 28, 2017

Everyone now knows that Trump, the candidate, became the 45th president of the United States. In fact some women have remarked to me that Trump's victory has resurrected feelings of being victimized all over again.  And unfortunately other accusations of his behavior with women have followed him into the first year of his presidency. Most of his accusers are sticking to their guns about the former Apprentice star turned Commander-in-Chief's behavior. Women like Summer Zervos who said before reporters that a business meeting with him had gone bad:

Summer Zervous

Zervos said Trump asked to meet her for dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel. She was instead escorted to a bungalow where, she said, Trump "started kissing me open-mouthed" and groped her breast. "'I pushed his chest to put space between us, and I said, Come on man, get real,' Zervos said. 'He repeated my words back to me, 'get real' as he began thrusting his genitals. He tried to kiss me again with my hands still on his chest, and I said, 'dude, you’re tripping right now,' attempting to make it clear I was not interested."- NBC News October 15, 2016
Donald's bad behavior is resurfacing like wisps of grass through the concrete sidewalk in the "Me Too" hash tag on Twitter. His accusers have found a new voice aided by other survivors of sexual assault as well as Senator (and sexual assault advocate) Kirsten Gillibrand.

In light of the undying allegations against Trump, Gillibrand called for his resignation. Then on Twitter he let the whole world know what he personally thought of the Junior Senator from his own home state. The sexual inference by this man who sits in the oval office was, Gillibrand would prostitute herself for money and career.  The backlash was fast and furious. First from Gillibrand herself, who remarked "You cannot silence me or the millions of women who have gotten off the sidelines to speak out about the unfitness and shame you have brought to the Oval Office." Later as she face reporters on Trump's remarks, she called them a sexist smear. Then (without much prompting) professional women in the media stepped up to respond to Trump's frat boy comments. On election day for Alabama voters, Morning Joe's Mika Brzezinski who has been the target of Trump's past innuendo's and remarks about her personal life, could hardly contain her outrage as she looked dead at the camera.

"I just want to say something beyond the fact that this is reprehensible that the President of the United States would say something so derogatory and disgusting about a woman--- we're not surprised Mr. President, you do it all the time. You treat women terribly and you treat the women around you even worse and you treat women like punching bags, because it's fun for you--- because you were intimidated by women that's your problem okay--- but for the people who work for you, you need to act."- Morning Joe Youtube- December 12, 2017

It was the first time I've ever seen Scarborough almost silent as Mika continued to hammer away at Mr. Trump.  And if there were people who thought that this would be a moment of enlightenment for Trump's White House Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, then they were dead wrong. Instead Sarah chose to pull the president's fat out of the skillet again as she remarked to reporters that "anyone who thought Trump's remarks about Senator Gillibrand were sexual, their minds were in the gutter."

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand unflinching and undeterred 

No doubt this defense is great for the Trump base. It must be a great paying job when someone can betray their own values, and self worth, while lying to the press and the American public. Sanders did a full court press with continuous hoop shots of Trumpian denials defending his reputation like a mother protecting her neighborhood bully-son. When some of the journalists in the room said "apples" Mrs Huckabee Sanders, gave strange "Banana" answers.

In light of this latest Tweet attacking a sitting female Senator, His original promise "I pledge to be a better man tomorrow and will never, ever let you down..." makes me wonder where is the better man? Trump has forgotten that it was women (in spite of all of the scandals and rumors) who helped elect him. Some continue to carry his political water even now. And what's even more disturbing is, his own party has gone silent on this issue. No other president, living or dead, could have gotten away with this sort of behavior. It may take a tremendous feat to restore what it means to be the President of the United States.
I think it's time for Congress to stop being bystanders to this slut-shaming, and grab Trump by the presidency for this latest outrage. He needs to apologize to the Senator and all women in America, which I doubt will ever happen with any unprompted sincerity. Al Franken, who now exits the Senate, had it right when he said,

“I, of all people, am aware that there is some irony in the fact that I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office, and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls, campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party.” 

Special thanks to: 

my foodie friend Yumyumyummy @yikesks on Twitter for alerting me to this issue.

Check out my commentary and perspective on my You Tube Channel posted last year.

Locker Room Talk

Previous issue on the Roy Moore campaign

What If God Was One of Us?

What If God Was One of Us

If God had a name what would it be?

And would you call it to his face?
If you were faced with Him in all His glory
What would you ask if you had just one question?

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin' to make his way home?

-Eric Bazilian

I had a sweet grandmother who favored me a lot, and I would have followed her anywhere. One Sunday she decided to visit the church which was a block from our house and I went with her. I kept on going back, in spite of the weird stain glass windows and hideous ceiling rafters. I went back  because of my attachment for my grandmother. I had an idea about who God was and I've accepted his existence. Maybe I saw his existence in good people like my grandmother and later on in a good guy named Chuck Todd (No relation to the newscaster). Chuck was almost another father who helped me through those hard teenage years.
My friend Catherine doesn't see a reason for God's existence. Her mom asked Catherine to give church a try in her younger years. She even sang in choir at a Protestant church, but it was not a go. She grew up in a scientific family, both grandparents were doctors and couldn’t associate scientific data with the belief in an unknown higher being. Catherine had a great attachment and admiration for her grandfather.

"Yes. My grandpa wanted to invent the pill to help all the poor women who in those days had multiple children. I thought it wasn’t very godly to force these poor women to have children they couldn’t support. I felt religion was built on people’s fears and it was their way to explain the unknown, like what happens to you when you die. Some of the basic tenants I agreed with, helping the poor and treating others well, but trying to control people’s thinking and lives was unappealing." - Catherine O'Brien 

Catherine and I don't talk about science versus God. We have common ground on human rights and respect for civil liberties. When it comes to sexual assault and sexual misconduct, a person's character should matter and not his reputation. A person's reputation is only what people think of him.

This last month has been "flavor of the week" for guys getting called out on past misdeeds. And some real chickens coming home to roost on social media. A few like Al Franken and Charlie Rose have fallen on their swords about their dark deeds. And we watched members of NBC's Today show choke back the grief and utter the words that Matt Lauer, their fellow member, had been dismissed for his bad behavior. It can't be easy for those ladies to look at their audience and admit that one of their own had victimized women in the workplace. But on the flip side of this issue, those who claim to know Judge Roy Moore continue to dig in their heals about the person who they claim is God's choice to go the the Senate in December.

Roy Moore with Wife and supporter Kayla

Moore, who stands accused of sexual assault and pedophile behavior by 8 women, (many who were teenagers at the time when these incidents happened), has declared himself innocent of these charges. Moore's base, as well his campaign spokespersons, have all but claimed that the man can walk on water.  The most telling part of why some are defending him comes out when you hear people like Alan Keyes shout at reporters with fury and spit,"--- it is not up to Judge Moore to provide the truth. It is up to those who accuse in this country. We will not let you strip him of his personal rights--- of his person-hood the way you have stripped out unborn children!"
 His defenders are more concerned about the judge upholding the stone laws of the Bible and bringing a "Thy Kingdom Come" agenda to Washington DC and America.

Janet Porter a conservative activist and president of conservative group Faith2Action and

Janet Porter

Moore's campaign spokesperson, sees Roy Moore's candidacy as a religious mandate.

"This is ground zero for religious liberty; this is ground zero for life, and the winner of this Senate race is winner-

take-all; it will be the deciding vote on the United States Supreme Court who will sit on the court for the next 30 or 40 years." -Janet Porter CNN

In an interview with Anderson Cooper, Porter refused to answer directly about the allegations about her candidate.  Doing some fancy line dance moves on the issues of Roy Moore's character, her answers fit Coopers questions like a banana skin over a melon. Porter also invoked the names of James Dobson, Ben Carson, and Sarah Palin as endorsers.
As a kid growing up in the 60's, my home, my school, and my church were all on the same page about what was right and wrong in life, and especially about abuse and assaulting people. The standards used to be unshakable. Only the most harden or desperate person would continue to stand behind flimsy excuses, or tissues of lies.

Flip Berman, an Evangelical Christian minister and the national leader of Concord, North Carolina-based Operation Save America, a group that evolved from Operation Rescue, defended Moore's attraction for female minors. "He (Moore) did that because there is something about a purity of a young woman, there is something that is good, that's true, that's straight and he looked for that."- NY Daily News November 22  

(L) Flip Berman (R) Jim Ziegler 

Do I have to point out to anyone how pervy that sounds? I've got more--- Jim Ziegler, Alabama State Auditor, told the Washington Examiner.

“Take the Bible. Zachariah and Elizabeth for instance. Zachariah was extremely old to marry Elizabeth and they became the parents of John the Baptist,” Ziegler said choosing his words carefully before invoking Christ. “Also take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus.”“There’s just nothing immoral or illegal here,” Ziegler concluded. “Maybe just a little bit unusual.” Washington Examiner November 9, 2017

These are desperate people who need to win the big one for God even if it means they will lie and defend a man who allegedly sexually assaulted, several teenage girls. While Moore does a great Billy Graham impression, Dean Young, a personal friend of Moore's and a chief political strategist for his campaign, gave a "mansplaining" defense of Moore's attractiveness to young girls: 

Dean Young doesn't believe the victims

"What I'm okay with is--- Judge Moore made it perfectly clear if he did date a teenager he didn't know about it so--- I can't tell you how many times I've been on a date and then asked a girl how old she was--- especially after I asked her mama if I could date them."- Dean Young CNN News

It's a real head-scratcher that an assistant DA whose should know the laws of his state, and should be smart enough to make sure a girl he's about to become involved with could be jail bait. Either that's another pathetic falsehood, or Young and Moore were living by their own personal code of don't ask, don't tell. 

Other remarks from potential voters have rationed that this all happened so long ago, that God has forgiven the Judge, and so it really makes everything alright.  I've never seen so many people dip their religious chocolate in the political peanut butter. This is what is know as relativistic situational
ethics. Some of these religious types are trying to reshape something wrong by explaining it with Bible scriptures, or excuse someone's behavior by saying we're all sinners and God forgives everyone.
Being desperate to get what they want, they've disregarded some of the concepts of their faith while engaging in verbal spats with journalists. Abandoning the "turn the cheek" philosophy of dealing with people, some of them reciting from the book of Trumpism, called reporters "the fake lying media from the swamp." Their talk wasn't adult-like or Christian for that matter.

I haven't seen Judge Roy Moore offer any credible defense against his accusers as of right now. I heard a lot of interesting remarks from people who speak for him. As a person who knows something about church culture, I can say that I've met some awesome people in my life. They were awesome because they were good people deep down inside. Also I've known some hurtful types of religious people too and I wouldn't trust them to take care of a child or a dog. Religion doesn't make you good. Religion just makes you religious. The same can be said for the humanist or the atheist. Being good is a choice that you work at, either in or outside of church. And maybe it starts with good people like my grandmother, or Catherine's grandpa.

CNN Graphic of Women who Moore Allegedly abused or pursued

Personally, I believe the victims. They've been living in the dark with this secret for too long. They've taken some risks to come out right now against a national figure like Roy Moore. They haven't been paid by the media to tell their stories. And as to why they waited so long to talk? In light of how survivor victims are treated regardless of when they choose to speak out, who can blame them?
My gut tells me, that if God was one of us, he'd tell some religious types to quit dropping his name because frankly, they've never met.

Special thanks to @Deja1422 on Twitter for sharing a little of herself to help. Her grandpa would be proud of her today.

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Accusers Abusers and Losers

Rutgers Expands Support for Sexual Assault Victims