A Man For All Men?

Suppose you just met a man at a party, in a bar, at a meeting, or at a ball game. He talked only about himself. He told amazing stories about how wonderful and rich he was. He said he was a genius, one of the most successful businessmen in the world, and superior at everything he does. He commented on how attractive or unattractive the women around him were and bragged about his sexual exploits. He laughed about getting away with groping women he encountered. He made fun of the intelligence of well-known people. He made fun of the handicapped. Although flabby and overweight, he puffed up his chest praising men who were “tough” like him.

 

Then later you found out that his stories about himself were lies. That he cheats at golf. That he had cheated everyone he worked with and conned his customers. That he had cheated on his wives. And that his wealth was not earned, but given to him by his very wealthy father.

 

What would you say about this man? A man you would not trust with a dollar. A man from whom you would want to protect the women in your life. There’s one word which sums up this personality – asshole.

 

Even assholes can be nice sometimes. Maybe such a man could show compassion in his interactions with others and empathy for those less fortunate. Maybe with more public responsibility, he could become more responsible. Maybe he would show another side of his personality.

 

But we have observed Donald Trump for two years since his election, and he has escalated his repellent behavior. His lies have multiplied, even about facts that can be easily checked. He mocks women, their bodies, and their stories of abuse by men. He refuses to believe people who know more than he does. He encourages people to hate the press, to hate his political opponents.

 

He is now the most famous asshole in the world.

 

Some people support the political policies Trump pushes and some people don’t. But nobody could argue that Trump the man is anything but an asshole. And that means that it is worth taking a second look at those policies, because such a man cannot be trusted to do what he says. A clear example is secretly using a heartless policy of separating children from their parents as a way of dealing with asylum seekers, then denying it ever happened, then blaming it on Democrats, then imprisoning children in barracks without sufficient facilities, then defying court orders to reunite families, then admitting that they had not kept track of what they were doing.

 

That’s what it means to have an asshole as President.

 

American women have recognized how Trump’s true nature contaminates his policies. Nearly two-thirds of women disapprove of Trump. Although 84% of women who identify as Republican say they support Trump, fewer and fewer women identify as Republican now that Trump is President.

 

What about men? Men split nearly evenly between approval and disapproval of Trump. It’s not black men or Hispanic men, but white men who support Trump.

 

Men who want to protect the women in their families from guys like Trump, men who believe in honesty, who dislike braggarts, who don’t think worrying about getting venereal disease is comparable to fighting in Vietnam, who don’t accept a draft-dodger’s claims that he knows more about war than our generals – they still applaud Trump.

 

Conservative white men overwhelmingly support Trump. Don’t conservative values count for anything?

 

Trump isn’t on the ballot anywhere, but he says over and over again that this election is about him.

 

White men, what are you doing? Don’t vote for a sleazy liar, for an abuser of women, for a con man. Pay attention to what women around you think. Have some pride in being a man.

 

Send this message to every man you know. Proclaim it from the rooftops.

 

Don’t vote for the asshole!

 

Steve Hochstadt

Boston

October 23, 2018