How is it possible in 2016 that someone who promotes violence, mocks the disabled, and habitually espouses racist, misogynistic, and xenophobic beliefs can be a contender?
—
Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest -and you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure,it’s not your fault
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 9, 2013
Well, the worst has come to pass: Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee in November. For those of us who view this as the real-life version of Omen III (in which Damien runs for President), truth has indeed become stranger than fiction.
How is it possible in 2016 that someone who promotes violence, mocks the disabled and habitually espouses racist, misogynistic, and xenophobic beliefs can be a contender?
I opened with that charming quote from the potential leader of the free world because I think it nicely illustrates that fact that he is a narcissistic braggart, a name-caller and a bully. Imagine having a parent, boss or spouse who not only unilaterally decrees his or her intelligence and judgment superior to yours, but also feels perfectly comfortable calling you a loser or a hater for questioning it? Now imagine that attitude running our country…how does THAT work for you?
I can’t find any quantifiable evidence of Donald Trump’s supposedly exceptional smarts in his words or deeds, but perhaps we can take his word for it because he is a very rich white man, and very rich white men are inherently superior, right?
In fact, I think this belief may be at the heart of his recent quote regarding his presumptive opponent, Hillary Clinton: “I think the only card she has is the women’s card. Frankly, if Hillary Clinton were a man, I don’t think she would get 5% of the vote.”
Donald is counting on gender stereotypes to help him win the day; he is playing “the man card” because he is that sure it is a trump.
◊♦◊
We have spent the last eight years under the gentle guidance of Barack Obama. His was not the revolutionary Presidency many of us hoped it would be; but he was quietly effective, a soothing parent who got the country back on its feet after a brutal recession took so many of us down. Obama is genteel and graceful, no rough rider; yet he succeeded in ridding the world of Bin Laden, a task his more “manly” predecessor failed to accomplish. Obama chose his battles wisely.
I think it is reasonable to question whether or not Donald Trump’s over-the-top, take-no-prisoners appeal isn’t some kind of backlash against our current President’s measured approach? Even Democrats who are reasonably pleased with Obama’s performance find themselves embroiled in a party dividing controversy regarding whether it is best to stay-the-course (vote Hillary) or push our agenda in an aggressive, game-changing way (vote Bernie).
Both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump represent a radicalized America: we’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore.
But while Bernie is offering specifics and presenting a cogent plan to empower the disenfranchised, Donald Trump is treating us to a show that is exclusively smoke and mirrors. He promises to “make America great again”, to appoint “the best” Supreme Court and use “unpredictability” as an intimidation factor for the nuclear option.
He is more specific in his desire to ban Muslims (an interesting approach, seeing how INCLUSION was what made America great to begin with) and in a completely nonviable plan to “build a wall” to prevent Mexicans from crossing our borders (a kindergarten tactic; why not simply hang up a sheet to divide our side of the room from theirs?).
He is playing the Man Card: I’m smarter than you and stronger than you, so you can trust me to handle things. He is savvy enough to know that people frustrated by Obama’s “mothering” approach—I love all of my kids equally—are yearning for a Father who KNOWS BEST, a candidate with a new-sheriff-in-town mentality.
Trump voters are sick of feeling victimized by their own country; they want a hero who rides in and isolates the bad guys and dispenses with them. Trump voters want Wyatt Earp to enact his own brand of justice here in Tombstone, set the perceived wrongs of our world right. But as Earp was just card dealer when he first came to town, it might be wise to take a closer look at the hand Trump is giving us.
Donald Trump inherited a large fortune, but doesn’t support raising the minimum wage for workers not as lucky.
He is calling for a ban on Muslims and other refugees but has many Muslim business investors and two wives who are immigrants.
He refuses to denounce the Neo-Nazi support he has received for his candidacy, but his own daughter converted to Judaism after she married a Jewish man.
He claims he is against government bail-outs but has personally filed for bankruptcy four times.
The “man card” he is playing is nothing but self-serving hypocrisy
Now he thinks he can undermine Hillary Clinton by naming her “woman”; his dim view of females has been so well-documented, there is no need to re-hash it here. It is worth reminding people, however, that Donald Trump once queried, “If Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband, what makes her think she can satisfy America?”
Because everyone knows that:
a) a woman’s success in life always parallels her performance in the sack and
b) men are ONLY unfaithful to women who are bad in bed.
I’m certain the wives he has cheated on would agree with this assessment.
Trump believes that America in 2016 still trusts the Man Card as a winning hand. What he fails to understand is that sexism, racism, infidelity and greed are no longer considered hallmarks of masculinity.
Donald Trump may be a man, but he is NOT a GOOD MAN and we all know it. Even if makes us “losers” and “haters.”
He is not a man we want our sons to emulate; he is not a man we want symbolizing what our country stands for…anyhow, he has stated doesn’t care what anyone thinks about him as long as he’s got “a young and beautiful piece of ass.”
So let’s leave him to it, shall we?
Because his “Man Card”? It’s a Joker.
It shouldn’t even be at play in the game.
◊♦◊
Photo: Nadia Hatoum/Flickr
Read Kara Post-Kennedy every week here on The Good Men Project!
And thank you for sharing this!
The reason people are voting for Trump is that they are voting against Clinton. Here’s what’s happening. For the longest time so called liberals, progressives, and feminists (all people who pretty much demand you vote for Clinton or that means you hate equality) have been designating men as the butt of every joke, an okay target for insults, and all sorts of other nasty behavior. And they are sick of it. Trump really isn’t that qualified of a politician however he has figured out one thing that Clinton supporters either don’t know or refuse to acknowledge. He has harnessed the… Read more »
Yes, I’d say that most people who support Trump are acting in opposition to something else mostly Clinton, but to some extent the Republican establishment. What is utterly terrifying is that many people actually support Clinton. I could understand if they supported Clinton because they opposed Trump. Heck, even supporting Clinton because she’s a woman is better than supporting Clinton because you think she’s worthy of the office. The biggest disappointment is that after article upon article blasting DV and rape apology at GMP even suggesting that football players face sanctions for mere suspicion of committing DV because it’ so… Read more »
So many things in this article jump out t me and I don’t think I have enough time at the moment to cover them all. (News alert – only 39000 jobs created last month) “Donald Trump may be a man, but he is NOT a GOOD MAN and we all know it.” Not a surprising statement from a women because they are the ones that want to shape the modern man. If it doesn’t fit into her progressive feminist box, then he is not a man. ““If Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband, what makes her think she can satisfy… Read more »
I suspect many people who will vote for Trump are actually voting against Clinton. I’d be more concerned with why so many people actually support Clinton. There are a few who are voting against Trump, which include many high profile individuals in the MRM like Warren Farrell, but I suspect that is a very small fraction of her support.
How many people support Trump and how many simply oppose Clinton? Clinton has a contempt for men that rivals any misogyny Trump has for women. We could see that in her assertion that women are the primary victims of war even though men are the ones being kill because women have to live with the loss. OK, so if women are suffering because men are dying then why hasn’t she pushed Obama to return funding to the CDC for prostate cancer prevention or to provide free HPV vaccines for boys? Her solution to fighting AIDS in Africa is to circumcise… Read more »
it’s not my fault, Kara. I know I’m a man, but he hasn’t been to a meeting in months, and won’t return our calls. He’s off the grid.
Voting for Hilly. She’ll get rid of all men, and peach and butterflies will rain down across the land. ;p