The Good Men Project

It’s Okay: Trump’s a Man, so He’ll Handle Everything Accordingly

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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?  

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.

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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.

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Photo: Nadia Hatoum/Flickr

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