A very scary time for young men
Jennifer Rubin points out how rich it is for Trump to start manscreaming about the presumption of innocence.
President Trump on Tuesday cranked up the volume on his white male base’s primal scream to ear-shattering decibels. He worries that this is a “very scary time for young men” in America, who are at risk of being accused of things they didn’t do. He insists, “My whole life I’ve heard you’re innocent until proven guilty, but now you’re guilty until proven innocent. That is a very, very difficult standard.” The president — with more than a dozen accusers claiming he engaged in unwanted sexual conduct — knows a thing or two about victimhood, he’d have you believe.
As he demonstrated in his mockery of Christine Blasey Ford at a fascist rally last night.
Trump’s concern for the falsely accused doesn’t extend to either Bill or Hillary Clinton, whom he’d like to “lock up” without further ado. His concern for false accusations did not extend to the Central Park Five, the African American teenagers whom he initially wanted executed — and 14 years after the fact still claimed were guilty despite DNA evidence exonerating them. His concern about the presumption of innocence doesn’t extend to Mexican immigrants (“rapists!”), Muslim immigrants (“terrorists!”), FBI agents (liberal schemers), President Barack Obama (tapped his wires) or really anyone except privileged, rich white men whose lives and politics resemble his own.
And who don’t get in his way or contradict him or give him advice he doesn’t like.
We know false accusations of sexual assault are no higher than false accusations of other crimes (2 to 8 percent). The percentage of unreported sex crimes is estimated to be over 60 percent and perhaps as high as 77 percent. Trump is more concerned about the 2 to 8 percent than the reported or unreported cases of rape. Eighty-four percent of sex crime victims are women. It’s a scary time for men, you see.
That’s because women are comparable to mosquitoes while men are comparable to Nobel Prize-winning Olympic medalist billionaire king-emperors. It’s a difference in value, you see. Mosquitoes are abundant plus they’re a pest while Nobel Prize-winning Olympic medalist billionaire king-emperors are rare and precious. If a billion mosquitoes die we’re better off, if one Nobel Prize-winning Olympic medalist billionaire king-emperor is accused of rape the world might end.
Playing victim is a transparent attempt in many instances to avoid responsibility for one’s actions. It often aims to deprive actual victims of sympathy and help. (And by mocking Ford, he victimized her once more while sending a warning to other women that they too will be ridiculed if they come forward.) Playing victim can give one license to engage in discriminatory behavior toward others (e.g., not serving LGBTQ customers, insulting women) and to be cruel as Trump and his hooting, hollering crowd was Tuesday night at Ford’s expense.
That’s why DARVO is a thing – deny, attack, reverse victim and offender. Trump is darvoing like mad.
And one other thing – very few men accused of rape will ever serve prison time. Most of them are never even referred to prosecutors. Those that do go to court often do not get convicted, and then there is the fact of light sentencing.
And in the Catholic abuse cases, females are getting totally ignored. The cases of molestation of young boys get all the press, while girls and women are perceived as safe from priest molestation (not true).
Trump’s (or should that be Captain Bonespurs’) cowardly attack Christine Blasey Ford plus his latest financial scandal will hopefully be enough to see him impeached and removed from office quickly and permanently. This should be seen by Americans for what it is: a total outrage.
Impeachment isn’t really a remedy at this point; it’s a slow process. We’re better off removing him at the ballot box (which has the added benefit of not appearing to overturn a “legitimate” election result)