Tough, Trump
In
the past two weeks we’ve seen the “tough” Donald Trump bluster through
speeches to two predominantly male audiences: one, thousands of teenage
boy scouts at their jamboree; another, to Long Island police officers.
In the first event, his purposes seemed to be to titillate a group,
which needs no encouragement, with his suggestions of wild parties on
rich men’s yachts, and—bizarrely--to celebrate with him his revenge on
Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, the media, and others who’ve defied him.
In the second event, he clearly exhorted cops not to “be nice” in
handling suspects, as in protecting their heads while loading them in
police cars.
The
visuals for both occasions were stark: backdrops of seas of uniformed
males, some pre-pubescent, others mature. Secretary of Energy Rick
Perry, the Texan of Stetson and cowboy boots fame, offered to posterity a
You Tube study in sycophancy, standing behind Trump, laughing at his
jokes, clapping, seeming slightly disjointed with Trump’s sex innuendoes
to the boys.
So the American public was offered two views of our leader’s brand of
masculine strength, the engine behind his promises of endless “winning.”
No thanks. On any day I’ll take the toughness shown by two senators,
Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, who firmly resisted enormous pressure
from the administration and their Republican colleagues to vote in favor
of the GOP repeal and replace bills for Obamacare. Standing on their
principles, honoring their promises to constituents, they showed
Americans what authentic courage and strength truly is. Two women,
defying Trump’s fury. Wow.
Publishing History
NP Times, Poughkeepsie Journal, other Gannett 8/10
Times Herald-Record 8/11
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