I was thinking about the latest Buzzfeed and CNN news regarding soon to be President Trump. I can understand why Mr. Trump and Republicans are quick to challenge these descriptions as unsubstantiated. The situation sounds very much like the trick a foreign government would pull in order to threaten a politician in a Tom Clancy thriller.
I must say I don’t really know what to believe anymore, but I think I understand why these tawdry descriptions are getting so much play. Mr. Trump’s behavior during the campaign and other indisputable revelations that shared his previous behavior led everyone to have to deal with his character flaws. He is sexist, racist, and a bully. I can only conclude that his supporters were willing to ignore such traits because they believed his promises of a rosy and carefree future.
A little thought experiment. Should the Russian prostitute story have featured President Obama as the leading character would anyone have seriously believed what they were reading? I just don’t see this as possible – even among the haters. With Trump, the scenario seems consistent and very believable. It might even seem a thing he would brag about to friends.
This is the thing about character. What others believe about our core values provides a context for interpreting our present and portrayed behaviors. I cannot say the things described by Buzzfeed and CNN happened, but what was described would not seem “out of character”. If you brag about grabbing women in an inappropriate way, descriptions of other sexual perversion do not seem that far fetched.
There is one interesting irony in this situation. Presently, you have Mr. Trump complaining about conspiracy theories portraying him in a negative and exploitable way. This reaction from someone who promoted the theory that Mr Obama was not qualified to be President because he was not born a U.S. citizen, that the father of Ted Cruz was involved in the assassination of JFK or that Hillary Clinton was involved in the killing of Seth Rich.
Remember that experession about sowing and reaping? How did that go again?