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You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Women's Rights / The War On Women / Trump Went the Full Cosby. Never Go the Full Cosby

Trump Went the Full Cosby. Never Go the Full Cosby

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In just the past few hours, two more women have come forward accusing Trump of groping/assaulting/GODINEEDBRAINBLEACH them. First, the Washington Post:

Kristin Anderson was deep in conversation with acquaintances at a crowded Manhattan nightspot and did not notice the figure to her right on a red velvet couch — until, she recalls, his fingers slid under her miniskirt, moved up her inner thigh, and touched her vagina through her underwear.

Anderson shoved the hand away, fled the couch and turned to take her first good look at the man who had touched her, she said.

She recognized him as Donald Trump: “He was so distinctive looking — with the hair and the eyebrows. I mean, nobody else has those eyebrows.”

Jezebel has the deets on #2:

At a press conference with attorney Gloria Allred Friday afternoon, Summer Zervos, a former candidate on The Apprentice, said that Donald Trump groped her when she met him at the Beverly Hills hotel to discuss employment opportunities in 2007. “You do not have the right to treat women as sexual objects just because you are a star,” Zervos said, addressing Trump.

Allred said at the presser that Trump’s pussygrabbing comments on the 2005 Access Hollywood tape “hit a nerve,” and that she decided it was her duty to speak out. Allred also said that Zervos told two people close to her about the alleged groping shortly after it occurred.

“Instead of a job, Ms. Zervos claims she got the Donald all over her, kissing her, touching her breasts, leading her into his bedroom,” Allred said. “Donald, before you can become President of the United States, you must first learn to treat women with respect.”

The thing that you need to keep in mind is that this is one man who has wreaked all this havoc on who knows how many women. There are a lot of men in positions of power and with a great deal of wealth. And positions of power is relative- you don’t need to be Donald Trump with billions of dollars (allegedly). It could be Bill Cosby, assaulting women who want to break into the entertainment industry. It could be the owner of a diner employing a single mom with no other job opportunities with a power disparity doing this kind of thing. It’s pretty clear, this is a national epidemic.

Reader Interactions

250Comments

  2. 2.

    Corner Stone

    The thing that you need to keep in mind is that this is one man who has wreaked all this havoc on who knows how many women.

    I once thought it was three dozen or so. Now I think it could easily be three figures.

  3. 3.

    Nemo_N

    Reminder: Trump just said “why doesn’t some woman accuse President Obama of attacking her?”

    He is asking a follower to do it.

  4. 4.

    different-church-lady

    @Nemo_N: I’m trying to remember the part where Obama boasted to a reporter that he could attack women.

    Oddly, I’m coming up blank on this.

  5. 5.

    Corner Stone

    This is a man who not only wants to date his daughter, among other things, but thinks it is just fine to label her a “piece of ass”.

  6. 6.

    Calouste

    @Corner Stone: The Groping Orange Pedophile is 70. He’s probably been doing this for 50 years. Considering the casualness of his approach in the stories that have come out so far (the one here, the one of the woman in the airplane seat next to him), I wouldn’t be surprised if he averaged one assault per week during that time, so 2500 or so. And then we’re not even counting walking into a dressing room with 15 year olds in various states of undress.

  7. 7.

    Brachiator

    @Nemo_N:

    Reminder: Trump just said “why doesn’t some woman accuse President Obama of attacking her?”

    Now, we are at the level of a painfully unfunny farce.

    Is Obama running for president again? At this point, I would pay good money for Obama to declare martial law, put Trump in a FEMA trailer, and ship the trailer to Kenya.

    This is officially the craziest presidential election that I have ever followed.

  8. 8.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Nemo_N: The fact that there aren’t a hundred women doing this is actually good evidence against the “liars about sexual assault are everywhere” hypothesis.

  9. 9.

    eric

    to give y’all a heads up, you just might want to block off the next White House Correspondents’ Dinner. I suspect it will be a roast of Donald Trump. I am already giddy.

  12. 12.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    @Nemo_N:

    Trump just said “why doesn’t some woman accuse President Obama of attacking her?”

    Holy shit, did he really? Really?

    My gob is officially out of smacks.

  15. 15.

    debbie

    I know there have been a number of Josh Barro tweets shared here. I have no idea who he is, but he was on NPR’s “On Point” this afternoon and went off on a female caller who defended Trump and didn’t think what he did qualified as sexual assault. Where the other panelists were shocked silent, Josh went into full Nicholson: “You have got to be kidding me.”

  18. 18.

    Betty Cracker

    Also, in a campaign speech today, Trump defended himself against these allegations by insinuating that the women in question were too ugly to molest and let the audience know that he was unimpressed with Hillary Clinton’s ass when she walked in front of him during the town hall debate. I am not making it up. This is real.

  19. 19.

    trollhattan

    @Brachiator:
    Never have I missed H.S. Thompson more than this year, although as with The Onion one wonders whether his brand of writing could wrap itself around this level of crazy. How do you possibly parody or exaggerate it?.

  22. 22.

    psycholinguist

    I heard the “Hillary walked in front of me and I wasn’t impressed” remark from Trump. And the crowd laughed, cause they so smart they got the joke. I was half expecting the crowd response to egg him into telling a gay, N-Clang, rape joke, but alas, he showed restraint.

  23. 23.

    hovercraft

    @debbie:
    He’s a conservative republican, whose father is a renowned conservative economist, who finally changed his party affiliation to democrat this week. He said he could no longer identify with crazy people who have no wish to actually govern. He’s young 30’s and gay.

  24. 24.

    RaflW

    Amongst the Trump flailing this week, one of his terrible spox or surrogates pretty directly said that they have the goods on several GOPers in office. This would not surprise me. It seems the campaign has decided to tamp down on that, though I’d not put it past them to be quietly blackmailing (well, threatening I suppose) a few as we speak.

  25. 25.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    @Calouste:

    The Groping Orange Pedophile is 70. He’s probably been doing this for 50 years.

    Probably a few years longer than that. In his senior yearbook at that military academy he attended, he was labeled “Ladies’ Man.” So since he was high school age, and probably (my guess) since the moment he hit puberty.

  26. 26.

    mike in dc

    The Apprentice one is the most damaging so far, because it puts the lie to his “I don’t even know these women” defense. She has contemporaneously discussed things with family, and sent him an email making reference to the incident. Also had his personal number and probably could confirm his hotel stay in LA and other details as well.

    Jimmy Savile has the dubious/infamous “record” for the most allegations of sexual assault/molestation for a public figure(450). It’s not impossible that Trump could ultimately wind up with a similar number of allegations. I think it will hit a half-Cosby(20-30) by Election day.

  28. 28.

    hovercraft

    @debbie:
    No because they celebrated her as an example of someone putting the boy in his place. They can’t turn around and call it an assault. Plus the whole cameras were there thing.

  30. 30.

    indianbadger

    I have never read the book and have put it on my library card hold list rightaway.

    I feel this attitude is something that is not fully fleshed out yet. This propensity of authoritarian regimes everywhere. The first thing they do is start subjugating women. It is almost like a reflex action. Look at any of the modern authoritarian movements not just governments. Whether it be the Taliban, ISIS, Boko Haram stuff or the various so called rebel groups in sub-saharan Africa to the various cults that prop up.

    Which is why I thought the latest iteration of Mad Max was fantastic. Immortan Joe is the distillation of every charismatic right winger ID of the past century. Was that script influenced by Margaret Atwood? It would seem so.

    Which is another reason we should not let the bastards get away with it. Anyone who willingly supported Trump, even before all this came out; should be permanently tarred with this. This stuff coming out now is not unexpected. It is just a continuation of all the other things that have been known about him. Is anyone who knew Trump for the last 20-30 years in the public sphere really surprised by this? Is this present guy any different from the late 80’s Trump, with his vulgar behavior towards Ivana, Marla Maples etc.? He was a vulgarian then, he is a vulgarian now, he will die a vulgarian. That is not the point. The point is that his candidacy is rooted in a part of the Republican base. That base is not going anywhere and people like Todd Akin are still very much a part of that party. They should be confronted with this ALL THE TIME. We should not let the bastards get away with this.

  32. 32.

    WereBear

    @RaflW: Amongst the Trump flailing this week, one of his terrible spox or surrogates pretty directly said that they have the goods on several GOPers in office.

    Birds of a feather and all that.

  34. 34.

    David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch

    Former ‘Apprentice’ Contestant Says Trump Assaulted Her In A Hotel Room
    Summer Zervos is the 11th woman this week to come forward.

    A former contestant on Donald Trump’s reality show “The Apprentice” on Friday alleged that Trump at one point brought her to a hotel bungalow and forced himself on her.

    Speaking at a press conference in Los Angeles, Summer Zervos said she reached out to Trump in hopes of getting a job at his real estate company, and met with Trump in New York and Los Angeles in 2007.

    Zervos said that Trump kissed her on the lips in New York, and brought her to a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles, where he allegedly groped her, kissed her against her will, asked her to lie on a bed with him and then told her to hide when a waiter brought a sandwich to the room.

    Zervos is the 11th woman this week to come forward with allegations of sexual assault or misconduct against the Republican presidential nominee.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!! goes the dynamite.

  35. 35.

    Brachiator

    @trollhattan:

    Never have I missed H.S. Thompson more than this year, although as with The Onion one wonders whether his brand of writing could wrap itself around this level of crazy. How do you possibly parody or exaggerate it?.

    I don’t have fear and loathing for this campaign. Just loathing.

  36. 36.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    Okay people look, let’s make this easier: are there any women in the country who haven’t been groped by Donald Trump? Anyone? If so, please contact us. Donald would like you to appear with him in a press conference before the next debate. Two or three will do. Got to be two or three of you, right? Hello?

  39. 39.

    scav

    Just as he sees all women as replicated objects of variable desirability, all accessible to him with no insight into or conception of their internal thoughts or agency, he also seems incapable of understanding other men might be different from himself — so of course a powerful man like Obama must be grabbing women left and right. His son is of the same cloth, Jr sees this behavior as making his father seem more human.

  42. 42.

    RK

    The Apprentice one is the most damaging so far, because it puts the lie to his “I don’t even know these women” defense.

    No one believes Deviant Donnie’s denials at this point, not even the rubes. How much does this matter in the end is the question now.

  43. 43.

    eric

    @Gin & Tonic: i understand (and generally agree with) the sentiment, but it gave us Colbert’s most incredible performance, as well as Obama’s destruction of Trump.

  44. 44.

    hovercraft

    @Bill E Pilgrim:
    The only reason there aren’t millions of them is he wouldn’t deign to ride the subway, little did he know that he could have joined all the other perverts who use the cover of crowded trains to cop a feel. Oh well perhaps in another life.

  45. 45.

    eric

    my understanding is that Trump’s little ^&*%& has a distinguishing mark that will end him once and for all: “made in china”

  46. 46.

    David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch

    @Loneoak: he did that yesterday.

    “Hillary Clinton meets in secret with international banks to plan the destruction of global sovereignty in order to enrich these global interest powers, her special interest friends and her donors,” Trump said. The notion of global bankers meeting in secret has long served as a rallying call against Jews, especially in pre-war Europe.

    Journalists who have been subject to Jew-hating attacks by Trump supporters in the past heard scary echoes of pre-war Europe.

  48. 48.

    Anoniminous

    @Loneoak:

    He blamed “international bankers” last night. He has gone full alt-right yet but I’m thinking it is only a matter of how much coke he has snorted before speaking at a rally time.

  49. 49.

    Suzan

    @debbie: Josh is one of my favorite “talking heads”. He broke with the party long ago and said last night the he finally changed his party affiliation from Republican. He also said people who have watched him know he’s not a conservative. He’s always thoughtful and insightful. Chris Hayes has him on a lot. Thanks for the tip re NPR, I’ll try to find it and listen.

  50. 50.

    Iowa Old Lady

    Trump must trying to prove that when you’re a star people let you grab them by the skull and suck out your brains. He’s apparently right about that.

  52. 52.

    skerry

    Waiting for the Trump version of the Vanity Fair cover with Cosby’s accusers and the empty chair…

  53. 53.

    RaflW

    @Brachiator:

    Reminder: Trump just said “why doesn’t some woman accuse President Obama of attacking her?”

    Trump I’d bet has given no thought to the notion that Obama is a person of excellent moral character living a rich and deeply rewarding life with a stunning, brilliant and extremely well-matched wife as life partner.

    Obama is not a saintly figure (and clearly has a very sturdy ego to want to be president), but he’s smart, happy and psychologically well balanced enough to not be an assaulter.

    Jeepers, I cannot believe this even needs saying.

  54. 54.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @hovercraft: Luckily for the country, the proof is in the pudding pops.

    Or, to use the expression more coherently, the proof of the pudding pops is in the tasting.

    Point being luckily there are plenty as it is, even with his germophobic avoidance tendencies. Or “loser”-o-phobic.

  55. 55.

    Turgidson

    @Brachiator:

    It’s amazing, and stupefying, that Trump’s response to every criticism is effectively: “I know you are, but what am I?” And that’s enough for his braindead base, and even enough for some of the more dim-witted among the national political media.

  57. 57.

    wuzzat

    @Trentrunner: You’re being too generous. If I recall, Tiffany was not quite two years old when the Donald told Robin Leach that she had great legs, and he had high hopes that she’d get the tits to match.

  59. 59.

    Mark B

    I’m putting the over/under on women who come forward and say that Trump has sexually assaulted them at 100.

  60. 60.

    jonas

    @SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch: Trump is confused and enraged because he assumes that *all* men behave this way — he did, right? So did his good friend Ailes — so the fact that women aren’t coming forward to accuse Obama is just another sign of the huge conspiracy against him.

    It never occurred to him that maybe women aren’t accusing Obama because, um, Obama didn’t make a habit of pawing and assaulting women for decades. That just doesn’t compute for him.

  61. 61.

    hovercraft

    @debbie:
    No, remember he doesn’t make mistakes. It’s not his strategy that was wrong, it’s that the corrupt media had the nerve to use his own words against him and go off in search of all of these ugly liars. They were only supposed to say what giant cajones he had for that stunt, and then take him at his word when he said he never touched anyone. He’s an honest man who doesn’t lie, unlike Lyin Crooked Hillary.

  62. 62.

    David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch

    Because they’re not Americans. Yeah, right. They don’t trust America. Why would they? Hmm? They just come here to stick their snouts in the trough.

    Who are these people? Sulzberger?

    Their parents are gold traders from eastern Europe, with due respect, Henry. They buy things. They come to “Jew” York city and buy up things. And one of the things they buy, Mr. President, is the New York Times.

    Nixon and Haldeman on the Jewish International Conspiracy.

  65. 65.

    Feebog

    I said in a facebook comment a couple nights ago when 5 women had come forward in one day that it likely would be 10 times that. So, my official estimate before election day is 50. I used to do sexual harassment investigations back in the day. I still do them on a contract basis for a federal agency. My experience is that most women are reluctant to report this type of behavior. However, they will often times confide in a friend or relative. If that person confirms the victim’s story, it adds tons of credibility. The other factor; when you have multiple women coming forward, all independent of each other, that makes a pretty compelling case. Trump has been doing this for his entire adult life, with little or no consequences. Up until now.

  66. 66.

    DCrefugee

    @Bill E Pilgrim:

    Okay people look, let’s make this easier: are there any women in the country who haven’t been groped by Donald Trump? Anyone? If so, please contact us.

    Please attach a recent photo…

  67. 67.

    p.a.

    @Loneoak:

    Countdown to Trump directly blaming The Jews for this in a rally …

    Maybe not in a rally, but already has in dog-whistle plus; see TPM.
    Next step: locking down the national supply of torches. Everyone loves a parade.

  68. 68.

    RaflW

    @Brachiator:

    Never have I missed H.S. Thompson more than this year

    It sort of feels like he’s come back as the animating force of the Trump campaign.

    Come to think of it [sniff] [sniff] maybe there is something that links the Trump campaign [snort] [pop, gulp, ahhh] to the spirit of Hunter S.

    Huh. [puff puff] What might that [sniff!] be?

  70. 70.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @WarMunchkin: “I can’t believe I’m losing to this guy” was one of the handful of genuinely hilarious SNL lines throughout its history.

  71. 71.

    hovercraft

    @RaflW:
    Admired by many, and very obviously confident and comfortable in his own skin. Everything Donald is not, except by a large group of deplorables.

  72. 72.

    Corner Stone

    @Loneoak:

    Countdown to Trump directly blaming The Jews for this in a rally …

    And yet, on FB there is a Trump post about strongly supporting Israel and all the religious nutjobs are going fucking nuts to love all over him for his support.

  74. 74.

    catclub

    @Brachiator:

    I would pay good money for Obama to declare martial law, put Trump in a FEMA trailer, and ship the trailer to Kenya.

    I would pay all my Ameros.

  75. 75.

    Keith P.

    Funny that the first incident here happened at The China Club. Not because it should be pronounced “The JYE-na Club”, but because that’s where Rick James slapped Charlie Murphy. Seriously, rewatch the skit….Rick James’ interview even talked about how that was his main hangout.

    BTW: This is what happens when you try to say Gloria Allred will be impressed with your penis. She isn’t, wouldn’t be, and it’s just going to piss her off to say it. Bad idea, Donald.

  77. 77.

    RaflW

    @Corner Stone: Christian religious nutjobs, natch. Seems like most Jews know full well that shit Trump says has nothing to do with Judaism or the actual citizens of Israel. Christian end-times jibberish is all it is. Makes Minnesota’s most insane ex-congrescritter cream her casserole to hear him say it, though.

  78. 78.

    MattF

    It’s pointless to argue over exactly what or exactly how much Trump is lying– the correct default assumption is that he’s lying about everything all the time. Close examination of his statements may result in an exception or two. Questions about his state of mind or motivations are similarly pointless. He’s running on empty and the gasoline stations have all disappeared.

    One can assume he actually believes what he says during the period of time he’s saying it– and that’s pretty much the only assumption you can make.

  79. 79.

    Soprano2

    Never have I missed Molly Ivins more. I can only imagine what she’d be writing about this election. This makes every race ever held in Texas seem tame by comparison.

    Edited to say: I talked to a 25-year-old co-worker about this election today. I said, in my best ALL-CAPS voice, “I’ve been following politics for over 30 years. THIS IS NOT NORMAL. Please don’t think that it is”. I’m afraid people her age are going to think this is the way it always is.

  81. 81.

    jonas

    @debbie: “I know — we’ll make a big deal about Bill’s affairs and the women who have accused him of stuff! Make this election about decades-old sexual assault allegations! I don’t see how that could possibly backfire!”

  83. 83.

    Redshift

    @RK:

    No one believes Deviant Donnie’s denials at this point, not even the rubes.

    You underestimate the rubes. I heard some in a “both sides” call in store this afternoon talking about how it’s very suspicious that all of this has come out right before the election.

  85. 85.

    Anoniminous

    gawd.

    There’s 24 more days of this until the election and then who the heck knows how days after as all the impending legal things keep coming. Trump is like antibiotic resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae … it’s never going to go away.

  88. 88.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    @RaflW:

    Makes Minnesota’s most insane ex-congrescritter cream her casserole to hear him say it, though.

    Gotta love regional idioms!

  89. 89.

    RK

    One can assume he actually believes what he says during the period of time he’s saying it

    I disagree. Deviant Donnie’s a con man, pure and simple.

  90. 90.

    catclub

    @WarMunchkin:

    And Mike Dukakis is yelling to the sky something like, “and my crime was a TANK?”

    The nation is still on the hate and revulsion stage with Trump. If it gets to object of ridicule stage with Trump that will be a good thing.

  91. 91.

    ? Martin

    Seems like Trump just confirmed that Hillary isn’t hot enough for him to grope.

    “She walks in front of me, you know?” Trump said. “And when she walked in front of me, believe me, I wasn’t impressed.” On video of the speech, the rally crowd can be heard cheering.

    So, uh, I guess that’s good to know? I suppose it removes a potential question from debate #3: “Is your opponent fuckable?”

  93. 93.

    RaflW

    BTW, this is just on it’s own pretty insane. But it’s just becoming part of the tornado of noise: “She would not be my first choice … That would not be my first choice.” is what Trump offered up at one point in his rally today, re: the airplane seat accuser.

    I mean, listen to that. He is acknowledging that he looks at women and rates them for assaultability. Sick, sick, disgusting man.

  94. 94.

    gene108

    There are 12 year old boys, who just got hit over the head with the hormonal sledgehammer, and started noticing GIRLS, who have more self-control than Trump, in his 60’s.

    That’s nuts that most kids have more self-control than grandpa.

    There’s something seriously wrong with Trump, all up in his mental headspace.

  95. 95.

    jonas

    @MattF:

    One can assume he actually believes what he says during the period of time he’s saying it– and that’s pretty much the only assumption you can make

    That would be the Costanza Axiom (“It’s not a lie…if you believe it.”), but Trump certainly lives it. He’s also a writhing mass of psychological projection. Whatever accusations he throws at Clinton or Obama, you can bet dollars to donuts he’s guilty of himself. Only moreso.

  97. 97.

    AMinNC

    To speak to John’s point at the end of the post, I am in my late 40s, and I don’t know a single woman, literally ANY woman, who has not been subjected to unwanted sexual contact by a man – from flashing, to ass-grabbing by strangers, to having guys rub against you on a train, to men trying to force you to kiss them, all the way on up to rape. Most women just stay silent on the “small bore” stuff, because of feeling that, “hey, it wasn’t rape, so I don’t really have a right to complain.” The depressing thing is that if this is happening to all women, it must mean that a surprising number of “good men” are engaging in this less egregious behavior. I know that rapes tend to be performed by a smaller group of serial offenders, but I think there is such a pervasive attitude that women’s bodies are there for men’s pleasure or entertainment, that a lot of men act on that without even thinking about how wrong and awful it is, especially when they are younger. I am the mother of two boys, and I am hopeful that their generation will be far less filled with this kind of crap. My husband and I talk about the concept of “enthusiastic consent” all of the time, and my 13 year-old, when he heard about Trump’s “locker-room talk” video, asked me “Mom, can I say a bad word?” Me: O-kay. Him: That’s fucked up. I could not have been more proud of him.

  98. 98.

    p.a.

    Wonder how Benny N likes his conservative Amrican pals now? Maybe as long as the military aid continues and the settlements go up he doesn’t care…

  100. 100.

    Prescott Cactus

    CNN now asking victims to schedule their reports of abuse. A database is being compiled and everyone will get 10 minutes to air their grievance. They are apologizing for busy phone lines and project all will be shown pre election, if there could somehow be 27 hours in a day.

  101. 101.

    OGLiberal

    @Loneoak: And then he’ll say, “But I love the Jews and Jews love me. My son-in-law is a Jew and loves me. My daughter is a Jew and she loves me. Some of my best accountants are Jews.”

  103. 103.

    Anoniminous

    AND over at Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire Captain Obvious writes a short article under the No Shit, Sherlock category:

    Republicans Did Little Vetting of Trump

  104. 104.

    Redshift

    @RK: Yep. It’s all BS. It’s not even lying; he doesn’t know or care whether what he’s saying is true, he just says what he thinks will work at that moment.

  107. 107.

    Applejinx

    @redshirt:

    Safe to say it’s a humanity wide epidemic.

    No it’s fucking not. I don’t know anybody who acts that way. Epidemic, humanity wide? My ass.

    It’s a people-in-unlimited-power thing, and it’s been growing under cover of ‘IOKIYAR’ and civility and ‘both sides’ and Village Idiocy for decades. If you think this is an epidemic and extends to half of humanity, go talk to some human beings rather than just pundits and rich people.

    ANIMALS don’t carry on that way unless they’re very sick.

    If democrats had been in ultimate, unlimited power for decades you might… MIGHT be seeing them equally corrupt. But they weren’t and they’re predominantly not, even though politics IS power. We see the Republicans that way because they grew that way over decades of cultivation and permission.

  109. 109.

    SenyorDave

    Here’s a serious question. Does anyone know someone personally who is a worse person than Donald Trump? This is only based off what we actually know about him to be true. Known truths:

    1. Mocks the disabled
    2. racist statements re-tweets
    3. Stole from his charity
    4. sexist pig
    5. Brags about stiffing contractors
    6. wanders backstage at his pageants, including Miss Teen USA, while the contestants are getting changed
    7. Stiffs hundres, if not thousands, of contractors, and is proud of it
    8. Trump U,

  112. 112.

    JMG

    Tonight a lot of men in a lot of bars are going to suffer serious physical pain because of all this. Ass-whippings from boyfriends, bouncers, angry women, etc. It’s for the best. Past time, really.

  113. 113.

    mike in dc

    5 days until the final debate. Maybe 10 days until post-debate polls come out. 25 days until the election. It’s been 5 days since Trump’s denial and there are 7 direct accusations of groping and that many more of leering, walking into dressing rooms and other misconduct. How many more of these stories are out there? We have the first by a semi-public figure(a contestant on the Apprentice) who Trump clearly knew. I have a hard time believing that’s the only contestant he ever tried something with.

  114. 114.

    Chyron HR

    @Nemo_N:

    Trump just said “why doesn’t some woman accuse President Obama of attacking her?”

    Aw, come on, Donny. If you’re going to be THAT transparent about it, I’m sure only 50% of the media will breathlessly report the accusation as fact. 60%, tops.

  115. 115.

    kirbster

    At this point, Trump is in full-on totally disproportionate “get even” mode. All the women. All the “disloyal” Republicans. All the newspapers. The Clintons. The Obamas. The banks that won’t lend him money. Real billionaires who think he’s a joke. The list of targets is endless. I don’t see how he can keep this torrent of wrath up for three and a half weeks without stroking out.

  116. 116.

    jonas

    The Israeli right has been in bed with Christian Zionists for decades, thinking they had squared the religious-political circle. What they have on their hands now is a movement that purports to love Israel primarily for its Muslim-stomping, but has now revealed itself to be fundamentally antisemitic. I suspect a lot of the more craven Likudniks will continue to see a loon like Trump as a useful idiot, helping making criticism of Israel a third rail in American politics, while assuming that his brownshirt supporters in the US can be contained.

    That seems to be a dangerous bet to me.

  117. 117.

    WaterGirl

    @debbie: Until about 45 minutes ago (okay, yesterday, literally) Josh Barro was the one remaining sane republican in this country. I believe he officially registered as a democrat yesterday or the day before.

  121. 121.

    Gelfling 545

    @RK: I used to thimk so, but, now, it’s the voices in his head that are running the show. He believes what they tell him.

  122. 122.

    piratedan

    and as far as we know, we’re still waiting on Hillary’s team to do their next oppo drop. If Trump’s supporters weren’t so fucking unhinged, I would be like Flounder in Animal House “Boy, this is going to be great!”

  124. 124.

    different-church-lady

    @RaflW:

    “She would not be my first choice … That would not be my first choice.” is what Trump offered up at one point in his rally today, re: the airplane seat accuser.

    THIRD DEBATE QUESTION: “Mr. Trump, in regards to groping women, who would be yor first choice?”

  126. 126.

    gene108

    @srv:

    Depends what your religion is. Probably some Hindus not realizing how stigmatized the swastika is in the West, from your link:

    The coconuts on Ocean Beach were most likely used to observe Ganesh Chaturthi, a Hindu festival that celebrates Ganesha, the elephant-headed deity who removes obstacles from one’s path. In India, celebrants place clay or plaster Ganesha idols in rivers and lakes, where they gradually dissolve.

    “You can do it from a boat in the middle of the ocean, or from the beach,” said Badarikashrama. The prayer ritual, known as a pūjā, may also be done using an offering of coconuts, he added. “They may have been beseeching Ganesha for an education, good health, or happiness,” he said.

    Because Ganesh has 21 names, celebrants may make an offering each time his name is recited during a pūjā. Traditionally, people use flowers or rice, “but they could use 21 coconuts,” Badarikashrama said.

  128. 128.

    Corner Stone

    I am loving this. Trump is fighting off a tornado of allegations that he sexually assaulted many, many women.
    HRC is being tsk-tsked for frustrations about her emails.

    Please proceed, media.

  129. 129.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    @OGLiberal:

    “Some of my best accountants are Jews.”

    Confirmed in an anecdote from one of his former Atlantic City executives, with an extra dollop of anti-black racism thrown in:

    Trump once launched into a tirade against an accountant who was black. “I’ve got black accountants at Trump Castle and at Trump Plaza—black guys counting my money!” Trump said, according to [former Trump Hotel & Casino president John] O’Donnell’s memoir, Trumped! “I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day. Those are the kind of people I want counting my money. Nobody else. . . .

  131. 131.

    Applejinx

    @AMinNC: I will add that I’m not going to contradict this. There’s a difference between a sick society trained not to bay for the blood of powerful molesters, and a society that is ALL molesters. Our society is trained to use power and privilege as a get-out-of-responsibility card: we are actively led to worship money and privilege.

    That at least is a sort of animal thing: the tone is being set.

    When that’s the case, the world is unsafe and tainted, and everybody who can be victimized WILL be victimized. And it’s true, most likely literally all women have experienced this (and that’s a strong statement, ‘all’).

    But this is no time to roll over and be like ‘oh my crazy gender!’. I’m as male as they get and I will not tolerate these attitudes or this behavior. Mind you, I’m in Vermont where even the men want to elect Hillary Clinton. Maybe that’s just more evidence that the tone is set and we pick up these things in a herd-like, unthinking way.

    Time to change the world, goddamnit. Its current state is not acceptable.

  132. 132.

    Peale

    @Betty Cracker: So now he’s proved his self-restraint by not slapping the ass of a former first lady and secretary of state? Good for you, Donald! We all have our limits.

  134. 134.

    PaulWartenberg2016

    I’m seeing on Twitter that Trump said at his rally “Why aren’t women attacking Obama the way they’re attacking me?”

    My twitter response: “Because Obama’s not an asshole towards women!”

    It’s that simple.

  136. 136.

    trollhattan

    @piratedan: I’m thinking the Friday afternoon drop, if previously planned, has been postponed for obvious reasons. Last week they literally trumped a hurricane.

  137. 137.

    PaulWartenberg2016

    @Major Major Major Major:

    the Likudniks are morons if they thought the US christianists were actually Zionists. They just want israel to exist for its role in the apocalypse.

    I knew someone years ago who openly helped with fundraisers to have Christians help rebuild Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem specifically because it’s a key element of the Rapture/End Times narrative.

  138. 138.

    JanieM

    @catclub: @catclub:

    another lie. those assaults are all about power. nothing about attraction.

    I don’t think that’s quite true. The power kick is all the stronger when the victim is attractive. It goes along with everything else about him: “Look at me, the man I am, who can take any woman I want, and I only want the best ones.”

    SIck.

    ETA: I totally agree that it’s about power and not “attraction” in the sense of actually being interested in another human being. But I also think there’s a sick calculus about targeting “attractive” women.

  139. 139.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    @AMinNC:

    my 13 year-old, when he heard about Trump’s “locker-room talk” video, asked me “Mom, can I say a bad word?” Me: O-kay. Him: That’s fucked up. I could not have been more proud of him.

    The kids are all right.

  140. 140.

    trollhattan

    I’m ready for some ammosexual comedy. Helloooo, Georgia!

    A 56-year-old north Macon, Ga. man said he was on the toilet, working on his gun, when it went off. According to a report by a Bibb County, Ga., sheriff’s debuty, the man was trying to “clear” an M1911 pistol.

    “He stated that he had dropped the magazine from the weapon and was attempting to ride the hammer of the weapon forward when it slipped,” the deputy’s report read.

    The pistol fired and a bullet went into his left leg just above the knee and exited the other side of his leg below his knee. After the bang, the man said that at first “he could not speak and heard ringing,” the report noted. “When his wife entered, he asked if she was OK and she stated she was and the two saw that he had been shot. He stated (that) this was an accident and the round was still in the wall in his home.”

    The man went to the hospital.

  142. 142.

    Patricia Kayden

    Every Friday, here comes another bomb shell allegation against Orange Bigot. Couldn’t happen to a rapey-er guy.

    I bet Trump regrets going after President Bill Clinton’s philandering right about now.

  143. 143.

    dmsilev

    @piratedan:

    d as far as we know, we’re still waiting on Hillary’s team to do their next oppo drop.

    I assume Team Hillary is waiting until things calm down just a bit on the “Trump groped (another) woman” front. I mean, unless they have evidence that he’s an outright pedophile or something like that, what can they release which is worse than what we’re already getting?

  144. 144.

    Peale

    @Redshift:
    1) It’s not the accusation. It’s the timing. Let’s look into the timing of the accusation.
    2) it’s not the accusation. It’s the tone. These accusers sounded too angry. Turns people off.
    3) It’s not the accusation. It’s the distraction. Are these real issues of great import to the country?
    4) It’s not the accusation. It’s Beyonce. We will not discuss these accusations until Hillz denounced B.

  145. 145.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Nemo_N: President Obama is squeaky clean when it comes to his personal life. That’s why no woman has accused him of attacking her. Or man, for that matter. Simple.

  146. 146.

    Mary G

    My college roommate got a summer internship with a member of the House of Representatives in 1976. She came home from Washington with a long list of horror stories about grabbing, pinching, tongues down her throat, and a couple of attempted rapes. It was so bad that the female interns had to squad up and not go places alone. It’s not just Trump; it’s men who have power that they think exempts them from the rules of polite society.

    I hope it’s less prevalent these days, but I have no doubt that it’s still going on all over America.

  147. 147.

    bluefish

    Unfortunately for Trump, this sort of thing is all too common. Many of us who worked as Handmaidens to the Boardroom Gods in the 80s and 90s have such tales to tell. What a lunatic this man is — to imagine that these stories wouldn’t come tumbling out. On the plus side of the equation, interesting to see how craven his children really are. Good! Good to know that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

    Michelle Obama came close to describing the agonies that ensue after these sorts of events. But the reality is that the confusion, turmoil, and loathing this sort of harassment and assault result in are almost impossible to describe. The fear and anger that get unleashed aren’t just a head trip — they take over your entire physical frame. One is left physically ill. Some of us took steps to put it out there on the job and say ENOUGH already at great cost to our careers, big and small. Unfortunately, one also learns that when push comes to shove one cannot rely on one’s women colleagues for support and encouragement, even though all kinds of whispering goes on in the bathroom and the mess hall. I hope that’s changed.

    I hope and pray that this big washing out results in a better situation for the country on down the road. Like having a leper appear on the stage to insist they are healthy, fit and ready to take charge of the national scene. Except lepers deserve compassion and care. This guy makes me want to go with LOCK him up!

  148. 148.

    Peale

    @Patricia Kayden: Yep. Even when he was married to a Turkish man while living in New York and working as a gay prostitute and cocaine dealer, he had more decency than Donald.

  150. 150.

    catclub

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    And what kind of proof would assure us that Trump never assaulted any of these multiple women?

    About the same kind of proof that would convince the other side that Hillary is not corrupt, not a criminal, did not purposefully get four people killed in Benghazi.

  151. 151.

    Redshift

    @Applejinx: Epidemic doesn’t mean everyone, my little #notallmen snowflake, it just means it’s extremely widespread. If you think it’s only men with unlimited power who are groping women, or only conservatives, you really need to talk to more women. Or better yet, don’t talk and just listen.

  152. 152.

    AMinNC

    @Applejinx: That’s exactly what I’m talking about. We CAN change the way the patriarchy operates to define our culture (injuring women and men as well, in many respects). Just like we can change the way white supremacy is fundamental to our social structures. It first takes a recognition of the problem, and then the willingness on the part of those in power to change – sometimes as they are forced to by out-groups, sometimes because a “moral awakening” of sorts happens, and those old behaviors or structures are just no longer seen as defensible. The more that people of good faith can talk about these things and work for change, the better.

  153. 153.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @catclub: If we only had all the emails, if only. Obama’s real birth certificate is probably on that email sever too.

  157. 157.

    Loneoak

    @Peale: “4) It’s not the accusation. It’s Beyonce. We will not discuss these accusations until Hillz denounced B.”

    What Trump really needs to save his ass is some proper High Broderism.

  158. 158.

    Redshift

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Every Friday, here comes another bomb shell allegation against Orange Bigot.

    Great line I saw on Twitter after the tax stuff, or whatever it was at the beginning the month, “The October surprise is that there will be a surprise every day in October.”

  160. 160.

    Loneoak

    @Iowa Old Lady: “And what kind of proof would assure us that Trump never assaulted any of these multiple women?”

    The only way I would doubt these accusations is if Trump admitted to them.

  161. 161.

    Patricia Kayden

    @piratedan: Trump supporters can’t do a dang thing about whatever drops next about him. They can cry and moan but the truth will out. Thankfully, this is all coming out before the election to ensure that Trump will never be President. We dodged Palin in 2008 and now we’re dodging Trump. Whew!!

  162. 162.

    JMG

    Speaking as a former reporter, I can assure you High Broderism will not be forthcoming except maybe from Halperin. The way Trump is stirring up his crowds against the reporters covering him will piss off everybody from network presidents and publishers to the newest kid in the mailroom. Look at how they treated Hillary just because she makes it clear she dislikes them. This is war now.

  165. 165.

    jk

    The Committee to Protect Journalists has released a statement recognizing that a Donald Trump presidency would represent a threat to press freedom.

    Guaranteeing the free flow of information to citizens through a robust, independent press is essential to American democracy. For more than 200 years this founding principle has protected journalists in the United States and inspired those around the world, including brave journalists facing violence, censorship, and government repression.

    Donald Trump, through his words and actions as a candidate for president of the United States, has consistently betrayed First Amendment values. On October 6, CPJ’s board of directors passed a resolution declaring Trump an unprecedented threat to the rights of journalists and to CPJ’s ability to advocate for press freedom around the world.

    A Trump presidency would represent a threat to press freedom in the United States, but the consequences for the rights of journalists around the world could be far more serious. Any failure of the United States to uphold its own standards emboldens dictators and despots to restrict the media in their own countries. This appears to be of no concern to Trump, who indicated that he has no inclination to challenge governments on press freedom and the treatment of journalists..

    Through his words and actions, Trump has consistently demonstrated a contempt for the role of the press beyond offering publicity to him and advancing his interests.

    For this reason CPJ is taking the unprecedented step of speaking out now. This is not about picking sides in an election. This is recognizing that a Trump presidency represents a threat to press freedom unknown in modern history.

  170. 170.

    Keith G

    @SenyorDave: Ya know, Trump is indeed a horrific human, but to your question….there are worse, here on our shores are a few:

    Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld – Got thousands of Americans killed and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed…all unnecessary with no remorse.

    Jerry Sandusky – Raped at least 20 boys.

  171. 171.

    Corner Stone

    @Loneoak:

    “And what kind of proof would assure us that Trump never assaulted any of these multiple women?”

    I’ve been wondering about that. Is he going to use the classic Law & Order perp excuse of, “There’s no way I could have robbed the bank and shot that guard! I was in jail on charges of sexual assault at the time!”

  174. 174.

    hovercraft

    BREAKING NEWS
    Mike Pence says they have no additional evidence to present to discredit Donald Trump’s accusers.

  177. 177.

    hovercraft

    Chuck Todd begins MTP Daily by saying that Trump was unhinged today. Asks if we are looking at a landslide.

  179. 179.

    rk

    @AMinNC:

    I’ll second that. Every woman I have ever known has been subjected to some kind of unwanted touching multiple times. It can range from lewd comments to unwanted touching to something worse. I’ve had this conversations many times with my girlfriends and we all reached the conclusion that it did not matter how old the girl/woman was, there was always some guy ready with an offensive comment about her body. This is the first time in my life that people are actually starting to recognize that this is not acceptable behavior. It’s always been dismissed as “boys will be boys”, or just don’t talk about it, ignore it and carry on.

  180. 180.

    Ceci n'est pas mon nym

    @Corner Stone: Re: excuses. I’m reminded of a story which the intertubes tell me was related by Al Franken:

    “A man borrows a plate from his neighbor. He accidentally breaks the plate. He doesn’t want the neighbor to find out about it, so he sneaks into his house and puts the broken plate with the unbroken ones.

    When the neighbor discovers the broken plate, he comes to ask about it. The man claims, “First of all, I didn’t borrow any plate. Second of all, it was already broken when I borrowed it. Last of all, when I returned it, it was in one piece.”‘

    My brain is trying to tell me that’s a Sholem Aleichem story but I can’t find it under his name.

  185. 185.

    mike in dc

    You know. I strongly disliked Bush and detested Cheney, but Trump is the first one I fucking hate. If I heard he died suddenly a smile would involuntarily spread across my face. I’m only human, and I’m a Scots-German Scorpio, so vindictiveness is not beyond me.

  186. 186.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Betty Cracker:

    and let the audience know that he was unimpressed with Hillary Clinton’s ass when she walked in front of him during the town hall debate

    My head! I need to lay down now. Wake me up when this is all over.

  187. 187.

    SFAW

    @RK:

    No one believes Deviant Donnie’s denials at this point, not even the rubes.

    Wanna bet? (Hint: you’ll lose bigly.)

  191. 191.

    Ceci n'est pas mon nym

    I imagine you’ve all heard about the Curt Schilling interview in which he attempts to defend Trump on the basis that c’mon, everybody lusts after 10-year-olds. And then is upset at the female interviewer when she won’t admit to this obvious truth.

    I don’t know what to call it, but this belief that the way you think is the way everybody thinks, and anyone who disagrees with you is lying because they secretly agree, is something I’ve run into before in other contexts. I remember one online discussion where somebody tried to explain why when you see somebody in traditional Arab garb you should immediately flee or have TSA kick them off your plane. When some of us tried to explain that we actually knew and worked with moslems, many of them in various traditional outfits, without having an instinctive fear reaction, he just got angry at our “obvious” denials.

    I think that it’s a cousin to the lack of empathy that is a characteristic of the “conservative”, the disbelief that there can even be such a thing as “empathy”. And it’s also in some deep way related to their love of and need for authoritarianism.

  192. 192.

    randy khan

    @eric:

    to give y’all a heads up, you just might want to block off the next White House Correspondents’ Dinner. I suspect it will be a roast of Donald Trump. I am already giddy.

    There may be one bit, but not from the headliner. It’s conceivable that Clinton would make a joke about not wanting to offend some prominent non-politician in the audience for fear he’d run for President, but that’s the most she’d do.

  195. 195.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Prescott Cactus: CNN is finally doing its job. Thank goodness this is all coming out before the election.

    Trump’s campaign is definitely unique and historic — but in a horrible way. Sexual-Predator-in-Chief.

  196. 196.

    bupalos

    @SenyorDave: I know and worked for a guy (basically ran the business for him) that kind of took me under his wing to impart the “secrets of business” to me. I can tell you having run the business, the main secret was right-place, right-time. But his greatest wisdom was to try to hire people who were in bad straits because then you could control them. The context of his telling me this was discussing why he wanted to hire the over-qualified candidate I was objecting to at a “trial” rate of about 2/3rds of the salary for that position. Turns out she was in cancer remission and he knew she needed a job for the insurance, and wouldn’t be able to quit when he kept her at the trial rate permanently. That’s as close as I’ve been to someone literally trying to enslave a “weaker” human being. Dude was as grabby and gross as Der Trumpenfuhrer and openly picked his nose too.

  198. 198.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @Ceci n’est pas mon nym:

    A number of years ago when I was a civilian in LE, I heard the cops say to each other when faced with a complaint or IA, “Admit nothing. Deny everything. Demand proof.”

  199. 199.

    SFAW

    @mike in dc:

    If I heard he died suddenly a smile would involuntarily spread across my face.

    Your restraint is admirable.

    I, on the other hand, would be smiling (voluntarily) in the same way I would if the Jets and Mets won their respective championships. But, just to show I’d have SOME restraint about it, I would resist the urge to shout “YEAH!!!” at the top of my lungs, and would not do a dance. (Of course, the real reason I wouldn’t dance is because my dancing makes Elaine Benes’s look like Gene Kelly. But still …)

  203. 203.

    prob50

    @SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch:

    Trump just said “why doesn’t some woman accuse President Obama of attacking her?

    He probably can’t imagine that someone who was the President wouldn’t go around groping and poking away on any or every whomeverette his whim or fancy pleased.

    He seems to think being President is like being a King in the times when a monarch had the power to rule absolutely. The man is an absolute menace.

  204. 204.

    Patricia Kayden

    @slag: That makes sense. Trump tries to be braggadocious by claiming to be the greatest business man, the greatest debater, the greatest lover, etc. You never hear President Obama boasting about himself mostly because he doesn’t need to do so. He has swag and charisma in droves and has no need to boost himself.

    This is why Trump hates President Obama so much. He knows that in so many ways, President Obama is his superior and it kills him.

  212. 212.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    @prob50:

    He seems to think being President is like being a King in the times when a monarch had the power to rule absolutely. The man is an absolute menace.

    He is like Henry VIII at his worst. I have no trouble picturing Trump giving orders to behead his out-of-favor wives and courtiers on Tower Green.

  213. 213.

    Enhanced Voting Techinques

    @gwangung:

    Oh, the day is yet young….Trump could sink that low or lower…

    Anyone else notice Trump goes for the teen blonde look?

  215. 215.

    slag

    @Patricia Kayden: This is why I love the confidence both he and Michelle eventually brought to the Democratic Party. Nothing breaks fragile alpha male psyches more quickly and thoroughly than insubordinate ‘inferiors’.

    Bring it, uppity black men and women everywhere! Bring it all the way all the time!

  217. 217.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    @catclub:

    killjoy

    What the hell do you think the job description of “liberal mob enforcer bitch” is, anyway?

  219. 219.

    BBA

    At this point I figure we should just ban men from voting. Unfortunately the Constitution doesn’t allow that, so first we have to…sigh… #repealthe19th.

  220. 220.

    sukabi

    @slag: the thing is slag, that folks have been ascribing the term “alpha” to behavior and men that ARE NOT. They are bullies. They do not and can not lead. They think only of themselves, not what is best for the whole.

    In an actual functioning community, the alpha is the one who knows how to lead, is followed not because of fear, but results for the whole.

  221. 221.

    Gindy51

    @sukabi: Yep, true alphas do not have to boast or make people notice them. They just ARE. Betas have to make a lot of noise and use a lot of energy to make people think they are alpha. It never works forever.

  222. 222.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    I said it before, and I’ll say it again: it seems almost too coincidental that the next MET Opera Live in HD performance (October 22) is Don Giovanni.

    :: strolls off whistling the “Catalogue Aria” ::

  223. 223.

    slag

    @sukabi: I’m not going to debate the use of “alpha”, but I will say that I always use it derisively because I perceive leadership to be a team sport, in which no one “follows” in the traditional sense of the word.

  224. 224.

    skerry

    Trump releases “proof” that accuser lied

    Gilberthorpe, 54, said he was sitting across the first class aisle from the couple and saw nothing inappropriate. Leeds was wearing a white pantsuit, he said, while Trump was wearing a suit and cuff-links, which he gave to his British flight companion.

    Indeed, Gilberthorpe claimed, Leeds was “trying too hard” in her attempt to win Trump over.

    “She wanted to marry him,” Gilberthorpe said of Leeds, who apparently made the confession when Trump excused himself and went to the bathroom.

    There was no kissing, but the “shrill” Leeds was “very much in your face” with the real estate developer.

    Gilberthorpe made headlines in 2014, when he went public with a claim that as a 17-year-old he procured boys (some who “could have been” underage”) for sex parties with high-ranking British politicians.

  225. 225.

    prob50

    @Betty Cracker:

    Also, in a campaign speech today, Trump defended himself against these allegations by insinuating that the women in question were too ugly to molest and let the audience know that he was unimpressed with Hillary Clinton’s ass when she walked in front of him during the town hall debate. I am not making it up. This is real.

    There’s little reason in trying to discuss actual issues with Trump, so Hillary should wear a Trump mask and orange wig to the next debate and wander and stalk around behind him when he’s speaking, occasionally pointing at his ass and holding her nose in mock disapproval. I mean it’s absolutely ludicrous that this fat-assed old gargoyle walks around and doesn’t see anything wrong with instantly judging women’s desirability according to his twisted sense of attractiveness.

  226. 226.

    Corner Stone

    @Gindy51:

    Yep, true alphas do not have to boast or make people notice them. They just ARE.

    Actually, I would argue that all Alpha males are assholes. Loudmouth, peer pressure, bullying assholes.
    There is a difference between an “Alpha” male and a strong person who is confident in themselves and their position. Unfortunately I work with a number of Alpha males. They are assholes who push harder and farther than other reasonable people do. Unfortunately, they seem to always be rewarded for their asshole behavior in our current society.

  231. 231.

    mike in dc

    @skerry:
    hahahahhahhahah

    Seriously? “And then Jeffrey Epstein and a young Gov. Clinton walked into first class and raped her while Epstein filmed it.”

  232. 232.

    stinger

    @rk: Yes. The terminology “epidemic” implies that it’s a recent, and growing, outbreak. Whereas in fact, things seem to be slightly better than they were in my younger days. That kind of behavior is not confined to the obscenely wealthy or powerful — it might be any man (#notallmen) who is in a position of power over any woman. But there is less casual acceptance of it by society. Finally.

    I do expect things to get worse before they get better, just like racism burst forth more openly once we had a black President.

  238. 238.

    PhoenixRising

    @Ceci n’est pas mon nym:

    Curt Schilling interview in which he attempts to defend Trump on the basis that c’mon, everybody lusts after 10-year-olds. And then is upset at the female interviewer when she won’t admit to this obvious truth…I don’t know what to call it, but this belief that the way you think is the way everybody thinks, and anyone who disagrees with you is lying because they secretly agree,

    Trigger warning: Child abuse

    My mom was a therapist who ran groups for men who were convicted of sexually assaulting children. Back in the bad old days, the bar for conviction was pretty high–these dudes weren’t accused of making a remark about someone’s 10yo, they were convicted by a court of rape.

    This was back before these guys were registered and followed and couldn’t live anywhere after long stretches in prison. Back then, they were paroled & assigned to the group if considered by the court to have potential for rehabilitation. (The worst ones just got followed home by a cop, who re-arrested them promptly when they re-offended.) And 100% of them started attending group, as a condition of probation, *knowing* and saying out loud that anyone would do it. They absolutely believed that the reason most men don’t put the moves on 12 year olds is that they’re afraid of being caught. So you’re onto something.

    The purpose of the group, which was led by men who had been rehabilitated, was to teach these offenders that in fact their perceptions were skewed, and normal men aren’t attracted to children at all. They seemed to benefit from this head check and society definitely was improved by it. But the key is, they thought they were normal, bold, alpha men.

    It was only after a dozen meetings with others like themselves, the later ones featuring women who had been victimized as children who volunteered to come and tell their stories, that these guys finally got it: I’m not normal.

    Up until then, they really did think everyone wanted what they wanted.

  241. 241.

    different-church-lady

    @Gindy51:

    @sukabi: Yep, true alphas do not have to boast or make people notice them. They just ARE.

    Hillary Clinton, for example…

  243. 243.

    Dee from Texas

    @mike in dc: @mike in dc: @mike in dc: God, no–not until the election. At this point the last, best hope for the Repubs is that Trump dies before the election–ideally shot by some brown person. I would not be surprised if some desperate Republican Grey Eminence decided to go all Manchurian Candidate on him.

  245. 245.

    Sm*t Cl*de

    @Ceci n’est pas mon nym:
    Sigmund Freud, “Interpretation of Dreams”:

    The whole plea–for this dream is nothing else–recalls vividly the defence offered by a man who was accused by his neighbour of having returned a kettle in a damaged condition. In the first place, he said, he had returned the kettle undamaged; in the second place it already had holes in it when he borrowed it; and in the third place, he had never borrowed it at all. A complicated defence, but so much the better . . .

  246. 246.

    Applejinx

    @Redshift:

    Epidemic doesn’t mean everyone, my little #notallmen snowflake, it just means it’s extremely widespread. If you think it’s only men with unlimited power who are groping women, or only conservatives, you really need to talk to more women. Or better yet, don’t talk and just listen.

    It needs TO BE ‘#notallmen’. I think you misunderstand my outrage. Maybe it’s because my main social contacts are musicians and recovering addicts, many of whom are women? It might be unfair to consider men that don’t get drunk and stoned as a peer group. Also, lot of leftwingers. But they are MY peer group.

    This is not a thing to be smug about. Mocking hashtag #notallmen is acting like this can’t be changed. It should not be a smug point of mockery. That there is an EXPECTATION and it’s a goddamn civilized expectation and we are not nearly close to having it be true, but it’s a hell of a lot more true than you’re insinuating, and so should it be.

    Is it just because I’m poor, liberal and don’t drink or use? Is that it? If I’m expected to act like some other demographic that are assholes, just so I understand how common abuse is, how about NO. :P

  248. 248.

    chopper

    @jonas:

    in trump’s mind this is just a benefit of being rich. gates, jobs, buffett, all of them starting raping the shit out of women as soon as they struck it rich in this guy’s mind because that’s what he would do.

  250. 250.

    JR in WV

    @skerry:

    So believable, because lots of 17-y-o British schoolboys fly first class in North America, and would recognize a NYC real estate buffoon.

    Come on, man!

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