Leadership Lost and Found

http://www.eveningtribune.com/opinion/20161012/lee-marcus-will-reed-go-down-with-dinghy

Will Reed Go Down With The Dinghy?

By now we’ve all seen and heard the scary clown on the bus. In the short term, the release of the Access Hollywood tape may be the undoing of the Trump campaign. In the long run, it may contribute to the undoing of other political careers as candidates are vetted in future campaigns. It’s easy to imagine the voiceover: he even supported Donald Trump! Our Congressman, Tom Reed, has put himself in this category.

Weren’t our hearts all warmed when Trump said he was wrong, that he apologizes, that the “man” on that tape is not who he is today. Then he promptly dismissed the whole thing as “locker room talk.” (So did his campaign manager, Kelly Ann Conway, and she’s a woman—a woman with Trump change in her pockets, so…)

News flash, Thumper! Thinking people have another term for the cute, frat-boy antics we all saw you, at age 59, brag about. It’s sexual assault, a crime.

That’s right. The team sport of dehumanizing women (e.g., grabbing them by the p…y") and bragging about it is the very engine of rape culture. When “men” bond around the idea that women are toys for them to use and abuse as they see fit, women’s lives are put at risk. That’s the real world.

I was encouraged when some republican leaders withdrew their support for Trump. A figure no lesser than Paul Ryan said “women are to be championed and revered, not objectified.” Wow. Except, Paul Ryan is a lawmaker, and his record on “championing” women includes repeatedly voting against equal pay for women, against paid parental leave, for defunding Planned Parenthood, and, remarkably, for the “Let Women Die” bill, which would have allowed hospitals to deny women emergency abortions, even to save their lives. Almost to a man, republicans denouncing Trump were offended for their wives and daughters, i.e., for women as related to themselves. Okay, but not one of them spoke for women as human beings deserving of agency equal to their own, regardless of our relationships with men or children. And not one of them expressed outrage about Trump’s possible influence on their sons. 

For me the most painful moment on the Access Hollywood tape was watching Trump emerge from that bus and shake hands with Zucker, right after dehumanizing her so graphically, discussing her body parts, calling her “it,” popping a breath mint just in case he felt the urge to assault her. When he failed to do that, his companion, show host Billy Bush, asked Arianne to kiss Trump and himself, which she dutifully did. As (mostly) horrified viewers, we were in on the joke. Arianna Zucker was the joke. 

Just a “locker room” prank?

What we witnessed was the enactment of a woman’s nightmare, the background noise in her head whenever she approaches a group of men in the office or on the street, has the nerve to speak up in a meeting, or even allows a male doctor to examine her. Is this guy being straight with me, or am I his joke? 

“Locker room talk” is a pretty lousy excuse for perpetuating a culture that causes half the population to feel uncomfortable just for taking up space. It’s a form of intimidation that empowers men, disempowers women, and maintains male privilege. If the locker room is where this culture is built up and handed down, then the locker room is ground zero for rape culture, and the only ones who can stop it are men. Think about that. 

Former Congressman (1987-2004) Amo Houghton signed onto a letter that reads, in part, “As Donald Trump’s unfitness for public office has become ever more apparent, we urge our fellow Republicans not to vote for this man whose disgraceful candidacy is indefensible.”

Here’s our current congressman on Trump: “Donald Trump is a disruptive force, and I support that.” I’ll say. Disruptive of everything America claims to hold dear. Maybe it’s time for an update, Congressman Reed. We’re waiting.