[Trigger warning: Those who have good taste will want to skip right ahead to my latest post, or better yet yesterday’s Econlog post.]
Here’s what I don’t get. People can clearly see what other people are like, when they are average people. But when they are celebrities, it seems like people are unable to perceive even the most obvious character traits. I recently banned my first commenter in 7 years, a crude and obnoxious guy named “Shmebulock, Crusher of Pussy”. Almost all my other commenters, even Trump supporters, were glad to get rid of him. So why can’t they see that Trump: Crusher of Pussy, is also a juvenile troll? Here is Slate.com:
The idea that Donald Trump will reverse the “pussification” of America has been one commonly repeated by his supporters during the presidential campaign. Monday night at a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, Trump made this theme literally explicit by calling Ted Cruz a pussy.
Here’s New York magazine quoting the remark, which involved Trump repeating something that an audience member was shouting while Trump complained that Cruz apparently isn’t aggressive enough about torture policy:
Here he mocks Rubio for (like me) needing to drink water when he speaks. In the grand scheme of things this doesn’t matter, nor does it matter that he routinely enjoys behaving like an 8th grade bully.
But again, why this double standard? Why are we all so contemptuous of Shmebulock: Crusher the Pussy, but not Trump: Crusher of Pussy? And it’s not just Trump. I know people who defend Clinton’s sexual escapades, but are puritanical scolds when it comes to similar behavior by people in their social circle. I just don’t get it. I can understand why we wouldn’t want to hold politicians to a higher standard, but I really have trouble understanding why we insist on holding them to a lower standard. Recall the old saying; Kill one man and you get executed, kill 100,000 and they put up statues to you (even in Washington DC.) Throughout history, it’s always been this way.
I guess there are actually two questions here. Why don’t Trump supporters see that he’s a jerk? And why doesn’t it matter to those who do? And don’t tell me they don’t care because they care more about stuff like “jobs”. I’m pretty sure that if the politician in question were mocking them they would feel differently. Suppose someone caught Trump backstage making fun of the (supposedly) low IQs of many of his supporters. Would they say, “That doesn’t matter, all I care about is jobs?”
If Trump is elected President, there will eventually be statues of Trump erected in our nation’s capitol. Take that any way you please.
I never took a course in psych, so I can’t say what that white rock is supposed to symbolize. But I am pretty sure it’s not a pussy.