Hurrah for Campaign Invective

Forget foreign policy, economic policy, civil liberties or “muh roads.” With three weeks to go before Election Day, discussion of the so-called “issues” is over. From here on in, the candidates seem determined to do nothing but fire volleys of character assassination at the two easiest targets who ever ran for office.

Thank goodness for that, too, for as libertarian icon Lew Rockwell, wrote, “In contrast to campaign “substance” which is mostly always wrong, or skewed, the invective is mostly entirely true.” Never has this been truer, as both candidates have made compelling cases the other is unfit to serve as a garbage collector, much less president.

But while the candidates’ accusations have been mostly true, a goodly portion of the media reporting is demonstrably false. The most egregious example is the ubiquitous assertion that Trump admitted to “grabbing women by the …” on a recording made by Billy Bush. Trump never admitted to such on the video and, if you think you heard him do so, then you should watch the video again.

Trump does admit that when he meets beautiful women (“women” is left off in typical Trump sentence fragment fashion) “I just start kissing them.” Besides a previous admission that he pursued a married woman and failed, that is the only conduct Trump admits to on the recording. Everything that follows is hypothetical talk about what women will let you do “when you’re a star.” Trump says “You can do anything.” Bush encourages him with “Whatever you want.” Trump then utters the infamous “Grab” comment.

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No matter how tortuously you try to bend the words, the last comment cannot be interpreted by any honest person as Trump talking about something he did. It’s clearly stated hypothetically in the second person, not the first, as was the kissing admission. One could even argue it’s an exaggeration for effect, with Trump purposely saying something outrageous to make his point about the effect stardom has on women.

If you think that’s nitpicking, let’s remember I’m using the standard definition of “is.” I’m not calling it into question as a sitting president once did.

The question should have been put back to her, “Are you saying Donald Trump is lying and, in the absence of any corroborating evidence other than his accusers’ unverifiable claims against his own, don’t our legal traditions compel us to presume him innocent until proven guilty?

Finally, the media and the public seem to be completely ignoring what we saw on the Billy Bush tape, once an actual woman shows up. After all the braggadocio and the Tic Tacs, Trump behaves like a shy schoolboy. Billy Bush has to goad him into even hugging the woman, which Trump does sheepishly while kissing her on the cheek. After that, Bush does most of the talking, with Trump walking along not even looking at the woman.

Rather than a sexual predator, the video as a whole seems to portray a very insecure man who feels the need to boast of his prowess with women, but who doesn’t have much “game” when a real woman is in front of him. This seems very consistent with Trump’s constant need to brag about (and allegedly exaggerate) his wealth and his penchant for responding to criticism with unhinged tantrums. Whether a person this insecure is fit to be president is a subject for another column.

What is important now is whether these allegations should influence the election. The women in question and the media are accusing Donald Trump of a crime. These are serious charges which, if true, should have more than political consequences. And if they are true, one would expect the women to press charges and for several district attorneys to seek indictments in the applicable jurisdictions.

That they waited years or decades to make these claims is a problem. It doesn’t mean they aren’t true, but making them three weeks before a presidential election raises questions about their motivation.

That the Billy Bush tape doesn’t contain what the media say it does and that none of the accusers’ accounts contain evidence of a key element of the alleged crimes are two more problems.

Nevertheless, if they were sexually assaulted, the women in question deserve justice. So does Donald Trump, whether it’s exoneration or punishment. But there isn’t time for due process before the electorate makes a rather important decision.

We the people deserve better than this, too.

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