Let us bandy about "convicted rapist"

It is important naturally to try to be precise with one's assertions. Sometimes a little latitude can be permitted. "A little," a judge might say to an attorney. 

I invoke a judge here with reason, and it's the judge in New York State who weighed in on the Trump vs. E. Jean Carroll matter. The outcome of that by itself should have erased Trump from our political consciousness. But this is 2023 America and something very strange has been going on. We might be losing sleep trying to sort it all out, those of us who retained a reasonable grip on reality. 

Put simply, how do we go from an age in which Ronald Reagan's history of having had a divorce concerned so many - as possible liability for seeking the presidency - to now where Trump's whole list of outrageous behavior will not deter his so-called base. His base continues to be very well-represented out here in western Minnesota. His supporters file into our conservative churches every Sunday. 

Psychologists will have to explain this phenomenon to us someday. I don't think they have begun to peel away yet. But there has just got to be an explanation. 

Still a viable force

An explanation that could put us at ease for simply understanding it. Understanding this grotesque thing called "MAGA." The violent assault on the capitol, something which in earlier times would have horrified the nation. Justice would have been swift with all perpetrators all the way up to the top. We'd pray for a recovery from it all, to get on with normal life. 

The year 2023 seems wholly different as Trump is taken seriously as a bona fide contender for president again. Maybe even the favorite, as things stand now. 

 

Trying a theory

I have been inclined to think there is a cumulative effect of so many years of the Internet being established. So this may have fundamentally changed our culture. People feel around to be reinforced on their most base feelings, and they can certainly find what they are looking for on the 'net. The guardrails of the old gatekeeper media are gone. If you simply want a hellraiser as president who wants to bash gays, Muslims and other people you feel threatened by, well you can find a chorus of like voices on the 'net. 

We forget that it did not used to be this way. 

We forget that in an earlier time, pornography was hard to come by. Men had to sneak abound to obtain it, and if caught by certain people would feel shame and embarrassment. We used to have male "barbers." And maybe those barbers could pull out a Playboy magazine to share with a customer for a couple minutes. Nice little bonus for your visit. Treat it like contraband though. 

Maybe the kind of inhibitions I speak of here were healthy for society? Heaven help an adolescent boy if his mom were to discover a Playboy magazine. Ah, the most horrific example I could point out, demonstrated in the movie "Born on the Fourth of July" with Tom Cruise. "Quaint" hardly describes. 

I might add it was profoundly sad because mothers needed to understand what their sons were going through. Boys discover such feelings in ways that breed fear and confusion in their minds. For a mom to express rage over a discovered Playboy magazine would be the worst thing you could do. I could explore further but this post could become distasteful. And maybe that's part of the problem. 

Mystery with sex is a dangerous thing. 

 

The E. Jean Carroll matter

What was Donald Trump thinking when he sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll? He came within a whisker of being actually convicted of rape. Is "convicted" the right term, because this was a civil matter, not criminal? A lawyer would get me straightened out quickly, and make me feel totally ignorant if my terminology was imprecise. 

The undaunted E. Jean Carroll

However, the gist of my conclusions would be true. Trump most certainly sexually assaulted the woman, as decided by a jury in a legitimate legal matter. Right? Would my attorney friends nod? And he was excused from "rape" simply because of a narrow definition of the term in New York state law? 

My lawyer friends would say I must respect that. 

So the jury would not pronounce that there was rape. "Only" sexual assault. So this was a reprieve for Trump. Keeping his lanes open for his continued pursuit of the nation's highest office. It was "only" sexual assault, according to the jury. 

But it ended up not being so simple. Looks like "rape" is a permitted term to use after all. My lawyer friends would have to respect what I say on this - I am deferring to a judge, the eminent Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of New York State. 

First of all I must wonder: Why would Trump deny the specific rape claim from E. Jean Carroll, when at the start he talked as if the encounter with her did not even happen? 

Trump exhorted us to believe "it wasn't rape." If I were innocent of even having the encounter with the woman, I would continually repeat that I don't even remember meeting her. 

Trump's exhortations were vetoed eventually by Judge Kaplan. Do I need to re-hash all this? For some people I guess I do. How about the following in the headline-size type from the Washington Post: "Judge clarifies: Yes, Trump was found to have raped E. Jean Carroll." 

Do I have to go on? Do I need to share further from the article? If you demand "more" from me, I guess it's a fool's errand. An America that was once concerned with Reagan having been divorced, now takes seriously a candidate for president who was found by a jury to have (really truly) raped a woman. Is this a clear signal, a clarion call about how America has embarked on a downward slide into complete extinction, like other previous world empires? The Roman empire? 

 

Judge Lewis Kaplan

A legitimate, permissible tag?

Based on all the background with the E. Jean Carroll case and Judge Kaplan, I have wondered if it is legitimate to consider Trump a "convicted racist." I concede the terminology may not be technically accurate. But consider the background and Judge Kaplan's elucidation. 

What I'd argue is that it is within bounds and legitimate to consider Trump a convicted rapist. It is not on its face false. 

So I can't help but fantasize a little TV segment where Anderson Cooper asks one of the other GOP candidates: "How will you feel sharing the debate stage with a convicted rapist?" 

Out of bounds? I really don't think the characterization is out of bounds. I shared my little fantasy in a comment that I posted to Yahoo News. It was not immediately rejected. Some time passed and then I got word: it was rejected for violating "community standards" for the forum. So news outlets will not "go there" to acknowledge that Trump might be considered a convicted rapist, despite an esteemed judge's pronouncement. 

We can't rely on judges, I guess. This might leave some of my lawyer friends groping. Judges are at the top of their profession. Even Trump's lawyers are reluctant to show anger toward a judge. If the MAGA movement becomes so powerful that judges are pushed aside - a real possibility - then it's all over for the U.S. I'm warning you. Maybe I'll be thrown into prison for sticking to my guns with my scruples. Well I've made it to age 68. 

My MAGA friends might say all that Trump did was "grope Ms. Carroll's breasts." OK, they're fine with that. I wouldn't consider such behavior for a moment. I'm in the minority now. I attend a church in Morris that is considered a haven for people who at least consider voting for Democrats. And my church of First Lutheran may now be literally dying. I see my church as a haven just like the church at the end of the original "War of the Worlds" movie (1953). BTW why did the Martians think it was so wise to develop contraptions with three legs instead of four?

First Lutheran Church in Morris has been through substantial decline and in my opinion could be sliding toward dissolution. We are in the ELCA which has picked up a scarlet letter of sorts for being "liberal." A death knell for such churches? Cannot co-exist with the gospel any more? Not unless you kowtow to the Republican Party of America? To MAGA? To red state thinking? I think it will be a shame if FLC simply has to close its doors. What would the late Pastor Grindland think? I think he'd say the church should stand for promoting Jesus' gospel and not for a political cause or cult. Certainly not "MAGA."

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com