You're Scaring The Women And Children, Donald Trump

Trump and Hillary Clinton at the second Presidential Debate. Photo credit: The Chicago Tribune

    This debate was hard to watch. It was tense, unsettling, and frightening. I noticed people in the audience, including Trump's wife and daughter, looked scared at times. 
   Trump was in full-attack mode, which has probably always served him well in the past. I am surprised Hillary managed to hold herself together as well as she did. She definitely took the "high road" most of the night. 
   In light of Trump's most recently uncovered bad behavior, debate moderator Anderson Cooper minced no words when he asked Trump if he was really bragging about sexual assault when he said on tape years ago, "Grab them by the p___y." Trump repeatedly stated that it was just "locker room talk" and then he started talking about how horrible ISIS is.  (Seriously?)
   Trump attacked Bill Clinton, who looked kind of sad sitting up in the balcony. Some of the Clintons' ghosts from the past even sat together at the debate (Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broadderick, and Kathy Shelton), presumably to show support for Trump. 
   Clinton stayed impressively calm throughout the 90-minute "scorched-earth debate", as CNN called it. Trump's body language was aggressive enough I wondered if he'd actually hit Hillary.
   Trump is losing and he knows it. His gloves were off, and he went for Hillary and Bill's throats. He reminds me a little of the Hulk. When things aren't going the way he wants them to, Trump gets mad and TRUMP SMASH!!!! TRUMP SMASH HILLARY!!!

Image credit: King & McGaw

   

A Few Words From My Friend Darrell Hodges....

Darrell Hodges

   Once upon a time, I worked for the same college newspaper as Darrell Hodges. He was the Lifestyles and Entertainment Editor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and I was the Science and Technology Editor. I feel like his brief commentary below is nothing less than poetry.


   "Our society's craven urge to engage in 'slut shaming' says a lot more about us than it does about those who it deems in need of a scarlet letter.

   "Prior to Super Bowl XXXVIII, Janet Jackson had 24 top ten singles and 10 number one songs; after February of 2004 she never had another top ten single, much less a number one song. As for Justin Timberlake, the man who put malfunction in 'wardrobe malfunction,' his career continued on its meteoric rise as if nothing had happened, and he's as popular as ever today.

   "For all the talk of Miley Cyrus, there's been next to no discussion of accountability with regard to twerkee Robin Thicke. Thicke is married and nearly twice Cyrus' age. As Morrissey once sang, 'You could've said no if you wanted to...you could've walked away, couldn't you?'

   "Alas, things are no different in the political realm, as men like Bill Clinton, David Vitter, and Mark Sanford have proven, political viability (if not outright rehabilitation of one's reputation) has become - at least under the right circumstances - possible for male politicians. Has there been a female politician for whom the same can be said? If so, I'm not aware of her."