Wake Up and Smell the Racism
How loathsome is convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein? Put it this way. When movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is at his sexual assault trial and rapist Bill Cosby is at his appeal, each could assert. “Hey, at least I'm not as bad as Epstein.”
And yet Trump said of Epstein, “He's a terrific guy. He loves beautiful women as much as I do and many of them are on the 'younger' side.'” (To Trump that was a compliment.)
As for the ugly racism promulgated by Trump, the party of Lincoln is now more like the party of George Lincoln Rockwell. (Founder of the American Nazi party.) Rape, racism and Nazis? The late comedian Lenny Bruce said any subject can be made funny, to which I say, where is he when I need him?
Back to Epstein he was just denied bail. Not helping was his two jets, the staggering number of underage victims and the FBI raid of his Manhattan mansion. Reportedly in Epstein's safe, was a cache of nude photos of underage girls, a fake passport, a $500 million bank account, 48 uncut diamonds and an overdue library book. (Okay, I made the last one up.)
In Epstein's favor was... nothing. Meanwhile, many powerful men in America are likely perspiring profusely that their participation in Epstein's alleged sex trafficking will be revealed.
The list may include Bill Clinton, but it's probably more likely to include Trump given the just released1992 video of him partying with Epstein showing Trump grabbing a woman's behind. The two men apparently had a “private party” at Mar A Lago with 28 “calendar girls.” Yikes!
Trump now says of Epstein, “I was never a fan.” (In the video, however, they looked like bosom buddies, no pun intended.) Trump claims, “We had a falling out,” reportedly over something far worse and sex with minors, a business deal.
In 2015, the two were the subject of a civil suit filed by a woman who claimed she was raped by Epstein and Trump when she was 13. She dropped the suit after allegedly receiving numerous death threats.
Now I pivot once again to Trump's repulsive racism, though it's possible he was following in his father's footsteps. In 1938, Fred Trump was arrested at a massive KKK rally in Madison Square Garden. In 1973, father and son were cited by the Department of Justice for race discrimination in housing. (Black applicants were told there were no vacancies whereas whites were welcomed.)
In 1989, Trump took out a full page newspaper ad calling for the death penalty for the Central Park 5. All were teenagers of color who served 10 to 15 years, before being exonerated by DNA and the confession of a serial rapist already in prison. Trump never apologized.
In 2011, Trump was the cheerleader for the despicably racist and absurd birther movement. When proven wrong, once again, Trump never apologized. Meanwhile, last week he said of four female congresswoman of color, three of whom were born in the U.S., that “they should go back to where they come from.”
For anyone else, that statement is against the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The law specifically forbids saying to a co-worker of minority ethnicity, “Go back where you came from.” Apparently, Trump is above the law. (If he loses in 2020, that may be a different story.)
To Trump supporters he can do no wrong. On YouTube there were a series of hysterical (and yet tragic) videos where Trump followers were read inflammatory quotes from Hitler but were told they were Trump's. Each supporter vehemently defended the quotes (“He's just being a strong leader,”) until they were finally shown they were Adolf's utterances. It didn't faze them. Much like Republicans in Congress.
Where is the GOP of Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, McCain, Powell and Reagan? (Reagan would have absolutely despised the boorish and vulgar Trump.) The answer is Trump beat Hillary, albeit with help from Russia, Wikileaks, a campaign manager now in prison and the FBI's re-opening the Hillary investigation 11 days before the election.
And beating Hilary made Trump a GOP star. As Trump said so infamously in another context, “And when you're a star, they'll let you do anything. You can even grab 'em by the....” conscience or lack thereof.
Last Tuesday, Trump rally goers chanted, “Send her back!” referring to Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar whom Trump disparaged in an ugly tone. (His favorite tone.) So we've gone from “Make America Great Again,” to “Build the wall,” to “Lock her up” to “Send her back.”
My favorite George Wallace-like chant was, “Jews won't replace us.” I wonder how Ivanka and Jared, parents to three Jewish children, weren't outraged. In the meantime, you tell me what the next hate-filled chant is going to be.
Jack is at: facebook.com/jackneworth, twitter.com/jackneworth and jackdailypress@aol.com
