Three of the most telling words that were uttered this week were also three of the most overlooked. When Hillary Clinton noted during Monday’s debate that Donald Trump had “called women pigs, slobs and dogs,” Trump defended himself: "Rosie O’Donnell, I said very tough things to her, and I think everybody would agree that she deserves it and nobody feels sorry for her."
She deserved it. MSNBC’s Laurence O’Donnell (no relation to Rosie) did a great meditation on those three words Tuesday evening. "She deserves it, yes. That is what every man guilty of spousal abuse always thinks. I’ve talked to prosecutors who’ve handled these cases. I’ve talked to defense lawyers who represent these guys – she deserves it. That’s what they say. That is what enables them to do what they do …"
O’Donnell framed his discussion of the phrase around abusive men, which made perfect sense. But that got me thinking about how many times Trump has launched an attack on someone—women, men, strangers, whoever—because they deserve it, in his view.
Take another debate moment, for instance, when Clinton pointed out how many small business owners Trump had “stiffed.” Trump interjected, “Maybe he didn’t do a good job and I was unsatisfied with his work.” In other words, maybe he deserved it.
The same was true when he called into Fox News the morning after the debate and was asked about his comments demeaning former Miss Universe Alicia Machado...
"She was the worst we ever had. The worst. The absolute worst. She was impossible," Trump said. "... She was the winner, and she gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem. We had a real problem." Clearly, it was her fault, and (say it with me now)—she deserved it.
Which brought me back to the entire Khan controversy that Donald Trump pressed for over a week and still hasn’t specifically apologized for. The Khans “viciously attacked” him. They deserved it.
Just think about how many times in the last year Trump has categorized someone as being “unfair” to him, which naturally justified returning fire. He thought Fox’s Megyn Kelly was “very unfair” to him during the first GOP debate Then Donnie charged Fox News itself with treating him “very unfairly,” so he boycotted the news station and a subsequent GOP debate. But hey, you treat someone unfairly, you deserve what you get. Right?
...we are talking about a guy who is one election away from the presidency and, therefore, the ability to rain down retribution on his detractors in ways most Americans can’t even imagine. Yes, that means the nuclear codes, but also think of Richard Nixon’s infamous “enemies list.” There are so many ways to use the federal government abusively once you have that all-encompassing power at your fingertips. So yeah, it’s worth noting that this pattern of behavior at the very least calls into question sociopathic tendencies.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/...d-Trump-s-wrath-could-mean-for-the-presidency
She deserved it. MSNBC’s Laurence O’Donnell (no relation to Rosie) did a great meditation on those three words Tuesday evening. "She deserves it, yes. That is what every man guilty of spousal abuse always thinks. I’ve talked to prosecutors who’ve handled these cases. I’ve talked to defense lawyers who represent these guys – she deserves it. That’s what they say. That is what enables them to do what they do …"
O’Donnell framed his discussion of the phrase around abusive men, which made perfect sense. But that got me thinking about how many times Trump has launched an attack on someone—women, men, strangers, whoever—because they deserve it, in his view.
Take another debate moment, for instance, when Clinton pointed out how many small business owners Trump had “stiffed.” Trump interjected, “Maybe he didn’t do a good job and I was unsatisfied with his work.” In other words, maybe he deserved it.
The same was true when he called into Fox News the morning after the debate and was asked about his comments demeaning former Miss Universe Alicia Machado...
"She was the worst we ever had. The worst. The absolute worst. She was impossible," Trump said. "... She was the winner, and she gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem. We had a real problem." Clearly, it was her fault, and (say it with me now)—she deserved it.
Which brought me back to the entire Khan controversy that Donald Trump pressed for over a week and still hasn’t specifically apologized for. The Khans “viciously attacked” him. They deserved it.
Just think about how many times in the last year Trump has categorized someone as being “unfair” to him, which naturally justified returning fire. He thought Fox’s Megyn Kelly was “very unfair” to him during the first GOP debate Then Donnie charged Fox News itself with treating him “very unfairly,” so he boycotted the news station and a subsequent GOP debate. But hey, you treat someone unfairly, you deserve what you get. Right?
...we are talking about a guy who is one election away from the presidency and, therefore, the ability to rain down retribution on his detractors in ways most Americans can’t even imagine. Yes, that means the nuclear codes, but also think of Richard Nixon’s infamous “enemies list.” There are so many ways to use the federal government abusively once you have that all-encompassing power at your fingertips. So yeah, it’s worth noting that this pattern of behavior at the very least calls into question sociopathic tendencies.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/...d-Trump-s-wrath-could-mean-for-the-presidency
