[slowmotiony]

My friends use this kind of language between each other all the time, as I imagine other groups of friends as well - and they are all normal people with loving wives. You're trying to be dramatic but you're actually being funny.

[CyberDildonics]

Should those friends be commander and chief of the largest military force in the world?

[slowmotiony]

No - he should be absolutely perfect in every way and never have used a swear word, even privately among friends.

[dgacmu]

You're misstating the concern, which I assume you recognize. Nobody gives a fuck (see what I did there? :-) if Trump used a swear word. What people are concerned about was that he bragged that he was able to capitalize on his fame to assault somebody. I'm going to presume you're male - how would you feel if, say, Newt Gingrich walked up to you and grabbed your penis?

Many people swear -- heck, I just did so in a public post under my own identity just to make a point! Many people use many terms to describe male and female anatomy. Nobody I know brags about being able to willfully assault people.

[yequalsx]

What a magnificent deflection. No one is angry that he said "grab them by the pussy". It's that he does this without consent. He does this because he has power and can. That's what is deplorable. Your defense of this is also deplorable.

[slowmotiony]

What power? Surely if he did that the woman could call the cops on him and make a massive media shitstorm. You actually believe he goes around assaulting women?

[dgacmu]

Quite a few people have said so:

http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/10/all-the-women-accusing-trump...

First, let's settle on definitions: In this context, let's agree to define "assault" as including willfully touching someone's breasts or groin region without consent, and also to include kissing them on the lips without their consent. Please note I did not say "rape." I said assault:

https://www.justice.gov/ovw/sexual-assault

"Sexual assault is any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape."

With that definition, then yes, I do believe that Trump has done so, and I believe the evidence supports that conclusion.

One thing that I found illuminating as a result of the discussion around this was the number of my female friends and colleagues who talked about their own experiences being assaulted in these and similar ways. It's a very, very real problem.

[slowmotiony]

If the evidence supports that conclusion then how come he wasn't convicted? Is it all a big conspiracy and the judges are in on it?

[yequalsx]

The power stemming from his fame and money. Are you being deliberately daft? Do you not understand the concept of power differential and powerlessness? Your second question suggests you have a profound misunderstanding of the sense of powerlessness victims often feel and thus don't call the cops. The cops aren't always called after every crime.

You need to study more about crime and the psychology of victims/perpetrators.

[slowmotiony]

I'm sure after I study crime more I will learn that Trump regularly rapes women because he made a vulgar joke. It's just that the evidence is missing, but the crimes surely have happened. Sorry about me being so daft.

[dabbledash]

The people who have a problem with that tape aren't upset about a dirty word. If you friends are kissing and groping people they just met "without even waiting," you should probably call the cops. If they think "she let me do it" is the thing as consent, they should be corrected before someone gets hurt.

[slowmotiony]

Did he get any assault convictions? If I said I'd like to kill my boss would you call the SWAT team on me?

[dabbledash]

Ah, well now you're changing the subject. If you're granting that the issue is sexual assault and not bad language we can talk about that. Saying he would like to commit sexual assault would be disqualifying on its own, but in any case what he actually said was that it was something he does "whenever I meet a beautiful woman." So, I guess the better comparison would be if you said "when my kids talk back I beat the shit out of them."

[m00n]

Well, if you said instead, you killed several of your prior bosses and the widowed partners of some these were making public appearances in TV and you settled claims with some of them for undisclosed sums of money, yes, then I would maybe call the authorities or consider not voting you in the highest office.

[slowmotiony]

Yes but you see - he was voted in. He won.

[CyberDildonics]

So those friends -should- have that much power?

[lagadu]

If elected to do so, yes. I'd like to reverse the question on you though: Should what he said in private make him legally ineligible to hold office or even any job?

[slowmotiony]

Of course not - the election should be cancelled, the votes should be thrown into a garbage can and it should just be you who picks the best candidate.

[seanmcdirmid]

You have strange friends then. I can't imagine any of my friends saying that kind of thing, or quite simply they wouldn't be my friends anymore. I'm not being elitist or dramatic here, I just can't stand and wouldn't stand for that kind of talk.

But I guess many voters out there thought like you. I just can't comprehend it personally. I'm sure there are many of us who don't consider such talk moral and acceptable even in casual settings.

[goostavos]

>I can't imagine any of my friends saying that kind of thing

These comments always make me chuckle. You live in a squeaky clean world that I've personally never experienced and I'm not really sure where you go do find it. I mean, hell, browse around on any popular image sharing site for 5 minutes and you'll see worse comments in any thread with a vaguely attractive female.

If you've ever been in a men's bathroom, you've overheard these types of obnoxious conversations. But collectively, America loves to gasp and shout about how utterly shocking it is that people would talk in such a manner! Outrageous! "Well, I never!"

[seanmcdirmid]

I have never heard these kind of things spoken in a men's bathroom. We obviously are using different ones.

[slowmotiony]

Your comment literally made me cringe inside.

[seanmcdirmid]

Your's made me cringe even more. I really don't get America, open racist and sexist signaling and an electorate that would react positively to that. Whatever.

[willismichael]

In part, it's this kind of casual dismissal that many people are concerned about.