To the editor:

Donald Trump simply refuses to hold himself accountable for anything, instead spinning the situation into something else entirely, even blaming some one else. ‘Just words’; ‘boys will be boys’; ‘locker room banter’. Well, I have a great word: crass (tasteless; insensitive; coarse). Melania even claims that Billy Bush egged Trump on, drew him into using that vulgar language. Being a male, I admit that boys/men tend to be quite graphic with the slang terms and obsessed with the female body. It is, however, the intent behind the words, the prevailing attitude, that is key here! The rich/powerful/famous somehow believe that they can do whatever they want, to whomever they want. And far too many men have the same attitude.

According to the latest from the great sage, Sarah Palin, Alaskan men are real men and they talk dirty. This is far beyond ‘talking dirty’, sweetheart! This is the talk of, and perhaps leading to, actual sexual assault/rape. Hanging with the guys in the locker room and otherwise, I never tolerated that and no one else did, either! One incident popped into my head as Trump began to invade the media. Three guys in my bowling league, some years ago, began to shout quite explicit phrases in the direction of an 18 year old girl as she walked back and forth in the distance. I could see that this was causing a number of people at the lanes to cringe – yet no one said a word! Not the staff, not even the others on those pair of lanes where these crass jack-asses were bowling. I did not know this girl (at the time) yet I did not hesitate to fly into these guys: ‘You guys should be ashamed of yourselves! That girl doesn’t want to hear that and the rest of us don’t either. None of you have the ‘guts’ to go over and say such to her face cos you know she would probably break your jaws! Show the girl some respect - she is not a piece of meat! This ends right here!’ And that was the end of it. In time, I told this girl what had happened and she was pleased that I had defended her honor – and was quite certain that she would have broken their jaws.

David S. Gooding
Normandy Park