Dem
51
GOP
49
Donald Trump is very tough, very manly, very macho. And he showed it this weekend on his boutique social media platform, when he decided to go after... Judge Juan Merchan's daughter. She is an adult, and an attorney, but we see no need to repeat her name here and to link her and Trump even more fully in Google's algorithms. In any event, Trump became convinced that she said mean things about him on eX-Twitter, although she says she shut down her account two years ago and the tweets weren't from her. In any event, there's nothing more masculine than going after a much less powerful woman, especially when you know your supporters are known to take matters into their own hands. Clearly, the former president has a very large... pair of hands.
As you can tell, we are not impressed. Nor, as you might imagine, was Merchan. So, he went back and revised his gag order to include members of his family, as well as family members of the DA, and family members of the court's staff. That is in addition to the already-existing requirement that Trump keep it zipped when it comes to court staff and to witnesses in the case. What kind of person needs to be told, at the business end of a court order, that this sort of behavior is not acceptable? It does not say "strong" to us. No, more like "weak," "pathetic" and "low-class."
Perhaps we are being a little less circumspect than usual when it comes to Trump's uncivilized and violent behavior. And, if so, that probably reflects the influence of Chris Quinn, the editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. As several readers brought to our attention, Quinn finally published an editorial this weekend that he says he's been working on (and dreading) for months. The basic point is that there is no "both sides" with Donald Trump, and that his behavior means he's going to be rightly subject to criticism that is not leveled at other political figures.
Quinn writes:
Why don't our opinion platforms treat Donald Trump and other politicians exactly the same way. Some phrase it differently, asking why we demean the former president's supporters in describing his behavior as monstrous, insurrectionist and authoritarian.
I feel for those who write. They believe in Trump and want their local news source to recognize what they see in him.
The angry writers denounce me for ignoring what they call the Biden family crime syndicate and criminality far beyond that of Trump. They quote news sources of no credibility as proof the mainstream media ignores evidence that Biden, not Trump, is the criminal dictator...
The truth is that Donald Trump undermined faith in our elections in his false bid to retain the presidency. He sparked an insurrection intended to overthrow our government and keep himself in power. No president in our history has done worse.
This is not subjective. We all saw it. Plenty of leaders today try to convince the masses we did not see what we saw, but our eyes don't deceive. (If leaders began a yearslong campaign today to convince us that the Baltimore bridge did not collapse Tuesday morning, would you ever believe them?) Trust your eyes. Trump on Jan. 6 launched the most serious threat to our system of government since the Civil War. You know that. You saw it.
The facts involving Trump are crystal clear, and as news people, we cannot pretend otherwise, as unpopular as that might be with a segment of our readers. There aren't two sides to facts. People who say the earth is flat don't get space on our platforms. If that offends them, so be it.
You should really consider clicking on the link above and reading the whole thing; it's less than 1,000 words. In any event, while Quinn is particularly focused on the fact that there aren't "two sides" to 1/6, his broader point is that because Trump behaves differently from any other politician, he will necessarily be covered differently from any other politician.
To put that in the context of this item, there is no other politician in America who could attack a judge's daughter without being absolutely flayed for it. So, if Trump does it, he should be flayed, too. He doesn't get a pass because he's a presidential candidate, or he's the head of the Republican Party, or because of specious claims of "bias." It really is that simple.
In case you need a reminder, in 2006, former Virginia governor George Allen was running for the Senate. At a speech in a microtown of about 400 people, Allen spotted an Indian-American volunteer working for his opponent, Jim Webb, and told the audience: "This fellow here, over here with the yellow shirt. Macaca or whatever his name is. He's with my opponent, he's following us around everywhere." Macaca? That is a genus of fruit-eating old-world monkeys found in Europe and North Africa, commonly known as macaques. It also happens to be a slur francophones use for Black people. It is roughly the "N word" translated into French. Allen's mother is a French-speaking immigrant from Tunisia, so he knew exactly what that word was and meant. That one word was the end of George Allen. But the media let Donald Trump get away with stuff 1000x worse than one poorly chosen word spoken to a tiny audience in rural Virginia almost in Kentucky. (Z)