So, we've known for a while that The Donald is, and always has been, a bully. Whether it's with his childish insults, his discriminatory business practices, his aggression towards women, (too many examples to cite, just Google it), or his behavior at campaign rallies, there's an undeniable trait there. To some, that is a positive; that is how he's "made it", - the ends justify the means, it was only locker room talk, boys will be boys, he was only joking...........we've heard all of these pathetic excuses. Interestingly, his wife isn't a big fan and her maiden speech was an ironic condemnation of all types of bullying. Not that it seems to have made an iota of difference.
Some people nervously tried to assure America that once President, The Donald would start acting, well, more presidential. Not seeing it yet my friends. In fact, only last week at the G7 summit, we saw perhaps the most cringe-worthy example of his inability to rein himself in, either verbally or physically. Remember? The blatant yanking back of Montenegro's Prime Minister? Tellingly, Motenegro is the newest member to NATO; don't bullies always pick on the weakest?
So what happens when the nation sees this behavior? Well, if recent events are anything to go by, many people take the "well, if he can do it, so can I" approach. Again, last week, we had Montana Republican Greg Gianforte "body slamming" a reporter in response to some "aggressive" questions being posed. (And they call liberals "snowflakes"?) His supporters ran the gamut from outright denial of the event, despite audiotape and several witnesses, to those who tried to defend it on the flimsy grounds that the reporter was out of order. But still, Gianforte won the special election for Congress. Heck, if a self-confessed p***y-grabber can win the White House, mere Congressional seats are a piece of cake. It should be noted that in his acceptance speech, Gianforte admitted the assault, but hey - he won; he could afford to fess up.
It has been noted over the last year or so, that bullying in schools in on the rise, with words like "loser" heard repeatedly and children of a darker hue being told to "go home" or warned that their parents would be rounded up. Alarmingly, the bully influence seems also to have infiltrated the ranks of those who should know better - the adult teachers. It was a big week for bully reporting last week, as we also saw this piece about Texas teachers, who thought they would "poke fun" at their students with their end of term awards. It's a bad enough idea to poke fun at impressionable twelve and thirteen year olds anyway, but get this - one girl received the "Most likely to become a terrorist" award. Yes! Another student received the "Most likely to cry for every little thing" award and another got the prized "Most likely to become homeless" award. I know! Standards for decency are now so low that the official statement from the school district spokesman was that it "wasn't well thought out". At least they didn't trot out the classic bully response - the teachers were "only joking". Oh wait, they did.
For anyone thinking that Donnie's behavior is funny, harmless or otherwise benign, - it's not. It's having a damaging effect on the country in more ways than one. And it's embarrassing the heck out of the USA abroad. I mean look at the faces of these world leaders as Donnie tries to bully them into paying their NATO dues, when they're not even overdue.
How ironic that there's also a government web site about bullying - https://www.stopbullying.gov/. One more thing that Donnie hasn't read.