John Wayne Had It
Manhood: one of the major themes of Trump World, and one of the major attack modes when Trump wants to go after someone. “Tired Jeb”, “Little Marco”, and now “Cowardly Leaker Comey”: all allusions to some flaw in the victims manhood and sexuality. Obviously “Tired Jeb” is suffering from low testosterone, unable to “perform” like a man; guess what’s little on “Little Marco” (who’s sweaty too); and not only is Comey a coward, but he’s a leaker (must need Depends).
It’s all about the Trump definition of Manhood, how a Real Man should act, what a Real Man cares about. In Trump world the definition of a Real Man is:
1. A Man has so much money they no longer have to worry about the necessity of life
2. A Man NEVER compromises, backs away from confrontation, or recognizes that someone who thinks differently might have valid points
3. A Man has sex as a primary concern and goal, and women are simply objects to make him look better (and feel powerful)
4. A Man cannot show emotion (other than rage) or compassion (other than a kind of fake concern for the “working man,” something he’s never done)
5. A Man cannot be a woman (Crooked, Sick, Tired, Hillary)
6. A Man should do “Manly” things like Donald Junior’s Big Game Hunting, where they drive you to the animal, you shoot, and then you drive back to camp. Just like the women, it’s the easy way to get the trophy.
When Trump or his surrogates “call out” James Comey for getting emotional, or deride him for “leaking” his own memos instead of putting them out himself, they miss the main point. Whether you agree with Comey or not (and I certainly don’t agree with what he did regarding Hillary Clinton) Comey made a “mans” decision, and stood up for it. He risked and lost his job by standing up to power, and refusing to be illegally influenced. Like it or not Comey demonstrated everything about a “being a man” that Donald Trump couldn’t.
Even in firing Comey, Trump took the cowards way out, announcing it on TV instead of informing him personally, so that Comey found out as he addressed his FBI agents in Los Angeles. In his television show, “The Apprentice”, Trump fired people face to face: in real life he wasn’t “man” enough.
Sally Yates “manned up” to the risks that informing the White House about Michael Flynn obviously entailed. She then did an even more “manly” thing, she spoke truth to power, refusing to endorse the Trump travel ban (which has been confirmed by multiple courts, including the 9th and 4th Circuit Courts of Appeal.) For that she was sacked.
John Wayne played cowboys in Westerns. He established a character: slow to speak, slow to anger, powerful, compassionate, and was considered a “man’s man.” And while politically John Wayne represented a lot of conservative views I disagreed with, as an actor playing his role, John Wayne stood for rugged individualism, and for compassion, and for respect for women, and for being a man. That’s a role that Donald Trump just can’t play.
Trump’s defines manhood as an image, not a reality. His image of the “boss” with all of the trappings of the rich, misses what real men know: that a real man takes care of others and a real man values things greater than themselves. A real man is willing to dedicate his life to more than just himself: to serve others, his nation, his beliefs. A real man doesn’t even have to be a “man”, just a courageous, compassionate human. And certainly a real man is not a whining, bullying, pretender like Donald Trump.
