Abandoning Morality For Conservatism

SEVERAL WEEKS BEFORE THE ELECTION, the infamous recording of Donald Trump bragging about being able to sexually molest women without consequences because of his celebrity status seemed to destroy all possibility of his being elected president. But not so fast. Left out of the equation was the willingness of we the American people to overlook almost anything in pursuit of political gain. No matter how many women Trump had molested, he was still preferable to Hillary Clinton. Those who voted for him were able to hold their noses, look the other way, or conveniently dismiss the damaging recording as nothing other than typical male "locker room talk", a great insult to anyone who has ever spent time in a locker room. Those who have will tell you that far more likely in locker rooms are comments like "we need to play better defense in the second half", or "we really sucked tonight". When presented with the damning proof of self proclaimed sexually predatory behavior, Trump's first words were; "I promise to become a better man." As if this transfiguration could be achieved at the drop of a hat. Donald Trump did not at all consider his indecent behavior to be only talk. He accepted responsibility for his actions, and promised to reform himself. Then came the locker room alibi, into which Trump bought, and, as they say, the rest is history. Anyone who voted for him is arguably morally reprehensible,almost certainly morally compromised. And what about the first six months of his presidency? Where is the wall on the Mexican border? Has it even begun to appear? What about that irksome nuclear weapons deal with Iran? Any sign of it being abrogated? The Paris climate change accord? It seems that the cities and states are filling in for the absent federal government. We still await the repeal of Obamacare, and our wait may be long. No campaign promises fulfilled, yet. It may be that abandoning our moral values in favor of conservative ones was, in fact, a wasted effort.