Trump is a Power Predator!

I start this week with a housekeeping item. Just so we're clear, I write an “opinion” column for this newspaper. It says so each week at the bottom of the column. And just in case you don't read small print, I named my column “Unfair and Unbalanced” just to assure there would be no misunderstanding of the nature of my column. Now that we have that out of the way.......

MEN, JUST skip over this next “opinion”. Unless you have ever worn a dress, you may not understand what I'm saying. Or, you may want to read it and then discuss it with your wife, mother, grown daughter, or sister.

LADIES, WHILE driving back from vacation last week, I listened to former FBI Director James Comey's testimony on XM-Radio. From the audio, I detected an awkwardness and shame in his voice. I got the distinct feeling I had heard stories like that before. It wasn't until I arrived home and was able to see Comey's face as he testified to various encounters with Trump, I started to understand. James Comey was the victim of a predator. Not the sexual predator we, as women, have either experienced or from stories heard from our girlfriends or female co-workers. A power predator. But make no mistake about it, the exact tactics were employed and nearly all women will recognize these tactics as something they experienced or that was confided to them by a friend.

IN A WORKPLACE setting where it's easy for a predator to thrive, the predator tells you what a great job you're doing repeatedly. Then they get you alone. The predator then requests you to do something, veiled in such language that the predator has deniability but you, as a woman, know exactly what was meant by that language. You are stunned! You stumble out trying to keep your composure. You ask yourself, “What just happened?” You know this is a “he said, she said” conversation but why would anyone believe you over the boss? In Comey's situation, he was dealing with the President of the United States, the biggest boss of bosses. Comey knew when he heard the words “I hope you will let this thing go with General Flynn,” exactly what this power predator was asking him to do. Trump did not say, “let it go.” He said, “I hope.” As a life-long predator, Trump knew exactly what to say to maintain deniability.

THE MOST solid evidence I have that Comey was a victim of a predator was when he testified he told Attorney General Sessions to “never leave me alone with that man.” I recall two occasions over my working career when a co-worker made that same statement to me about her boss. I knew exactly the implication of what she was saying. In Comey's case, he knew the exact implication of what Trump was telling him.

JUST AS when a woman makes an allegation of sexual harassment, Comey was subjected to the same questions regarding his encounter with this power predator, “Why didn't you confront him?” “Why didn't you go to your boss?” It's easy to say what you'd do in this situation, but you don't know what you'd do unless you're confronted with it. This is all part of demonizing the victim and standard procedure by protectors of the predator.

LADIES, DOES this all sound familiar to you? If so, explain it to the men in your life.

SO WHO are you to believe? The man who has spent his life exhibiting the highest integrity, or the man who bragged you can be a predator if you are a star, created a fraudulent University to bilk innocent people, and one who seems to lie easier than tell the truth?

THE MOST recent lie Trump and his cronies have told is that he has been vindicated. No, he has not! This entire storm is far from being over. The way in which Comey handled his encounter with Trump assured us of having a Special Prosecutor who is immune to Trump's power predator behavior. There is so much more we need to know. We have lost sight of what this is really all about--the interference of our democratic elections by Russia. We at least need to find out why Trump and Putin have such a bromance going on.

A SPECIAL Prosecutor does not have boundaries of what he can investigate. You may get answers to questions you never thought about. He is not limited to collusion or the “Flynn thing.” An investigation can take a Special Prosecutor anywhere. Just ask Bill Clinton. He didn't even know Monica Lowinski when his investigation began. In fact, most people do not remember what the initial investigation was about.

WHAT'S UP with the gnats? I thought we lived above an invisible line that gnats wouldn't cross. On Friday at the Farmer's Market on the square, I thought I would have to cut a hole in the seat of my pants to keep them out of my face!