Keeping it in perspective<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Michael Flynn echoes what I, and many others, have been saying. \u00a0 The media is in full hysterics mode with the Trump revelations at this point. \u00a0It's 24\/7\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2016\/10\/keeping-it-in-perspective-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Keeping it in perspective\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Michael Flynn echoes what I, and many others, have been saying. \u00a0 The media is in full hysterics mode with the Trump revelations at this point. \u00a0It's 24\/7\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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{"id":6831,"date":"2016-10-17T18:45:50","date_gmt":"2016-10-17T22:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/?p=6831"},"modified":"2016-10-17T10:47:51","modified_gmt":"2016-10-17T14:47:51","slug":"keeping-it-in-perspective-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2016\/10\/keeping-it-in-perspective-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Keeping it in perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Michael Flynn echoes what I, and many others, have been saying<\/a>. \u00a0 The media is in full hysterics mode with the Trump revelations at this point. \u00a0It\u2019s 24\/7 round the clock coverage. \u00a0Which it was in the late 90s. \u00a0 It\u2019s just that, by the fourth phase of the Lewinsky scandal, the coverage centered on convincing us that if it had to do with sex, it was no big deal. \u00a0Even subtly slipping the topic of sexual assault into the mix, we learned that everyone has affairs, everyone lies about it, everyone commits perjury and you just can\u2019t get upset when women who are obviously lying because they\u2019ve whored themselves up to the GOP try to convince us otherwise. \u00a0Who cares what a guy did in the past, in the bedroom or below the waistline? \u00a0It has nothing to do with his job as president.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to now. \u00a0Suddenly it has everything to do with the job of president. \u00a0And many of the same who preached the moral vacuum of sexual ethics in the 90s are leading a crusade based on Trump\u2019s sexual behavior that would shame Peter the Hermit. \u00a0But here is the issue. \u00a0On the other side, those who were appalled at the sudden dismissal of ethics and morals in the 90s, who were outraged that we should dismiss values and truth for political expediency, are now saying we should do the same for Trump. \u00a0Some of those saying that his morals and his treatment of women are\u00a0irrelevant condemned the same 20 years ago.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how politics works. \u00a0In politics, it\u2019s always politically expedient to accuse the other side of playing politics. \u00a0 Of course in politics that extends to anything. \u00a0If you can make wearing a tie into the most horrific scandal because the other guy did it, and turn it around and make it a boon when your guy does it, all the better. \u00a0And since almost nobody believes the media is impartial in its coverage, we shouldn\u2019t be shocked that the media sounds a lot like political pundits, insisting in the late 90s that Chelsea should be left alone since the kids are off limits, while insisting in 2008 that the press always goes after politicians\u2019 kids the way they\u2019re going after Palin\u2019s kids. \u00a0 Insisting that sexual morals and accusations of sexual assault are the most important topics imaginable, after having said the opposite within my sons\u2019 lifetimes. It\u2019s what politician and surrogates do. \u00a0It\u2019s not about truth or values. It\u2019s about winning.<\/p>\n

But in the real world it can\u2019t be that way. If it is true today, we should expect it to be true tomorrow. \u00a0If leaving politicians\u2019 kids alone is right today, it\u2019s right tomorrow. \u00a0 If sexual morality is important today, then it\u2019s important tomorrow. \u00a0If our votes do count or our modern approach to sexual morality is problematic today, then the same should be true tomorrow.<\/p>\n

There are many reasons I won\u2019t support Trump, his treatment of people being one of them. \u00a0And that includes, but is not limited to, his treatment of women. \u00a0For the same reason, I will never have regard for Bill Clinton or his administration. \u00a0Even if I agreed with some of Clinton\u2019s policies, that doesn\u2019t matter. \u00a0He alone among modern presidents dragged the dialogue down near the level we\u2019re seeing with Trump today. \u00a0Some could argue it was him and his campaign that started it all. \u00a0Just because the same people condemning Trump now were behind Clinton then doesn\u2019t matter. \u00a0If we want a country of values, then the last thing we can do is follow the political approach to establishing them. \u00a0Because in the world of\u00a0politics, truth and values are here today, gone later today. \u00a0Good for politics, bad for society.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"