Double Standards- Alive and Well in the Age of Donald Trump
If a “double standard” was a sandwich at the West Wing Café (one of Washington DC’s best places to grab a sandwich and just two blocks from the U. S. Capitol), it would be a hands-down favorite for Democrats and their Republican collaborators in the House and Senate. The same holds true for their cohorts across the mainstream media, who apply a “double standard” with reckless abandon, especially when it comes to matters concerning inappropriate sexual behavior.
Take for instance the extremely broad leeway that politicians from both parties are giving former Vice President Joe Biden. For years there have been a multitude of memes concerning “Creepy Uncle Joe,” and there is ample evidence in the form of too many video clips to count that the former VP and longtime Senator from Delaware takes affection towards females of all ages to an unusual extreme.
“Oh, that’s just Joe being Joe…”
Isn’t that what we always hear whenever the former vice president puts his foot in his mouth or, not to mention, whenever his hands and face get a little too close to the ladies for comfort?
Imagine, just for a moment, that instead of Joe Biden being in all of those video clips, it was President Donald Trump. If you think that his recorded conversation with Billy Bush on the NBC show Access Hollywood from 2005 caused a stir in October of 2016, nothing would compare to the absolute outrage that would occur if Trump was the subject of all of the “Creepy Uncle Joe” memes and clips.
Why, Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate would immediately impeach President Trump if ever such videos of him were found, but strangely, they are willing to give Biden a pass.
Biden himself went on the air and tried to convince viewers that he now “get’s it” about the “changing standards of personal space,” or some such rot, and all of the media marveled at the man’s sincerity.
Yeah, right.
The only thing is that I don’t recall other past politicos being so habitually prone to such closeness, which seems to stretch beyond the comfort of the female recipient. Granted, Presidents Roosevelt, Kennedy and Clinton all had their extra-curricular relationships with women, but these dalliances were off-camera and went largely unreported by a sympathetic press.
Biden, on the other hand, has set off a cottage industry of “Creepy Uncle Joe” commentary and yet the “experts” and D.C. insiders all tell us to “get a grip” and, even in some cases, caution us about the sad passing of a time when demonstrable affection was once within the scope of acceptable behavior from politicians. Again, I am hard-pressed to think of another politician who sniffed the hair of women and routinely kissed them as though they were family members or even close friends.
Come to think about it, if I acted like Joe Biden at an intimate dinner party with my very closest of friends, I am almost certain that their husbands would be as put off with my behavior as my wife would doubtlessly be.
While no one is suggesting that Joe Biden’s behavior rises to the level of sexual assault, there is also little doubt that his seemingly-lecherous entreaties tend to be the habitual way he interacts with unsuspecting females, and his boorish behavior obviously places them ill-at-ease.
Biden’s excuse of “the changing standards of personal space” is not unlike the excuse that Democrat Virginia Governor Ralph Northam used when trying to rationalize a 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook photo of him in blackface. The Governor said that he was cognizant of the fact that “sensitivities concerning such depictions have changed since the time the photo was taken.”
I recall that a fraternity brother of mine once showed up at a 1979 costume party donning blackface, and he was told to leave and wash it off his face before returning, so obviously Northam’s explanation, like Biden’s, was a total crock of bulls*#t.
In neither case, did the offending politician ever offer an apology. Instead, they tried to side-step their behavior with pathetic rationalization and lame excuses. Being a Democrat, or any liberal, means never having to say you’re sorry. Apologies after all are only expected from Trump, his supporters (for even supporting him) and conservatives, in general.
Again, imagine the reaction if a photograph of Donald Trump wearing blackface ever surfaced…he’d already be out of office. Yet, Virginia Governor Northam will remain in office until his term runs out in January of 2021.
If that strikes a chord of outrage, consider the fact that Northam’s Democrat Lieutenant Governor, Justin Fairfax, remains in office despite two very credible and documented claims of sexual assault made by two different women concerning incidents that took place in the last decade.
So, while all of the mainstream media lectures us about giving Joe Biden some slack regarding his past behavior, it was President Donald Trump himself who, knowing all-too-well what accusations of personal misconduct can do, offered the best commentary directed towards the former Vice President:
“All I can say, is welcome to the world, Joe. Are you having a good time, Joe? Are you having a good time?”
President Trump should be so lucky to enjoy the allowances that are routinely given to “Creepy Uncle Joe.”
Then again, the double standards of political correctness is the very sandwich that is irresistible to politicians and pundits, alike.
-Drew Nickell, 4 April 2019
© 2019 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.
author of “Bending Your Ear- a Collection of Essays on the Issues of Our Times”
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