Oct 7, 2018 3 min read

I would be willing to wager that in our modern times we have never had a more insensitive, brutish, bullying, tone-deaf, boorish and insulting person who has been elected president as Donald J. Trump. As his most recent Twitter attack upon Christine Blasey Ford clearly shows, he knows absolutely nothing about the intense pain, suffering and anguish women endure for decades after they have been sexually attacked, usually by a man in an unrestrained, alcohol-fueled state of brutality, being devoid of any respect for human decency. Volumes of psychological studies have been written that support the facts that victims of sexual attacks are traumatized to near mental paralysis for extended periods of their lives. The wounds are unbelievably deep, and are usually suppressed because of intense feelings of shame, fear, humiliation, anger, distrust of authority and a loathing for the attacker. This suppression of emotions has been shown to be the very reason victims rarely report sexual attacks. The scars get buried deeply, but at much later times, they burst forth in painful recollections, resurrecting the trauma and intense mental anguish.

For Trump to insinuate that Ford’s alleged attack “could not have been as bad as she has claimed” is evidence of his twisted misunderstanding of sexual assaults upon those who usually cannot adequately defend themselves. What should we reasonably expect from a person who boasted that grabbing a woman by her genitals is a male right of acceptable behavior, especially if the man is rich and famous? Those who have followed the political scene have witnessed a plethora of examples of his misogyny and his derogatory, demeaning and insulting remarks directed at women.

I am completely stunned when I see women at his rallies holding up “”Women for Trump” placards or adorning themselves with his MAGA apparel. What can any thinking person reasonably deduce from this? Do they approve, advocate, rationalize, excuse or enjoy seeing other women being demeaned and degraded at his any whim? Could this be the exact way they want to be treated by all men in their lives? Is this the position, in our society, of which they believe women are only worthy? It has become absolutely bewildering to witness so many women, apparently and willingly, surrendering to his degradation while gleefully cheering on the oppressor.

I have always seen our women voters as those who cast their ballots for the benefit of hearth and home, with careful consideration for prudence, fairness and integrity. I will never understand what viral virus has attacked and infected the good sense of his female supporters, who joyously celebrate a woman abuser like Trump!

Ronald J. Yamka

Canonsburg