Crass Class

He did it too! He said it first! -- Juvenile defense of misbehavior.

   If there had ever been any doubt, Donald Trump moved to the head of the crass class, prompting many GOP leaders to withdraw their support of the party's nominee for President of the United States, with several urging him to withdraw from the race.
   Trump, however, vowed, "I will never drop out."
   The current flap is over Trump's behavior toward women, and is based on release of a recording in which he bragged about his attempt to seduce a married woman and generally self-praising his ability to grab women in their private areas.
   "When you're a star, they let you do it," Trump said on the recording, obtained and published by the Washington Post on Friday.
   His defense is that the incident happened "a long time ago" -- it was 11 years ago -- and was merely "locker room banter" and should be forgotten.
Moreover, Trump pointed out that former President Bill Clinton also talked dirty about women, "and it was worse."
   But that alleged conversation supposedly took place on a golf course, outside, and there is no recording of it -- only Trump's report.
   Moreover, Trump pointed out that Bill Clinton was engaged in extra-marital affairs, implying that the former President's behavior somehow would excuse his own. However, the Bill Clinton episodes happened 20 years ago, even longer ago than the Trump incident. But if such behavior is inappropriate for a sitting President, it is even less appropriate for a candidate aspiring to that office. Mr. Clinton's actions while in office led to impeachment by the House of Representatives and trial in the Senate, but he was not convicted, nor was he removed from office, which is the sole Constitutional consequence of impeachment and conviction.
   More to the point, Bill Clinton is not now a candidate for the presidency, and since he already has served two terms, he is constitutionally prohibited from trying again.

   The initial fallout from the Trump revelations included these:
   -- Trump was disinvited from a campaign rally in Wisconsin Saturday.
   -- Mike Pence, his running mate, opted out of appearing at that rally and condemned the Trump comments.
   -- Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican and former presidential candidate, withdrew his support of Trump's candidacy.
   -- Republican Condoleezza Rice, a former Secretary of State, condemned the remarks.
   -- And a long roster of other Republican Party leaders also condemned the remarks and urged Trump to resign his candidacy.
   
   Meanwhile, Trump supporters continue to insist that news media are overstepping their coverage of Trump, and not giving enough coverage to allegations of misdeeds by Hillary Clinton, the current Democratic nominee and wife of former President Bill Clinton.
   This, however, illustrates the issue of "false equivalency," the idea that coverage of various issues should devote the same amount of print space and broadcast time to every issue affecting every candidate.
   Too often, however, news media have been guilty of that, seeking out comment from, for example, climate change deniers to balance reports by world scientists who cite reams of data detailing such changes. Typically, deniers point to snowfall in winter as proof that there is no such thing as climate change. But that confuses seasonal weather variations with overall measures of the climate.
   Another example would be extensively quoting remarks by an atheist to give "balance" to a report about religious celebrations in December.
  The claim that allegations against Hillary Clinton are equal to proven charges against Donald Trump is a false equivalency.