Men failed women this election
As an educated, straight, white man, I have had the benefit of opposing Donald Trump’s candidacy from a comfortable distance, making my case on empirical evidence and intellectual principles.
I became dumbfounded by a sense of this privilege, however, the day that Trump introduced domestic violence into my home. Following the “grab them by the pussy” incident, my wife, emotionally deflated and verging on tears, helped me realize that as a man I get to hear his comments and be outraged. That is my privilege. But as a woman she does not just hear his words, she feels them. “I felt his hands groping me,” she told me.
Trump is a sexual predator who is moving into the most American of houses, the White House. To be clear, the validation of Trump’s abusive, marauding attitude toward woman is a national-level act of domestic violence. There is, perhaps, no better analogy for our national circumstance than the awkward creepiness of the second, presidential debate. Like Hillary Clinton that night, every American woman now has a leering, glaring pervert at their backs, looming over them. For the next four years, with every press conference, radio address or televised interview, my wife and women across the nation will feel his slimy, groping presence on them again.
I feel most ashamed that the polling data indicates that my demographic — the white man — legitimized this degenerate, perpetrating an electoral act of abuse against the women of our country. Men, we failed. We should feel humiliated.
Jeremy Robichaud
Orrington
Democrats can learn from Italy
Gwynne Dyer’s column on Italy’s referendum accurately describes the Five Star Movement in Italy as part of a wave of anti-status quo, populist uprisings. These have resulted in the Brexit vote in England and the rise of Trumpism in the United States.
I am a frequent traveler to Italy and a follower of its political scene. One thing was not made clear by Dyer: the Five Star Movement is not another movement on the political right, but it is a progressive campaign that aims to transform Italian politics and Italy. It has energized much of the country, especially those under 40 like Bernie Sanders’ campaign did here.
The “five stars” relate to preservation of water (privatization of water resources is a big issue in Italy), preservation of the environment, universal internet access (much as electricity is available to everyone), investment in small and local business (rather than big business) and investment in infrastructure and transportation not dependent on fossil fuels. The new five star mayor of Rome, 38-year-old Virginia Raggi, has already acted on this platform by turning down a bid for the 2024 Olympics and instead rolling out the first of 150 new buses for the city.
The Italians indeed have said no to the way things are, but they are excited about the way things could be. Perhaps it’s a lesson for the Democratic Party to identify less with its various constituent groups and focus on a progressive platform that can gather wide support.
David P. Frasz
Dover-Foxcroft
Trump’s fools
“Hain’t we got all the fools in this town on our side? And ain’t that a big enough majority in any town?” Mark Twain wrote in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” The election seems to have borne that out.
In my 80-plus years, I have observed some 17 presidential elections. Until now, I found only minor faults with most candidates. But the 2016 victor is rightly described by Twain.
And what was said of an earlier candidate would fit Donald Trump, “He has an answer for everything and a solution to nothing.” If he has any solutions to the nation’s ills, he keeps them concealed from the public disclosure.
On a positive note, maybe Trump will pick Gov. Paul LePage for some obscure office in Washington. They belong together, and the state would somehow survive intact.
Donald Grant
Stetson