{"id":7124,"date":"2017-12-13T19:12:47","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T03:12:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=7124"},"modified":"2017-12-13T19:16:16","modified_gmt":"2017-12-14T03:16:16","slug":"usa-today-opinion-will-trumps-lows-ever-hit-rock-bottom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/12\/13\/usa-today-opinion-will-trumps-lows-ever-hit-rock-bottom\/","title":{"rendered":"USA Today Opinion:  Will Trump&#8217;s lows ever hit rock bottom?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"display-5 subhead spacer-small\">A president who&#8217;d all but call a senator a whore is unfit to clean toilets in Obama&#8217;s presidential library or to shine George W. Bush&#8217;s shoes: Our view<\/h2>\n<div id=\"bylineContainer\">\n<div id=\"infoContainer\">\n<p><span class=\"authors\">THE EDITORIAL BOARD<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">USA TODAY<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"publishDate\">Updated 6:12 a.m. PST Dec. 13, 2017<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"vid-container\">\n<div id=\"videoImage\" class=\"video-still on-top\">\n<div id=\"playIconWrap\" class=\"play-icon-wrap-outer\">\n<div class=\"play-icon-wrap-inner\">\n<div id=\"playIcon\" class=\"play-icon-container\">\n<div class=\"play-icon\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"container\" class=\"media-image-viewport imgLoaded\">\n<div class=\"media-image-wrapper\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"img\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-ip-\/\/https:\/\/media.gannett-cdn.com\/29906170001\/29906170001_5678216844001_5678213448001-vs.jpg?pubId=29906170001&amp;width=2560&amp;height=1440\" alt=\"White House Spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders flatly denied that President Donald Trump's tweet about NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was in any way sexist, insisting only people with their minds &quot;in the gutter&quot; would have read it that way. (Dec. 12)\" \/><em><span id=\"captionPartOne\" style=\"font-size: 16px;\">White House Spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders flatly denied that President Donald Trump&#8217;s tweet about NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was in any way sexist, insisting only<\/span><span id=\"ellieTheEllipsis\" style=\"font-size: 16px;\">\u00a0\u2026<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Show more\u00a0 \u00a0<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">AP<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>With his latest tweet, clearly implying that a United States senator would trade sexual favors for campaign cash,\u00a0President Trump has shown he is not fit for office. Rock bottom is\u00a0no impediment for a president who can always find room for a new low.<\/p>\n<div class=\"oembed-container\">\n<div class=\"SandboxRoot env-bp-350\" data-twitter-event-id=\"0\">\n<div id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"EmbeddedTweet EmbeddedTweet--edge js-clickToOpenTarget tweet-InformationCircle-widgetParent\" lang=\"en\" data-click-to-open-target=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realDonaldTrump\/status\/940567812053053441\" data-iframe-title=\"Twitter Tweet\" data-dt-full=\"%{hours12}:%{minutes} %{amPm} - %{day} %{month} %{year}\" data-dt-explicit-timestamp=\"5:03 AM - Dec 12, 2017\" data-dt-months=\"Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep|Oct|Nov|Dec\" data-dt-am=\"AM\" data-dt-pm=\"PM\" data-dt-now=\"now\" data-dt-s=\"s\" data-dt-m=\"m\" data-dt-h=\"h\" data-dt-second=\"second\" data-dt-seconds=\"seconds\" data-dt-minute=\"minute\" data-dt-minutes=\"minutes\" data-dt-hour=\"hour\" data-dt-hours=\"hours\" data-dt-abbr=\"%{number}%{symbol}\" data-dt-short=\"%{day} %{month}\" data-dt-long=\"%{day} %{month} %{year}\" data-scribe=\"page:tweet\" data-twitter-event-id=\"1\">\n<div class=\"EmbeddedTweet-tweet\">\n<blockquote class=\"Tweet h-entry js-tweetIdInfo subject expanded is-deciderHtmlWhitespace\" cite=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realDonaldTrump\/status\/940567812053053441\" data-tweet-id=\"940567812053053441\" data-scribe=\"section:subject\">\n<div class=\"Tweet-header u-cf\">\n<div class=\"TweetAuthor js-inViewportScribingTarget\" data-scribe=\"component:author\">\n<p><a class=\"TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realDonaldTrump\" data-scribe=\"element:user_link\" aria-label=\"Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)\"><span class=\"TweetAuthor-avatar Identity-avatar\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Avatar Avatar--edge\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/874276197357596672\/kUuht00m_normal.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-scribe=\"element:avatar\" data-src-2x=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/874276197357596672\/kUuht00m_bigger.jpg\" data-src-1x=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/874276197357596672\/kUuht00m_normal.jpg\" \/><\/span><span class=\"TweetAuthor-decoratedName\"><span class=\"TweetAuthor-name Identity-name customisable-highlight\" title=\"Donald J. Trump\" data-scribe=\"element:name\">Donald J. Trump<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realDonaldTrump\" data-scribe=\"element:user_link\" aria-label=\"Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)\"><span class=\"TweetAuthor-decoratedName\"><span class=\"TweetAuthor-verifiedBadge\" data-scribe=\"element:verified_badge\"><b class=\"u-hiddenVisually\">&#x2714;<\/b><\/span><\/span><span class=\"TweetAuthor-screenName Identity-screenName\" dir=\"ltr\" title=\"@realDonaldTrump\" data-scribe=\"element:screen_name\">@realDonaldTrump<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Tweet-body e-entry-content\" data-scribe=\"component:tweet\">\n<p class=\"Tweet-text e-entry-title\" dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Lightweight Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a total flunky for Chuck Schumer and someone who would come to my office \u201cbegging\u201d for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them), is now in the ring fighting against Trump. Very disloyal to Bill &amp; Crooked-USED!<\/p>\n<div class=\"Tweet-metadata dateline\"><a class=\"u-linkBlend u-url customisable-highlight long-permalink\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realDonaldTrump\/status\/940567812053053441\" data-datetime=\"2017-12-12T13:03:35+0000\" data-scribe=\"element:full_timestamp\"><time class=\"dt-updated\" title=\"Time posted: December 12, 2017 13:03:35 (UTC)\" datetime=\"2017-12-12T13:03:35+0000\">5:03 AM &#8211; Dec 12, 2017<\/time><\/a><\/div>\n<ul class=\"Tweet-actions\" role=\"menu\" data-scribe=\"component:actions\" aria-label=\"Tweet actions\">\n<li class=\"Tweet-action\">\n<div class=\"Icon Icon--reply TweetAction-icon Icon--replyEdge\" title=\"Reply\" role=\"img\" aria-label=\"Reply\">\u00a0<a class=\"TweetAction TweetAction--replyEdge web-intent\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?in_reply_to=940567812053053441\" data-scribe=\"element:reply\">\u00a0<span class=\"TweetAction-stat\" data-scribe=\"element:reply_count\" aria-hidden=\"true\">83,323<\/span><span class=\"u-hiddenVisually\">83,323 Replies<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"Tweet-action\">\n<div class=\"Icon Icon--retweet TweetAction-icon Icon--retweetEdge\" title=\"Retweet\" role=\"img\" aria-label=\"Retweet\">\u00a0<a class=\"TweetAction TweetAction--retweetEdge web-intent\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/retweet?tweet_id=940567812053053441\" data-scribe=\"element:retweet\">\u00a0<span class=\"TweetAction-stat\" data-scribe=\"element:retweet_count\" aria-hidden=\"true\">22,904<\/span><span class=\"u-hiddenVisually\">22,904 Retweets<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"Tweet-action\">\n<div class=\"Icon Icon--heart TweetAction-icon Icon--heartEdge\" title=\"Like\" role=\"img\" aria-label=\"Like\">\u00a0<a class=\"TweetAction TweetAction--heartEdge web-intent\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/like?tweet_id=940567812053053441\" data-scribe=\"element:heart\"><span class=\"TweetAction-stat\" data-scribe=\"element:heart_count\" aria-hidden=\"true\">84,508<\/span><span class=\"u-hiddenVisually\">84,508 likes<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>White House spokeswoman\u00a0Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday\u00a0dismissed the president&#8217;s smear as a misunderstanding because he used similar language about men. Of course, words used about men and women are different. When candidate Trump said a journalist was bleeding from her &#8220;wherever,&#8221; he didn&#8217;t mean her nose.<\/p>\n<div id=\"container\" class=\"media-image-viewport imgLoaded\">\n<div class=\"media-image-wrapper\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"img\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/340e65fd0641590c90767df85c7bf52a85836872\/c=221-237-699-596\/local\/-\/media\/2017\/12\/12\/USATODAY\/USATODAY\/636487036466435522-OURVIEW-2-.JPG?width=2560\" alt=\"President Trump viewed through a lens in Pensacola,\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"placeholder\" class=\"faded-out\"><em><span id=\"captionPartOne\">President Trump viewed through a lens in Pensacola, Fla., on Dec. 8, 2017.<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"caption\" class=\"inline open\">\n<div class=\"media-image-credit\"><em>GREGG PACHKOWSKI, PENSACOLA (FLA.) NEWS JOURNAL<\/em><\/p>\n<p>And as is the case with all of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.trumptwitterarchive.com\/archive\">Trump&#8217;s digital provocations<\/a>, the president&#8217;s words were deliberate. He pours the gasoline of sexist language and lights the match gleefully knowing how it will burst into flame in a country reeling from the #MeToo moment.A president who would all but call Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand a whore is not fit to clean the toilets in the Barack Obama Presidential Library or to shine the shoes of George W. Bush.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t about the policy differences we have with all presidents or our\u00a0disappointment in some of their decisions. Obama and Bush both failed in many ways. They broke promises and told untruths, but the\u00a0basic decency of each man was never in doubt.<\/p>\n<p>Donald Trump, the man, on the other hand,\u00a0is uniquely awful. His sickening behavior is corrosive to the enterprise of a shared governance based on common values and the consent of the governed.<\/p>\n<p>It should surprise no one how low he went with Gillibrand. When accused during the campaign of sexually harassing or molesting women in the past, Trump\u2019s response was to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/post-politics\/wp\/2016\/10\/14\/trump-mocks-sexual-assault-accuser-she-would-not-be-my-first-choice\/?utm_term=.5d3f5fea63ce\">belittle the looks of his accusers<\/a>. Last October,\u00a0Trump suggested that he never would have groped Jessica Leeds on an airplane decades ago:\u00a0\u201cBelieve me, she would not be my first choice, that I can tell you.\u201d Trump mocked another accuser, former\u00a0<em>People<\/em>\u00a0reporter Natasha Stoynoff, \u201cCheck out her Facebook, you\u2019ll understand.\u201d\u00a0 Other celebrities and politicians have denied accusations, but none has stooped as low as suggesting that their accusers weren\u2019t attractive enough to be honored with their gropes.<\/p>\n<p>If recent history is any guide, the unique awfulness of the Trump era in U.S. politics is only going to get worse. Trump\u2019s utter lack of morality, ethics\u00a0and simple humanity\u00a0has been underscored during his 11 months in office. Let us count the ways:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He is enthusiastically supporting Alabama&#8217;s Republican Senate candidate\u00a0Roy Moore, who has been accused of pursuing \u2014\u00a0and in one case molesting and in another assaulting \u2014 teenagers as young as 14\u00a0when Moore was a county prosecutor in his 30s. On Tuesday, Trump summed up his willingness to support a man accused of criminal conduct: \u201cRoy Moore will always vote with us.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Trump apparently is going for some sort of record for lying while in office. As of mid-November, he had made\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/fact-checker\/wp\/2017\/11\/14\/president-trump-has-made-1628-false-or-misleading-claims-over-298-days\/?utm_term=.a4c9fd7ca03b\">1,628 misleading or false statements<\/a>in 298 days in office. That\u2019s 5.5 false claims per day, according to a count kept by\u00a0<em>The Washington Post<\/em>\u2019s fact-checkers.<\/li>\n<li>Trump takes advantage of any occasion \u2014\u00a0even Monday\u2019s failed terrorist attack in New York\u00a0\u2014\u00a0to stir racial, religious or ethnic strife. Congress \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/the-press-office\/2017\/12\/11\/statement-president-donald-j-trump-regarding-todays-attack-new-york-city\">must end chain migration<\/a>,\u201d he said Monday, because the terror suspect \u201centered our country through extended-family chain migration, which is incompatible with national security.\u201d So because one man \u2014\u00a027-year-old\u00a0Akayed Ullah,\u00a0a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. who came from Bangladesh on a family immigrant visa in 2011\u00a0\u2014\u00a0 is accused of attacking America, all immigrants brought to this country by family are suspect? Trump might have some credibility if his criticism of immigrants was solely about terrorists. It isn\u2019t.\u00a0\u00a0It makes no difference to him if an immigrant is a terrorist or a federal judge. He once smeared an Indiana-born judge whose parents\u00a0emigrated from Mexico. It\u2019s all the same to this president.<\/li>\n<li>A man who clearly wants to put his stamp on the government, Trump hasn\u2019t even done his job when it comes to filling key government positions that require Senate confirmation. As of last week, Trump had\u00a0failed to nominate anyone for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/issues\/presidential-transition\/political-appointee-tracker.php\">60% of 1,200 key positions<\/a>\u00a0he can fill to keep the government running smoothly.<\/li>\n<li>Trump has shown contempt for ethical strictures that have bound every president in recent memory. \u00a0He has refused to release his tax returns, with the absurd excuse that it\u2019s because he is under audit.\u00a0 He has refused to put his multibillion dollar business interests in a blind trust and peddles the fiction that putting them in the hands of his sons does the same thing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Not to mention\u00a0calling white supremacists &#8220;very fine people,&#8221; pardoning a lawless sheriff, firing a respected FBI director, and\u00a0pushing the Justice Department to investigate his political foes.<\/p>\n<p>It is a shock that only\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2017\/12\/12\/trump-sexist-tweet-sen-gillibrand-sparks-mini-rebellion-among-women-senators\/944337001\/\">six Democratic senators<\/a>\u00a0are calling for our unstable president to resign.<\/p>\n<p>The nation doesn\u2019t seek nor expect perfect presidents, and some have certainly been deeply flawed. But a president who shows such disrespect for the truth, for ethics, for the basic duties of the job and for decency toward others fails at the very essence of what has always made America great.<\/p>\n<div class=\"oembed-container\">\n<div class=\"oembed-frame\">\n<div align=\"left\">\n<p><i>USA TODAY&#8217;s editorial opinions are decided by its\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/reporters\/opinion.html\">Editorial Board<\/a>, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view \u2014 a unique USA TODAY feature.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>To read more editorials, go to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/opinion\/\">Opinion front page<\/a>\u00a0or sign up for the daily\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/pages.exacttarget.com\/page.aspx?QS=773ed3059447707d62aef27228b4452f30591b15f59f7ef02faa10c566f4d72a\">Opinion email newsletter<\/a>. To respond to this editorial, submit a comment to\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:letters@usatoday.com\">letters@usatoday.com<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Originally Published 4:30 p.m. PST Dec. 12, 2017<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A president who&#8217;d all but call a senator a whore is unfit to clean toilets in Obama&#8217;s presidential library or to shine George W. Bush&#8217;s shoes: Our view THE EDITORIAL BOARD\u00a0|\u00a0USA TODAY Updated 6:12 a.m. PST Dec. 13, 2017 White House Spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders flatly denied that President Donald&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/12\/13\/usa-today-opinion-will-trumps-lows-ever-hit-rock-bottom\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7124"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7124"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7128,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7124\/revisions\/7128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}