icon-email icon-facebook icon-linkedin icon-print icon-rss icon-search icon-stumbleupon icon-twitter icon-arrow-right icon-email icon-facebook icon-linkedin icon-print icon-rss icon-search icon-stumbleupon icon-twitter icon-arrow-right icon-user Skip to content
Senior Correspondent

Most of us are appalled at the continual reports of despicable conduct by American men, compounded by their effort to blame this irresponsible behavior on women. Face it guys, it is we, not women, who are the bad apples, and no effort to blame the victims is either helpful or honest.      

Recent revelations of how the wealthiest and most powerful among us believe they have a right to capitalize on the overwhelming prerogatives they think their position gives them is neither an excuse nor a justification. Harvey Weinstein is only one of the latest examples, preceding Bill Cosby, Bill O’Reilly and a handful of others who have been driven out of the shadows by scores of recently empowered women who are saying,  “No more! Enough is more than enough!”  

None of us are guiltless, even if our complicity amounts only in our failure to speak out. And who knows what any of us might do, if we could buy off anyone we needed to?

And what about those in whom we put the reputation and the survival of all that is America, and find out only later about their not too-well-hidden indiscretions — often covered only by sorry excuses such as “boys will be boys,” or “that’s just locker room talk.”

What we now know about John Kennedy and Bill Clinton has tarnished their images, even if we are convinced that whatever their involvement, it was consensual. What does consent really mean when the aggressor is overwhelmingly rich and powerful?

Hear again the boastful words of a man who believes himself to be the world’s most important person, and received the blessing of this nation codified in the constitutionally authorized judgment of the Electoral College. These boastful words were uttered out in the open for the world to hear — it did, and every one of us was cheapened by them.       

“I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn't get there, and she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she's now got the big phony tits and everything.

"I'm automatically attracted to beautiful [women] — I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything … Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”

If the successful candidate for president brags in this way, why should we criticize Roy Moore, and other powerful males, for taking the president seriously?

When someone comes along seeking to convince us that he exemplifies the best and noblest this nation has to offer and demonstrates his nobility from the gutter, what does this say about who we really are? While Trump’s gross male buffoonery may not qualify as either a high crime or a misdemeanor, it certainly is disgusting enough for the American people to seek a remedy.

The Republicans who got him elected should now be honor-bound enough to rid the country of this national disgrace. Thankfully, more women are rising up and saying so.

Come on, guys, pay attention to what women are saying, or get out of their way!

Stay Up to Date

Sign up for articles by Charles Bayer and other Senior Correspondents.

Latest Stories

Choosing Senior Living
Love Old Journalists

Our Mission

To amplify the voices of older adults for the good of society

Learn More