This turned up on my Facebook feed this morning.
Nice.
Among the dozens of immediately likes, “hearts” and LOL emogis, right at the top, was the name of a long-time dear friend, usually wise, kind, and rational, a religious woman who believes in the Golden Rule. But she is hopelessly Trump Deranged, so all of those qualities go AWOL when the President is the topic.
I thought a lot of the attacks on Michelle Obama from the Right were vicious and indefensible, but her conduct was being criticized on its own terms rather than simply consisting or contempt for having the bad taste to marry Barack. Michell also kicked the bees nest more than any previous First Lady and had more than her share of well-earned ridicule…
….but no First Lady has ever been savaged like Melania. (Rachel Jackson’s treatment by her husband’s opponents was the closest.)
If she were not a public figure, a public statement that Melania was a sex worker would be per se defamation. But she’s the President’s wife, and apparently even to good Christians when they are Trump Deranged, Melania is fair game, just as David Letterman (who is scum, in case you have forgotten) thought it appropriate to suggest on national television in 2009 that Sarah Palin’s 14-year-old daughter had sexual relations with Alex Rodriguez, the Yankee All-Star steroid cheat.
Please get well soon, my friend.
Ethics Alarms 
What?
“Melania is [considered to be] fair game, just as David Letterman (who is scum, in case you have forgotten) thought it appropriate to suggest on national television in 2009 that Sarah Palin’s 14-year-old daughter had sexual relations with Alex Rodriguez, the Yankee All-Star steroid cheat.”
If there is something more then a tenuous connection between that FB post about Melania and the Letterman quote, then you should make that clear. If there is not, as I suspect, then that comparison should have been omitted.
Okay, I’m a dumbass as has been pointed out (alleged?) here, but, most of the readers and commenters here are literate enough that an analogy from long in the past is unnecessary. The post can be dissected without that, if such dissection even is needed.
I have a dear relative who is attracted to any and everything negative about Trump so she can attract likes and angry faces. “This turned up on my Facebook feed” smacks of the same thing, but from the opposite direction. The approach seems to be, ‘Let’s see, did someone say something bad [good] about Trump or a family member, and how can I use that as a further example of TDS [how Trump is evil].
There is a concept that anger can be addictive, that it engages the same brain reaction as a number of addictive substances. This is where the supposed ‘duty to confront’ seems to create more problems than it solves. If the confrontation produces nothing more than anger, it seems to be counterproductive. Here, will the FB poster see this on Ethics Alarms and recognize their ethical failure? Doubtful. Would direct confrontation make any difference? Also doubtful.
On a routine basis, I see many posts and comments that I find disagreeable. I slide on by those, look for more thoughtful posts that help me overcome my tendency toward dumbassery, and fairly quickly conclude my allotted FB time of about 3 minutes per day.
As to that dear relative, I do a FB search periodically to see if there is something worthwhile about nieces, nephews, grandkids, and so on. But, turning off that ‘follow’ thing and ignoring superficial gratuitous posts has saved me from a lot of addictive anger.
“I slide on by those, look for more thoughtful posts that help me overcome my tendency toward dumbassery, and fairly quickly conclude my allotted FB time of about 3 minutes per day.”
FWIW, that’s three (3) minutes more than I’ve ever spent, there.
PWS
I don’t understand that you don’t understand. Letterman, who hated Palin, implied that her 14 year old was having sexual relations with a baseball player. The meme attacks Melania as a prostitute because she is married to someone whom the maker hates. Analogy: false sexual allegations against family members who have literally done nothing to justify it. Was that so hard?
Call Trump a con artist? Fine. Lazy, but goes with the territory. Call his wife a whore? Over the line.
Sorry I wasn’t clear enough. I just didn’t think an analogy was needed at all. Here, it seems like a gratuitous slam on Letterman.
““This turned up on my Facebook feed” smacks of the same thing, but from the opposite direction.”
Good observation! It is in line with my own observations (which, of course, inspires me to think it good!). My take:
Trump Derangement Syndrome comes in various flavors and levels.
I would distinguish between two forms of “primary” TDS:
1a: obsession characterized by negative emotionality
1b: obsession characterized by positive emotionality.
Those exhibiting form 1a are a constant focus of this blog (my mother qualifies!); those who have spent their lives following Trump around clothed from head to foot in Trump “merch” and have spent money they can’t afford on all manner of Trumpian “products” exemplify 1b.
The constant focus of this blog (have there been three consecutive days without a siingle mention of TDS? Perhaps? That would be a good sign) on 1a sufferers is a *possible* symptom of what I would call “secondary” TDS:
2a: obsession with tracking, attacking, denoouncing etc. those exhibiting form 1a (or it might simply be a stimulus/response effect of such posts getting lots of engagement of a community that also has some symptoms of 2a).
2b: obsession with tracking and attacking those exhibiting form 1b (several comics do this but it’s not necessarily evidence of 1b — making fun of easily ridiculed behavior is actually their day job).
This notion of primary and secondary aligns (in a general way) with other primary and secondary impacts of toxic addictions/obsessions. Hence we have the primary affliction of addiction, and also the secondary affliction of those in the blast radius who are trying to cope with primary sufferers.
May all those afflicted find a way past their troubles.
I anticipate a general easing of ALL symptoms once we transition to replacement POTUS JD, the primary driver of all of this disruption (both political and emotional) recedes into history, and attention shifts to managing the aftermath.
We live in interesting times, for sure!
I agree with you.
Remember when a librarian rejected Mrs. Trump’s gift of Suess books and added insult to injury by proclaiming that the good doctor was racist?
Remember when Mrs. Trump’s Christmas decorations were panned and the song “Edelweiss” was deliberately interpreted to be Nazi-inspired because it was the ironic theme song of “The Man in the High Castle” (which Trump probably hasn’t seen) as opposed to it being a charming folk tune from “The Sound of Music” (which he probably has)?
This is just an escalation.
And that sex worker begat … Angelina Jolie! And Jon Voight became a clear-thinking conservative in, of all places, Hollywood.
I had no idea what “Midnight Cowboy” was about watching it in the theater as a sheltered sixteen-year-old. I also think I thought all movies were documentaries and simply followed people around … until the last scene of “Cowboy” popped up on the screen wherein Ratzo Rizzo is supposed to be approaching Miami on a Greyhound or Trailways bus and, because I lived in Miami I could tell, the bus in the movie was not heading south to Miami but actually driving across the MacArthur Causeway from Miami to Miami Beach so a helicopter shot could be used. Which made me think, “What the heck?” Boy, was I ever a dope. It’s funny how unevenly many of us mature and come of age.