I'm working on a project with my friend, "S," that we were planning to get to right after the election. One of the reasons I'm not writing here so much these days is because I wanted to take the time to get back to it.
Last night, I was transcribing our conversation from what turned out to be a fateful night in mid-October...
J: My friend just texted me that Donald Trump did something else outrageous.
S: No, shocking.
J: Well, he’s been great the last 24 hours, let’s see what he’s up to.... Something with Billy Bush. He insulted another woman, apparently.
S: Oh, no, shocking.
J: Oh, this looks like something really good, actually. “The video that was leaked and obtained by the Washington Post, revealing a lewd and sexist conversation with Donald Trump and a former Access Hollywood host. That host, Billy Bush, deleted his Twitter account after it was released. Apparently, the pressure of knowing, of the world knowing what you really think about women was too much for Bush. It was a cowardly move for Bush, who so easily made comments about a woman being ‘hot-ass shit’ and enthusiastically responded to Trump after he bragged about his constant and incessant pursuit of women. Trump told Bush that because he’s a celebrity, he can do whatever he wants. Whether, that’s when Trump wants to grab women by the pussy… Trump said that! Wanting to grab women by the pussy. Or just kiss woman without asking or waiting for consent.
S: Mmmmm….
J: “It’s a disgusting way for men to even think about interacting with women that way, and hearing Trump and Bush saying these things out loud made the entire conversation as lewd as I’d feared. By deleting his Twitter account, it’s quite literally hiding from his problems, trying to evade accountability for his very sexist actions, he certainly was not shy about participating in a crude conversation about women’s bodies with Trump while he was on that Access Hollywood bus in 2005…” So it’s not really that long ago. “Seems things have changed, and he’s not quite as manly as he thought he was in that video.” Oh boy. THAT’S AWESOME.
S: That is just…
J: That is gonna stick.
S: I really want that to be true… but I don’t know...
J: Aside from the fact that Hillary jumped six points after the last debate…
S: (SIGHS)
J: She got this.
S: I wish more people would watch it.
J: She got this.
S: I couldn’t even watch it all in one shot.
J: I loved it.
S: She, like…
J: I loved it loved it loved it so much. She’s gonna crush him. I’m so excited about this. I can’t wait until Election Day. I just have to hear this clip, because I want to hear Trump say he’s grabbing someone by the pussy.
Yikes and more yikes. Well, that was the day it became OK to say "pussy" on the news. So that's something.