He said he could “grab them by the pussy.”
He said he could do anything.
He said, “When you’re a star, they let you do it.”
Some people said it was just talk.
Some people said it was just a joke.
Some people said boys will be boys.
But he was not a boy.
He was fifty-nine.
What if everybody said that?
He said he could walk backstage while women were changing.
He said, “I sort of get away with things like that.”
He said it was because he owned the pageant.
Some people laughed.
Some people shrugged.
Some people said fame was different.
But fame is not consent.
A closed door is still a closed door.
What if everybody did that?
A jury found him liable for sexual abuse.
A jury found him liable for defamation.
He called it fake.
Some people said it did not matter.
Some people said it was civil, not criminal.
Some people said they cared about eggs.
But a verdict is not gossip.
A jury is not a rumor.
What if everybody did that?
He said he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody.
He said he would not lose any voters.
People laughed.
Some people called it confidence.
Some people called it loyalty.
Some people called it a joke.
But he was saying the rules did not apply to him.
And people agreed.
What if everybody did that?
He lost an election.
Then he said he won.
He called officials weak.
Some people counted.
Some people certified.
Some people told him the truth.
But he still made the call.
He said, “I just want to find 11,780 votes.”
What if everybody said that?
He said John McCain was “not a war hero.”
He said, “I like people who weren’t captured.”
Some people laughed.
Some people said McCain deserved it.
Some people said Trump was punching back.
But McCain had been a prisoner of war.
He had been beaten and tortured.
And the man mocking him had avoided the war.
What if everybody did that?
A disabled reporter challenged his story.
Trump stood before a crowd and flailed his arms.
He twisted his body and changed his voice.
Some people laughed.
Some people said he was not mocking him.
Some people said everyone was too sensitive.
But the crowd understood the joke.
And the cruelty was loud and clear.
What if everybody did that?
He called women “dogs.”
He called women “pigs.”
He called women “slobs.”
Some people laughed.
Some people called it honesty.
Some people said women say mean things too.
But this was not honesty.
It was the leader of the free world being cruel.
What if everybody said that?
He called the press “the enemy of the people.”
Some people said the media deserved it.
Some people said reporters were corrupt.
Some people said he was fighting back.
But free countries need witnesses.
They need questions.
They need records.
They need someone to say, “That happened.”
What if everybody did that?
He said they were bringing drugs.
He said they were bringing crime.
He said they were rapists.
Some people said he meant the border.
Some people said he meant criminals.
Some people said he said “some are good people.”
But suspicion can create stereotypes.
And a whole people are not a threat.
What if everybody said that?
But then one person did not laugh.
One person did not shrug.
One person did not say,
“That is just how he talks.”
One person said,
“No.”
Then another person said it.
Then another.
And suddenly,
there was no audience.
No laughter.
No excuse.
No place for it to hide.
What if everybody did that?
Everybody should.
(Thanks to Ellen Javernick, for a truly remarkable children’s book about actions and accountability; and for the inspiration.)
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