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When Manliness Goes Missing
Townhall.com ^ | February 24, 2016 | Ben Shapiro

Posted on 02/24/2016 6:58:08 AM PST by Kaslin

By most available information, Donald Trump will win the Republican nomination. He's not a conservative in any meaningful sense -- he shifts his positions at whim, preaches about the worth of big government and suggests that he will personally "win for America." But after eight years of Barack Obama's passive-aggressive emasculation of Americans, many conservatives have embraced Trump because of his unbridled masculinity. He's Joe Pesci in "Goodfellas": a toxic dude who's fun to watch, but who might occasionally shoot somebody just for the hell of it. On Fifth Avenue, apparently. And receive plaudits from his followers.

This is the natural effect of the unmanning of American politics.

Obama told Americans for years on end that they were racist, sexist, bigoted homophobes who just didn't understand that our brash, confident attitude alienated people all around the world and led to terrorism against us. Hillary Clinton is running for president on the basis of her X chromosomes; America, she says, needs a female president. Bernie Sanders says that our unchecked aggressive instincts have ill-served us; we need a kinder, gentler America.

Meanwhile, the Republicans have self-castrated. Senator Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., spent years telling conservatives that Obama couldn't be stopped, and that attempts to stop him would be uncivil and counterproductive. Former Speaker of the House John Boehner did the same. So, too, has new Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. George W. Bush ran on the basis of "compassionate" conservatism, implying that traditional conservatism was too musky for metrosexual America. Marco Rubio's brand of politics relies on a feelings-first approach; Rubio said last week, "If a significant percentage of the American family believes that they are being treated differently than everyone else, we have a problem. And we have to address it as a society and as a country." This is pure Obama, Republican-style.

Trump, however, doesn't bother with the niceties. He's a big, swinging set of political testicles. He says, just like a good mafia boss would, that he'll take care of all of your problems. He threatens his political opponents -- he tells protesters he wants to see them roughed up, and he tells donors to his opposition that he'll target them. He swears like a sailor in public. He unmans his competition: Jeb! Bush is "low-energy," Ted Cruz a "p----," Ben Carson a "pedophile," Rubio a "lightweight," Carly Fiorina a problem "face." He's gross and chauvinistic: He calls women "pieces of a--" and rips Megyn Kelly for bleeding from her "wherever."

He is, in short, a man in the locker room, in all of his ugly glory. He's toxic masculinity. He's not a gentleman, and he's proud of it. He's here to win, and he'll bully, threaten, and beat you until you submit.

Normally, the masculinity gap in American politics could be filled by an upstanding man -- a man, yes, but one tied to values, a man who uses the aggressive instinct in pursuit of defending the innocent and punishing the guilty. But the feminist movement has made such men obsolete. Men were simply too dangerous; it was safer to emasculate them. Now men are expected to be betas; the only alphas left are toxic alphas willing to break every taboo and violate every standard.

There's still a space for masculinity in American politics. But thanks to the vacuum of decent men, indecent men rise. Men like Donald Trump.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2016issues; cluelessdrek; lostwriter; manhood; meanderingandlost; origins; trump2016
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1 posted on 02/24/2016 6:58:08 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Pearls have been clutched, and a couch has been fainted upon.


2 posted on 02/24/2016 7:01:30 AM PST by VanDeKoik
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To: MeganC; Army Air Corps

Ping For your interest.


3 posted on 02/24/2016 7:02:16 AM PST by KC_Lion (I think it is obvious, feminism stops where Islam begins.)
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To: Kaslin

I guess this article was a backhanded compliment of sorts.


4 posted on 02/24/2016 7:03:38 AM PST by refermech
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To: Kaslin
America just might be saved. Thanks to this indecent man, my hero, Donald Trump. My kind of a real man.

Trump for President. And to the disappointment to many of the Ttump haters, he will not be like the dictator King Obama. What lies these fools try to make Trump out that he will be like the Mafia.

Trump for President.

5 posted on 02/24/2016 7:04:15 AM PST by Logical me
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To: Kaslin

In short, Trump is a character being played by an actor.


6 posted on 02/24/2016 7:04:16 AM PST by AppyPappy (If you really want to irritate someone, point out something obvious they are trying hard to ignore.)
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To: Blue Jays
Ben Shapiro, author




7 posted on 02/24/2016 7:04:44 AM PST by Blue Jays (Rock Hard, Ride Free)
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To: Kaslin

Ben is a fool it the GOP that is a bunch of light weights

Its time to start bulling the Democrats and our so called trade partners

And Trump is just the guy

I think Trump has spent a lot of time on his construction sites and he understands the blue collar working people

He made his sons work construction


8 posted on 02/24/2016 7:06:02 AM PST by Hojczyk
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To: Kaslin

and rips Megyn Kelly for bleeding from her “wherever.”


TedHall, TedState, and all the rest of Salem Communications have officially become unhinged “safe space” leftists.

Globalist paychecks must be REALLY nice.


9 posted on 02/24/2016 7:06:17 AM PST by 20yearsofinternet (Border: Close it. Illegals: Deport. Muslims: Ban 'em. Economy: Liberate it. PC: Kill it. Trump 2016)
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To: Kaslin

Well, Ben, since Trump’s ascent has occurred in the midst of over a dozen other candidates, I guss you’re saying that none of them were “manly” enough either. Please be sure to emphasize what wimps Cruz, Rubio, Jeb!, Carson, et al are in your next screed. I’m sure they’ll appreciate that you know a wimp when you see one.


10 posted on 02/24/2016 7:06:22 AM PST by bigbob ("Victorious warriors win first and then go to war" Sun Tzu.)
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To: Kaslin

Labeling a decent man “indecent”, as the normally intellectually honest Shapiro has done, is itself in fact an indecent thing to do.


11 posted on 02/24/2016 7:09:30 AM PST by glennaro
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To: VanDeKoik
Seven stages of Trump depression thanks to TigerClaws!


12 posted on 02/24/2016 7:13:14 AM PST by Grampa Dave (Trump the lying RNC/GOPe Open Borders elite thugs! Say no to their candidates! Go TRUMP!!)
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To: Kaslin

There’s a certain vein in which I really do see a sort of similarity between Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Newt Gingrich and Donald Trump. A sort of man-child emotionalism that really doesn’t comport to what I always regarded as defining characteristics of adult masculinity. I don’t like it. But it seems to be the overarching reality of our modern generations, and there’s no longer any other counterweight to point to.


13 posted on 02/24/2016 7:13:14 AM PST by greene66
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To: Logical me

The rise of the Trumpster is stark testimony of the betrayal of the GOP to it’s voters. Two landslide mid-term (STOP Obama!) victories squandered! Many of us just no longer believe a word they say. Trump’s message is simple... we win! That coupled with the GOPe dismissing its base is all he needs. After support in 2010 and 2014, the grassroots has told the GOPe “you’re FIRED”!

Please note! The advantage of Trump over Hillary is great... as the Democrats under any GOP administration will suddenly re-discover the wisdom of the Founders in divided and limited government.


14 posted on 02/24/2016 7:13:43 AM PST by FiddlePig
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To: Kaslin

I will gladly forego manliness for a macho man at this point in our country’s struggle for survival. Nice guys finish last in a survival match.


15 posted on 02/24/2016 7:15:33 AM PST by iontheball
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To: VanDeKoik

LOL!


16 posted on 02/24/2016 7:15:44 AM PST by <1/1,000,000th%
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To: Kaslin

I’ve been in more than my share of locer rooms from HS through Grad school and beyond.

Trump is no “man”. We rarely had people that acted like this and if we did we put them in their place FAST.

Screaming and threatening mixed with “pig-like” statements about women and others makes you a lightweight bully, not a man.


17 posted on 02/24/2016 7:17:48 AM PST by RIghtwardHo
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To: Kaslin

Shapiro speaks my language with his back handed compliment to Trump. He had a lot of truth in this article... nevermind the intended slam at Trump. It’s true the left has tried to feminize men with the touch feely thing... it’s distasteful to the enth degree. Along comes Trump, a man who does not care who he insults and cannot be controlled by the media. It’s juicy to see that elite club squirm... I smile to think they are being dethroned.. it’s been a long time coming and it’s as simple as being so confident in one’s self that he doesn’t care what the rest think they know... he won’t conform to the media’s idea of who he ought to be. I heard Trump say he has common sense.. I’ll take that over any of what we’ve been living under.


18 posted on 02/24/2016 7:17:55 AM PST by frnewsjunkie
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To: Kaslin

My jury is still out on Trump but I am convinced that a great deal of his appeal has to do with acting manly after having such a wimp as president. People listen to the tune and hear Teddy Rosevelt even if the lyrics are different.


19 posted on 02/24/2016 7:18:00 AM PST by CrazyIvan (Socialists are just communists in their larval stage.)
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To: glennaro

Which part makes him a decent man? The cheating on BOTH of the mothers of his children? Or the bragging about it in his book? The calling women “pieces of ass”. The mob dealings? The statement that he’s never had to ask God for forgiveness?

Seriously, you want Trump? Fine. But don’t blow smoke up everybody’s arse about what a fine upstanding fellow he is. He’s a two bit thug with a large bank acccount. I get it, that’s what you and the other trumpeters want, and I’m not trying to dissuade you here. But at least go into it with eyes wide open about what he really is.


20 posted on 02/24/2016 7:19:44 AM PST by Axeslinger (Trump: the Kaitlyn Jenner of conservatism. One's not a woman, one's not a conservative.)
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