P.C. Trump or P.T. Barnum

  • Tuesday, August 11, 2015 7:14pm
  • Opinion

If you want to start a vigorous discussion, ask this question: Do you think we are too politically correct in this country? Let’s thank Donald Trump (I never thought I’d say those words) for raising the issue, which he did in the highly entertaining first Republican debate.

Trump pushed our buttons with: “The big problem this country has is being politically correct. I’ve been challenged by so many people, and I don’t frankly have time for total political correctness. And to be honest with you, this country doesn’t have time either.”

Obviously, “The Donald” won’t ever be accused of being P.C., and there is certainly the other side for those who care more than he does about being an offensive blowhard: Avoiding demeaning or offensive insensitivity, which he does not, is what allows a community to reach common ground in a constructive way, as opposed to angrily tearing itself apart.

Is it the hated “P.C.” to avoid words that reflect vicious bigotry, to not make degrading comments about people with disabilities or about someone’s physical appearance or to stay away from out-and-out misogyny? Isn’t that just being minimally polite?

Of course, there are those — many of those — who take the civility concept and stretch it to extreme absurdity. College campuses are crawling with these pinheads who dance on the head of a pin to justify their existence as self-appointed enforcers of semantic rectitude. Should we allow them to cloud the issue? Just because they go too far, should we not go far enough toward simply being considerate?

Donald Trump apparently has decided that he’s so rich he doesn’t have to. That’s what led to the persistent questioning from Megyn Kelly, one of the outstanding Fox News moderators, who said: “You’ve called women you don’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals …” And on it went. And that’s when he decided the world needed to know his thoughts about political correctness.

Typically, when it hit the fan, Trump doubled down. After the debate, he tried to rip Kelly to shreds, retweeting someone’s comment that she was a “bimbo” and going on CNN himself to tell his interviewer: “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.” He did slightly wimp out when he had a spokesman insist that “wherever” referred to Kelly’s “nose” and that anyone who thought otherwise was “deviant.”

That presumably would make deviants out of the hard right-wingers at the Red State gathering where “The Donald” quickly was told he was not welcome. A Trump spokesman called that “another example of weakness through being politically correct.”

Actually, it’s kinda fun to say whatever comes to mind, without any filters. So let’s turn the tables a bit with some tweets of our own:

How about “Wouldn’t ‘fat pig, dog, slob and disgusting animal’ describe @realDonaldTrump?”

Perhaps this: “Even tailored clothing can’t hide that @realDonaldTrump is bloated with more chins and twaddle than a turkey.”

Or “Has anyone noticed how @realDonaldTrump has a face that resembles a pig with a scowl.”

Great sport, yes, but some of us do have limits. So, no bad taste responses to The Donald’s menstrual/nose reference with innuendo about his private manhood, no speculation about his marriages.

Let’s simply put it this way: One of the skills that a president must be able to master is diplomacy. In fact, all of us need to in order to avoid being punched in the mouth, which might happen to Trump if he didn’t have so many bodyguards. It is true, as another candidate, John Kasich, says, that he’s “struck a nerve,” that of widespread resentment at our society’s worsening raw deal.

Trump is funny, but what would happen if he was elected would not be funny at all. The last thing we need is to hand the bully pulpit to a bully, particularly one who is so truly impotent. It is definitely politically correct to state that Donald Trump is politically a disaster.

Bob Franken is a longtime broadcast journalist, including 20 years at CNN.

More in Opinion

Logo courtesy of League of Women Voters.
Point of View: Tell your representatives SAVE Act is not needed

The SAVE Act will disenfranchise Alaska voters and make the process of voting much more restrictive.

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, a Nikiski Republican, speaks in favor of overriding a veto of Senate Bill 140 during floor debate of a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature on Monday, March 18, 2024 (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Capitol Corner: Taking steps toward a balanced budget

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman reports back from Juneau.

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, speaks in support of debating an omnibus education bill in the Alaska House Chambers on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Capitol Corner: Dedicated to doing the work on education

Rep. Justin Ruffridge reports back from Juneau.

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks at a town hall meeting in the Moose Pass Sportsman’s Club in Moose Pass, Alaska, on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Rep. Justin Ruffridge speaks during a town hall meeting hosted by three Kenai Peninsula legislators in the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly Chambers in Soldotna, Alaska, on Saturday, March 29, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Capitol Corner: HB 161 — Supporting small businesses

Rep. Justin Ruffridge reports back from Juneau.

The Swan Lake Fire can be seen from above on Monday, Aug. 26, 2019, on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Alaska Wildland Fire Information)
Point of View: Fire season starts before Iditarod ends

It is critical that Alaskans exercise caution with anything that could ignite a fire.

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, March 25, 2025. (Eric Lee/The New York Times)
Point of View: Wake up America

The number one problem in America is our national debt resulting from the inability to control federal spending.

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, speaks during a town hall meeting hosted by three Kenai Peninsula legislators in the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly Chambers in Soldotna, Alaska, on Saturday, March 29, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Capitol Corner: Preparing for wildfire season

Rep. Justin Ruffridge reports back from Juneau.

Snow collects near the entrance to the Kenai Community Library on Thursday, March 10, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Libraries defend every American’s freedom to read

Authors Against Book Bans invites you to celebrate National Library Week.

Alaska State House District 7 Rep. Justin Ruffridge participates in the Peninsula Clarion and KDLL 91.9 FM candidate forum at the Soldotna Public Library on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Capitol Corner: Putting patients first

Rep. Justin Ruffridge reports back from Juneau.

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks at a town hall meeting in the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly Chambers in Soldotna, Alaska, on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Capitol Corner: Building better lives for Alaskans

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman reports back from Juneau.