One way to understand “Zippergate III”, the latest effort to sidestep the impact of Donald Trump’s admissions of sexually assaulting women, is that it is a form of gaslighting.  Gaslighting involves trying to convince you that your reality is wrong, that you don’t know what you know.  It takes the basic forms of denial that something happened, minimizing the impact, justifying the behavior and, ultimately, blaming someone else.  Some version of “my sexual misconduct is HER fault”.  Of course, in Zippergate III, it is multilayered and a little confusing, so to spin it out, here is the rationale: Although I bragged about sexually assaulting women and getting away with it because I am rich, famous and powerful, you can’t vote for her because her husband engaged in sexual misconduct and she didn’t divorce him. AND her aide’s estranged husband is a weirdo.  Therefore her conduct is WORSE than mine.  Furthermore, she is a “nasty woman” so it’s ALL HER FAULT.

Really?  Raised in Kentucky, I gotta say, that dog just won’t hunt.  And there is something exceedingly dangerous:  if Donald Trump cannot treat all women as human beings deserving respect, then he is not able to consistently treat any “other” as a human being worthy of respect.  We are ALL at risk here, every woman, every man, every person of color, every person struggling with systemic economic injustice, every person who speaks a different language, every person who has recently arrived to our country, every person who wants to immigrate, and on and on.  While our heads may be exploding and our hearts hurting for the caused by sexual misconduct, we know in our guts there’s a difference.

Trust your gut. Know what you know. Act with courage. Vote.

Debra Fortenberry, Board of Directors, Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission, Colorado Springs, CO