Guest Commentary
I can’t feel sorry for Stormy Daniels. This saga shows American politics at its worse.
For those who haven’t followed the scandal in detail, let me recap the sequence of events as I understand them. In 2006, a sleazy British tabloid claimed a professional bad girl had a one-night stand with a rich American tycoon. The bad girl categorically denied the whole thing.
Then, 10 years later the tycoon decides to run for president. The bad girl threatens to publicly expose the affair that she earlier denied unless she is paid a whole bunch of money. The businessman’s, now presidential candidate’s, entourage includes a “fixer” whose duties include eliminating potential threats to his boss.
The fixer decides to pay the $130,000 extortion demanded by the bad girl. Money changes hands and they sign a contract. Two years later, the candidate is now the U.S. president, and the bad girl has seller’s remorse. She believes she should have held out for a better deal, so she ignores her contract with the fixer and goes public with anyone who will listen. She is portrayed as a victim by the national media and hailed as a hero by the president’s political opposition.
On the rare occasion when I sell a story, I cannot change my mind and come back years later to renegotiate the contract. Once the contract is signed, the story belongs to the buyer to do with whatever he or she pleases. If I tried to sue the buyer, my paperwork wouldn’t get pass the clerk’s office. It would immediately be dispatched to the circular file.
Additionally, should I violate my contract and sell my story to someone else, I would be buried by the courts. Political stories, it would seem, play by a different set of rules.
Our legal system seems to be granting Ms. Daniels special disposition. She is allowed to publish her story for profit on “60 Minutes” while the president’s lawyers are told to stand in line with their counter suit. If politics were not involved, Stormy Daniels would receive a legal slap on the wrist and be liable for damages for her actions.
The president’s political enemies see this as another opening from which to attack. The charge of campaign finance violations is nothing but a smokescreen. The charge of infidelity is probably true; but if we disgraced all our presidents who had girlfriends on the side, we would seriously reduce our pool of national heroes.
The real issue here is the way we play politics in America, and the major victim is the American people. I was surprised at the venomous demonstrations that followed Mr. Trump’s election. Protesters shouting, “Not my president,” were on the news from coast to coast. They were not content with retrenching for the next election, their goal was, and is, to tear down this president.
The opposition gleefully uses whatever can cause harm to our president. I see this as a threat to our country and to the institution of democracy. Discrediting a sitting president also discredits our country. Is bringing down Trump important enough to put the nation at risk?
President Trump was elected according to our most fundamental law. Like it or not, he is our president. I realize that he is hated by the liberals, and I think most conservatives would welcome a new standard bearer. I am convinced that the damage from his tweeter will hurt Republicans in the midterm elections. But let’s not begin a “Dump Trump” movement until it is time.
Frank Watson is a retired Air Force Colonel and long-term resident of Eastern Washington. He has been a free-lance columnist for over 19 years.
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