Trump and the IOKIYAR Principle

You have to be a news junkie to have come across this acronym. It stands for It's OK If You Are Republican.

Which means that you can get away with almost anything if you are a GOP politician because the corporate media will always give you a pass and Democrats are too timid to make it into an issue

Conversely, if you are a Democrat and you commit the slightest error or make an awkward statement, Heaven help you. Senior GOP politicians will turn you into Sunday talk show fodder and wingnut radio personalities will pursue you relentlessly until you apologize in tears.

And I mean that literally.

During W's first term, Dick Durbin, the Democratic whip, read an excerpt from an FBI report about the terrible conditions and torture practices in Guantanamo Bay and he added this:

"If I read this to you and did not tell you it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime -- Pol Pot or others -- that had no concern for human beings.

Immediately, the Republican noise machine went into overdrive and he was hounded for likening proud and heroic American soldiers to Hitler. For a few days, there was nothing else in the media. He tried to stand by his remarks. The media storm intensified. With no one defending him he gave in and apologized. It was not humiliating enough so the attacks continued.

Eventually, he cried on the Senate floor while apologizing. For remarks that aimed to highlight the terrible conditions of Guantanamo Bay.

Sure, using Hitler or the Holocaust is the stupidest mistake you can make as a politician. But even that is not applicable if you are a Republican.

I am sure you do not remember that shortly before this incident, Republican Senator and perennial Presidential candidate Rick Santorum responded to Democratic criticism of GOP's position on filibusters like this:

Santorum was responding to the Senate Democrats' charge that Republicans were breaking the rules by opposing filibusters: "The audacity of some members to stand up and say, 'How dare you break this rule?' -- it's the equivalent of Adolf Hitler in 1942 saying, 'I'm in Paris. How dare you invade me? How dare you bomb my city? It's mine.' "

Unlike Durbin who was citing a list of dictators, he even used Hitler by name.

Do you know what happened? Nothing. Why?

IOKIYAR

I can give you literally hundreds of examples. Gingrich, the serial philanderer who dumped his second wife while she was in hospital being treated with cancer, was perfectly acceptable to run for President several times. David Vitter, the Law and Order Senator from Louisiana was frequenting sex workers to satisfy his diaper fetish. When the story broke, nothing happened. He even managed to get reelected on the same family values platform.

Probably while wearing his diapers.

But I am sure we are all very familiar with all the transgressions and peccadillos of Democratic politicians. While no one remembers the three Mrs Gingriches, we all know who wore that stained blue dress, right?

Like everything else about the GOP, Donald Trump amplified this principle and made it glaringly obvious.

You already know the amazing faux-pas like the Gold Star family incident. Imagine how the same story would be covered if it was a Democrat (and god forbid Hillary Clinton herself) who treated a Gold Star family with disrespect.

But what about the sacrosanct principle that while they can bicker among themselves, Americans should have a united front against foreign powers?

Well, Trump asked Russian hackers to hack Hilary Clinton's server and share the results with the American public. Basically, he was encouraging people in the employ of a rival super power to go after an American.

What happened? Nothing.

Once again, can you imagine the deafening uproar if Clinton said the same thing? She would never be able to utter another word during the campaign.

But IOKIYAR.

A couple of days ago, as part of the ongoing Bromance with Vladimir Putin, Trump said that Putin was a far better leader than Obama.

Now this is the red line for all Republicans. They swiftboated Kerry for speaking out against the Vietnam war after his three tours of duty. They crucified Hanoi Jane Fonda for the same crime.

Remember Dixie Chicks?

They simply said in a concert in London "We don't want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States (George W. Bush) is from Texas".

They were thunderously accused of treason from all quarters. They were attacked for denouncing their President to a foreign audience. GOP supporters claimed that the unbreakable rule was to never criticize your President in front of foreigners even if you disagree with him.

The Chicks' subsequent album was shunned by Country radios and their popularity shifted to Northeast states and Canada. And then they simply went into a prolonged hiatus.

Yet Trump openly and publicly compared a sitting American President with a foreign leader (and an important rival of the US) and disparaged and ridiculed that American President.

And he did it before an audience of military personnel and in a setting dubbed "Commander in Chief Forum.'

What happened?

Nothing.

IOKIYAR

I love the Orange Man.

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UPDATE:

It is like clockwork. Clinton called "half of Trump supporters 'deplorable'" and immediately she was asked to apologize.

And she did.

In fact, despite reports of GOP establishment distancing themselves form The Donald, they went to his defense right away.

Mr Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, said: "They are not a basket of anything. They are Americans & they deserve your respect."

Reince Priebus, head of the Republican National Committee, said Mrs Clinton had shown "her outright contempt for ordinary people".

Millions of Americans, he said, supported the Republican nominee because they were "sick of corrupt career politicians like Hillary Clinton".

IOKIYAR