"alexa, remind me that we have a rapist in the white house"

CW: sexual assault

The bar has been set pretty fucking low for tonight’s State of the Union address. Pundits are already declaring that the evening will be considered a success if Trump can stick to script and not say anything vulgar. Interestingly enough, this was also the standard set for my high school theater’s production of “Guys and Dolls.” I can practically hear John Kelly echoing our director’s pleas in the same exhausted voice: “no ad-libbing, no unplanned stage-kissing, no spilling fruit punch on your costume. Now let’s go out there and impress your parents.”

The fact that everyone has Flo-Rida-Low (that was a joke for the millennials!) expectations for this address is hilarious and cathartic.

We can laugh that tonight’s “State of the Uniom” tickets only further prove that Trump--and whichever White House intern he hired to make copies, lick envelopes, and print State of the Union tickets--is functionally illiterate.

We can bet on the likelihood of Melania bringing Stormy Daniels to the State of the Union as her plus one, and we can politely inquire which public school was converted into a sweatshop to sew Betsy DeVos’s outfit for the evening.

We can hope that the Trump administration will simply forget to choose a designated survivor, forcing Barack Obama to step in as interim president after a devastating fire set by a suddenly-lucid Elaine Chao consumes the building.

And we can ultimately comfort ourselves with the knowledge that no one really cares that much about the State of the Union, and that this whole event is an advertisement for Men’s Wearhouse. “Men’s Wearhouse: Low Quality Suits for Low Quality Men.”

However, we cannot forget that tonight, in the era of #MeToo and #TimesUp, the State of the Union will be delivered by a rapist. The events of the evening will all seem rather routine, except for that one key difference.

In the moments before the address, the Speaker of the House will announce that it is his honor to present this speechmaker.

When he enters the room, he will receive a standing ovation and a hearty round of applause.

Surrounded by an army of smug looking white men, he will then discuss the importance of making America safe again.

Congressmen will golf clap.

He will finish the address and exit the chamber to another round of applause and a smattering of handshakes from the white men lining the aisles.

Tomorrow, the media will praise the mediocrity of his address and ignore the implications of giving the stage to a sexual assailant.

The event will be declared “business as usual,” “routine,” and “normal.”

For many, many reasons, this president and this address are not normal. However, particularly in the context of amplifying a sexual predator’s speech to the nation, we must take steps to appropriately react to tonight’s State of the Union and reject any attempt to make it seem “normal.”

Tonight, the State of the Union will be delivered by a rapist. We should not tune into the speech. The more people that listen to Trump speak, the more power his words carry. Our time is better spent listening to and empowering those who are survivors of sexual assault. Even if we cannot prevent Trump from occupying this platform, we can create more space for victims to tell their stories. Tonight, we should listen to Kesha’s new album or watch The Hunting Ground or read this letter from the 700,000 female farmworkers standing in solidarity with actors against sexual assault.

In the moments before the address, the Speaker of the House will announce that it is his honor to present this speechmaker. We should remind Speaker Ryan every day that he is working for and with a sexual assailant. He is literally keeping the government open to further the legislative agenda of said sexual assailant. He is the definition of complicit, and we should call him, email him, tweet at him, and not vote for him because of it. We should pounce on every word he says in support of his president, and reject any form of respect he bestows onto someone so disrespectful of non-straight, white men.

When he enters the room, he will receive a standing ovation and a hearty round of applause. We cannot control how people choose to react to Trump’s entrance tonight; we can, however, pressure our senators and congresspeople to protest, rather than enable, Trump. As Social Justice Warrior Albus Dumbledore once said, “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies [read: Trump, Ryan], but just as much to stand up to our friends [read: Pelosi, Schumer].” If we don’t want our friends to attend the 2019 State of the Union (or if we want our friends to bring Dreamers and survivors to the 2019 State of the Union), petrificus totalus their asses and let them know.

Surrounded by an army of smug looking white men... We should elect non-white non-men. We should canvas for, make phone calls on behalf of, and (if financially capable) donate money to pro-choice female, non-binary and POC candidates. We should prioritize putting women in office, especially women who will propose legislation to end sexual assault on campuses, in restaurant kitchens, on movie sets, and in the halls of Congress.

...he will then discuss the importance of making America safe again. We should revisit the stories of women who felt unsafe in Trump’s presence and give them the opportunity to speak. We should know their names and believe them and confront all those who say they are lying (looking at you, Sarah Huckabee Sanders). With that, we should stand with these women in pressuring Congress to open an investigation into Trump’s sexual misconduct and pay attention to that story as much as the Russia investigation and “covfefe” and “fake Melania-gate”.

Congressmen will golf clap. We should stop applauding Trump every time he says something remotely presidential. We should stop praising Trump for not dropping the word “pussy” in a speech. We should discuss how Trump explicitly stated that he is not a feminist mere days ago and lend zero credence to any phony garbage he spits out about helping “all Americans.” It seems obvious, but we must constantly remind ourselves, our elected officials, and the media that Trump saying that he helped lower the female unemployment rate does not erase the fact that he bragged about grabbing women by the pussy.

Tomorrow, the media will praise the mediocrity of his address and ignore the implications of giving the stage to a sexual assailant. We should hold the media accountable for failing to call Trump by what he is--a rapist. We should refer to Trump as “accused rapist President Trump” just as we now call Harvey Weinstein “accused rapist Harvey Weinstein” and Oprah “potential 2020 presidential candidate Oprah Winfrey” (a side note: I think every person should have a modifier before their name. I would like “pistachio enthusiast Sarah Gruen” to be my new moniker). We should criticize CNN anchors for calling this speech “traditional” and blast Fox News...well for pretty much everything.

Tonight is not normal. The State of the Union should not be a proving ground, because Trump has already proved himself to be a racist and a xenophobe and a rapist. If Trump quotes Maya fucking Angelou tonight and delivers his address with the poise and eloquence of the lead in my high school production of Guys and Dolls, he is still a racist and a xenophobe and a rapist.

We cannot control what Donald Trump will say tonight. We cannot control the fact that he has the ear of the nation. We can, however, control how we listen, and how we choose to react.

And if you’re reading this, Elaine Chao, the matches are in your top left desk drawer.

#stateoftheunion #trump #sexualmisconduct