The Case of the Missing White House Tree

In a united gesture of goodwill, Trump and President Macron planted a tree on the White House grounds. Now it has mysteriously gone missing. What happened to this icon of hope?

Here are the current conspiracy theories as to what happened to it:

-Scott Pruitt was worried planting a tree might somehow lead to a discussion on climate change and had it redacted.

-Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke sold it to one of his lumber lobbyists.

-The lone French tree knew Trump's immigration policy would have it deported eventually. Knowing it had a better chance at surviving where it came from, it booked the first plane back to Paris.

-Melania had it dug up, flocked, and stored for her next Halloween-like Christmas extravaganza.

-Michael Cohen is secretly representing the tree which means the New York Attorney General's office has secured it as evidence.

-The chilly environmental policies of the Trump administration froze it to death.

-Sarah Huckabee Sanders claims there never was any tree. It was all just fake news.

-Jeff Sessions has recused himself from the investigation so we may never know what really happened to it.

-Eric Trump cut it up and mounted for a trophy. After all, it was on the endangered species list.

-White supremacists cut it down protesting the opening of the Peace and Justice Museum.

-Trump and Macron's bromance upset Pence so much he feared the tree was gay and had it put in a closet.

-Trump suspected the tree was actually a Comey plant and had it fired.

-The tree was not big enough to provide enough wood to burn Stormy, along with Trump's other embarrassing sexual liaisons, at the stake. Can you say kindling?

-After Macron's surprising diss of Trump's policies in front of Congress, Trump had the tree sent to Guantanamo.

-Michelle Wood's brutal take down of Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner soured him on all things wood. Guilt by association led to its mysterious disappearance.

The Stinging Scorpio Full Moon

Scorpions are not known for being user friendly creatures. They hide under anything that provides good cover, like rocks and shoes, stinging anything they consider threats. As an poisonous arachnida, we steer clear of its venomous ways. Tonight we view the Scorpion in the Full Moon.

This Full Moon in Scorpio will be an intense one with a stinger. Diving deep into our unconscious, this Scorpio lunation highlights what has been brewing below the surface. 'Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble' is likely what we will find. A grand fixed square occurring in conjunction with this Full Moon amplifies our karmic debts. The secrets we have hidden, addictions that have dominated us, and denials we don't want to face, will waltz into our reality demanding attention. It's all a part of the transformative aspects which began at the New Moon two weeks ago.  

During this Scorpio moon, patience coupled with taking the long view is needed. When karma ripens, recognizing, refraining, relaxing, and resolving to break the cycle of our defensive posturing will be key. We may not like what comes up, may have trouble holding our tongues, and may be stressed out but by resolving to break this cycle will lighten our karmic debt. 

Full Moons bring things to culmination. There are more entrances and exits around full moons. The point of this Scorpio Full Moon is not to punish but to promote transformation. It is through process that we separate the wheat from the chaff. The rewards will come from doing the work. 

Michelle Wolf's Howling Good Take Down of Trump and the Media

Say what you want about Michelle Wolf, but this woman has some huevos. Her shockingly unapologetic comedy routine at the White House Correspondents' Dinner hit the mark from an outsider's perspective. Granted, Ms. Wolf's incisive barbs sometimes missed the mark, but overall her fierce sting hit many deserving targets. 

Some of her best lines were not just reserved for Trump and his ass kissing GOP henchmen. Along with Trump's minions, lethargic spineless Democrats and the media thriving financially from Trump's demented bi-polar presidency were all cut to the bone. Ms. Wolf did not play favorites. Fearlessly she doled out a punishing reality check for all in the room. This was no cheerleading platform for journalism but a testimonial to the first amendment. 

The politicians and journalists in the room visibly cringed and gasped at many of her startling wisecracks. Clearly, Mr. Wolf brought up their Achilles heels in a way that shattered their denial. Her routine was not about championing the free press or shame-basing corrupt self-serving legislators-it was about waking the room up to those of us out here watching the horror story of this presidency unfold from our point of view. 

Yes, Trump is fair game for his pussy grabbing, anti-science, unimpeded rotten politics. Yes, Sarah Sanders is fair game for being a prevaricating white woman's Uncle Tom. Yes, confronting those pious anti-abortion GOPers in the wake of the Elliot Broidy abortion payout scandal is fair game. And yes, the media does bear some responsibility in creating Trump's narcissism by their need to sell stories. Michelle Wolf captured this with an unflinching eye.

Next time the White House Correspondents' Dinner want a safe affable comic for their pretentious self-serving dinner, I would suggest Mickey or Minnie Mouse. Ms. Wolf spoke for those of us who've endured a buttful of endless demoralizing news stories documenting the fall of democracy.

Thank you for your courage, Ms. Wolf.

TIME'S UP BILL COSBY

"Bill Cosby Found Guilty in Sexual-Assault Trial, the First Major Conviction of #MeToo Era

Cosby, 80, faces 30 years in prison after he was convicted on all counts of drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand—one of more than 60 women who say he raped them." -The Daily Beast

"Rape is the most under-reported crime; 63% of sexual assaults are not reported to police." -nsvrc.org

REST IN PEACE BARBARA BUSH

Good bye Barbara Bush. We will miss your strength, honesty, and no nonsense approach to life. Thank you for always reminding us to thrive. Rest in peace.

Here are a few of Mrs. Bush's memorable quotes:

"At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent."

"Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people - your family, friends, and coworkers, and even strangers you meet along the way."

"If human beings are perceived as potentials rather than problems, as possessing strengths instead of weaknesses, as unlimited rather that dull and unresponsive, then they thrive and grow to their capabilities."

All the President's Attorneys

News broke this week that the Democratic Party is suing our President.

• The Democratic National Committee sued the Trump campaign, the Russian government, Wikileaks on Friday, accusing them of conspiring to disrupt the 2016 presidential election.
• President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. and son-in-law Jared Kushner are among the defendants.
• The DNC says Russia found a "willing and active partner" in the Trump campaign to attack American democracy and defeat Hillary Clinton.-cnbc news

Just when I thought things could not get crazier for Trump and US politics, a new round of legal vituperation was filed smacking of political RICO. Mr. Trump may now hold the honors for being the most sued President in history. His reality TV presidency is fraught with salacious scandals, dizzying revolving door administration departures,  catastrophic policy decisions, and an adulation for Russia never seen before in politics. Trump TV is the embarrassing reality show we wish would get cancelled. 

Trump must be thanking God that Rudy Guiliani has joined his legal team. With Alan Dershowitz wisely backing away, Trump's paucity of ardent legal support spells trouble for his mounting constitutional troubles. Guiliani's bombastic posturing makes good press, but even he knows Trump's many corrupt, unethical, and illegal choices have put his client in a vortex of shit. Guiliani is smart enough to know Mueller's investigation is not Trump's main legal woe. It's Michael Cohen's seized treasure trove of damning evidence that will dig Trump's political grave. Even Alan Dershowitz bemoaned Trump's dilemma. "They’ll threaten him (Michael Cohen) with life imprisonment, and try to turn him into a canary that sings,” Dershowitz said of Trump’s longtime attorney who is under criminal investigation.

Sing, Michael Cohen will. Though he has previously boasted he would take a bullet for Trump, that was before he realized a bullet would be preferable to having a prison-mate girlfriend. Even without his Trump trauma, the Feds have enough dirt on Mr. Cohen's other questionable activities that his opera will be known as Trump's swamp song.

Intrigued by all of this legal and political wrangling, I asked a prominent attorney acquaintance I know his take on Cohen. After jokingly remarking to my legal pal that he was in the wrong business,  I boasted how Mr. Cohen has a successful New York City practice with only three clients. My attorney friend succinctly replied that was because Mr. Cohen has spent too much time wearing knee pads. 

No doubt Mr. Cohen will need them once all the President's attorneys fail to put Trump back together again.

Mr. Trump has vehemently denied Mr. Cohen will 'flip'. Tell me Mr. Trump, if you are truly innocent, why would you even mention that Mr. Cohen will not 'flip'? 

In the wake of the Michael Cohen raid, I emailed an attorney acquaintance who  graduated from the Hastings School o

Sean Hannity's Delusion about Being Client #3

"Let me set the record straight. Here's the truth. Michael Cohen never represented me in any legal manner. I never retained his services. I never received an invoice. I never paid Michael Cohen for legal fees. I did have occasional brief conversations with Michael Cohen -- he is a great attorney -- about legal questions I had.

"My questions exclusively focused on real estate," he added. "I said many times on my radio show, I hate the stock market, I prefer real estate. Michael knows real estate. In response to all the wild speculation, I want to set the record straight here tonight. ... I have no personal interest in this legal matter. That is all there is. Nothing more." -Sean Hannity explaining why he is not a client though being named by Michael Cohen.

Okay, let me get this straight: Michael Cohen only has three clients, two of whom he acted as a professional pimp by paying off his client's alleged embarrassing sexual liaisons which his clients wanted buried. The third mystery client, Mr. Cohen, was forced by the court to reveal is none other than Mr. Fox, Sean Hannity. What is wrong with this picture? If Mr. Hannity was not 'a client' why didn't he want to be named? Probably because Mr. Hannity has a lot of explaining to do. 


Mr. Hannity asserts he has a 'right to privacy'. Somehow this rings hollow considering there are huge conflicts of interest for a reporter who steadfastly defends Mr. Trump, and considers his news coverage to be 'fair and balanced,' to share the same attorney. I doubt this would have passed the BS test if Obama had been his attorney-sharing president. Even Alan Dershowitz, who has offered Trump legal advice during the Cohen raid and appeared on Hannity's show, thought Hannity should have disclosed his relationship to the president's attorney. 

"Some of Hannity's own explanations are also head-scratching. On the radio earlier in the day, Hannity said "I might have handed him ten bucks" and told Cohen "I definitely want attorney-client privilege on this" at times." -CNN.com

For God's sake, who pays a New York attorney with only two other clients ten bucks to have attorney-client privilege? Someone with something to hide. 

In the meantime, some savvy entrepreneur needs to mass produce the latest t-shirt du jour, 'Client #3'.

Why I Wrote a Letter of Support to Rod Rosenstein

Anyone who remembers the Watergate scandal leading to the resignation of President Nixon will see the parallels to the Trump administration's current plight. All the President's men could not prevent the investigative roads leading to Nixon as the culprit behind the break-in at the DNC offices. Nixon, like Trump, issued the same denials with his famous tagline, "I am not a crook".

Fast forward to the Trump administration. Political deja vu has reared its head again, only this time Watergate seems like small potatoes in comparison to the allegations of collusion with Russia to throw the presidential election, election finance violations, and of course, the bevy of payouts to women he supposedly schtupped. Trump's repetitive mantra to deflect his guilt is, "This is a WITCH HUNT." Jeff Sessions wisely played hot potato political chess by recusing himself from the Russia debacle, rousing constant vitriol from Mr. Trump.

As the next in line hatchet man, Rod Rosenstein did not engender himself to my liberal leanings by supporting the firing of James Comey. Even though I thought Comey was politically motivated for releasing the Clinton emails prior to the election, I did not think he deserved to be fired for his investigation into the Russian meddling of our presidential election. My fear was that our justice system was being massaged to bend to Trump's consuming need for power without accountability.

But then came Rosenstein's appointment of special prosecutor Robert Mueller. I thought to myself, 'this man has some cojones' for enduring the wrath of Trump by appointing Mueller, whose unimpeachable reputation as a formidable attorney is Trump's worst nightmare come true. Watching Trump squirm as his many cronies cooperate with Mueller's investigation is akin to watching the fall of Nixon. The saying goes, "Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it." Mr. Rosenstein may be one of the few Trump-appointed minions who is willing to follow the letter of the law instead of what is politically expedient.

The raid on Michael Cohen's office is what really elevated Mr. Rosenstein's character in my eyes. He knew he signed his political death warrant by authorizing the seizure of evidence from Trump's attorney. By adhering to his oath of office, Mr. Rosenstein made an excruciating decision to execute his sworn duties over his political relationships. As the clock counts down, Mr. Rosenstein knows he is in cross hairs of King Trump and has limited time left.

This is why I wrote a letter of support to Mr. Rosenstein. Few people have the courage to stand up to a president who consistently lies, engages in payola for his sexual indiscretions, and whose operatives have colluded in the meddling of a presidential election. Regardless of his political beliefs as a Republican, I am relieved to know that Mr. Rosenstein is upholding the checks and balances in our government. Without his fortitude, our cherished rule of law government will become a Trump dictatorship. If Mr. Rosenstein does get fired, I will be out in the street protesting this assault on our democracy. As we learned from Nixon's Watergate swan song, no president can be allowed to to operate outside of the laws of our democracy.

As former acting Attorney General, Sally Yates tweeted: "Make no mistake about what’s at stake here: firing Rosenstein would be the same unconscionable assault on the rule of law as firing Mueller. And you can’t fire a prosecutor because you’re unhappy he approved a search warrant that relates to your own conduct. No one is above the law."

Getting Rammed by the New Moon in Aries

The waning days of an unusually harsh, prolonged winter is heating up with the New Moon in fiery Aries. Remember, New Moons sweep clean and this one is no exception. 

Aries, a pioneering sign, is the intrepid first child of the zodiac. As the achievement-oriented explorer trophy kid, our ram friend will be escorting us into new territory. It does not matter if we are scared or excited, thrilled or threatened. The journey of a thousand miles has already dipped one foot into the unknown. Do we want our heart's desire to materialize? Then take heed that this Aries New Moon is guiding us down this path.

The spring sign of Aries symbolizes winter giving way to spring. Thus the saying, 'In like a lion, out like a lamb." One just has to observe the national weather this week to witness this being true. On a symbolic and psychological level, we are also watching this rebirth in our inner sanctum. This lunation is the crocus emerging from the snow. Whatever has been incubating below the surface is going to pop up. The question to contemplate is, 'What is ready to give birth in me?'. 

The New Moon is Aries is reminds us the birth process requires forebearance. Considering how other planets will be affecting this New Moon, expect an wild adventure. This will be made especially challenging due to an extremely active Mercury retrograde grinding to a halt at the New Moon. Don't be shocked by intense feelings, thoughts, actions, and communications that could be the crocus in the snow. Old unresolved wounds are sure to wake us up at this time asking to be healed. The purpose is to alleviate our suffering proving we are not the victim of circumstances but the victor over circumstances. Are we ready to move forward untethered to whatever unhappy story line we have allowed to dominate us?

We are not without resources. Inspiration and imagination are in the background waiting to be called forth. This is a time to be aware of what needs compassion and a sense of comforting. Your New Moon Aries travel guide will provide the strategic advice, emotional fortitude, and persistence as we trust our inner strength on unfamiliar ground.

Porn Star Trumps Trump and His Attorney

Dear Mr. TRUMP, 
Karma is a witch hunt-too bad you happen to be the witch. 

Today a subpoena on steroids issued by the Justice Department authorizing the FBI to raid the President's personal attorney's office. Co-witch, Michael Cohen, must have been shocked as hell to have his hubris shattered by the very laws he tried to circumvent. One does not have to be a psychic to know it was only going to be a matter of time before the Trump and Cohen reality show was headed for the precipice. Both have made damaging admissions: Cohen admitted he paid $130,000 of his own money to protect Trump from having his affair with Stormy Daniels quashed right before the election and Trump told the press he had no knowledge of his lawyer doing this. Riddle me this, Trumpman: how can your lawyer to draw up an agreement paying off a porn star you had sex with and not know he was doing this on your behalf? And he thinks the Justice Department is disgraceful? 

Mr. Trump, take a lesson from Tricky Dick. Remember Watergate? No one is above the law, not even you. You may try to convince your constituency that this is 'a witch hunt' but the findings of fact and conclusions of law speak for themselves. Your handpicked team of Republicans at different levels of the Justice Department who issued the subpoena to raid Mr. Cohen's office, home, and hotel know the rule of law. Can you spell obstruction of justice and bank fraud? Go ahead and fire Rod Rosenstein, Robert Mueller, and Richard Berman. You'll set up a constitutional crisis and end up being 'fired'. Only this time it will be played out in the justice system instead of by tweet. 

Trump's reality show cannot last long. His administration is a litany of scandals, his corrupt administration is littered with chaotic firings, and his constant whining how Obama and Hilary are to blame for his woes only makes him look like an impotent has been reality star. Maybe he needs to recall all of those troops he sent to the border to protect him.

None of my friends who voted for Mr. Trump can't defend his actions. They cannot explain his numerous adulterous affairs, how his administration is embroiled in scandal after scandal, and why he cannot rule without chaos. For God's sake, he can't even name the building he lives in as the White House. He is an embarrassment to our nation and is making us the butt of jokes around the world. My friends who voted for Trump may have disliked President Obama, but at least he didn't put us through this garbage.

Watching Trump unhinged is like watching an alcoholic go through DTs. Just like any practicing alcoholic, we know they are few outcomes. Either he will go into recovery (unlikely), be hospitalized (this may happen given his stress levels producing a heart attach or stroke) go to jail (doubt that a sitting President would be imprisoned), or die (also known as impeachment). We do know that denial is always shattered by reality.

PETA versus the Trumps

"President Donald Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr. deserves to be deported for hunting and killing an elephant and other wildlife, animal rights activists demand.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) announced Friday it plans to put up a billboard in towns bordering Mexico features an infamous image of Trump Jr. holding a knife and the tail of an elephant he apparently shot abroad." -Newsweek

Well, now we know why our inept and 'white bwana' president signed an order making it legal to bring in big game trophies into the US of animals about to go extinct. His sons, Don Jr. and Eric, love showing off their sick male affluenza by preening in front of dead carcasses of their kills. 

"Top 10 animals in danger of extinction. There are numerous species currently in danger of extinction. ...

• Javan rhinoceros. Hunted especially for the properties of its horn used in traditional Chinese medicine and as decoration. ...
• Snow leopard. ...
• Tiger. ...
• Red tuna. ...
• Asian elephant. ...
• Vaquita porpoise. ...
• Mountain gorilla."

-active sustainability.com

These apples do not fall far from the tree whose administration denies climate change, unravels EPA protections, and openly allows any of his cronies to rape and pillage the environment unabated.  

Time for change. 

-Use your voice and your power by writing to the President at www.whitehouse.gov/contact to express your views about the slaughter of endangered species and how his administration is killing our planet.

-Don't be passive-openly resist by supporting science and environmental groups protecting our planet.

-VOTE! 

Tucker Carlson: ‘Normal People Can’t Live’ in California'

"44 percent of Californians now do not speak English at home. The state no longer has a common language or a common culture, it’s infrastructure is collapsing, debt is out of control, schools are unusable, public spaces are filthy. The middle class is fleeing California for all those reasons. Normal people can’t live there anymore,” Carlson said.

Woof, Tucker Carlson, straight white man from Fox's Aryan Nation News. Too bad you can't keep your New Year's barking resolution.

I don't know about being 'normal' but I am a middle class white professional working woman living in the 6th economic power in the world, California. FYI: the language spoken in California is English, though hearing other languages is not unusual. It does not bother us the way it seems to bother you and your Fox friends. We encourage diversity, tolerance, and equality, something your network seems to fear. The infrastructure is not collapsing around me, schools are still graduating phenomenal students, and the public spaces I use are not 'filthy'. And BTW: we are thriving under a Democratic state administration. 

Your denigrating fallacious rhetoric about California may agree with the perceptions of your lily-white viewers from other states, but California residents know our innovation and verve drives the United States and world economies. People come to California to make their dreams come true. Indeed, I work harmoniously side by side with people from all races, religions, genders, sexual orientations, and countries. That's what makes California great.

So, Mr. Carlson, you can keep your 'normal' people-California does not want them. We're here to stay.

HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIALLY BECOMES THE MINISTRY OF PROPAGANDA AND PUBLIC ENLIGHTENMENT

"The Department of Homeland Security posted a contract request this week for "Media Monitoring Services," which will compile a database of hundreds of thousands of journalists, bloggers and "media influencers" for the federal government. After an outcry on social media, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman tweeted "this is nothing more than the standard practice of monitoring current events in the media." -CBS News

Be afraid, be very afraid.



Okay, I've officially been put on notice that Mr. Trump and his thugs are going to be monitoring me for being a 'media influencer'. Gee, Mr. Trump, why don't you just call it for what it really is: "The Ministry of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment". Your Homeland Security spin is making Josef Goebbel's memory proud. But I get it, somehow I might be a menacing threat by frequently blogging about your Fascist style of governing. By monitoring me, you can rest assured that my words won't incite anyone to protest in the Women's March, support gun control, and challenge any of your sexist, racist, homophobic, and environmentally damaging policies. 

"Editors and journalists were expected to follow the mandates and instructions handed down by the ministry and had to be registered with the Reich Press Chamber to work in this field. Clause 14 of the law ordered editors to omit anything “calculated to weaken the strength of the Reich abroad or at home.” The Propaganda Ministry aimed further to control the content of news and editorial pages through directives distributed in daily conferences in Berlin and transmitted through the party propaganda offices to regional or local papers. Detailed guidelines stated what stories could or could not be reported and how to report the news." -from the United States Holocaust Museum website

But I already know I've been checked out by some governmental agency. How? Because I frequently email Mr. Trump grousing to him about his political ineptitude, one day I noticed 162 hits on my blogs. Though I would like to think this is an acknowledgement of my blogging skills, in the four years I have blogged, never have I had more than 25 hits around the world in a day. What, me paranoid? It's not paranoia when the object of your fear is real. I find it no accident that on the day in question, those 162 blogs were accessed mainly from the US and Russia. This spike in my readership has not happened since. It's not my style to be paranoid, but it was a resounding wake up call how words and ideas are more threatening than weapons and bombs. 

Once again I see Mr. Trump has no huevos for attending the White House Correspondence dinner. The free press, who has been his biggest adversary, is more dangerous than Putin, the Democrats, and Stormy combined. Even Shepard Smith from Fox News is critical of him. Maybe next year when Homeland Security reigns in the press (and other 'media influencers' like me) with muzzles, can he be safe from the comic and not so comic criticisms of his swamp-like administration.  

When Sexual Assault Hits Close to Home

 After ten years of being without a relationship, I decided to date again. Like many women, I decided to try my hand at online dating. This seemed to offer me the safety I sought in responding to and meeting men I thought would be possible romantic partners. As an older woman, I was careful, cautious, and only met with men in safe public places until I got to know them and felt secure to proceed. In addition to a healthy sense of self-protection, I also had an uncanny sense of intuition which enabled me to look past appearances to pick up on any weird or creepy vibes given off by the men I met. How lucky I am to have such an accurate radar for trouble.

Four years ago I met a successful restauranteur whom I dated twice. He presented himself as a 'Christian' man with strong religious values. The first date we talked giving me an initial impression this affable man had 'issues' surrounding his upbringing and rigid belief systems, but nothing that seemed to give off big warning signs. The second date was different. By then I could see how manipulative he was. As I listened closely to his words, I intuitively pieced together he was living with his girlfriend and just looking to supplement the sex he was getting from her. That was that-I ended our brief meeting with "I don't get involved with men who are married or are already in a relationship." It pissed me off thinking he could pull this over on me but he knew I meant what I said that there was no chance I would see him again. He did not push back and seemed to accept he hit a dead end.

But that was not the end of this story. A few weeks later, he emailed me to tell me he came to the realization that he was an alcoholic and started AA. Because he knew I had some experiences with friends who were recovered alcoholics, I surmised he contacted me hoping to elicit enough sympathy which might loosen my starchy 'I will not see you again' boundary. It didn't work. Though I was supportive of him admitting and seeking help, I told him he needed to quit all contact with me and focus entirely on his recovery. The last contact I had with him is when he emailed me to let me know he had managed to make it a month without drinking, making him feel hopeful about recovery. All I could think about is I dodged a bullet by ending contact with a manipulative alcoholic whose  rigidity and weird 'Christian' values gave me the creeps.

Fast forward to this week. The headlines in all the local papers screamed out the horrific news that a prominent restaurant owner was charged with 14 counts of sexual assault with multiple women. Yes, it was the same man I dated twice four years ago. According to one of the allegations, this man interviewed  a potential waitress during hours when the restaurant was closed, roofie them by offering them wine, and assault her while she were unconscious. As this news broke, other women have come forward with stories of being sexually assaulted by this man. Unlike me, these were all younger women in their 30s unaware of the danger they were in. The allegations made by his multiple victims were so shocking that the judge set his bail at $900,000. Like most predators with deluded egos, he has denied these claims. Evidently, the list of women assaulted by this man continues to grow as news spreads of his arrest. 

After having met and dated this man twice do I believe his victims? You better believe I do. Although I escaped his clutches, I could sense there was something deeply askew in this man who gave me the creeps. He is a skilled manipulator, a smarmy addict, and a devious control freak. As a prominent wolf in sheep's clothing, he has made me wonder how many other victims he has out there that are too scared, embarrassed, or traumatized to come forward. 

National Sexual Assault Awareness Month has made me come forward with my experience of a close brush with a sexual deviant. I have told a number of people about my encounter with this 'Christian' pillar of society and how fortunate I was to escape the fate of his other victims. Why? Because silence equals shame, secrecy, and keeps us all mired in the thought that we 'deserved' victimization. I want everyone to know that sexual predators are not so easily spotted, are incredibly skilled at manipulation, and count on our silence to evade prosecution.

NATIONAL SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH

"President Trump, who faces sexual misconduct accusations from numerous women, on Friday declared April as National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.

"Sexual assault crimes remain tragically common in our society, and offenders too often evade accountability," Trump's presidential proclamation read." -USA Today

Being April 1st, I was not sure if Mr. Trump's above declaration was an April Fool's joke, an attempt to assuage his guilt over his numerous sexual improprieties, or just another one of his half-baked attempts at publicity. Truly, I am surprised he didn't cook up some tweet launching into how he has also been a victim of sexual assault (take note Stormy, this will be his next defense). In Trump's world, all roads lead to Trump.

Thanks to the #Me, too movement, women are finally getting a platform to discuss the realities of sexual harassment and assault in a male world that uses denial, money, threats, power, and shame to silence its victims. There's absolutely no doubt it's been incredibly effective. So much so, I would challenge any man to find a woman who hasn't experienced some form of sexual harassment, had a scary encounter with being threatened sexually, or had to overcome the horror of being sexually assaulted. Women tell other women because they know their stories of sexual victimization will be believed. They don't tell men, their workplaces, law enforcement or even their clergy for fear of being looked upon as having 'deserved it'. As women we have often heard that how we dress, act, and speak gives men the 'green light' to violate us with unwanted sexual behavior.

Some recent cases in point, continue to prove to women how the deck is stacked against us. Recently a judge in a sexual assault case asked the female victim if she tried to keep her legs crossed as a way of fending off her perpetrator. In the Stanford swimmer case, the judge gave the sex offender a lighter sentence because the victim was unconscious from inebriation and offender was a good white boy from his alma mater. My own employer, University of California, has cited example after example of supposed sexual harassment stories (ironically set at a university) in our yearly mandated sexual harassment training. All of the examples in this training were stopped only when the female victim filed a lawsuit after being fired by the university for lodging complaints against professors, chancellors, and other powerful university officials who thought terminating the victim would eliminate their problems. I have conjectured that these numerous lawsuits are the real reason we are being required to yearly view sexual harassment modules. Sorry, but the real message this training sends to women at our university is that the only way unwanted sexual advances will stop at our university system is to sue them.  

Daily we see the failure of law enforcement and the judicial system in protecting women from assault. And to do so, women have their credibility impeached and have their behavior put on trial. From Politico: "President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday to deny accusations of sexual harassment from one of the 19 women who have accused him of misconduct." How can one fight the most powerful man in the free world accused of sexual predation? Evan after Mr. Trump boasted how women want to be grabbed by the pussy, he was unbelievably still elected President. This sends a powerful message to all women that it is perfectly okay for men to do and act on their 'locker room' talk. Women who experience these messages, whether overtly or covertly, know we face overwhelming odds in being believed. (BTW Mr. Trump: notice how their were never any allegations of this with President Obama.

Instead of 'Time's UP', I wish the slogan for gun control, 'Not One More' had been adopted for National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. For those of us who have known victims of sexual assault, have endured coming to terms with having been sexually assaulted, or are coping with ongoing sexual assaults, I say, enough is enough. Know you will be believed, that there is support, and that you are not alone.

For more information, support, and help, contact the National Sexual Violence Resource Center at: www.nsvrc.org