Rob Porter was the White House staff secretary. As such, he sorted the documents that made it to the president’s desk. But he resigned last week, after The Daily Mail uncovered a White House cover-up of his history of spousal abuse.
Two ex-wives reportedly told the FBI over a year ago that Porter abused them (physically, psychologically, and emotionally). One of them even produced an incriminating photo of the black eye he gave her. More to the point, the FBI immediately informed the White House of this alleged abuse.
Which means that the Trump administration allowed Porter to continue serving as the gatekeeper of the nation’s top secrets for nearly a year, knowing full well that he failed his FBI security clearance.
But nobody should be surprised that White House staffers defended Porter as if they were defending their misogynistic, pussy-grabbing boss himself. Nor should anybody be surprised that Trump could not resist providing his own self-serving support:
Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. … There is no recovery for someone falsely accused – life and career are gone.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2018
In truth, one can hardly blame staffers for showing so little concern about the national security risk Porter posed. After all, the personally and financially compromised Trump poses the biggest (blackmail) risk of all. This makes all the indignant reporting on Porter’s abuse something of a sideshow — with due respect to his ex-wives.
That said, reporters and commentators are bending over backwards to avoid calling Porter a wife beater. Instead, they are calling him a “domestic abuser.”
This, of course, is the politically correct term. But it smacks too much of someone abusing a household servant (a.k.a. “a domestic”).
Accordingly, I urge all to stop calling a man who beats his wife a domestic abuser. Call this spade a spade: a wife beater.
Porter, Porter White House sorter,
Had a wife until he fought her.
She told her MeToo tale of him,
Which put his job out on a limb.
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