Steven Kurlander: Potty mouth politics — Donald Trump misogyny will have no bearing on election

Donald Trump recently apologized to the American people for making “vulgar” comments about a married woman, in a “locker-room” context, in 2005.

It seems that if you are running for office these days, whether it be for the presidency or for the local village or town board, you must make serious amends for talking with a derogatory potty mouth about women — even if it was years ago.

So in accordance with these new standards, I’m going to make an admission to all my readers.

I probably shouldn’t do it.

But I feel I must cleanse myself, be honest about who I am, lay it out there so that one day, if I am judged, either by running again for political office or even at some heavenly pearly gates “manned” by politically correct sentries in the mists, I can say I came clean.

OK, here it goes:

In the past, I have made very derogatory and mean remarks about women too.

I don’t think I have ever inappropriately grabbed or engaged in bad physical conduct with a member of the opposite sex, so I won’t admit that.

But I have shown disdain, contempt, and a lack of decorum toward some women I’ve encountered.

I’ll admit that I’ve used that horrible C-word throughout my adolescence and adult life while venting my anger, my disappointment, my hurt and my rage toward members of the opposite sex, in both professional and personal circumstances.

I’ve said what have become totally unacceptable sexist words in private conversations with other men, and even some women including my wife, who I trusted keep those words and feelings in confidence.

Do I really feel bad about saying those things? Absolutely not. Unlike Trump, I won’t apologize.

I am, like Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and everybody else, a human being, with my own set of prejudices and my own history of bad behavior, habits and conduct that define Steven Kurlander, to a certain extent, as partly intolerant, sexist, and obnoxious, pure and simple.

So there it is.

What Donald Trump said stupidly in that “locker-room” interview, or his behavior toward beauty contestants, ex-wives, and others of the “fairer” sex, was certainly over the top.

But let’s admit it, both men and women alike, we’ve all been guilty of making these comments throughout our lives.

What’s dangerous about this overblown conception of inappropriate misogyny in politics is that it sets an impossible bar of behavior for politicians that are true, not phony, human beings.

It distracts from important conversations of issues and character about candidates in campaigns and sets unrealistic and ridiculous boundaries for both public and private behavior.

So if you can say one thing about this election, it’s that the concept of acceptable behavior by our public figures has devolved into a one-sided sexual decency test evolved from a “modern” woman’s concept of politically correct behavior.

And men are at a distinct disadvantage — particularly older ones.

But the reality is that the recent sexist allegations of abject disrespect to women by Trump don’t mean a thing in terms of changing votes, particularly with women voters who are inappropriately clumped together as a sexual voting class.

So despite the great hype about Donald’s misogynist past, and the perception being laid out by the press and Hillary’s campaign, he is still connecting to alienated voters because he says what people think and feel, but don’t say, particularly to pollsters and the press.

He is a master of not only being crude, but exploiting voter frustration to win them over.

If the flawed Donald Trump wins, it will prove politically incorrect crude behavior still doesn’t matter much to voters, men and women alike.

I certainly hope so, now that I have admitted to being a somewhat obnoxious human being too.

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Steven Kurlander is an attorney and communication strategist from Monticello, New York. He blogs at Kurly’s Kommentary and writes for flapolstaging.wpengine.com.