We get strong evidence that Trump raped a woman, and nobody cares.  We’re pretty sure it’s true, and that Trump is guilty. And yet nobody besides a few pundits stands up and objects.  The major media barely cover the story.  What does that say about us?

Elle advice columnist Jean Carroll was the New York magazine June cover story: Donald Trump assaulted me in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room 23 years ago.  The magazine was publishing an excerpt from Carroll‘s forthcoming book, “What Do We Need Men For?”  NY Mag put Donald Trump’s name front and center of the cover.  Carroll has also made detailed accusations against Trump in interviews, including names and contemporaneous evidence.  While her story is consistent with the dozens of other women accusing Trump, her account is harrowing and violent.  If she’s describing her life accurately (which I believe), then this was rape.  If someone cares to explain why forced penetration against a struggling woman is acceptable, give it your best shot.  I say it was rape.

The Times addressed the outlet’s unusual lack of attention in “How We Handled E. Jean Carroll’s Allegations Against Trump,” suggesting that, while the Times was forthright and all that, maybe, possibly they’d been “overly cautious” here. 

I suggest this is a moral test for America.  We’ve come to accept that Donald Trump assaulted and abused women for decades under the protection of his wealth and fame.  We always knew he was a cad and a bore; we’ve recently realized he’s also (and somehow worse?) a financial phony.  When we heard Trump admit over a hot mike that he groped women all the time, it was shocking, but it wasn’t like we didn’t believe him.  We knew Trump treated women like trash.  And yet we blinked.  To rescue their investment, Russia dumped tons of (ultimately uninteresting) emails, Republicans did everything they could to further distract us, and he squeaked into office.  America had elected Donald Jello Trump as President of the United States.

Big strike one against us.  But maybe we were deluded about what we were buying.

So far, dozens of women have felt so strongly about Trump’s past assaults they went public and on the record, providing names, evidence, and testimony of Trump’s attacks.  All of them have suffered threats, financial retribution, and media shaming.  The few women who could still sue him are proceeding in federal court.  Good for them.  Hopefully, the truth will come out. Again, though, none of this will tell us much we didn’t already know.  Most Americans believe that Trump assaulted those women and probably many more who won’t come forward.  We believe the women who have everything to lose over an overprivileged sociopath who can’t speak the truth.

But Donald Trump is still President, and we’re barely moving.  Oh no, we moan, it’s too early to act!

I know it’s a cliché but think back to the deep past of the Bill Clinton Presidency.  Republicans in Congress conducted multiple hearings and gleefully paid millions for years of Special Counsel investigations.  That Republican party ultimate wrote and passed articles of impeachment against President William Jefferson Clinton because, they said, he lied about consensual sex.  And yet now Republican party sniffs at Trump’s open felonies and endless corruption, snidely shrugs, and ignores him.  In response, for some reason, we don’t tear down the walls of government in rage.  Instead, we hopelessly mimic that shrug and keep moving past the crime scene.

Strike two against us.  Maybe during the primary Trump could fool us into believing that he wasn’t really that idiot he played on TV.  Many of us hoped he’d grow into the Presidency.  Nope.  He really was that shallow, vain, and petty moron.  His TV handlers struggled to pump him up high enough to achieve “caricature.”  He is that miserable man-child.  Knowing the truth about Trump, we understand that we have to do better.  We have no excuses.

And now we have credible evidence that Trump raped a woman.  No, I’m not going to sugarcoat this for you; no ‘allegations’ or ‘purported’ quibbles.  Trump raped a woman against her will, physically overpowering her as she struggled.  She has evidence and testimony backing her story, the full details, and the gravitas. I believe what Carroll says and what her friends said.  I understand why she didn’t say anything about it publicly until now, and why those fears were – and are – credible.  On his side, Trump repeats the same sexist bluster, against photographic evidence that contradicts his own claims.  Maybe he can crawl away, but absent contrary evidence, he’s a rapist.  Trump is guilty. Anyone really surprised?

It’s our third time at bat for Trumpian sexual assault.  I wonder how it will go this time?  I’m hopeful, surprisingly.  After weeks of indifference, Carroll’s story is finally getting traction. Haven’t a clue why it was pushed out of the news, but it’s back.  It’s possible we’ll overcome the despair and criminal indifference that Trump and his Republican co-conspirators wrap around themselves.

But it’s just as possible that Trump will do something destructive as another distraction. My biggest fear is that Trump will start his horrific, unwinnable war with Iran.  Right now Trump’s just dick-swinging, but he’s a coward.  Scare him, and Trump loses bladder control and any remaining humanity.  And causing massive damage as he sneaks away is right from his playbook.  Don’t fool yourself: he’s been absolutely correct so far.  We follow the shiny object every time, and Trump sails away, indifferent, wealthy beyond any need, and protected from consequences.  He knows the American truth: if he can get free now, Americans won’t come back to get him later.  Imagine Trump scared and with no restraint.

So, will we let Trump shove us into another horrific, unwinnable war?  (Trump doesn’t care; nobody’s pushing him or his kids into combat.)  Maybe he decides to start evicting children back across the Mexican border.  Will we carefully examine ourselves after the next bad-faith attack by the Republican machine?  Will we lose focus and move beyond Trump’s rape of Carroll?

Or will we man-up and finally hold Trump accountable?  I wonder which we’ll do this time, but it’s really our last chance to stand up.  This isn’t about Trump anymore, it’s about us, and what America has become.