Quote Originally Posted by JKDS View Post
I think statements can provide insight into someone's character. I also think the context of statements can be politicized. But I don't think presidents should get a free pass on everything they've ever said, and I don't think it's stupid to care about that.

I think it's OK for your friends to not like trump because they perceive him as being too offensive. I don't think it's dumb for them to want a president who is more careful about what he says. A president with a microphone can quell a riot. Or start a war. What he says does matter.
I don't disagree. Here's an example of the kind of thing I'm referring to: a friend was upset about Trump having told Howard Stern in 2005 that it's hard for a woman to be a 10 if very flat-chested. She thought that was demeaning to women. I pointed out to her that she has said (and I have said) much more demeaning things about women, and she, well, more or less acknowledged so, and that was that.

I've seen this kind of thing a lot. It's like when somebody is famous, they're thought of as special to such a degree that they are assumed to not have led a more or less normal life up to that point.