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Fifty shades of crazy

10/13/2016, 6:19 p.m.

Ignorant. Arrogant. Insulting. Racist. Sexist. Misogynistic. Anti-black. Anti-Latino. Anti-immigrant. Anti-Muslim. Xenophobic.

Add to the growing list: Vulgar. Filthy. Sexual predator.

We’re talking about Donald J. Trump, the man who millions of Americans saw fit to support for the Republican nomination for president.

With almost each day comes another revelation about his behavior and/or his past that shows why he is far from fit to be the next president of the United States.

The latest: An audiotape from 2005 in which he boasts in obscene, smutty detail what he tried to do to a female entertainment TV host, and how he “can do anything” to women, including grabbing women by their genitals, because he’s a “star.”

Just hours after the tape’s release, he offered a half-baked video apology via Facebook that excluded any reference of remorse to his family, including his third wife, who was pregnant with Mr. Trump’s fifth child at the time he made the disgusting remarks.

Since then, he has made excuses and, in his mind, justifications for his nastiness, which have been echoed by his non-thinking supporters across the nation — “It was more than a decade ago,” “It was locker room banter,” “Bill Clinton has said and done far worse when he was president.”

Mr. Trump is a 70-year-old man. In 2005, he was 59 — not a teenager talking out of school. None of his excuses or rationales hold merit.

At least 51 prominent Republicans announced in the last few days that they have reached their breaking point and are no longer supporting Mr. Trump. Among them: Condoleezza Rice, former secretary of state under President George W. Bush; U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the 2008 GOP presidential candidate; Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a contender for this year’s GOP nomination; William Bennett, former secretary of education under President Reagan; Congresswoman Barbara Comstock, Virginia’s 10th District congressional representative; and Congresswoman Mia Love, an African-American woman representing a district in Utah.

We, at the Free Press, saw the signs and signals early on. Understanding that past practice is a good indicator of future performance, we have pointed for months to specific examples of intemperate, unprincipled, unfiltered and unethical behavior that makes us believe a Trump presidency would be an unmitigated disaster for this nation.

His latest display proves he has no respect for women, who comprise 50.8 percent of the U.S. population. His arrogant disregard for women could create an international crisis or disaster if he thinks he can do what he wants to the wife or daughter or staffer of a visiting head of state, ambassador or dignitary simply because he is president.

According to the U.S. Census, 61.2 percent of women over the age of 18 are registered to vote, compared with 59.3 percent of men in the same age category. We believe those women voters will deliver a message of their own to Mr. Trump on Election Day.

His brand of politics is not normal, nor is his behavior anything we should condone in any elected official.

He has used crass, bullying behavior to threaten his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, by bringing to the second debate last Sunday in St. Louis three women who accused her husband, Bill Clinton, of sexual assault and a fourth who said Mrs. Clinton cold-heartedly defended the man who raped her as a child.

Then, during that debate, he threatened to name a special prosecutor to investigate Mrs. Clinton’s emails and put her in jail if he is elected president.

Don’t forget that in June, Mr. Trump threatened to launch an antitrust investigation of Amazon if he becomes president because of his anger at Jeffrey P. Bezos, Amazon founder and owner of The Washington Post. During the summer, Mr. Trump called the newspaper “phony and dishonest” and revoked the press credentials of its reporters from attending his rallies.

Both would be a misuse — abuse, really — of presidential power. His threats show a clear disdain for the Constitution and the rule of law in this nation.

He smirks when it arises that he may have paid no federal income taxes for years, saying, “That’s business” or “That’s smart.”

He has cozied up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, inviting him to hack U.S. intelligence computers to see what happened with Mrs. Clinton’s emails as secretary of state and has threatened to shoot “out of the water” Iranian vessels whose sailors give U.S. ships the middle finger in the Persian Gulf area.

This does not include the numerous insults he has leveled against African-Americans, Latinos, Muslims, Mexicans and immigrants, or his deception and lies in his business dealings, some of which have resulted in scores of small businesses being left unpaid when his businesses declared bankruptcy.

For anyone to still support him is “50 shades of crazy,” to quote one Republican woman who has jumped off the Trump train.

In our view, his lack of character disqualifies him for the nation’s highest office.

We remind our readers of the words of President Obama that we published in this space in the Aug. 4-6 edition:

“I think the Republican nominee is unfit to serve as president. I said so last week (at the Democratic National Convention), and he keeps on proving it,” President Obama said. “He’s woefully unprepared to do this job.

“There has to come a point at which you say somebody who makes those kinds of statements doesn’t have the judgment, the temperament, the understanding to occupy the most powerful position in the world. There has to come a point where you say, ‘Enough.’”

If people need any more proof of the truth of President Obama’s statement, Mr. Trump has offered it again with his latest vile statements and acts. We believe more will be revealed before the third and final presidential debate Wednesday, Oct. 19, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

We continue our call for all right-minded Republicans to stand up and denounce Mr. Trump and his actions and statements, and to publicly state that you will not support him to be the next president of the United States or vote for him on Nov. 8.

Just say “No” to a person who has no respect for this nation or its people.

Enough is enough.