Nailed 'er Wayne. If it were a simple matter of misspoken or inappropriate there might be a smidgen of forgiveness but objectifying women is a pattern learned at the paternal knee and until better role models get the message such filth will be normalized. There are more women in med school than men. How threatening to know women are taking their places as professionals, as business women ( which ultimately the likes of Dolly Parten before Taylor are).But this, this is a whole stinking level of sleezy for which there should be no tolerance...NONE! What loving father could stand his daughter relegated to such an attack of depravity?
Given that Trump has objectified his own daughter, nothing comes as a surprise with regards to his views of women.
He represents everything wrong in the world; an individual guilty of all seven sins.
He is reprehensible and beyond redemption.
Unfortunately, I do not believe he will personally pay for any of his crimes. He is far too physically frail and will likely pass before he is brought to justice.
I believe he thinks he is securing his legacy by enriching his entire mafia family and placing them in positions of power.
Trump is an individual without thought or morality and therefore regrets none of his actions. He goes through life acting upon his ID.
ID (in Psychology):
In psychoanalytic theory, the "id" is the unconscious, instinctual part of the personality.
It is driven by pleasure and seeks immediate gratification.
The "id" is one of the three components of personality, along with the "ego" and the "superego
If Trump showed the kind of disrespect to my daughter that he shows to his own, I’d punch him in the nose.
That’s not an endorsement of violence — it’s just how a father responds to depravity aimed at someone he loves.
What both of you are pointing to is the deeper harm here. This isn’t just sleaze, it’s inheritance. Boys don’t become men by instinct — they’re taught.
When my son turned 13, I gave him the talk. Not the sex talk — he probably could’ve given that to me by then — but the how to be a man talk. The one every boy needs, and too few get from someone qualified to give it.
When a man with that much reach models objectification, cruelty, and unchecked entitlement, it ripples. Best someone else sets the example first.
Taylor Swift didn’t just take the hit. Every girl who looks up to her did too.
Hope is in men like you raising sons. What was that line I think Ann Landers gave about the best thing a mother/father could do for their children?... to show respect for their father/mother. Healthy homes show the way by example and yes, reinforcing with dialogue, and instantly correcting comments that are inappropriate.
Unlike the Wizard of Id ( Hart & Parker) … .you’d have to be old to get the reference… it was funny and clever… rumplemangoskin fits multiple psych profiles most of which usually end up medicated or incarcerated. His grandfather didn’t bother panning for gold but used women to turn tricks and headed south with the profits to invest dubiously… what a legacy… no amt of money cleans that up.
Tonight we learn poor Biden, a man of intelligence and integrity who actually was a good president is diagnosed with Ca prostate, mets to bone… .he will go out hard, an ending no one would wish for him while the debauched creature with dreadful habits seems larger than life. Frail? No. Heaven don’t want him and the devil has a restraining order out on him… he’s not gone yet and can still do immeasurable harm beyond the lasting damage he has already set in motion… Karma… hmmmm.
I should have commented about Biden too. It breaks my heart, he deserves better.
There’s an old farmer I know who says something along the lines of, “If a tree’s full of rot, it’ll stand longer than the ones feeding the forest.”
I don’t know if that’s true in the metaphysical sense, but I’ve seen it enough in real life to stop asking why.
You’re right — it’s hard to watch a man of conscience fade while the fraud struts on. One gave everything. The other took and took and called it destiny.
If karma’s coming, I hope it doesn’t need a quorum. Because what Trump’s already set in motion won’t die when he does.
So, I'd like to point out that, at 35 years of age, no-one should need their Daddy to defend them. When I was four years old and being bullied by a male classmate who was also a next-door neighbour (yes, I started kindergarden at four, presumably what provoked the five-year-old boy, and also was in no way my own decision) my mother's response when I arrived home in tears (yes, I walked home alone at age 4, too, it was a military base in the late '50s and no-one thought a thing about it) several days in a row and appealed to her for help was "I won't always be here to fight your battles for you; you need to punch that kid in the face before gets a chance to hit you the next time. That's how you deal with bullies. Until you do, he won't stop." I will never forget that. I took her advice (maybe the only time) and it worked.
Taylor Swift can give Donald Trump a black eye or bloody nose (in print) if she chooses to. Her fangirls can stand up for her. None of them need to hide behind their or anybody else's father to call that man out.
My opinion, as a 70-years-young woman. No offence intended.
One final point, the author's daughter also could have written her own piece.
Learning to deal with bullies is a life skill. The school system wrote a chunk of time into their curriculum to address this issue but I would question if it had much effect.
Standing up for what’s right, regardless of the issue be it personal or more on a global stage takes courage and some template. Girls who have strong father daughter bonds are less likely to accept unhealthy conduct. There are times when knowing someone has your back makes it possible to deal with the impossible, and that’s what strong units provide. When a parent is able to demonstrate in words and example, the child gets that template. Too many children were left on their own in the era you were a small child in…. I know very, very well… and now too many children are growing up in their own peer group, alone as never before so, bravo Wayne, for using his platform to write to the larger audience of daughters, young and old whose father can’t or won’t have their daughter’s backs.
As for the issue that touched off this piece, how very sad that rumplemangoskin got such a poor template that makes him judge women based on his perverted sense of values.. Women are so much more and that threatens cretins like him.
Thank you — You put it beautifully: strength often comes from knowing someone’s in your corner. That’s not weakness — it’s foundation.
And you’re right — when someone models that kind of presence, it creates permission. Psychologists call it the “first-actor effect.” Speak up early, and others are more likely to follow.
That’s what I was trying to do here: not center myself, just move first.
I'm trying to understand the intent of your comment, It walks a familiar line, intentionally or unintentionally. I've put together some thoughts about what I perceive you're saying:
Thank you again for speaking out so clearly! Kudos to your daughter, for sharing her love and respect for Taylor Swift, and for talking so directly to her Dad about what she is expecting! 💫
Mr. Horton, we constantly refer to ‘the most powerful man in the world’. The power is in the position not the person. It’s how the person in that position uses that power that makes him powerful.
Thank you sir for another of many powerful commentaries.
That’s a crucial distinction—power in the position, not the person. And yet, the person can still do a hell of a lot with it.
Trump may lack the moral stature or strategic clarity to wield that power well, but he still inherited the machinery of global influence built by predecessors who, for all their flaws, largely respected the weight of the office. He hasn’t destroyed that foundation—yet—but he’s been chipping away at it with a sledgehammer of ego and impulsivity.
America is still the elephant in the bed. When it rolls over, the world feels it. Trump didn’t make the elephant; he just gave it a double shot of espresso and started poking it with a stick. The tossing and turning isn’t over. And the rest of us are just hoping it doesn’t collapse the whole damn bed.
Our daughter, likewise a big Taylor Swift fan, is a clinical psychologist in Ottawa who serves RCMP and Cdn Forces personnel with her PhD training in PTSD. She has made a vow with herself never to professionally refer to the current occupant of the Oval Office - whom she views as a major contributor to PTSD - other than with a dismissive “47.”
Thanks Wayne, this was perfect. Trump is think-skinned, easily baited and bribed, and often acts like a rejected 13 year old. Along with all of the other awful things about him.
Excellent writing, thank you for your great work. It’s this kind of insight and willingness to share that will save this country.
I find everything that Trump says and does to be twisted, wrong, and immoral on so many levels. It’s hard to stay engaged but ignoring him gives him power and influence over our country.
It really is outrageous that he continues to be this way and that we as a nation allow it.
All of these comments are so on-target! Trump is a sick, despicable human being on every conceivable level. But something equally despicable in our society allowed him to blossom politically and business wise despite all the obvious red flags. How do we get past that? I am so concerned that we have so allowed cruelty and misogyny to be acceptable. How do we turn the tide? Many people seem to love the new order of things and, more frighteningly, are happy that it expresses their innermost sentiments.
All Leaders of Countries should take a lesson from Taylor Swift. Ignore Trump at all costs. Laugh at his threats and stupidity . And just continue protecting your Country’s Sovereignty even if it means to realize that the USA no longer exists. It’s just a FASCIST BANANA REPUBLIC . With a DEMENTED LEADER .
Swift is a more than solid musician and songwriter. Her stuff is only occasionally to my taste, but it’s like you say: not written for me. There are a few things of hers I do appreciate.
She seems a generally good person, too. Tends to take care of her people, gives back some. This was one of the things that struck me about the orange felon whining about her and Springsteen around the same time: these are two of the really pretty decent people in the business. It’s a tough business, and they’re no pushovers, but you have to respect: they’re known for getting it done and being good people to deal with, good people to work for. Of course that’s who he can’t stand. Decent people completely unlike him.
Swift like you say, too: there’s such a cultural thing around her. A lot of women and girls, this is community. So it’s at once pathetic and predictable he tries to grab attention attacking her. She represents something powerful in which his own dim, grasping self regard simply has no place.
Wayne, congratulations on your support of your daughter. I am impressed with your post, and I applaud. Hopefully, Trump will fade into the pages of history soon. His life is a classic saga of a deeply flawed man without empathy, morals, courage, or honor. He is the insult comic dog of the GOP, but not funny. He is sickening and repulsive. The compassion and generosity of Taylor Swift are world-class in stature. Thanks again for being an excellent Dad.
Nailed 'er Wayne. If it were a simple matter of misspoken or inappropriate there might be a smidgen of forgiveness but objectifying women is a pattern learned at the paternal knee and until better role models get the message such filth will be normalized. There are more women in med school than men. How threatening to know women are taking their places as professionals, as business women ( which ultimately the likes of Dolly Parten before Taylor are).But this, this is a whole stinking level of sleezy for which there should be no tolerance...NONE! What loving father could stand his daughter relegated to such an attack of depravity?
Given that Trump has objectified his own daughter, nothing comes as a surprise with regards to his views of women.
He represents everything wrong in the world; an individual guilty of all seven sins.
He is reprehensible and beyond redemption.
Unfortunately, I do not believe he will personally pay for any of his crimes. He is far too physically frail and will likely pass before he is brought to justice.
I believe he thinks he is securing his legacy by enriching his entire mafia family and placing them in positions of power.
Trump is an individual without thought or morality and therefore regrets none of his actions. He goes through life acting upon his ID.
ID (in Psychology):
In psychoanalytic theory, the "id" is the unconscious, instinctual part of the personality.
It is driven by pleasure and seeks immediate gratification.
The "id" is one of the three components of personality, along with the "ego" and the "superego
If Trump showed the kind of disrespect to my daughter that he shows to his own, I’d punch him in the nose.
That’s not an endorsement of violence — it’s just how a father responds to depravity aimed at someone he loves.
What both of you are pointing to is the deeper harm here. This isn’t just sleaze, it’s inheritance. Boys don’t become men by instinct — they’re taught.
When my son turned 13, I gave him the talk. Not the sex talk — he probably could’ve given that to me by then — but the how to be a man talk. The one every boy needs, and too few get from someone qualified to give it.
When a man with that much reach models objectification, cruelty, and unchecked entitlement, it ripples. Best someone else sets the example first.
Taylor Swift didn’t just take the hit. Every girl who looks up to her did too.
And every man who stays silent? Helps it echo.
Hope is in men like you raising sons. What was that line I think Ann Landers gave about the best thing a mother/father could do for their children?... to show respect for their father/mother. Healthy homes show the way by example and yes, reinforcing with dialogue, and instantly correcting comments that are inappropriate.
Exactly!
Unlike the Wizard of Id ( Hart & Parker) … .you’d have to be old to get the reference… it was funny and clever… rumplemangoskin fits multiple psych profiles most of which usually end up medicated or incarcerated. His grandfather didn’t bother panning for gold but used women to turn tricks and headed south with the profits to invest dubiously… what a legacy… no amt of money cleans that up.
Tonight we learn poor Biden, a man of intelligence and integrity who actually was a good president is diagnosed with Ca prostate, mets to bone… .he will go out hard, an ending no one would wish for him while the debauched creature with dreadful habits seems larger than life. Frail? No. Heaven don’t want him and the devil has a restraining order out on him… he’s not gone yet and can still do immeasurable harm beyond the lasting damage he has already set in motion… Karma… hmmmm.
I should have commented about Biden too. It breaks my heart, he deserves better.
There’s an old farmer I know who says something along the lines of, “If a tree’s full of rot, it’ll stand longer than the ones feeding the forest.”
I don’t know if that’s true in the metaphysical sense, but I’ve seen it enough in real life to stop asking why.
You’re right — it’s hard to watch a man of conscience fade while the fraud struts on. One gave everything. The other took and took and called it destiny.
If karma’s coming, I hope it doesn’t need a quorum. Because what Trump’s already set in motion won’t die when he does.
“The evil men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones…”
The machine that set about prior to the election to dismiss all President Biden accomplished….
To quote Johnny Hart in BC, the comic strip where BC goes up the hill to sit under his tree and write poetry…
“In moments of adversity,
When life’s a total wreck,
I think of those worse off than me,
And really feel like heck.
Yup… that lodged in my brain in the late ‘60’s.. 19 not 18 :)… can’t remember passwords but….
Leave you with that smile at least.
T
The Wizard of ID... That's good!
So, I'd like to point out that, at 35 years of age, no-one should need their Daddy to defend them. When I was four years old and being bullied by a male classmate who was also a next-door neighbour (yes, I started kindergarden at four, presumably what provoked the five-year-old boy, and also was in no way my own decision) my mother's response when I arrived home in tears (yes, I walked home alone at age 4, too, it was a military base in the late '50s and no-one thought a thing about it) several days in a row and appealed to her for help was "I won't always be here to fight your battles for you; you need to punch that kid in the face before gets a chance to hit you the next time. That's how you deal with bullies. Until you do, he won't stop." I will never forget that. I took her advice (maybe the only time) and it worked.
Taylor Swift can give Donald Trump a black eye or bloody nose (in print) if she chooses to. Her fangirls can stand up for her. None of them need to hide behind their or anybody else's father to call that man out.
My opinion, as a 70-years-young woman. No offence intended.
One final point, the author's daughter also could have written her own piece.
Learning to deal with bullies is a life skill. The school system wrote a chunk of time into their curriculum to address this issue but I would question if it had much effect.
Standing up for what’s right, regardless of the issue be it personal or more on a global stage takes courage and some template. Girls who have strong father daughter bonds are less likely to accept unhealthy conduct. There are times when knowing someone has your back makes it possible to deal with the impossible, and that’s what strong units provide. When a parent is able to demonstrate in words and example, the child gets that template. Too many children were left on their own in the era you were a small child in…. I know very, very well… and now too many children are growing up in their own peer group, alone as never before so, bravo Wayne, for using his platform to write to the larger audience of daughters, young and old whose father can’t or won’t have their daughter’s backs.
As for the issue that touched off this piece, how very sad that rumplemangoskin got such a poor template that makes him judge women based on his perverted sense of values.. Women are so much more and that threatens cretins like him.
Thank you — You put it beautifully: strength often comes from knowing someone’s in your corner. That’s not weakness — it’s foundation.
And you’re right — when someone models that kind of presence, it creates permission. Psychologists call it the “first-actor effect.” Speak up early, and others are more likely to follow.
That’s what I was trying to do here: not center myself, just move first.
Appreciate you seeing that.
Hi Calandra,
Thank you for sharing your story.
I'm trying to understand the intent of your comment, It walks a familiar line, intentionally or unintentionally. I've put together some thoughts about what I perceive you're saying:
https://substack.com/profile/54453324-wayne-horton/note/c-118430945
A
Thank you again for speaking out so clearly! Kudos to your daughter, for sharing her love and respect for Taylor Swift, and for talking so directly to her Dad about what she is expecting! 💫
Oh, she does that!! Sometimes I even listen! lol
Mr. Horton, we constantly refer to ‘the most powerful man in the world’. The power is in the position not the person. It’s how the person in that position uses that power that makes him powerful.
Thank you sir for another of many powerful commentaries.
That’s a crucial distinction—power in the position, not the person. And yet, the person can still do a hell of a lot with it.
Trump may lack the moral stature or strategic clarity to wield that power well, but he still inherited the machinery of global influence built by predecessors who, for all their flaws, largely respected the weight of the office. He hasn’t destroyed that foundation—yet—but he’s been chipping away at it with a sledgehammer of ego and impulsivity.
America is still the elephant in the bed. When it rolls over, the world feels it. Trump didn’t make the elephant; he just gave it a double shot of espresso and started poking it with a stick. The tossing and turning isn’t over. And the rest of us are just hoping it doesn’t collapse the whole damn bed.
Our daughter, likewise a big Taylor Swift fan, is a clinical psychologist in Ottawa who serves RCMP and Cdn Forces personnel with her PhD training in PTSD. She has made a vow with herself never to professionally refer to the current occupant of the Oval Office - whom she views as a major contributor to PTSD - other than with a dismissive “47.”
We should have to shout out “Trigger warning!”, every time we’re about to mention his name.
TRUTH. How detestable is that reality in our world?!
Thanks Wayne, this was perfect. Trump is think-skinned, easily baited and bribed, and often acts like a rejected 13 year old. Along with all of the other awful things about him.
Excellent writing, thank you for your great work. It’s this kind of insight and willingness to share that will save this country.
I find everything that Trump says and does to be twisted, wrong, and immoral on so many levels. It’s hard to stay engaged but ignoring him gives him power and influence over our country.
It really is outrageous that he continues to be this way and that we as a nation allow it.
All of these comments are so on-target! Trump is a sick, despicable human being on every conceivable level. But something equally despicable in our society allowed him to blossom politically and business wise despite all the obvious red flags. How do we get past that? I am so concerned that we have so allowed cruelty and misogyny to be acceptable. How do we turn the tide? Many people seem to love the new order of things and, more frighteningly, are happy that it expresses their innermost sentiments.
I would add that no man, not just the 80 year old orange ones, should be publicly making such judgmental commentary about any woman’s appearance.
It is in thoughtful articulate essays such as this that I find encouragment.
I see that there are still reasoned people with resolve who are willing to speak out.
Perhaps we will prevail.
Thank you, and cheers from Canada.
🇨🇦
All Leaders of Countries should take a lesson from Taylor Swift. Ignore Trump at all costs. Laugh at his threats and stupidity . And just continue protecting your Country’s Sovereignty even if it means to realize that the USA no longer exists. It’s just a FASCIST BANANA REPUBLIC . With a DEMENTED LEADER .
Very well written!
Thank you!
Swift is a more than solid musician and songwriter. Her stuff is only occasionally to my taste, but it’s like you say: not written for me. There are a few things of hers I do appreciate.
She seems a generally good person, too. Tends to take care of her people, gives back some. This was one of the things that struck me about the orange felon whining about her and Springsteen around the same time: these are two of the really pretty decent people in the business. It’s a tough business, and they’re no pushovers, but you have to respect: they’re known for getting it done and being good people to deal with, good people to work for. Of course that’s who he can’t stand. Decent people completely unlike him.
Swift like you say, too: there’s such a cultural thing around her. A lot of women and girls, this is community. So it’s at once pathetic and predictable he tries to grab attention attacking her. She represents something powerful in which his own dim, grasping self regard simply has no place.
Wayne, congratulations on your support of your daughter. I am impressed with your post, and I applaud. Hopefully, Trump will fade into the pages of history soon. His life is a classic saga of a deeply flawed man without empathy, morals, courage, or honor. He is the insult comic dog of the GOP, but not funny. He is sickening and repulsive. The compassion and generosity of Taylor Swift are world-class in stature. Thanks again for being an excellent Dad.
Remember when Republicans tried to destroy The Chicks? These attacks on women are in the republican playbook . Thats who they are
Well said. What a dad! Your daughter must be so proud
Lol, Opinions vary, but we do all right!
I can’t imagine that his kids are not so totally disgusted at their father or there as bad as he is