Ben Carson

What is the line of decency in the era of Trump? Republicans and conservatives now regularly and shamelessly embrace behavior that would have been political heresy when Obama was in office.

Over the last year Milo Yiannopoulos, senior editor at Breitbart was the quintessential example of the American conservative’s craven Trump era transformation. Milo, as a leader of the “alt-right” (the Forever 21 of white nationalist groups), was sashaying up the thought conservative thought leader ladder, with a million dollar book deal, protests at his campus speeches, an interview on Real Time with Bill Maher, and a reality TV show in the works.

Be a Woman Who Defies Donald Trump

Trump era Republicans love women. White women gave then the White House. Trump era conservatives are A-Okay with women regardless of behavior or ability so long as they don’t challenge anything that men tell them to do. For example, Kellyanne Conway and Betsy DeVos have both kept their jobs. Despite Kellyanne Conway being the upside down of competence with her #AlternativeFacts, fake Bowling Green Massacre and tweeting white nationalists, she’s still cashing a check. Betsy DeVos barely filled out the paperwork to be secretary of education, clearly didn’t study before her confirmation hearings and apparently learned everything she knows about public schools from an old VHS of “Dangerous Minds.” But she’s still got a job. You know who doesn’t have a job anymore? Sally Yates. The acting attorney general who told Trump that Michael Flynn was a Russian sock puppet, and that the White House “Muslim ban” was bad policy. That got her fired.

Be a Black Person who is not Omarosa or Ben Carson

Donald Trump loves the blacks, two blacks in particular. Even though Trump once likened Dr. Ben Carson to a pedophile, after the election he rewarded the good doctor with the most stereo-typically black job Trump could come up with: director of Department of Housing and Urban Development. Because what better job is there for a brilliant black surgeon with no management experience than managing a billion dollar budget for millions of low income housing residents? Donald Trump also likes Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth despite helping to cast her as a horrible person and letting people tweet racist things about her. So no matter how badly the administration’s Black History Month events have gone, Omarosa is safe. You know who isn’t getting or keeping jobs in the Trump era? Black people not named Ben Carson or Omarosa.

Threaten White Male Masculinity

Milo Yiannopoulos is a white power Jack McFarland and a dishonorable mention in a Criss Angel Cosplay contest, but none of that got him fired from speaking at CPAC. Advocating pedophilia per se, is not what got him fired either. Remember in the Trump era conservatives are fine with a president that sexualizes his own daughter and routinely showed up in the dressing rooms of under aged girls during pageants. In the Trump era it’s okay for Bible thumping pastor/presidential candidate Mike Huckabee to defend pedophiles on reality television. What got Milo in trouble is he threatened white male masculinity. Older men initiating young girls into adult sexuality is openly winked at by many conservatives and society in general. (I mean what fantasies were Britney, Miley Cyrus and Jessica Simpson really selling?) But an older gay man doing the same thing? Now that’s a bridge to far. That brings up discomfort in all the tingly places that Republicans and conservatives aren’t supposed to think about. Suddenly the sexual growth of fictitious young men must be protected from fiends like Milo, who less than 24 hours ago was perfectly acceptable as keynote speaker so long as his sexuality was focused on fetishizing black men.