Michelle Obama's comments on Trump

The video below is the complete speech made by Michelle Obama regarding Donald Trump and his taped conversation with Billy Bush.  It's long.  A transcript of this speech is also available.

Let's focus on one paragraph from her remarks:

"Because consider this: If all of this is painful to us as grown women, what do you think this is doing to our children? What message are our little girls hearing about who they should look like, how they should act? What lessons are they learning about their value as professionals, as human beings, about their dreams and aspirations? And how is this affecting men and boys in this country? Because I can tell you that the men in my life do not talk about women like this. And I know that my family is not unusual. And to dismiss this as everyday locker-room talk is an insult to decent men everywhere."

There is an argument being made that there is some hypocrisy in this statement because President and Mrs. Obama have invited musicians to the White House whose music is rife with misogynistic lyrics.  Lyrics like these from a Rick Ross song.

"That nigga sold you that re-rock, you ain't even know it
I die over these Reeboks, you ain't even know it
Put Molly all in her champagne, she ain’t even know it
I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain't even know it
Got a hundred acres I live on, you ain't even know it
Got a hundred rounds in this AR, you ain't even know it
Got a bag of bitches I play with, on cloud 9 in my spaceship
Zoned out but he stay fresh from Zone 1 through Zone 6
Bricks all in my blood, birds all in my dreams
Boats all in my yard, lemon pepper my wings
I’m bout to get you fuck niggas wacked, you ain't even know it
Your main nigga bout to turn his back, you ain't even know it."

The people who are calling Mrs. Obama's speech hypocritical are making the point that if it is acceptable for people to sing about sexual misconduct, it makes it okay for Donald Trump to joke about it.  It makes sense on a very simplistic level.

However it ignores a very basic concept.  There is a difference between art and life.  Life may imitate art but that doesn't make the art the same as the action.  Songs, books, movies and other forms of creative expression are just that.  Art.

Donald Trump was not engaging in creative expression for an audience when he talked about kissing women on the mouth without their permission.  When he gloated about grabbing women by the pussy.  He was talking about actual behaviors.  With the ever growing list of women who allege he did these things to them, behaviors that he may well have actually engaged in.

Is Rick Ross a misogynist to the level of Donald Trump?  That's for you to decide.  But his lyrics are not the same as Trump's words.  They serve very different purposes.  That's why the attempt to conflate them to create the appearance of hypocrisy is yet another failing false equivalency and should be ignored.