Dakota Beacon

Donald Trump has stated this week that it was a "mistake" to put out those pictures of Heidi Cruz and maybe he even admitted it was rotten of him to threaten Cruz with "spilling the beans" on Heidi. With regard to the latter, there were no "beans". He was apparently referring to a brief but difficult time in her life when she was battling depression during a career crisis. It is never easy to be a professional and a mother and wife; it is even more difficult to be a political wife – even more so than for the politician himself or for another kind of celebrity, one who is not perpetually taking the arrows of various opponents. It was truly cowardly to reveal to public scrutiny the personal struggles of an innocent woman who is not a candidate but a wife and mother, laying bare a time in her life which she had preferred to keep private. Don't we have that right, Mr. Trump? That was a mistake. It also wasn't news. If Trump had been as astute a candidate is he is a donor-class Democrat, he might have taken a couple of weeks off to read Ted Cruz's recent book, A Time for Truth. In this book he might have gained valuable insights into someone who was becoming his prime opponent for President of the United States . . . and he would have found out what other readers found out – that Heidi's struggles had already been discussed with compassion and understanding by her husband, and undoubtedly with her permission. So, Donald, you were scooped by your own victim this time.

Regarding the photo war, there Trump made another boo-boo. I mean, after all, we all admire a beautiful animal – an elegant-looking feline, a graceful and powerful horse, a lovable dog. But it seems a career of casinos and strip joints and beauty pageants, or perhaps just his own personal taste, has preprogrammed Trump to regard women as ornaments, or as objects or as pets. The photograph of his then mistress, Melania, dishabille on a fur rug in his Leer (sp) jet, was the promotion not of Ted Cruz, whom he loves to blame, but of one Liz Mair, who runs a PAC which is not even in remote communication with the Cruz campaign. It seems Mair really doesn't care much for Trump or for the idea of his sitting in the Oval Office. So, Cruz being the only challenger left, she ran the photo, suggesting that that's no First Lady, that's Trump's wife, and appending the suggestion that if you didn't want her at teas in the Rose Garden, or at the French Embassy, it would be time to vote for Cruz.

Cruz didn't run that, but Trump didn't care who did. There is no percentage in attacking Liz Mair because she's not running against him in the primary. But Cruz is, and he is becoming more and more of a threat to Trump's dearest desire to be Number One. So he took a glamour shot of his wife and ran it alongside a candid campaign action photo of Heidi Cruz with the simple-minded comment that "a picture is worth 1,000 words" and his characteristic grimace and insulting shrug. "My dog is prettier than your dog. Nya, nya, nya-nya."

First, beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. There are many who genuinely believe that Heidi Cruz is a very pretty lady and some who think they both are. But who cares? As a woman, wouldn't you be appalled if your husband took out a photo of you – at your most glamorous, yet – and ran it next to a photo of another woman for comparison? I always knew that my husband was proud that I was at his side, and I was proud that HE was proud. BUT - if he had EVER done such a thing with a picture of me I would have been incensed. I might even have walked. What gave Trump that right? Did he consult with her first? And if she okayed it, is she "First Lady" timber?

I am not a fan of so-called beauty pageants, so maybe I'm not mainstream enough for the Trump crowd, but I often watch the Westminster Dog Show. I love the dogs. I marvel that they are so well-behaved that they allow strange judges to feel them all over and hold up their tails and watch them as they trot around. It's amazing. I never had a dog who would even tolerate a neighbor in my yard. Or lie down on command or anything! I enjoy the beauty of these exquisite animals. But they are not women. And as a woman, I can tell you how I would feel to be used by a spouse as a tool to be plastered on the tabloid pages in order to get some votes from the kind of people who like that sort of thing.

Donald Trump not only owes an apology to Heidi Cruz and his own wife Melania, but to all women for his disgusting attitude that women are born to be exploited.