I’m sorry, I can’t take him seriously.
Sure, from time to time he says something most of us think. He
also has a tendency to blurt out stuff that’s simply nuts, unfortunately. So while you’re nodding your head at the
former, you can also find yourself cringing at the latter and wondering what
planet he’s from.
Let me clarify that for you.
He’s from his own world – Trumptopia. In Trumptopia he is all-seeing, all-knowing,
and all powerful. He is the wisest man he knows. The sharpest businessman. The
best negotiator. Foreign leaders fear him. Other business leaders admire
him. Women love him. And so on.
Plus, he’s rich; something he constantly likes to point out.
Trump is truly a legend in his own mind.
This would be okay except that he’s running for President of
the United States as a Republican and some people are apparently taking him
seriously. In a recent poll he’s sitting at almost 11% among the wide field of Republican
hopefuls, declared and undeclared.
So that’s made me wonder why such a shameless publicity
whore, who routinely makes outrageous and unfounded claims that would make even
Harry Reid blush, is getting such support. Is it because people think he’s
actually who they want as President? Is
it because they believe he’s such an accomplished businessman he could run the
US government well? Does the American
public now want big, bold and ballsy after the Obama years of frustratingly
feckless management of the country?
Is that it? We’ve had
to deal with one self-serving publicity whore who thinks and acts like he’s a king
already, so is the time right to elect another?
Honestly folks, I don’t think that’s it. Bluster alone doesn’t
make anyone a good leader, especially not of this country. I think that’s been proven by the past 6+
years.
I’m not denying that Donald Trump is smart. He is. I’m also
not saying that he’s not a successful businessman. That he is as well, but I
think when your daddy leaves you about $200 million in cash plus valuable real
estate holdings to get started, that helps a great deal. On his own, however, he’s
parlayed that into billions, so he certainly deserves a lot of credit for
that.
He gives himself high marks for being an extraordinary
negotiator as one key to his success. I’m sure he’s a tough negotiator, but
that doesn’t mean what works in a business deal is transferable to negotiating with
the leaders of other countries, or even Congress, when you’re not holding all the
cards.
I’ve personally known people I respect who’ve done business
with Donald Trump. Their experience might be telling.
They said he was a bully and a chiseler when they tried to
collect on a past-due bill for advertising and marketing work they did for one
of his Atlantic City casinos. It was fairly big money for them, and Trump
himself was said to be very pleased with their work, so they got a face-to-face
meeting with him to try to resolve it amicably.
His “art of the deal” was to bludgeon them with threats of disputing
every single invoice covered by that bill – which totaled in the millions of
dollars – which might take years of litigation to resolve before they saw a
dime. Or they could accept a check now for substantially less than they were owed.
They took the check and vowed never to do any work with him
again.
If you listen to how Trump portrays himself now, and how he
claims he will deal with the leaders of foreign nations – friends or foes – “negotiation”
seems the farthest thing from his mind.
Unless you consider bullying someone into submission “negotiation.”
Like it or not, no President can just tell the world to kiss
his ass. And although Obama has largely ignored the Constitution and dismissed
Congress as irrelevant, Trump would be even more dictatorial.
So why are so many in the public embracing him?
I really believe the American public is so annoyed with
politicians in general – on both sides of the aisle – that they are supporting
outliers like Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump to send a message. Sort of a high-colonic
for the political establishment.
The public has tried to send that message in a
passive-aggressive way by not showing up to vote. That hasn’t worked so now
they are trying something different – supporting off-the-wall fire-breathers who
almost nobody in the political establishment even remotely likes.
It’s a bit like when people voted for Ross Perot, Ralph
Nader, Lyndon LaRouche, or even Pat Paulson for that matter. They despised the
politicians the major parties kept putting up; they knew their candidate didn’t
have a prayer of getting elected, but so what? They wanted someone to shake
things up and let politicians know how much they disliked them.
A vote for Trump – or Sanders – is less a vote for them as
much as a vote against more of the same.
That I can understand. And I’m in the boat with those who want to throw
the rascals out across the board. We’ve had enough of the political
establishment. It’s time for new blood.
Trump’s not it. Entertaining,
yes. Cringe-worthy? Too often, yes.
Enjoy the show while it lasts. Then Trump will be off on his next big
adventure to keep his name and face on the front pages.
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