Trump America

“Naturally the common people don’t want war… All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” ~ Hermann Göring at Nuremberg

A couple of months ago I posted on Facebook about Donald Trump… saying that I hoped he stayed around for a while because he was ridiculously funny. It was a joke.

I’ve never regretted anything I’ve written more.

The state of American politics is at an all-time low, and it is being driven straight into the ground by Trump. He has no discernible platform, and his speeches are just rants that have no direction. To the Republican Party he has been a nuisance who won’t go away. But now, it’s clear that his presence threatens the entire party and they are in a panic.

A lot can happen in the next few months, but what if he wins the nomination? I shudder to think of what could happen after that.

A decade ago I read a novel by Phillip Roth entitled “The Plot Against America”. In this book Roth imagined an alternate history where FDR lost his presidential bid in 1940 to Charles Lindbergh. Roth imagines a world where Lindbergh fully acts on his rumored Nazi party sympathies and helps create an America gripped with fear and antisemitism. Clearly fiction, but we should all be happy that none of those scenarios were ever realized.

The current rise of Donald Trump made me think of that book, and the early rise of the Nazi Party. In the 1930’s, Hitler and his goons longed to create the 1,000 Year Reich because of their hatred of Jews and their need to dominate. They succeeded mostly because of the fear of anyone to challenge them. I seriously doubt that in America in 2015 we could reach that state of insanity, but to me the comparisons are obvious.

I wonder what Trump thinks of America, and if he knows that we are a nation of immigrants. For that matter, does he realize that all three of his wives are immigrants?

I wonder if the Pilgrims would be welcome in Trump’s America. Or Albert Einstein. Or Henry Kissinger. Or, someone more Donald’s speed, Arnold Schwarzenegger. And I wonder if he would have supported my Mother coming to his America… an Irish Catholic from Belfast whose brother spent a small amount of time in the IRA.

Who is Donald Trump? This is my simple answer… He’s a swindler. He is creating this persona for himself that, at the end of it all, just wants your money. He doesn’t want to be President of the United States and have all that responsibility. He doesn’t have the chops and he knows it. But Trump dearly wants to be the very public critic of whoever is in power. That will make him a boatload of money in books, interviews and speeches. Obviously he doesn’t need the money, and he clearly is bored making billions in real estate or whatever. One look at an episode of “The Apprentice” will show you the hungriest ego on the planet. Watch him now in the campaign, as people applaud and scream his name. He is practically orgasmic.

He is also a daily embarrassment to our country. Trump has hidden his true agenda, but he hasn’t been clever enough to hide what fills his heart… hate and fear. He’s a liar and a racist. He’s attacked women, Mexican immigrants, Syrian refugees, Blacks and now, a physically challenged reporter… who’s next?

Me, probably. Let the tweets about that fat blogger begin!!

It is beyond my comprehension how anyone supports Donald Trump. Maybe that says more about our country than anything by the man himself. But from where I sit, he is a candidate whose every policy and opinion are opposite of what makes our country great. I know you’re out there, please educate me.

Trump will never have my vote. Why the hell does he have yours?

 

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My Mind’s Eye

I was sitting at a family get-together about fifteen years ago, and I took a good look at my parents across the room. For some reason I really studied them that day, and was a bit of a surprise to me that they had aged so much… that the vision I had in my head was of long ago, when they were younger and more vital.

Both of them passed in hospice some years later. The last time I saw them they were sick, and haggard. But still – in my mind’s eye – they are smiling, laughing and full of life.

I’m beginning to think this happens with your children as well…

Tomorrow, my niece Stephanie gets married… my sister’s daughter. She is the first of this generation of my family to make that leap. My son got engaged last week, so that ball is rolling now.

At the wedding rehearsal last night, I was watching all of the young people… the bride and groom, the groomsmen and bridesmaids… all smiles and excited in what the next days would bring.

Later, at the wonderful rehearsal dinner I realized something else. The father of the groom made a wonderful speech about his son’s choice in a bride, and how proud he was of his choices in life. Later, my brother-in-law did the same… standing in front of us, so emotional. Mostly talking about how proud he is of his little girl.

The happy couple, Stephanie and James, are adults. But to their parents and all of us old fogies, they are still the little kids we watched grow up. In our collective mind’s eye, they will remain that way forever.

Damn… I dread the speeches I will have to make for my sons!

My niece has honored me with a small role in the ceremony tomorrow. I am charged with remembering the people close to them who could not share this happy day. I am very sure that when I say those names, all in attendance will remember them and see them vibrant, and full of life.

In their mind’s eye.

Keeping with this theme, these are photos I’ve taken of Stephanie over the years. She will be so beautiful tomorrow… like she has been her entire life.