The Donald

I’m glad he’s running.  There, I said it.  Anyone that knows me will probably raise an eyebrow, or two, depending on whether they can do that Spock thing, or not, but hear me out.  We’ve been stuck in a political rut for quite awhile.  We have a basic two party system that hasn’t fundamentally changed in quite some time.  It’s been 20+ years since the last independent made much of a splash at the national level.  I miss that guy, big ears and all.  Similar to now, it’s a big personality guy who has enough money that he doesn’t have to beg for it in order to run a campaign.  Similar to now, you have a GOP that’s used to running on rails, same party platform, same old message.  Then, as now, you have a guy who says he doesn’t want to do things like they’ve always been done.  And, unlike Ralph Nader, or the Tea Party, he’s got enough personality and visibility to capture the attention of the mainstream.  And that’s where the easy similarities end.

You see, unlike the amicable Texan, I can’t stand Trump.   He’s not making noise for change, he’s making noise to make change- as in dollar bills.  It’s profitable to have media attention and Congressional connections.  As the saying goes, if you can’t beat him, join him, and you can bet that in the hearts of many GOP leaders, there’s a plan to make nice with Trump if he comes out on top.  Trump will be smiling like the cat who ate the canary.  But that’s not why I’m glad he’s running.  No, what I like about Trump running is this- He’s holding up a mirror for all of us to look into. Admittedly, it’s a bit hard since Trump’s head-and that hair!- is in the way, but there’s still plenty of room to see our reflection, and it isn’t pretty.  A guy who has little understanding of government administration, foreign policy and relations and no political experience, is leading the polls in the GOP race right now.  He has no problem being sexist, racist or fascist and a surprising amount of people don’t mind it, either.  He’s different than the others on the right.  Sure he’s conceited, a liar and a misogynist, but I said he was different.  He’s also brash, outspoken, and about as non-traditionally conservative as his opponents are run of the mill.  He’s everything they’re not, even if what he is, is poison.  And many of us like it.

So there’s that mirror again, and we’re staring into, seeing the Donald stare back.  How far have we fallen away from our leadership when we start to accept any port in the storm?  How badly has the GOP bungled things that their conservative members identify with the Tea Party and the more moderate members are eyeballing Trump with more than a little interest?  When the main point among the GOP candidates running for President as that they’re not Obama, there might be a serious identity crisis going on.  If the only way you can define yourself is by what you’re not, then how do you expect to lead and exhort others?  Now that the mirror is up and we’re seeing our fears, our frustrations, and all those little ugly bits being reflected, it may be a good time for some housecleaning and accounting – politically and spiritually speaking.

On a lighter note, do you know how you can tell the difference between a pinko commie socialist liberal in Congress and a Republican?  What they spend our money on.

By Dan Granot

I chose the Shorter Whitman because of his work, "Song of Myself" and because of my self-deprecating sense of humor. I am under no illusion that I can write successful essays or poetry, but I have been known to write them anyway.

2 comments

  1. When I studied, Fascists were those nationalists who appreciated the cult of personality and thought it easier to reduce business to a small number of gargantuan entities which could be highly regulated and controlled than to out-and-out nationalize them as the internationalist Communists preferred.

    They are all Fascists,

    1. I think many companies would prefer that route themselves, minus the government interference. I guess that’s why they own or rent Congressional representatives as needed. For my purposes, I utilized the definition found at Merriam-Webster…Full Definition of fascism
      1
      often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
      2
      : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control

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