At the Altar of THE DONALD

By Calvin Hill

After Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden vanquished Sen. John McCain and Sarah Palin in the 2008 presidential election, who would have thought that, less than eight years later, we would be witness to another McCain/Palin ticket– in reverse. And after their laughter died down, the Republican Party establishment has been pulling their hair out from the time Donald Trump descended the escalator at Trump Tower and declared that, with the exception of “some,” the Mexican immigrants in the United States were rapists and murderers. An informed, clear thinking voter might wonder where the multitude of those immigrants got the energy to rape and pillage after their massive hours of picking fruits and vegetables, roofing and masonry work, gardening, cooking, cleaning and caring for non-immigrant American children.

For the uninformed, sparsely educated voter, Trump has peppered their mental acuity, or lack thereof, with lies, damn lies and senseless propositions that would give George Wallace, Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms severe migraines. What should trouble all Americans is that well informed, well educated people in this country are buying into a campaign of fictional charges and insinuations, bogus numbers pulled out of thin air, or some other part of Trump’s body, a total absence of solutions, and the absurd notion that the ‘deity’ that is THE DONALD is the only person that can, and will, give Americans a life worth living.

With each week of the past year, members of the GOP felt compelled to denounce all or part of something Trump said or proposed. They stood by, watched and listened, as Trump plowed through the primary debates with all the aplomb, professionalism and sophistication of a 5th grader who was too ignorant to do the schoolwork and had to resort to name calling and inane bombast to feel secure among his obvious superiors. And they watched and listened, as Trump would repeatedly shut down his detractors simply by revealing that they took his campaign donations in the past.

Trump’s concern for American workers is an echo that is loud and empty. Those small businesses he refused to pay the agreed upon price were not just brick and mortar entities. They represented American families who depended upon their businesses to feed, clothe, shelter and educate their spouses and children. Dishonest Donald took that away from them. Just as sad is that he has made his children, who work for and represent his enterprises, culpable in his penchant for dishonorable business transactions.

Having held a fundraiser for veterans, while blowing off a primary debate, actually masks his contempt for those who serve in uniform. His insult of John McCain and all the POWs who had the misfortune to be captured by enemy combatants is just the tip of a Titanic destructive iceberg. Unchallenged by Republicans and Democrats, Trump bellowed that he has a plan to defeat ISIS but he would not reveal it because he does not want others to get credit for it. So for all of his America first ‘patriotic’ rhetoric, Donald Trump’s own words displays an unprecedented lack of compassion and patriotism for his fellow Americans who serve and the families who love them.

For over seven years, President Obama has stated, emphatically, that he will listen to anyone who has good ideas. Rather than confer with the White House or the Dept. of Defense, Donald Trump would prefer to see soldiers beheaded, French Nationals shot to death at a concert, German Nationals blown to bits and American citizens slaughtered during a Latin night by a crazed gunman with an identity crisis, rather than help his fellow man. How selfish and ignorant to think he would not get the credit if it were his idea that defeated ISIS. And, at this point, how ignorant are his congressional supporters to be shocked that their presidential candidate would publicly solicit a foreign government to engage in international espionage for his, and their, personal electoral benefit.

This is the result the GOP has wrought. That includes those who sat out the Republican Convention as a symbol of their ‘integrity.’ The obstinate obstruction of the Obama presidency, from day one, as a means to an end failed to see the toll it might take on the American people. They sacrificed the well being of the Republic and its inhabitants. And the needs and desires of those inhabitants were not even secondary to their goal of making Barack Obama look incompetent and unworthy to sit in the Oval Office.

The Democratic voters who are now sitting in their seats horrified at the prospect of a Trump presidency also have much to answer for. It was the sitting on their hands during the so-called off year elections that led to the rise of Trump. By eschewing the elections of their school board members, city council members, district attorneys, attorney generals, sheriffs, judges, state and congressional representatives, mayors and governors, Democratic voters have allowed a wide ranging field of demagogues, financed by a handful of billionaires, to pave the way for a world class demagogue to get within breathing distance of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue when he has spent the past year proving that his only access to that building should be as a visitor on the White House tour. If this proves nothing else to Democrats, they should now know that every year is a presidential election year.

In the interest of full disclosure, THE APPRENTICE theme song, FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY, has always been one of my all time favorites. In evaluating the 12 months of Donald Trump as presidential candidate, songwriters Ken Gamble and Leon Huff have proven quite prophetic – “money can drive some people out of their mind!” So, for all those hard working, job seeking, middle class and working class Americans who believe that THE DONALD is your American savior, he is not the deity worthy of your faith. And if the prospect of a Trump presidency frightens you as much as it frightens Republicans John Kasich, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Rand Paul and the entire Bush family – VOTE, if your state still lets you.