It’s no joke, folks

Everyone has thoughts on Trump, pro and con, so I feel a bit presumptuous putting mine in print. But here goes. He scares the living you-know-what out of me. Jacob asks his dad repeatedly, “But what if Trump does become president,” and Christian repeats, “Let me assure you that won’t happen.” But each time he says it, a niggling thought in the back of my mind says, “But what if?” Many voices predict that Trumps meteoric rise will crash and burn any day—but it hasn’t happened yet.

I had my hair cut today, and my stylist, who is a friend, and I were imagining Donald Trump sitting next to Russia’s Putin at a summit meeting—what a battle of the egos that would be. Rosa has definite political opinions, so when the subject came up, I said, “I don’t know where you stand on Trump.” She laughed, raised her hand, and said, “Hello! I was born in Mexico!” I’d forgotten to figure that into the discussion.

I saw on Facebook tonight a woman dressed for Trump’s Dallas appearance last night. She wore a sundress made of squares of portraits of Trump. As a friend of mine commented, “There are no words.” Other posts showed people, mostly women, with equal fervor for the Donald. Is there something about a misogynist that is particularly appealing to women? If so, I missed out on that gene.

Even Bobby Jindal declares he is a madman, though that gives one pause for thought—the pot calling the kettle black. I thought the Miss America candidate—was it Miss Alabama?—put it best when she said “He is an entertainer.” Political column after column has pointed out that he has no plan (beyond that darn wall in Mexico—and I hear the Mexicans would welcome it to keep spring break troublemakers from the States out). His speech in Dallas was a rambling, disconnected diatribe of name-dropping. No substance at all. I was cheered that the protestors outside greatly outnumbered the cheerleaders inside.

His outrageous attitudes and words frighten me because I fear some people think, “Isn’t he a hoot? I’m going to vote for him just for the heck of it!” I read an editorial recently that suggested to some extent that’s how the country elected George W. Bush—on his good-old-boy charm and persuasiveness, certainly not on his political career, his business failures, or his military record—the latter two should be an embarrassment. So haven’t we learned? Would we elect a comedian because he’s persuasive and charming and overwhelming? Would we overlook the facts that he’s declared bankruptcy (I think three times), knows nothing about government, international relations, is a racist and a bigot?

Dear Lord, I pray that the owners of all the sensible voices I hear around me will cast their votes in the next presidential election.