The Donald

I've never been much of a Donald Trump fan because he epitomizes some of the worst tendencies of modern America, among them shallowness, narcissism, vulgarity, and irresponsible/crony capitalism. Yet it was still very much a pleasure to watch him crash the first Republican presidential candidates' debate, an affair stuffed to the gills with people more loathsome than he is. He gave straight talk in a room full of unctuous liars, eunuchs, sycophants, and white knights who regard his blunt rhetoric as a greater threat than the actual policies that are tearing this country apart (and which all "right thinking" people regard as sober and prudent).

When Fox News mannequin Megyn Kelly attempted to shame him for his occasional barbs at women, his response was excellent: we have far more important things to worry about than political correctness (i.e., your feelings). Trump casts aspersions far and wide, on men and women alike. If women are truly men's equals and worthy of participating in politics, Trump's remarks at the debate and afterwards shouldn't faze them any more than they would a man. The fact that they do for many women doesn't advance their avowed cause.

The real threat posed by Trump isn't hurting the feelings of shrinking violets; rather, it is speaking truth to power and piercing the bubble of psychotic fantasy that most politicians and their stupefied constituents inhabit. Republicans express worry that Trump is hurting their "brand," a term revealing just how perverted our situation is: the important duties of citizens to consider issues of national survival have been relegated to the banal choices of consumers who wish to shop for a candidate as they would for soap, cereal, or tampons.  

None of this means that I would vote for Trump if he won the Republican nomination or ran as an independent. It is beneath me to vote in a federal election, just as it would be beneath me to vote for the next head of the Mafia, a drug cartel, or any other criminal enterprise. I merely find it interesting to watch how far a country can slide into the pit of lawlessness and self-destruction until some effort in "mainstream" politics is made to stop it. Given the "mainstream" attack on Trump, I'm learning that a country can slide very far indeed before that point is reached, if ever.