If I cared about politics the way I used to (and trust me, I don't...), my reaction to Donald Trump's entrance into the Republican presidential field might be quite different. Twenty years ago, I'd have heralded his ability to make deals, get things done, as a much-needed change of pace in Washington, and probably viewed his big mouth and ignorant remarks as refreshing candor.
I was more conservative then, and may have viewed Trump as the best way to beat Bill Clinton. But I've evolved politically, over time. Make no mistake, in general I've always heartily believed in the middle of the road, will say to anyone whose attention I can grab for twenty seconds (Rachel Maddow and Ted Nugent alike...) that the best of liberal and conservative thinking conspire to form the average American, and I see evidence every single day that I'm not alone in this thinking. But back then, yes, it's true: I was just to the right of center. These days, middle age has found me just to the left of center.
Doesn't it usually go the other way? Doesn't time kick our asses a little, causing us to become cynical, less idealistic, less accepting (and desirous) of change? For me, the opposite's been true.
In any case, that Donald Trump is conservative doesn't bother me, as such. As conservatives go, he's on the liberal side, at least socially, would seem to be primarily a fiscal conservative. At the very least, he's not as strident and uncompromising as some on the right; likely because he knows being totally rigid doesn't lead anywhere good, knows nothing if not the art of the deal. (I do acknowledge, however, that being a white, heterosexual male might blind me from where Trump stands on social issues..).
But there's something about all this Trump noise that bothers me. Something about Trump that bothers me. All his movie cameos over the years, hobnobbing with celebs, skirting the periphery of entertainment as a blue-suited hanger-on, his wealth and privilege enabling him to amass an extensive collection of photos with actors and athletes to display on his office wall, makes it difficult to take him seriously, at least as leader of the free world. Then there's his past involvement in WWE wrestling, and of course, The Apprentice....which made him a bonafide celebrity. I've never watched The Apprentice. You know why? Because I don't like the catchphrase. I don't think there's anything funny, or entertaining, about the words You're fired, no matter how they're said, and have always been surprised, in this age of corporate scandal, that viewers took to it the way they did.
True, Ronald Reagan was a former actor, a 'celeb' of sorts who went on to become nothing less than the conservative Dalai Lama. But say what you will about his policies, Reagan entered politics, first as governor of California, then the presidential field (at about the same age as Trump), in a dignified manner. He was, from the beginning, 'presidential', and all that that implies (or should...). Trump is no Reagan. He's entered the arena as a side show clown alienating people with what, again, we're all supposed to consider candor. But calling people names, throwing around words like 'pig', 'loser' and 'disgusting', getting into feuds with everyone from Bill Maher to Mark Cuban to Barbara Walters to Rosie O'Donnell, is not candor, instead smacks of a distasteful immaturity (which Trump is way too old for), and dismissing John McCain's status as a war hero because 'he was captured' is just plain asinine, demonstrating an acute lack of awareness - of everyone around him, and himself.
His recent remarks about Mexican immigrants were equally as ridiculous. I don't think he's racist or hateful; he just strikes me as kind of a dolt, possessing no clue as to how or why what he says will affect people, and seemingly unable to wrap his head around the fact that the further his words travel now that he's an official candidate, the more intensely they're going to be scrutinized.
And lest anyone forget what I believe to be the most damning component of his history (as in, 'really The Donald?...Seriously...?'): in 2011 he was big into the 'birther' movement, calling out President Obama's citizenship, and refusing to let it go, even with overwhelmng evidence that the whole thing was horse manure.
And as to his 'getting things done', the notion that his success in business might somehow be applied to his term(s) in the White House...meh, he still falls short in my mind. I do not view Donald Trump as a Rockefeller, or Carnegie....no Jobs or Gates or even Zuckerberg, for that matter. He didn't innovate; there was no grand thinking, no sublime conceptualizing lighting the path to his success. He was the son of a successful real estate mogul; he was born into money and had that money to work with, or at least the privilege that money brought (and bought), from the beginning. Whether he successfully parlayed that into something much greater (and it surely can be argued that he did), he hasn't strayed too far from his father's foot prints, and didn't build something out of nothing. Donald Trump likes people who weren't captured? I like people who are truly self-made.
Rich or poor, conservative or not-so-much, self-made or otherwise, it's obvious to me Donald Trump the man lacks the nuance necessary for the job. And this speaks not at all to his knowledge (or lack) of world affairs, and America's place in those affairs. He seems to have a very black-and-white worldview, which isn't necessarily a bad thing in some cases, but can be disastrous in others if left unchecked. I'd really like to see someone (besides Bill O'Reilly) interview him, and grill him on certain points of the complex geo-political landscape. The Republican debates should be revealing...entertaining, at least.
To be perfectly honest, I don't doubt Trump has the nation's best interest at heart. I'm just not convinced he knows quite what that best interest is. And the situation America is in currently is too precarious, too precipitous, to be okay with a clown show merely because it's entertaining.
