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Should America take a look at reforming the way we elect our country's leaders in the future?
Well, truth is at least he hasn’t said anything crummy about the Pope. Oh, wait, he did, in fact he lobbed a few verbal grenades at Francis just a few months ago, responding to the Pontiff’s declaration that Donald Trump is “not Christian” if he continued to call for the deportation of undocumented immigrants and insisted on his crazy pledge to build a wall between the United States and Mexico – and make Mexico pay for it.
In response, Trump went in full blitzkrieg mode, signaling that the Pope’s remarks were “disgraceful.” He added: “The Pope has an awfully big wall himself,” referring to the wall surrounding the Vatican – which previous Popes a long, long time ago commissioned and then of course forced Switzerland to pay for it.
The two eventually made up, Donald agreeing not to visit the Vatican and the Pope promising not to play golf at Trump’s National Doral course.
Trump is not a humble man (no surprise there), and he is not to be taken lightly. After all, this loud mouth from Queens easily dispatched 16 other high-profile Republicans during the primary season and then dutifully and proudly claimed the nomination for himself – all this despite his really small hands.
And of course, Trump has given new meaning to lying. Politifact, a Tampa Bay Times site that won a Pulitzer prize for its coverage of the 2008 election, wrote that Trump lies so much he makes Pinocchio look good in comparison. Politifact rated 70 percent of his statements as mostly false, false, or “pants on fire,” its lowest score.
Earning a “pants on fire” label earns you a good mouth washing, and in Trump’s case it’s going to take a lot of soap and an industrial strength power washer.
Oh, yes, the site also rated Hillary Clinton, claiming that she rates at only 28 percent which leads to the conclusion that many candidates often stretch the truth.
I’m sure most people who watch cable news, read an occasional newspaper, or “hear things” know all about Trump’s penchant for stretching the truth – or rather simply making it up. For example:
- He never groped any of those 12 women.
- It was Hillary who said Obama was born in Kenya.
- He never made fun of a handicapped reporter – roll the video.
- He would gladly release his tax returns. He said this early in the campaign. As we all know his returns are under audit and he’ll release them when the audit is done, which begs the questions – how long do audits normally last?
- He lied about his company’s bankruptcies.
- He lied about calling women pigs – Don Pardo, cue the video!
- He lied about winning all three debates.
- He lied about the polls.
- He lied about the election being rigged.
- He lied about his position on the Iraq War.
Must I continue?
I have a friend who lives in the Bay Area, and he sort of thinks like Trump, but fortunately for my friend, as far as I know his hands are quite normal. Fifteen months ago, when The Donald strode down the escalator in Trump Tower to announce his candidacy, many of us assumed his quest for the Republican nomination was a joke. My friend thought otherwise, insisting instead that the boastful billionaire was virtually guaranteed to become the 45th President of the United States – and he would bet big bucks on it.
My friend, Tedford (yes, his real name), is a fairly-bright fellow who majored in physics and eventually served as an officer aboard a nuclear submarine. When he left the Navy – still at a relatively young age – he did what all supposedly smart fellows with a physics degree do: He opened a barbecue place in Berkeley.
I bet him $100 that Donald J. Trump would never be president. In fact, I thought it more likely that he would be elected Pope. Tedford took the bet anyway, and at the time I surmised that my wager would be the easiest hundred bucks I would ever earn.
But before I started wondering how to spend my new-found riches, Trump – yes, that Trump – began knocking off his opponents – Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina (my favorite), Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, Ben Carson, and the others – one by one.
As he easily dispatched his surprised opponents to the Republican “Losers Hall of Fame,” I wondered what happened to the common sense of most Republicans, who somehow managed to see something strong and heroic in this guy, when all I saw was a blowhard with the world’s worst comb over who knew little or nothing about how this country works, doesn’t read, and never apologizes – even though he should, and quite often.
But rest assured, I quickly surmised that all would be well in the end. Naturally, Mr. Trump would make mistakes, like opening his mouth – which he did, often, but to a lot of people, and for most die-hard Trump supports, it just didn’t seem to matter, because as far as they were concerned, their guy didn’t do it. They believed him when he resolutely denied groping a dozen or so women, just like they didn’t blink an eye when he denied having “small hands.” Furthermore, the Trump faithful believed him when he boasted of winning all three debates, which just about every scientific poll said he clearly failed to do. And of course, they believed him – despite video evidence – when he said he didn’t make fun of a handicapped reporter or that John McCain was not a hero, because he was captured.
He simply kept saying things that would have easily sent other lesser known politicians to the scrap heap of former presidential candidates – and his core supporters continued to express their undying belief in him, including of course the devout brethren of the Ku Klux Klan.
In July, Trump stupidly criticized the father of a heroic Army officer, Capt. Humayun Khan, a Muslim soldier who died in Iraq in 2004 while protecting his platoon. His father, Khizr Khan, during the Democratic Convention, described Trump as a man who had “sacrificed nothing and no one.”
He took a lot of heat for that one, and so subsequently his polls took a nose dive. I don’t think he had a clue what a ‘Blue Star” parent is. And of course, he never apologized.
The insults and the lies continued through the fall campaign:
Marco Rubio – all talk and no action, said Trump.
Hillary Clinton – She has no strength or stamina. Weak and ineffective. Pathetic. Crooked. Crooked. Crooked. Zero natural talent. Fraud …
The New York Times – Failing. Dopes. Boring articles. Allows dishonest writers to totally fabricate stories.
John Allen, Retired Marine General – Failed badly in his fight against ISIS. BAD.
President Obama – Weak and ineffective. All talk, no action. Has a horrible attitude. Doesn’t have a clue. Incompetent leader. Born in Kenya.
Senator Elizabeth Warren – Goofy, goofy, goofy. Weak and ineffective. Phony Native American heritage.
Anthony Weiner – Perv. Sleazebag. (Virtually the only thing he got right).
Leader Editor Ed Martin – Heroic, worthy of Pulitzer Prize. Would make a great president.
The above insults and lies are but a fraction of the false statements and inaccuracies he’s uttered this past year, and of course we now know quite well about Trump’s affinity for boasting about his prowess with super models and beauty pageant contestants and his warped reasoning that because he was rich and powerful – and a star – he could do anything he wanted to women – such as groping and grabbing places a decent man shouldn’t be grabbing without permission.
Doing so is often referred to as sexual assault, and that’s a felony. He says Hillary Clinton should be in jail, and if he’s elected president, Trump will send her there, this from a guy who founded the bogus Trump University and refused to turn over his tax returns, as every other presidential candidate has done.
I’m certainly not sure who’s going to win the election on Nov. 8, but what I do believe is that this process – which sometimes lasts for two years – should be changed, and to accomplish this we’ll need a constitutional amendment. And just what are the chances that two-thirds of the Congress and then three fourths of the states will affirm a constitutional amendment to reform America’s election process?
Frankly, I think the chances of Donald Trump becoming Pope are a lot better.
