When the Joke is Over

I admit that when Donald J. Trump announced his candidacy for President of the United States it struck me as absolutely absurd. Here was a man I have watched, over my 43 years on this planet, do outrageous things, say worse, and repeatedly cloak himself in the stink of one failed business after another. I remember in the 1980s, my parents somehow got ahold of a copy of a "Trump" board game, it sat in it's black box with the giant golden monogram of the man's name taking up major real estate on the boxtop. We never once played it, the rules were confusing and it was a gimmick, just like everything else Donald Trump did. It was about using that Trump name to make a buck, screw the consumer, and laugh all the way to the bank.

When Trump began his Twitter career and his turn as a Fox News 'source', I know it escaped my notice. I remember him mainly for his serial relationships, odd fetish for anything gold-plated, and for his grandiose personality from television appearances that culminated in his turn as the big man in charge on 'The Apprentice" back in 2004. I personally found him to be grossly misogynistic, petty, and a self-inflated child. His ego was out of control most turns around his boardroom table, and I must admit it held little appeal for me after the first season. Trump is Trump, he doesn't get wittier or more charming, he doesn't get more magnanimous or more likeable, he was a bully and a blowhard, but in the world of television, he was just a blip on the reality television horizon.

But now things are different, the world is different, and by legitimizing his campaign the mainstream media and all of us who consume it's manufactured news, full of bias, brought this on ourselves. The GOP loved the dash of Hollywood appeal Trump brought to their debate stages, making it must-see TV like never before. By lowering themselves to his level, each of Trump's opponents fell into the trap one by one. They were all unwitting contributors to their own demise, each taking the bait and trying to out-insult the other. It was comical, but we all figured it would end. How was this troglodyte, this well known bullshit artist managing to take-down career politicians. While those of us who saw Trump for the bully he was were aghast, an angry public was looking for an underdog to root for. Trump zeroed in on the lowest common denominator qualities of the 'angry white American male', a group that despite being in a most-privileged category in society was looking for a man who would speak to their most base insecurities and deep seated fears. Fears that must only occur to those who feel threatened by women, minorities, immigrants, and the educated. Fears that those in progressive mainstream society were hopeful to leave far behind, the sooner the better.

So here we are in August, and somehow despite all rational arguments, the weight of his massive record of failures, and trust-fund baby antics, Donald J. Trump is now the Republican Party nominee for President of The United States of America. The rush may be to suggest that I am a liberal, a progressive, a Canadian socialist, a hater, but I have no dog in this race. I am not able to vote in the American elections, and frankly right about now I would be rocking myself in a corner somewhere in the face of a possible Trump or Clinton presidency. The world is watching, and we aren't laughing.

Those of us who have studied some of the darkest periods in history are watching events repeat themselves daily, from calls to ban or 'surveil' entire religions, mocking of the differently abled or ill, to more blatant racism thinly disguised as a jab at illegal migration. It echoes close to the bone, it is painful and frightening to watch, and it scares me. It scares me. If you can't see the signs, I promise you, they are there in flashing red letters.

I am not a fan of Hillary Clinton, nor am I a fan of the American two-party system, but Donald J. Trump is not a statesman, not a leader, not an inspirational figure. He is a con and a grand hoax on the most vulnerable in society. Those looking for real hope and change, those that actually believe he is a man of the people have the most to lose. He is playing games with the fate of America, and the world, our safety and our respectability. 

The Joke is over, we created this monster, and now he has come home to do exactly what he became famous doing, dividing people into categories, inciting and condoning violence of all sorts, and spouting hatred and outright lies with absolutely no consequences. While Trump sees this as his biggest gamble yet, one that has nothing to do with his long track record of party swapping and donating to prominent Democrats, including the Clintons, those watching from the sidelines are wondering how this horrible roller coaster will end. I am not laughing anymore, and I have to wonder about the mental stability of those that find this to be one big joke. It's time someone with the power to stop Trump stepped up to the plate and said publicly, "this man does not represent Conservatives, he does not represent the GOP, and he does not represent America". Unless of course, he really is exactly the politician that America deserves. I have to hope, with everything that I am, that this isn't the simple, ugly, truth of the matter.