I confess that I never thought Donald Trump would get as far as he has. I thought he would crash and burn, like so many of the Republican candidates in 2012. I thought Hillary Clinton was the inevitable Democratic candidate, and that Scott Walker might take the Republican nomination away from Jeb Bush.
I did not think that somebody as sleazy as him would be taken seriously by the mass of ordinary Americans.
I kept waiting for Donald Trump to say something so outrageous and stupid that his candidacy would fail. But here he is, stronger than ever – as Thoreau of Unqualified Offerings says, something like The Mule in Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series.
I still don’t think Trump will be nominated, and, if he is, I don’t think he will be elected. I most certainly wouldn’t vote for him.
But I don’t see that he is that much crazier than the mainstream Republican candidates or Hillary Clinton.
Muslim-bashing is bad, immigrant-bashing is bad, and “roughing up” black protesters is truly vicious. But it is just as badworse to accept perpetual war as normal, economic decline as inevitable, and financial fraud as something you can’t do anything about, which is what almost all the so-called mainstream candidates do.
LINKS
Eight Things About Donald Trump by John Scalzi on his Whatever blog.
How Republicans and Polls Enable Donald Trump by Nate Silver for FiveThirtyEight.
Six Crazy Things Trump Says That Are Spot On by Ted Rall for Japan Times.