Not a big Donald Trump fan.
And like a lot of other writers, commentators, pundits, talking heads and/or guys and gals with two cents to throw down on the matter, I've spent a lot of time and printer ink and video time writing and commentating and punditing and head talking and throwing down two cents on the matter when, if I'm blunt honest about it, the bottom line always boils down to the same six words.
Not a big Donald Trump fan.
This time out, though, rather than plotting a course for Starbase Same Old Yada Yada and firing off a couple of thousand words at warp speed, I'm gonna keep it simple, get down to basics, in essence, I'm going to do exactly, no more, no less, than the very same thing that people who worship this guy say they admire most about him.
Tell it like it is.
With a little help from an old fashioned Saturday morning style Western.
In my version, though, the part of the little frontier town in need of brave, bold, decisive, but mature, measured and intelligent leadership is played by America.
The townsfolk who are needing, and looking for, just such a brave, bold, decisive leader are played by...the voters....or as the candidates like to lump em'...."the American people."
And the wanna be leader who has decided to take matters into his own hands, cleverly manipulating the situation by forgoing maturity or measure or intelligence and simply stirring up the emotions and passions and frustrations of the townsfolk?
Well, we don't need a list of the cast of characters to figure out who's giving an Oscar worthy performance of that role, now do we?
After all this time and everything that Trump has said and done, the townsfolk, in numbers no one could have predicted, still want to follow him.
I'm not one of them.
And not because I think things are fine the way they are.
Or even that there's anybody riding into Dodge who I think deserves to wear the shining star and protect us from the bad guys.
I just grew up wanting and hoping to be, dreaming of being, part of the group.
Part of the club.
Part of the community.
Part of the family, even.
But not then, now, or ever....
...part of the mob.
There are, literally, hundreds of books written, fiction and non, that you can sit down and read to understand the damage that has been done throughout history when the masses have been seduced and stirred up at the same time, whipped up into a frenzy that had them following a charismatic wanna be leader right down a road to what they thought was going to be paradise.
Only to suddenly, somewhere down that road, too late come to their senses and realize, to their horror, where they actually were.
And what they had actually done.
I get it, though. That we don't live in a culture that has a lot of time left to sit down and read thoroughly and thoughtfully, what with there being only twenty four hours in a day and so many sporting events, reality shows, video games and Facebook posts eating up those hours.
So, skip the long read.
And go for a quick movie.
It's entitled "The Ox Bow Incident."
It's a western.
About a small group of good, honest people who let themselves get seduced and stirred up by a charismatic wanna be leader.
Only to suddenly too late come to their senses and realize to their horror where they actually were and what they had actually done.
All because the wanna be leader convinced them that he could make the town great again.
By nothing more than telling them what they wanted to hear.
Which they heard as telling it like it is.
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