Sunday, March 20, 2016

Of Trump and his 'Trumpisms'......

Donald Trump walked up to the podium, with that familiar smug smile, for his Inaugural address to the American people, on the steps of the Capitol. It was a cold, wet January morning. And for some strange reason, I was there, among throngs of people. And they were all silent, there was no cheering. My hand went to my forehead, to wipe off the rain drops. And then I woke up....
In one long, groggy second, I realized it was a dream. Let me correct myself - a nightmare, not a dream.  My forehead was wet, not from the rain, but from the cold sweat at the possibility of a Trump Presidency.

These days Donald Trump dominates the news cycle. There is wall to wall coverage on TV of this larger than life figure. And to be honest, the mainstream media has a lot to do with his meteoric rise. Yesterday, CNN had an uninterrupted coverage of Trump's vehicle convoy, headed to a campaign event in Arizona, for 5 minutes! The news outlet was apparently fascinated even by the vehicle the 'Donald' was traveling in.

I'll be the first one to admit that I never imagined things would be where they are. I believed Donald Trump and his bombastic campaign would implode long before now. And there is more than just the extensive media coverage fueling his ascent in the polls. Although to be fair, his poll numbers are within the GOP. But still, his poll numbers and Primary wins have left most of the so called "Experts" & "Pundits" looking clueless and scratching their heads. 

We all have a darker side within ourselves. It can be varying degrees of our total personality. We all know it, and of course, we don't admit to that side existing within us. Our dark side is kept under wraps by our overwhelming good side. And here is another fact of life -- even if we wanted to, we can't afford to start spewing out what we really thought of some people and our immediate world, because we are civilized. And moreover, we want to keep our social fabric intact. We overlook shortcomings in ourselves and of some folks around us for a greater good. So among us, there might be many "mini- Trumps", itching to come out!  

Mr. Trump has let loose that darker side. He has let go of the inhibitions.  Apparently he does not care, because unlike most of us, he can afford not to care. Nobody is going to "Fire" him! He is worth billions and as a result, he does not have to worry about consequences of his often inflammatory remarks. He goes way beyond being "Politically Incorrect." I know he is 'business smart' and 'rich', as he reminds us so eloquently every time he opens his mouth. But these two qualities do not automatically qualify a person to be the President of the United States of America. The President is for 'all' citizens of our country, not just a faction that he panders to. But after all is said and done, everybody needs to give him due credit for the following he has created for himself. 

To his supporters -- here's some food for thought....

"Talent is God-given, be humble. Fame is man-given, be grateful. Conceit is self-given, be careful." ~ John Wooden

.