I can’t be the only person who gets a sick feeling just hearing Donald Trump’s voice.
Especially when he tries to be soft and reasonable, I’m always reminded of Louis Gossett Jr.’s Academy Award-winning performance as the drill sergeant in “An Officer and a Gentleman.”
When David Keith’s recruit answers him in a soft voice, Gossett responds.
“Don’t talk to me in that soft voice, boy. You’re giving me a hard on.”
You know who’s to blame for Trump? Reality show producer Mark Burnett, who created the show that turned Trump from a laughing stock into a figure of respect. Prior to “The Apprentice,” Trump was something of a joke in the business world. He had filed multiple bankruptcies and had more than 3,000 lawsuits filed against him for failure to pay contractors.
He introduced himself on the first show by saying he was the leading real-estate developer in New York when he wasn’t even in the top 10. He couldn’t even succeed in the casino business, which is practically a license to print money.
But just as silly products have been sold by labeling them “AS SEEN ON TV,” Burnett and some friends on the far side of the Ural Mountains went to work to put the character Trump was playing into the White House.
For the first time ever, we had a president who didn’t believe in our American political system.
And an awful lot of people behind him who don’t believe either. As a result, we may be one or two election cycles away from splitting into two different countries.
Let’s be honest about one thing. In the end, next month’s midterm elections are all about Trump.
Leading up to the 2020 election, the leading thing about potential Trump voters was that they believed in an authoritarian leader. And when Trump said at one point that someday the U.S. might have a president for life, none of them were horrified. Just imagine if Barack Obama or Bill Clinton had said it.
When the January 6th Committee held televised hearings today, witness after witness showed the role Trump had played in instigating the insurrection. Video of his lies about voting machines and vote dumps were designed only to stir up his minions, and his lack up concern about all the weapons people were carrying was chilling.
It was those comments that made me feel sick — and angry.
Trump doesn’t love America.Actually, he doesn’t love anything except the person he sees in the mirror.
And my feeling is he would be perfectly happy to be in the history books as the man who destroyed American democracy. To him, there’s really no difference between being famous and being infamous.
If he can’t be FDR, he’ll be all right with being Hitler.
What’s that old expression?
No publicity is bad publicity as long as they spell your name right.