Ahh, the irony. Donald Trump has thrown his hat in the 2016 presidential primary in a big way. It’s hard for me to say anything that hasn’t been said before, so excuse me. I’ll just try to say it in my own way. Mr. Trump is the result of an uninformed, ignorant electorate, as well as the system of electioneering in the United States, where the most important colors aren’t red, white, or blue. Just green, and a lot of it.

To tell the truth, I’m not convinced that Trump even believes the things that he says. He is just a very astute performer and media manipulator who knows exactly what to say, when to say it, and how to say it. For example, when he said something to the effect that the Mexicans bring crime and disease “with us” instead of “with them”. That was assumed to be a slip of the tongue, a mistake. I think he said it that way on purpose. If he had said “with them” he would have sounded racist. But since he said “with us”, he sounded like a protector, a sounder of an alarm. He is very sharp and quick-minded. He knows that he can’t get in on the Democratic primary, because he would have to talk about serious issues. So he goes Republican, where he knows that he will find enough jingoists and anti-Mexicans to get him a strong following. It’s funny, but I find myself almost liking the guy, admiring his savvy. The only thing that sticks in my craw is the way he went after President Obama for his birth certificate and all that nonsense. I can only think that Obama must have offended him somehow, rubbed him the wrong way for some reason. His race, maybe. I don’t know. But I can’t forgive and forget that. He practically gave birth to the birther conspiracy idea. That is just lowdown and inexcusable.

The Republicans are starting to pile up almost by the dozen as potential presidential candidates. In my opinion, they go from the amusing to the disgusting. I feel like I would like to show Scott Walker up as the Koch puppet that he is, or Marco Rubio as the phony man of the people. But evidently enough people approve of these men, or they wouldn’t be on the national stage. I don’t know. The Republicans have been pushing racism, jingoism, and wealth accumulation for so long that it goes with their territory unquestioned. In Donald Trump, they get exactly what they deserve.