It’s ironically appropriate to me that up until Donald Trump became whoever it is that he’s become as of today, the phrase “trump,” was only associated with old school games. Bridge and Pinochle both use trump cards and suits; hell, there’s even an entire card game called “trumps.”
For the record, I like and respect Donald Trump and always have. I doubt I’d ever want to hang out with him, but the man has taken an idea his father had and has turned it into an international conglomerate of massive proportions. Those who try to tear down his accomplishments with everything from his various business bankruptcies (a common practice when you own 250 of them) to his hair are, in my opinion, pathetic. The man is an American success story. That doesn’t mean you have to like him, it just means you have to acknowledge the truth if you want a seat at the table of adult discourse.
With that said, this was the week to write about Trump’s quest for the presidency because it may all come crashing down rather quickly (although I doubt it). Thursday night is the first debate of the primary and I suspect tens of millions of Americans will tune in to see if Donald is Donald. They will tune in for the same reason centuries ago thousands poured into the Colosseum; to be entertained. This is not a serious race for the presidency because we are not a serious people. The lack of seriousness of where we are as a nation, quite candidly, has nothing to do with Donald Trump’s lead in the polls, it has to do with our system, our lack of understanding of our system, and our total ignorance and apathy as a nation.
Last week Trump was asked about Obamacare…his answer was “I’d replace it with something fantastic.” What the hell is that? What kind of answer is that? Yet, we cheer. We are not a serious people.
If Donald Trump somehow does become president, very little of actual substance will change. Period.
Oh, sure, Presidents matter and make a difference. The fundamental shifts in our culture, both good and bad, of the last 5 years can be directly attributed to having a president who has made it a safer place to be gay and married and black and angry at the system. But in the end, the country runs towards its natural course as a result of its people; and we have never been more rotten, more morally bankrupt, more adrift, more self-centered, more lost, or more of a lost cause.
As Forbes magazine wrote last week: “The President does not run the country. The country runs because 140 million Americans drag their rear ends out of bed and go to work every day. The country runs because a 28 million Americans get up and take care of their small business every day. The country runs because millions of managers worry and agonize about serving customers efficiently every day. The country would continue running if the President took a long vacation in Hawaii and decided not to return to the White House for 12 months.”
And therein lies the problem; the country would continue to run right off the cliff; trophies for everyone, screaming kids everywhere, no accountability, and everyone with their hand out apologizing for everyone.
The President manages one of three branches of government, but that branch is pretty much unmanageable. The bureaucracy is so large, and labors under such complicated laws passed by Congress, that no President really knows what is being done, what should be done, or how to get from here to there…A Democrat president won’t get much through Congress, as Obama learned after the Republicans won control of the House of Representatives. A Republican president won’t get much through the Senate unless there’s an unlikely gain for the GOP. The bureaucracy will lumber on, even in the unlikely event that Donald Trump is inaugurated president of the United States of America.
Sorry to suck the fun out of your Thursday, but none of this matters, still. Enjoy the debate, and create your asinine false hope to whatever extent makes you feel good about yourself, your country and your future; you’ve earned it; after all, you’re an American, you should be delusional.
