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Baffled by Trump

I have been a participant in the great American institution of voting for half a century. Politicians and trends come and go, but the adulation surrounding Donald Trump amazes me.

Behavior that once would have been considered crass and obtuse now seems to be a selling point for the presumptive Republican nominee. His espousal of what can only be considered neo-nativism is frightening. Can you imagine Eisenhower, Reagan or the elder Bush using the rhetoric or promoting the ideas of Trump, if you even want to give him credit for the ability to have ideas?

The great Republican leaders of yesterday must be rolling around in their graves.

I ran across a quote by Friedrich Nietzsche a few weeks ago which perhaps explains the descent into lunacy by the Republican Party. “Madness is the exception in individuals, but the rule in groups.” Certainly it was true in 1930s Germany; let’s hope it isn’t true in 2016 America.

Kudos to the few brave Republican leaders such as Lindsay Graham and Christie Whitman who have refused to support Trump and shame on those like Paul Ryan and John McCain who have sold their political souls to the demagoguery of a false Republican.

Take a moment to ask yourself, “Who would the large number of dissatisfied, undecided voters most likely choose?” Would it be the “know-nothing nabob of naiveté” (a tip of the hat to Spiro Agnew) or a responsible, experienced man of character? We can only imagine what a moderate candidate in the mold of Colin Powell would do to Hillary Clinton.

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