Just a few minutes ago, a thought occurred to me. I'm only glad that the thought occurred to a few more people before I had it, otherwise the search I did would have come up pretty short.
While Bernie Sanders was in Chicago, fighting for the end of racial segregation, and Hillary Clinton was protesting the assasinations of MLK and RFK, and John McCain was in North Vietnam wondering where his next bit of protein might come from while his limbs mended from his constant torture, Donald Trump was partying around New York like there were no cares.
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| The Don, in '74 Allen/Washington Post |
This story begins in 1964. A young Donald gets his first student draft deferment. The first of four, as a matter of fact. He attends Fordham University, and UPenn's Wharton School. No sooner does he graduate than he gets a medical deferment, in late 1968, then is certified 4-F by 1972.
So, this past summer, as the Republicans began their campaigns, Trump goes after bona-fide war hero, John McCain, saying: “He’s not a war hero... He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”
I may not like John McCain's politics, but he went through a lot of shit for the country, whether the country liked it or not. I am a veteran, and the son of a veteran. If I'd been in Iowa to see Trump deliver the speech, he would, just now, be getting his jaw unwired. To be fair, I would probably have 45 days left on my sentence, but it would have been worth it.
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| Bernie in Chicago - 1963 KARTEMQUIN FILMS/VIMEO |
So, let's go back even further, to 1963. Donald would have been attending high school when a young Bernie Sanders was attending The University of Chicago. Serving as chapter president of the Congress for Racial Equality at the university, Sanders got himself arrested while protesting the city's plan to build what they referred to as a "school" on Chicago's south side. What they were really building was a series of mobile homes joined together in rows, and that's it. That was the school.
I bet Donald didn't go to school in a mobile home. I bet Donald never knew what a "mobile home" was!
I guess what really bugs me is, Donald makes it sound like he's one of those "pull yourself up by the boot straps" kinda guys. I like how he says: "When I graduated from Wharton, I was only worth about $200,000." $200k?!? That's nearly $1.4 million, these days. Oh, the humanity!!! And, we've heard about how he'd have served in the military willingly were it not for his high lottery number. But, hey. What's a guy to do?
Even Hillary Clinton did more in the 1960s to make the world a better place than The Don.
You know what? Maybe Donald is right. Maybe today's America could use a good kick in the ass. Banks can be too big to fail and the other 99% of us are too small to be heard. We have an issue with our image, overseas AND at home. Cops seem to be killing our kids. Jobs are finally coming back to a place they never should have left.
Here's the thing about Trump. He can't take ANYTHING seriously. He's one of those guys who sits in a room at night, in the dark, under the covers, twittering to himself about how he's putting one over on a majority of likely republican voters. And, I feel sorry for those voters. They're being short-changed.
My neighbor told me today that he is going to vote for Trump if he makes it to the general election. "Trump, or Cruz. Whichever makes it." Yet, he can't give me a good reason why.
I can't go to my neighbor's house anymore.
