Trumped

trumped-up

adjective

adjective: trumped-up 

 

     invented as an excuse or a false accusation. 

        "he was arrested on trumped-up charges"

 

I remember driving to the country last Summer on a Thursday night. I was going to spend Shabbos with a family friend, and caught a ride with my friend's husband. We discussed Donald Trump's entry into the presidential race, and I insisted that it was a joke. I thought his campaign was as fake as his toupee. I watched and waited for him to jump out and say "Gotcha!", but that moment never came.

I admit I haven't really been involved in politics, until recently. Mostly because I couldn't be bothered to understand it. Funnily enough, the first time I actually pay attention to what is going on, it is pretty clear to me: I don't much care for my options. 

An article published in the New York Times entitled "No, Not Trump, Not Ever" by David Brooks puts my feelings more accurately into words. "Donald Trump is epically unprepared to be president. He has no realistic policies, no advisers, no capacity to learn. His vast narcissism makes him a closed fortress. He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know and he’s uninterested in finding out."

 

I have watched him speak. From a purely emotional standpoint, I just don't like him. He appears to be a bully, and is grossly disrespectful to the other candidates. "He is a childish man running for a job that requires maturity. He is an insecure boasting little boy whose desires were somehow arrested at age 12. He surrounds himself with sycophants. “You can always tell when the king is here,” Trump’s butler told Jason Horowitz in a recent Times profile. He brags incessantly about his alleged prowess, like how far he can hit a golf ball. “Do I hit it long? Is Trump strong?” he asks."

 

The talk around the Shabbos table naturally turns to politics. When asked what people think of Trump, most say that he is funny and entertaining, like watching a game show. Perhaps so, but is that what you want for leadership? They say he is brutally honest, that he has enough money so has no need to take payouts or support anyone else's agenda, that the world is afraid of him because he speaks the truth.

 

Would you rather a candidate who lies outright, promising things that they will not deliver on, or one who makes such outrageous claims that they cannot possibly deliver on it? 

 

I don't see any real alternative at the moment, but I do know that Trump will crumble the carefully constructed political wall that so many politicians have worked so hard to build. Are you really prepared to see it come tumbling down? Do you really think a loud-mouthed #nofilter businessman with no political experience is the best way to go?

There are 8 months left for a viable candidate to come forward, and although it is unlikely at this point, miracles do happen. Hey, G-d split the sea in way less time than that.