What I think

I have a lot of thoughts about the state of our nation and its leaders. I mostly keep them to myself. I recently jotted down 25 of them. I found myself concerned to share this list. Which alarmed me. And is why I’m sharing it.

1. I think Donald Trump is a master showman and salesman. He has killer political instincts.

2. I think he understands how to get to the heart of an emotional issue quickly.

3. I also think he’s a terrible leader.

4. I think he’s narcissistic, Machiavellian, manipulative, shallow, and selfish.

5. I think his values and character make him unfit for the presidency.

6. I don’t think he gives a damn about the MAGA base beyond how he can use them for his own money and power ends.

7. I do think he should be President as he was duly elected.

8. I think the Democrats’ fingerprints are all over Trump’s electoral successes.

9. I think they spent the better part of 30 years cozying up to a technocratic elite, hollowing out support from working people. It finally came home to roost.

10. I find it absolutely offensive that the professional managerial class from both parties hollowed out the US middle class by shipping jobs overseas and then have had the gall to look down on working people for years. (Cue the flyover states jokes coming out of Hollywood.)

11. I think the Democrats look more hypocritical re #10 as they had historically backed Labor.

12. I think Democrats became the party of red tape and finger wagging and forgot how to use power to get things done.

13. I think current members of Congress are spineless wimps and posers.

14. How the f*ck do Renee Good and Alex Pretti get murdered with almost no outrage from the “Don’t Tread on Me” party?

15. I think there is moral rot in the Republican party right now. I am stunned that more sitting politicians aren’t standing up to it.

16. I do think we do need tighter and clearer immigration policies. I do think we need to get violent criminals off the street.

17. But in no way do I think going to schools and ripping families apart is appropriate. It’s inhumane. It cannot be who we become as a country.

18. I think the current DHS approach is a made-for-TV spectacle decoupled from serious immigration problems or solutions.

19. I think January 6th was a wakeup call. And yet we are inexplicably still asleep in the nightmare.

20. I think we can find a productive path forward as a nation.

21. In my more optimistic moments I think Trump is useful. Like a 2x4 across the face.

22. Both parties as we knew them pre-2016 are gone.

23. I hope we can learn the lessons we need to learn here.

24. I hope leaders with character, vision, and guts emerge.

25. I don’t see many right now…