I can't believe it.
But isn't that just what happens? In a society where personal problems are resolved by the instant gratification of distraction, how can we not expect that there would be raised a whole crop of people who just want easy answers?
We've got too many people who have gotten the short end of the stick and - instead of going out in the honest search of a longer one - are just sitting around and beating everyone in their reach with it.
And what do the rest of us do? We make memes on the internet. We post on Facebook in astonishment. We swear we'll go out and vote for someone who's not him.
Which is fine, but tell me if that fixes anything.
When stereotypes are so hard to change, and no one who actually supports Trump is looking at my Facebook posts anyway, is there anything I can actually do to make our political scene respectable again?
Go out and vote, that's sure, And pay attention to Congress, because we're actually part of a three-branch representative government, not a theatrical monarchy. I will write to my legislators, and elevate my online discourse. I will make mine a level-headed, tolerant, and disciplined voice - and make it heard.
The change starts like Michael Jackson sang, with the man in the mirror. We should not demand of others what we are unwilling to do. It is not enough to be busy decrying Trump. We must make friends with people outside our comfort zones, contemplate the good in ideas that are different than our own, and replace any unrighteous rhetoric in our personal or public lives with respectful and loving language. We may not be able to change the minds of Trump supporters in one quick argument, but we can set the example of life lived right.
Which is why I'm not all about any of the other candidates, either. Even those who rightly speak of love trumping hate cater to ideologies that encourage destructive personal behavior. We are not building a wall. And we are not all getting a free college education.
Life is not well-lived when it is made easy. And I am so frustrated with Americans who only want the easy path. Don't we know anything of the history of this country? It was not all smart phones and shopping sprees. There were dirt floors and lean years and 12-hour factory days. There was work ethic before there was wealth. And there will not be wealth for long if there is no work ethic.
When will someone stand up and say that we must stop spending beyond our means, that too many people are not using firearms responsibly, and that environmental concerns are more pressing than military ones? When will a politician have the courage to address these and so many other real issues with something more than oversimplified answers?
When will we, as a people, be willing to?
I am a Christian because I am opposed to self-deception. Perhaps more so than any other religion or creed, the gospel of Christ blesses brings light to life - and that light helps us see where we fall short. It gives us the tools to correct our mistakes and the hope that all the work of doing so will be worth it.
While I by no means advocate for a theocracy, I do bemoan the fact that so many of those who speak so adamantly against Trump are the same brilliantly educated folk who say religion is old-fashioned and unnecessary. I learned to think critically from my religion, which challenges me to improve my behavior and seek answers to difficult questions. I value the measuring stick of moral behavior that organized religion offers - in part because it so clearly marks rhetoric like Trump's as dangerous. And as valuable as various perspectives are, and as much as I can learn from philosophers and scholars, no amount of "you-do-you"-ing can make me abandon the fundamental truths of who we all are and where we came from, truths I learned from Church.
If you're not interested in religion, I can certainly appreciate that. But I do hope that each of us is able to find and cling to something that gives us courage, strength, hope, and an eye for absolute truth.
With this political scene, we're going to need it.
