Ever come across that man or woman who never went through complete childhood development, and, as a result, still throws temper tantrums – only now in a grown body? Ladies and gentlemen, meet Donald J. Trump, the ego mogul who aspires to be president of the richest and most powerful nation on earth – our nation. His list of glowing accomplishments as Candidate-in-Chief in the Republican primary have consisted of making fun of opponents’ looks and height, mocking a reporter’s physical disability, belittling Ben Carson’s denomination as fringe and even attacking the voters themselves for not giving him a lollipop for financing his own campaign.
But, Trump’s lack of emotional development displays itself in more than just insults. The man doesn’t know how to lose and cannot fathom why any honest person who isn’t an idiot would not simply adore him. When Trump’s allegations that Cruz is ineligible did not sway Iowa voters, he turned to a host of other invalid, lame excuses to explain his defeat such as alleging voter fraud and accusing Cruz of “stealing” the election; even going so far as to demand that Iowa organize a new election. This is the all-too-familiar shrill of “that’s no fair!” from the pampered child whose team just lost.
Trump’s accusations stemmed from an assumption by the Cruz campaign that Carson had withdrawn from the race. This originated with a CNN report that Carson was going to Florida right before the Iowa caucuses. But, Cruz won three times as many votes as Carson with both of them outperforming polls while Trump under-performed expectations. Interestingly, the Rubio campaign also pushed hard the wishful narrative that Carson was withdrawing and outperformed the polls even better than Cruz. The only reason Trump unleashed a Twitter tirade against Cruz and developed such a strong sense of justice toward Carson whom he had recently compared to a pedophile was because Cruz won, and Rubio did not.
Trump is definitely a man who knows what he wants and is willing to do just about anything to get it; the perfect tycoon who can be your greatest friend or worst enemy, depending on whether or not you’re on his team. He strongly supports eminent domain without which he claims we wouldn’t have “roads, highways, schools, bridges, or anything.” This assumption is debatable, but Trump takes the seizure of private property farther than government projects built with taxpayers’ dollars for public use. He supports the seizure and demolition of private property for private companies on the justification that they will provide jobs. He in fact has a history of bullying those to refuse to comply, most notably the case of the widow Vera Coking of Atlantic City, NJ who refused to sell the home she and her husband bought in 1961, so he could expand his casino property. Coking won the ensuing lawsuit and kept her home. But, this episode does give another window into the Trump worldview that the rights of the individual can be sacrificed for the public good, particularly when he stands to benefit from that public good.
Trump’s latest temper tantrum occurred during the last New Hampshire debate when he was loudly booed for rudely giving the finger to one of the other candidates and telling him to be quiet. Rather than recognizing the negative reaction was a result of his childish behavior, Trump claimed, “the reason they’re not loving me is I don’t want their money.” I suppose then the reason that 76 percent of Iowa caucus-goers did not love “The Donald” was because he didn’t want their money either.
The president that our country elects this year will have a major impact on some of the most important years of our lives as we look to establish ourselves right out of college. The last thing we need is someone who will raid our wallets or start a costly war because some foreign leader stepped on his ego. Too often, the fascination with the maverick who is willing to speak his or her mind regardless of the consequences can cloud judgment when it comes to choosing a good candidate for public office. We need a president who we can trust to abide by the limits placed on his office by the constitution, understands economics and has a level head when dealing with other nations. A 15-year-old can “speak truth to power.” That doesn’t mean that fifteen-year-old has the maturity it takes to lead the greatest and most powerful nation in the world. Some presidents don’t show their true colors until after elected. With Trump at least, we know what we would get. The question is, is that really what we want?
