Although never as popular as surreal cartoonist Gary Larson, creator of The Far Side, a gentleman who went by the name "J. Kliban" was almost as prolific. One of Kliban's single-panel works showed a circus clown heaving a pie at an unsuspecting guy in a suit, smashing his face into smithereens. The caption underneath read, "Using the Cement Pie".
A more contemporary clown has the potential to be just as dangerous as the one pitching the cement pie, only on an exponentially greater scale. His roof thatch resembles a deceased monkey and he likes to plaster his name on stuff. If he was to have his way, such stuff might include The White House, maybe even the grand edifice known as The Capitol.
Like many of my friends and kindred spirits, my initial impulse is to dismiss him as a buffoon. Yet according to every reliable poll, this self-anointed icon known as "The Donald" is ranking well ahead of his fellow Republicans. Many pundits will shrug off his numbers as a protest vote, a flash in the pan. They'll assert that he's peaking too early, that as the pool of candidates shrinks, someone else will emerge. Maybe so, maybe not. I'm not so sure that we should be relying on precedent.
Me? I'm concerned. Trump's toxic rhetoric is being taken seriously by many among this nation's most belligerent citizens. During one of his recent tirades, he accused Mexico of sending us their criminals and rapists. Not long afterward, a Latino male was brutally beaten by two white guys in South Boston. Then they urinated on him. Upon their arrest, one of the thugs hissed, "Trump was right. 'They' gotta go." An isolated incident? An aberration? I'm not so sure.
As far as I'm concerned, The Donald's unbridled racism in tandem with his fame/notoriety isn't the only thing that makes him dangerous. His juvenile tantrums and playground-style bullying make his Republican opponents appear to be the grownups in the room --- just by dint of the fact that they don't call female reporters bimbos. Sure, a Jeb or a John Kasich might have more respect for the process of governing, but their policy priorities could turn out to be nearly as deadly as Trump's. (For example, every single Republican candidate promises to cancel the agreement with Iran. They also insist that they'd "repeal Obamacare").
A guy who seriously believes that, as the leader of the planet's most muscular nation, he can rule by proclamation, with total disdain for the Constitution and the legislative process may sound like a buffoon. But consider the message that we'd be sending to the international community if we were actually to elect such a toxic clown.
Clowns are supposed to be funny. But I ain't laughin'!
