"... it’s almost unimaginable to see [Trump] fulfilling the basic commitments and duties of the office. ... he’s a master salesman and at worst, a charlatan."

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COMMENTS: 
*  The bright side is most Young Reublicans and Millennial Christians support LGBTQ equality, climate actions, and immigration reforms. Maybe something more sane will rise from the heap of smoking ashes! #RIPGOP
   *   Still you have to wonder why anyone is a Young Republican in 2016. If you vote for a Republican you are voting against climate action, LGBT and every other minority, and immigration reform. What is so wonderful you would vote like that? I don't see where the GOP has to go as it's membership dies off and is not replaced by young people who refuse to vote for climate denial, gun nuttery, and bigotry. Without their signature issues what is the GOP?
*  After 35 years of the GOP media organizations pushing outright lies (tax cuts reduce deficits, human caused global climate change is a hoax, the ACA is an economic disaster, there is widespread voter fraud, immigration is destroying America, Barack Obama is a Muslim, etc. etc.,) they have created a very large segment of the voting population that will believe anyone who can skillfully play to their hot-button issues. Somebody was going to come along sooner or later and get those votes. Unless those same media organizations start broadcasting that their conservative emperor has no clothes, that segment of the population is not going away anytime soon.
   *  Trump can’t even handle the interpretation of the Second Amendment as he is proposing that the mix of alcohol and guns should be allowed in bars across America. To be able to serve, any Soldier in our Military is required to pass a number of psychological evaluations. How come a self-evident harebrained like Trump is allowed to run for President? 
Does anybody realize that God forbids Trump is elected President, the Donald will have the power to deploy our nuclear arsenal directly from the oval office with no one able to stop him? 
If we let Trump win the election we will put ourselves at the risk of living in fear of a nuclear holocaust knowing that there is the high possibility of missiles flying every time the Donald has one of his wrathful emotional outbursts #TrumpTheMadKing*  I find it so interesting watching a man that dug his own grave start to shovel dirt over himself.
*  These days seeing a thoughtful comment from a self-described Republican is a rare thing. It is hard not to agree with Dave Spencer's diagnosis of a failed party being the disease of which Trump is merely the fever. On the other hand the roots of xenophobia, racism and nativism run deep in the USA and when they are combined with the empowerment of plutocracy and the rendering of a finding of corruption so remote that a gun manufacturers lobby can carry the day in congress over and over again with no one to even remark on the stink let alone stand against it there is obviously a great deal that has gone wrong. So I celebrate that one Republican is willing to reflect in a serious way and venture to hope that perhaps such a process may lead to the re-emergence of those better angels so looked for in the time of another Republican who faced a shattered nation.
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Up In Smoke
By Dave Spencer, June 21, 2016

Over the past year, we’ve heard a lot about “feeling the Bern.” But there’s been another hot spot smoldering since late last summer that has somehow defied full ignition.

I am of course referring to the real Burning Man, Donald Trump. Up to now, despite ongoing misstatements, falsehoods, racist and misogynist remarks, malicious personal attacks, and a basic lack of understanding of the intricacies of domestic and foreign policy that would have destroyed any other candidacy, Trump has managed to wear an inflammable suit. But that casing is starting to smoke and the GOP is feeling the heat.

Like many Republicans, I didn’t see this inferno coming. I took Trump’s initial declaration as little more than a joke. But as the GOP primaries turned into a traveling circus, my evaluation shifted from impossible to improbable, possible to likely, imminent to inevitable. In an election year when all the traditional rules are being broken, Trump’s continued success has proven decades of divisiveness, indecision and deception by the party establishment created an angry and resentful Republican base so combustible, that his incendiary rhetoric sparked a firestorm of discontent. Add in a voracious media universe that provided Trump with an estimated $2 billion of free advertising and you had the perfect accelerant.

Being a practical Republican, which unfortunately seems like an oxymoron today, I want to make a rational observation about an irrational candidate. I’m not looking to join the ranks of the “woe is us” crowd or the flamethrowers on either side who are either boasting or roasting Trump. I’m just raising a fundamental question and mentioning a few hard facts.

Let’s start with an obvious inquiry that gets buried amidst the noise. Why does Donald Trump even want to be the President of the United States? He undoubtedly wants to win, but is he ready and willing to take on the responsibility of the being the CEO of the world’s most powerful country? Ignoring his dearth of political experience, it’s almost unimaginable to see him fulfilling the basic commitments and duties of the office.

Can you imagine Trump being at a 7:30 AM security briefing? Digesting the complex details of Congressional legislation, trade agreements, and foreign policy? Reading to school kids? Standing around at a Christmas party shaking 2,000 hands? I think not.

All of Trump’s life has been about trying to be number one and at best, he’s a master salesman and at worst, a charlatan. If he captures the biggest prize of all, it will be like the movie The Candidate, where a political novice, Robert Redford, wins an unexpected Senate victory and then turns to his chief advisor and says, “What do we do now?” Baptism by fire is not an ideal scenario for The Apprentice or our country.

As Trump-ites celebrate his primary coronation, let’s recognize that he has captured approximately 11% of the general voting public and more than 90% of GOP primary voters are white. And primary votes don’t necessarily translate into general election votes. There are also substantial demographic hurdles to overcome, both ethnic and gender. Latino voters are not going to forgive Trump’s racist stance on immigration and women make up 53% of the electorate. Hillary Clinton may be an unlikeable candidate and Trump will do his best to fan the flames in her direction, but women voters are not going to just ignore demeaning and chauvinist behavior.

As we have already witnessed, there is also the very real possibility that Trump will self-immolate. Despite all the “expert advice” he’s getting in preparation for the general election, he seems incapable of transforming into someone who can resist maligning and offending people. As far as accountability, in the old days, when someone would say, “You said this,” you could simply respond, “No, I didn’t,” and it would be your word against theirs. Now, there’s the undeniable evidence of video, so Trump will essentially be asking voters, “are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?”

People can keep bashing or bemoaning Trump, but he’s not the disease, he’s the symptom of a failed party. If it weren’t Trump, it would be someone else. He was simply the Pied Piper of an inflamed base, playing the right tune at the right time. Many political pundits have wondered why Trump hasn’t changed from a primary to general election ballad; he just doesn’t know any other songs.

Trump is a self-absorbed chameleon, without any concrete ideas or political ideology of his own. What he has going for him is that people want change; it’s not an establishment election. But he’s scorching the GOP from within and there are no extinguishers in sight.

What really scares me about Donald Trump is he’s a wildfire, the hardest kind to control. My deepest hope is that America will avoid the political and diplomatic conflagration that a Trump presidency could ignite. If you’re a concerned citizen and GOP supporter, remember what we always tell our children: it’s dangerous to play with matches.
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