Randi Kreiss

So, where is he going after he loses? Trump Land!

Posted

I assume that Donald Trump will never be president of the United States.

In my heart of hearts, I cannot reconcile his race baiting, self-adoration, misogyny and volatility with the job of president of this great country. It is a measure of how wide the divide has become between the people and the government that the voting public would even consider such a flawed candidacy.

His resume doesn’t fit. Making tons of money in business isn’t enough. Demonizing his opponent, a seasoned and brilliant leader, isn’t enough.

The GOP convention coverage bounced from boring to bizarre. Listening to the family extol the candidate’s virtues was like falling down a rabbit hole and hitting one’s head along the way. Was Ivanka talking about the same man we have come to know, the man who has called women “pigs,” “ugly” and “disgusting”? Just because we’ve heard his contemptuous comments and insults over and over again doesn’t diminish their hateful quality. As she spoke about the big, happy, diverse family of laborers who have worked on Trump construction sites, I wondered if she was fooling herself (nah, too smart for that) or us. Of course, his daughter thinks he walks on water.

Has it occurred to anyone that children and wives are not the most reliable people to evaluate a prospective candidate? Apparently, the Trump kids were among a small group of devotees ready to stand up for the Donald, but surely their familial ties and transparent personal ambition make them suspect as witnesses. Yeah, my dad is a great guy, too, and he was a really amazing dentist, but I wouldn’t promise people that he would have Clue One about running the country. Not even if he made a billion dollars pulling teeth and built several towers in honor of himself.

I thought the four-day performance played out like a kind of non-reality show. Nothing seemed authentic or genuine — nothing, from Donald’s hair to Melania’s speech. The kids, who may be terrific people, seemed robotic and over-rehearsed. The Ted Cruz moment, punctuated by John Boehner in the wings quipping, “Lucifer is back,” also seemed weirdly fake.

Because I believe voters will put America first, I believe they will never put Trump and family in the White House. Having recently returned from St. Petersburg, Russia, I looked at the Trump contingent and wondered, are we seeing another rising oligarchy? Whom do they really care about besides one another? What does any one of them know about the day-to-day life of working people and marginalized minorities and those who go to bed hungry and those who live on the streets?

As I considered the Trump extravaganza and decided that he cannot possibly win the election, I wondered how we will remember his nomination and this grotesque lapse of national common sense and judgment. How will history treat this interlude of public madness? Perhaps the best place for Trump and his family is a theme park that brings his reality show talents to an appropriate venue.

I can envision a Trump Land. The man belongs in a larger-than-life public arena, just not the White House. His theme park can draw the adoring throngs of people he craves and no one will get hurt. No one will get drafted into unnecessary wars, no one will lose his or her Medicare coverage, no one will get rounded up and deported and no one will treat nuclear weapons like Tinker Toys.

It’s perfect. Trump Land. And he can even plagiarize the rides from Disney World. They fit. There’s the Prince Charming Carousel that I can see now, with the Donald himself in the center ring; the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, which pretty much describes what a Trump White House might look like; Pirates of the Caribbean (or Wall Street, if you wish); and Humunga Cowabunga, which would be billed as “deep drops, typhoons and thrills.”

As visitors to Disney World know, there’s also a Hall of Presidents. I’m guessing that Trump Land would skip that attraction, because if the stars are aligned and all is right with the world, that’s one exhibit in which he will not take center stage.

Copyright © 2016 Randi Kreiss. Randi can be reached at randik3@aol.com.