聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 While visiting my parents the other day I took note of their well-stocked larder.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚f Donald Trump gets elected and I see mushroom clouds 50 kilometres to the southeast, I will be here in three hours,鈥� I told Mom.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Living precisely 50 kilometres from the nearest first-strike target, a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile silo, means this comment was only 90 per cent a joke.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I鈥檓 not the only one who seems to think this way. On February 16 President Barack Obama said, 鈥淚 continue to believe Mr. Trump will not be president, and the reason is because I have a lot of faith in the American people. And I think they recognize that being president is a serious job. It's not hosting a talk show or a reality show. It's not promotion. It's not marketing. It's hard鈥�.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淎nd these are the folks I have faith in. Because they're ultimately going to say, whoever's standing where I'm standing right now has the nuclear codes with them and can order 21-year-olds into a firefight and have to make sure that the banking system doesn't collapse 鈥� and is often responsible for not just the United States of America, but 20 other countries that are having big problems or are falling apart and will be looking for us to do something.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Yet, amazingly, Mr. You鈥檙e Fired is steamrolling through the Republican primaries. And that鈥檚 scary.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I came across a video the other day of Trump talking about somehow forcing Mexico to build a wall along its northern border, ostensibly to keep all those undesirables out of America.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Trump said, 鈥淪o the president of Mexico yesterday 鈥� or the ex-president or whatever, whoever, who cares 鈥� he said, 鈥榃e will not even consider paying for the wall.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淵ou have to understand, because, okay, you ready, who鈥檚 going to pay for the wall? Mexico! Who? Mexico! A 100 per cent. A 100 per cent.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淪o I get a call from one of the reporters yesterday, and they said, 鈥楾he president of Mexico said they will not, under any circumstances pay for the wall.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭hey said to me, 鈥榃hat is your comment?鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 said, 鈥楾he wall just got 10 feet higher.鈥� It鈥檚 true, it鈥檚 true.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This is what the Republican Party has come to?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I can think of another Republican president, one who also had a thing or two to say about walls. While the entire speech is worth a read, the key part is this: 鈥淕eneral Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 That was Ronald Reagan, June 12, 1987, at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Two years later, the Berlin Wall was gone.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Perhaps the only president in the 20th century more deserving of addition to Mount Rushmore might be Franklin D. Roosevelt. Reagan essentially won the Cold War, calling for freedom and the tearing down of walls. Now Trump wants to build them.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 There鈥檚 one more thing about Trump. If you were to substitute the words 鈥淢exican鈥� or 鈥淚slamic鈥� with the word 鈥淛ew鈥� in any of his speeches, how close would they sound like Adolf Hitler in the early 1930s?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Don鈥檛 forget, Hitler was elected in 1933. With fearsome power he had at his disposal, he unleashed a world war. Now imagine him being entrusted with the nuclear codes鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I hope I don鈥檛 have to raid my parent鈥檚 larder anytime soon.
