The Pied Piper of Hate

The famous social commentator from the early 20th century, H.L. Mencken, once described Donald Trump's appeal: "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people."

A noted educator, whose family was in the Holocaust, recently remarked that Trump reminded her of Hitler.

Let's take a quick look at this man who has captured the support of so many Republicans.

While he likes to talk about his success, many have commented that if he had just put the money his father left him in a good mutual fund, he would have the same amount of money today. This is not a self-made man. This is not a Lincoln who read by candlelight to become a lawyer. This is the guy who is one of the scumbags that made some of the deals that put America into the great recession. He isn't known for scrupulous financial behavior. He will declare bankruptcy on one of his properties the minute it gets into trouble. He will use a government's power of eminent domain to throw people out of their homes so he can build a parking lot for the high rollers at his casinos.

It was America's immigrants who built this country. I'm a Mayflower descendent who knows that our country would not be great if we had inhibited the immigration of everyone from the Germans to the Chinese. America is a country of self renewal, where the newest immigrant with pluck and fortitude can produce something that will improve our nation.

Since ISIS now uses the screams of Donald Trump, railing against Muslims, as a recruitment tool, we should look closely at a man who most clearly represents the lack of compassion of the 1%.

You won't see Donald Trump at a soup kitchen making sure the unemployed will get needed sustenance. Instead, you'll see him on a stage trying to bring out the worst in the American people. He is the guy who organizes the lynch mob. This is the man who has people break into the jailhouse to pull out someone of color to be torn apart by the mob. He represents everything that is wrong in America. There are, however, too many uneducated, angry, white people who haven't figured out who the real enemy is. Let's hope they don't destroy our democracy while they follow the Pied Piper of hate.