Mr. Write's Page

So. How did we end up with windbag conspiracy theorist Donald Trump as the Republican candidate for President?

I’ll tell you how. We got here because Fox News and the rest of the right-wing political machine turned out to be too clever by half.

You know the story. Over a couple of decades, the right-wing brainiacs devised a way to brainwash the conservative herd. They lobotomized its sense of reality.

They created an isolated, insulated, fact-free zone — where everything is “fair and balanced” — and welcomed all those frightened, gullible conservatives inside.

Once in the bubble, the masses were fed a diet of hogwash, distortions, and lies designed to prop up all things Republican and vilify everyone else — Democrats, government, unions, immigrants, brown-skinned people, whatever.

Over time, the residents of the bubble were conditioned to believe that any news or information from the outside, no matter how plausible, is a malicious, misleading lie. The result: they believe only what they hear inside the bubble. “Trust us. We’re on your side. Only us.”

In effect, the right wing created a generation of conservatives who are impervious to the truth. They don’t believe facts, they believe propaganda. There’s a reason why two-thirds of Trump supporters believe Barrack Obama is a Muslim. There’s a reason why 72 percent of registered Republicans doubt that Obama was born in America.

But then — oops — look what happened. The inmates took over the asylum. In a surreal frenzy, they nominated a swaggering clown for President. A man who is wildly unqualified, unsuited, and unworthy to be President.

You have to give Trump credit. He played the dog-whistle-trained conservative electorate for chumps. He told them what they wanted to hear. He entertained his way to the nomination.

It’s no surprise that a bleeding-heart liberal like me would label Donald Trump an insufferable, egotistical jerk, a spoiled, self-serving brat, and a bigoted, misogynistic gasbag.

But more Republicans than you might expect, maybe even most of them, understand what he is.

Not long ago, my local newspaper, a staunchly conservative publication in most matters, called Trump “a putrid excuse for a human being.”

Well said. Trump is a walking affront to civilized behavior. He continues to make outrageous, caustic statements that, in normal times, in a normal reality, would earn him the ire and scorn of the entire populace and send him slinking back to Trump Tower.

But this is the era of the Fox News bubble. And Trump is the Frankenstein monster it created.

In my next post, a selection of loathsome quotes from the aforementioned gasbag.