Donald Trump says Hillary Clinton “doesn’t have a presidential look” necessary “to get the job done.”

Colin Powell, a Republican who rightfully deserves to be dscribed as a statesman, the other day described Donald Trump as a “national disgrace.” That succinctly covers it, when referring to a narcissistic blowhard with a second-rate mind who can’t keep his mouth shut. 

Hillary Clinton has spent a lifetime in public service and is now being crucified by many for basically just having used poor judgment in using  two e-mail servers while Secretary of State. I blame the press in part for having fanned the flames of this minor fire into a major conflagration that gives misogynistic Trump supporters and sexists in general seeming judtification for outrage. As if something like this should determine who should serve as President of the United States. 

In contrast to Hillary’s life-long public service, Trump offers us a lifetime experience of boastful preening and striving for personal wealth.

It’s amazing to me how Hillary has withstood the slings and arrows of outrageous Republican propaganda ever since her husband Bill became governor of Arkansas in 1978—nearly 40 years ago! I admire her toughness, loyalty and unflagging dedication. Meanwhile, wastrel  Donald, pushing 70, recently barged onto the political scene in search of ego-stroking by the American public—and to reserve a place in history books before he dies. 

Character, indeed, is important, and we really should pause and revisit some of Trump’s blatherings of recent times—along with such things as his refusal to release his income tax return, his shady business practices over the years, etc.

As reported in The Daily Beast Sept. 10, Hillary said at a New York fund-raiser: “To just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Unfortunately, there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.” Describing some of Trump’s supporters as racist, homophobic, sexist, xenophobic and Islamophobic, she went on to say other Trump supporters who feel disappointed in the government deserve empathy. “They don’t buy everything he says, but he seems to hold out some hope that their lives will be different,” Clinton said. “Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well.”  

Trump’s campaign pounced upon this as if it were another ill-chosen e-mail server. Trump accused her of “demonizing” and having a low opinion of American citizens. This from a man who doesn’t appear to have a virtuous bone in his body.

“Deplorable—worthy of censure, reproach or condemnation.”—most any dictionary

Was Clinton right? It’s impossible to say what’s in people’s hearts and minds, but we do have a lot of evidence from a number of nonpartisan polling firms — such as Gallup, the Pew Research Center, Reuters, and YouGov — that have asked Trump and Clinton supporters about their views on race, religion, and ethnicity. The findings suggest a great majority of Trump supporters hold unfavorable views of Muslims and support a policy that bans Muslims from entering the US. Most of them support proposals that stifle immigration from Mexico, and they agree with Trump’s comments that Mexican immigrants are criminals. And many — but not a majority — say that black people are less intelligent and more violent than their white peers.—Vox Policy and Politics, Sept. 12,  2016

Trump’s response is the ultimate in hypocrisy, when one looks at this restrained descriptive word “deplorable” in light of his own never-ending insults directed at both large groups of people  and individuals—even entire countries—on what seems to be a daily basis. In general, pretty much anyone who doesn’t agree with him or hasn’t accumulated as much wealth as he is a “loser” (one of his favorite words). He scorns women and racial minorities as a matter of habit.

“What can be simpler or more accurately stated? The Mexican Government is forcing their most unwanted people into the United States. They are, in many cases, criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc.”—Trump, July 5, 2015, Fox News

Trump seems to live to denigrate others while exulting in his own superior being. He routinely calls Hillary Clinton “crooked” and peppers in “guilty as hell,” a “total disgrace” and “incompetent” among others in the long list of insults he dishes out about her. He regularly calls Senator Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” and “goofy,” he called a Jeb Bush staffer “arrogant,” a GOP strategist “major loser, zero credibility!” and called Frank Luntz (a primary opponent) “a total clown“ and “a low-class slob.”

Trump regularly impugns the work and integrity of journalists and news organizations with insults like “little Katy,” “disaster,” “dopey,” “dummies,” “should be fired,” “dishonest reporting,” “incompetent,” “totally biased and disgusting reporting,” “a waste,” “totally biased and mostly false,” “sad and irrelevant,” “very insecure,” “clown,” “off the wall,” “neurotic,” “not very bright,” “mess!,” “dishonest,” “corrupt” and many more such.

Trump insulted Britain, saying they are “trying hard to disguise their massive Muslim problem,” called Germany “a total mess-big crime,” “going through massive attacks to its people by the migrants allowed to enter the country,” and blasted Mexico and Mexicans “totally corrupt gov’t,” “totally corrupt,” “we get the killers, drugs & crime, they get the money!,” “not our friend,” “they’re killing us.”—from PoliticusUSA, Sept. 13, 2016

And here are a few of his insults to women, whom he obviously considers a lesser and submissive gender: “Angelina Jolie has dated too many guys to be attractive.” Bette Midler’s “ugly face and body” are offensive.  On Entertainment Tonight in 2006, he said: “Rosie O'Donnell is disgusting, both inside and out. If you take a look at her, she's a slob. How does she even get on television? If I were running The View, I'd fire Rosie. I'd look her right in that fat, ugly face of hers and say, 'Rosie, you're fired’.” On another occasion he said, “Rosie O’Donnell is “crude, rude, obnoxious and dumb.” Cher is “lonely” and “a loser” because she doesn’t support him. “Heidi Klum. Sadly, she’s no longer a 10.” Carly Fiorina is the former Hewlett Packard boss and was one of Trump’s earlier Republican candidate rivals. According to Rolling Stone, he said: "Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president? I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not supposed to say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?"

How repugnant can one guy get? And he wants us to make him President.

He insulted Brande Roderick, well-known model and actress and a contestant on The Apprentice. "It must be a pretty picture," he said to her. "You dropping to your knees." New York Times columnist Gail Collins wrote about rumours of Trump’s bankruptcy; he sent her a copy of her own article, with her picture circled and “the face of a dog!” scrawled across it.

Tweet, April 16, 2015: “@emplefty67: If Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America? @realDonald Trump #2016president"

He insulted all Muslim women. When Trump went after Ghazala Khan, mother of fallen Iraq War veteran Humayun Khan, he invoked gross stereotypes about Muslim women. In July, Ghazala Khan stood next to her husband, Khizr, as he delivered a passionate speech at the DNC excoriating Trump. Noting that Ghazala did not speak, Trump told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos,"Look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say. You tell me." Ghazala Khan then spoke out in a powerful Washington Post op-ed saying she chose not to speak because she was too emotional.

He insulted Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, calling on her to resign after she criticized him in the press. He has called her an "incompetent judge" and said "her mind is shot." Ginsburg, who called Trump a "faker" and said, "I can't imagine what the country would be — with Donald Trump as our president," later said her comments were "ill advised."

And on, and on, and on . . .  Just picture this guy meeting with other heads of state, acting like he’s the only important person in the room—when he’s more likely the least intelligent. This man who boasts about his genetalia and upgrades to a new wife from time to time. A man whom fact-checking organizations find wandering far from the truth, time after time.

Polls show that Trump’s main support is from white adult males, particularly those least educated. All the more reason to get us a highly competent woman into the oval office.

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If you’re still reading this far, you might find this interesting:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/28/upshot/donald-trump-twitter-insults.html

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