First, there was hate

   First, there was hate

An Opinion, by John Watson

       Donald J. Trump came to the Oval Office lacking in so many of the qualities his predecessors brought with them.  He lacked empathy for his fellow Americans.  He lacked education.  He lacked a desire to learn the job before him.  He lacked a willingness to understand what the "American Dream" was all about to his countrymen.  

    He was narcissistic to a fault.  He could not see the importance of others because he could not see beyond his own importance.  He was a pathological liar.  It made no difference whether they were big lies capable of doing great damage or small lies of relatively little importance...they were lies he could not stop himself from uttering.

    But worst of all, there was hate.

    He began his campaign for the presidency with outlandish "rallies" that filled the arena with screaming, obnoxious people of hate...fueled by their leader.  He urged them to "hit 'em in the face, knock 'em to the ground...I'll pay your attorney fees."  They screamed even louder.

    Hate was the password to get into the arena and hate was the theme of every event.  The crowds were filled with white supremacists,  nazi lovers, race haters, and many who were there because they're still fighting our Civil War.

    This set in place Trump's "base of support."  He would rule from this group because they are the ones who would follow him over the cliff, if necessary.  He understood them and they understood him.

    These grizzly theatre's of horror and lies  morphed into a routine outing for him.  He was comfortable in this setting.  It harkened back to his "reality shows" of bygone days in television.   Today, more than a dozen large cities across America are still waiting for him to pay the bills that he ran up to produce these monstrosities.

   And it didn't end at his election.  He continued them for the next three-plus years...until the coronavirus crisis.

   Today, he has found new life with his "daily coronavirus updates" that were five minutes from the doctors and the next forty-five minutes of political lies and propaganda for his upcoming re-election.

    It has been a show of horrors for his presidency, his alienation of the leaders who were our allies, and his over-friendliness to our adversaries.  He was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives, but was left in office by foolish political winks and nods of his GOP-controlled U.S. Senators.

    There is still the smoldering hatred across the land and it will remain until November 3, 2020.  Beyond that, there will still be the haters.  They have seen their dreams fulfilled by Trump and they will not go quietly into that good night.

    Hate is a terrible evil.  It is nearly as contagious as a pandemic.  

    And Mr. Trump has not been able to honestly cope with a pandemic, either.

    We will begin to heal, hopefully, on Nov. 3, 2020.  But we, as a nation, have a mountain of rebuilding to do.  Most important to our success, however, will be whether we can ALL work together.

     Are we up to the task?