DR. TRUMP’S MEDICINE SHOW

When I was a child my family and I lived on main Avenue in Groves when it was a shell road.  Our neighbor was the Smith Dairy and its pastures.  We of course had no television set, so my main source of entertainment electronically was a console radio that sat in our living room.  My dad, however, was always keen on providing the family with some sort of entertainment that he would scout out and locate.  I vividly recall a trip to a vacant lot in the area where "Dr. T" had erected his tent and stage.  The doctor billed his entourage as “Dr. T’s Magic Medicine Show.”

The doctor’s show consisted of a few magic acts, a song or two and a few other acts that passed for entertainment; but the main thrust of the gathering was the doctor’s lengthy spiel concerning the merits of his magic elixir—a concoction he claimed would cure almost every ailment known to man from backaches to hair loss.  In hindsight, I now know that Dr. T’s magic elixir consisted primarily of alcohol with some tasty flavoring added to it.  It probably did make some people feel better if they drank enough of it at one time.  I doubt, however, that it ever really cured any serious ailment.   Following the doctor’s spiel, his assistants would launch themselves into the audience hawking the bottles of Dr. T’s cure-all medicine, which almost everybody bought for a buck or two.

Dr. Trump is putting on his own medicine show.  Since watching the Republican nominee for president lately perform on television, I am immediately reminded of Dr. T’s medicine show in which he extolled the virtues of his medicine claiming it could cure almost everything, but didn’t.  Like Dr. T, Mr. Trump’s cures are described in very vague terms without telling you really how or why his proposed remedies, which are unstated, would cure what’s wrong with America.  His recent performance at the Republican convention was completely devoid of any concrete proposals which would help us with jobs, crime, terrorism or anything else.  If you ask Mr.  Trump, “How are you going to stamp out crime immediately upon being sworn in as president?” His answer is, “Right away.”  When asked how he is going to do away with ISIS; “very quickly,” he says.  And, “How are you going to bring jobs to the United States?” “I’m going to re-negotiate trade deals.”

I suspect that no person in their right mind would employ a homebuilder to build them a nice home when that homebuilder would not or could not show plans, had never built a home in the past but only promised that he was the best builder around and would build a beautiful home for you.  If we would not trust a homebuilder under such circumstances to build us a home, why on earth would we trust someone to run our national government who had no experience, who refuses to outline any cogent plan for improving our lives and has never served in an elective office.  While most of our homes are our greatest investments, the cost of a home pales in comparison to what we all have at stake when trusting someone with the office of president.  Alexander Hamilton while confronting a political opponent said it best.  He said, “Is it recommended for a person to have no theory?  Can man be a systematic, able statesman who has none?  I believe not.”  Hamilton went on to say, “In civil life we never progress in selection of leadership unaided in producing a single measure of important public utilities.”  Donald Trump has no theory of government and certainly has never produced a single measure of important public utility.

 Mr. Trump fails to answer the question posed by gold star father Kzir Khan at the Democratic National Convention concerning his deceased son who died in the military.  He said, “Mr. Trump, what have you sacrificed?”