Trump is a boy's idea of a man - By Richard Cohen

[DonViejo]

My friend has a teenage son. He’s a good kid, well-behaved, impeccably mannered and exasperatingly unpredictable, as many teenagers are — a man one minute, a boy the next. My friend has schooled his son in the verities of life — be truthful, be reliable, be civil, be patient and, above all, be humble. Now, though, my friend does not know what to say. Donald Trump has left him silent.

There are many reasons to loathe Trump. His policies are mostly wrong, and even those that are right have been chaotically announced or implemented. He prescribes barroom oaths for an economy that needs thought and creativity. He would let the Earth bake rather than take the most rudimentary of steps to moderate global warming. He alienates allies and friends, embraces enemies and indulges in a noxious moral relativism in which, somehow, Russia and America are on the same level.

But it is my friend’s dilemma that best evokes what is so repellent about Trump. He is the winner who was supposed to lose. He is the bully in the fourth grade who never meets his match. He is the liar whose lies somehow don’t matter. He is the braggart who is never humbled. He refutes what Johnny Tremain was told and every child once instructed: “Pride goeth before a fall.” No, with Trump pride goeth before everything.

Donald Trump is the most un-American of presidents. Think of Abraham Lincoln — “Honest Abe.” Will anyone ever call Trump “Honest Don”? Will he be known for his humility or for his lust for knowledge? Will tales be told about his industrious work habits or, as with Lyndon Johnson, his furious desire to end racial discrimination? What will Trump overcome?

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-is-a-boys-idea-of-a-man/2017/02/06/c67be2bc-ec94-11e6-9973-c5efb7ccfb0d_story.html?utm_term=.a67834df1244&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

[jodymarie aimee]

1. Meredith Viera's husband

author...

[mnhtnbb]

2. Trump is the epitome of The Ugly American.

Rude, loud, lacking in self-awareness or consideration of others. Convinced he alone is right
and the rest of the world should cater to his whims and needs.

It's no wonder so many other countries cannot believe this man was elected. They've seen Ugly Americans for years--traveling
abroad to their countries--and it takes them no time to identify who and what he is.

[raccoon]

3. Thanks for posting--this article kicks butt. I especially liked:

(Trump) will leave no myth, just an odor.

...

A father instructs. He raises a child to be good, to be honest, to tell the truth, to be humble, to be fair, not to be petty, to respect women, to accept fair criticism, to protect the weak and not to injure the injured, such as the bereaved parents of a son who died heroically in Iraq and a reporter with a physical disability. Trump teaches otherwise. He shows a boy that the manly virtues are for suckers, that the narcissism of youth should be cherished and that angry impulses have to be honored. Lots of men have failed as presidents, as Trump surely will, but few fail so dismally as role models. He’s a boy’s idea of a man. He’s a man’s idea of a boy