Riding the Trump Train

This week finds us at the halfway point between the day when this woeful nation elected Donald Trump to be the next President of the United States and the date next month when he is actually sworn in on Inauguration Day, aka, Doomsday. 

What has this clueless spitball given us so far, even before taking control?

- An already disturbing pattern of confusing his personal business practice with his presidential duties. (And you were worried about the Clinton's foundation? Ha!)

- A series of security breaches via unsecured phone calls to foreign leaders. (And you were worried about Hillary's emails? Ha, again!)

- The embracing of corporate cohorts for his cabinet. (And you were worried about Hillary's "Wall Street connections?" Hahaha!)

- An unprecedented breach of protocol with his call to Taiwan. (For you hardcore Trumpers, "unprecedented" means it had never happened before – and, arguably, should not have ever happened period.)

Let's have a look at some of those beauties Trump has picked for his administration ...

- Scott Pruitt – Environmental Protection Agency administrator – staunchly against any regulation.

- Andrew Puzder – Labor secretary – has an anti-labor record.

- Rex Tillerson – Secretary of state – has the connections to sell us out to Russia.

- Rick Perry – Energy Secretary – who once tried to promise in a debate in 2012 he would eliminate the Department of Energy – except he couldn't remember it.

- Ben Carson – HUD Secretary – who once proclaimed he wasn't qualified for any cabinet position (he was right), but thought he was qualified to be president. (He was wrong.)

- Tom Price – Secretary of Health and Human Services – like so many in D.C., an opponent of Obamacare; and like so many in D.C., has no alternative plan.

- Betsy DeVos – Secretary of the Department of Education – the woman charge with shaping up our public education system doesn't believe in public education.

- Nikki Haley – U.S. ambassador to the United Nations – oh, Lord, now we're in Palin territory.

- Jeff Sessions – Attorney general – your basic, run-of-the-mill racist.

- Steve Bannon – Chief strategist and counselor – enough said.

- Reince Priebus – Chief of staff – the smartest one of the bunch. This guy's career was OVER – until he jumped on the Trump train.

And let's not forget that Trump was actually considering David Petraeus for Secretary of State – IF Petraeus could get approval from his parole office to attend the interview.

Ah, yes … some bunch – your U.S. cabinet – choices made by the self-proclaimed Smartest Guy in the World …

- Smarter than the CIA. ("They're wrong about the Russians!")

- Smarter than the intelligence community. ("I don't need briefings; I've got a great brain!")

- Smarter than just about every theater attendee on the planet. ("Hamilton is overrated!")

Yep, we Americans – at least, an electoral plurality of us – think he's a smart guy. And why not? He's been on TeeeeeVeeeee! (How would you feel about Honey Boo Boo or Flavor Flav being the president?)

So here we stand, all of us on edge to discover what kind of president Trump will be; in essence, what kind of country WE'RE GOING TO BE. Because, he's going to pivot, right? Start acting presidential? HA! Dream on. I have news for you Trump voters waiting for the pivot: THIS IS IT.

Remember all those times Trump was going to pivot?

"When the primaries begin, he'll start acting Presidential." WRONG.

"If he gets the nomination, he'll start acting Presidential." WRONG.

"At the convention, he'll start acting Presidential." WRONG.

"Come Labor Day when the race REALLY starts, he'll start acting Presidential." WRONG.

"During the debates, he'll start acting Presidential." WRONG.

"If he's elected, he'll start acting Presidential." WRONG.

"Once he's in the White House, he'll start acting Presidential."

There will be no pivot. This is it. In five weeks this lunatic will possess the nuclear codes. And you can kiss your ass goodbye.

Totally Staged. Totally Trump.

Did Donald Trump really pick a Twitter fight with a theatrical troupe?

Did Mike Pence really walk into that place NOT thinking he'd be hassled in some way?

Does anyone actually think this little performance by the Trump team wasn't as staged as Kim Kardashian's "robbery" for the purpose of further perpetuating – as part of the overall Trump strategy – an "us against the world" scenario?

If Pence's attendance of the play "Hamilton" was as authentic as he'd like you to think it was, then YES – I do happen to believe that in what we have left of a decorous society, certain people warrant certain respect. But ours is not the America it once was; hell, it's not even the America of eight years ago. That went down the toilet the night that asshole from South Carolina, U.S. Representative Joe Wilson, yelled "you lie!" during an Obama State-of-the-Union address.

That little exclamation by Wilson was the spark that lit the Trump fire. The Donald recognized something that night – that the nation was ready for a vulgar, lying pied piper to take them down a path of insanity. And he succeeded. Yet in his messy wake float poor saps like Mike Pence, who would have been happy to stay under the radar in his home state of Indiana keeping his people happy with suggestions of Gay Conversion Therapy.

So … Mike Pence – the man who obviously hates outsiders – willingly attended a play centered on the idea that EVERYONE should have a chance at life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Right.

If you're naïve enough to believe that, then you probably voted for Trump.

Welcome to Trump Nation

What can America expect from President Donald Trump? Hold on to your ballot:

• The elimination of the Affordable Care Act. Those with pre-existing conditions (heart attack and stroke victims, those with cancer history, those with chronic ailments of any type such as migraines or back pain, may well never be able to obtain health insurance again. This has long been the goal of insurance companies; the abolition of the ACA will now make it a reality. If you think insurance rates are high now, just wait until the insurance companies – in cahoots with the Republican Party – begin operating unfettered.
• An expansion of gun rights. Trump likes money more than his own children and the NRA has lots of it – and they, too, have no regard for children.
• The elimination of a woman's right to make her own healthcare decisions – which is ironic since sexual abuse will, no doubt, increase under the Trump regime, given that this crime has his endorsement.
• Marriage equality will be eliminated as the Bible replaces the Constitution as the Law of the Land – in direct contrast to the will of the Founding Fathers.
• While Trump may not logistically be able to send 11 million Mexicans to Mexico or keep Muslims out, rampant and random physical and verbal abuse of these two groups of people will increase dramatically – encouraged and approved by the President of the United States.
• Pollution of all types we haven't seen since the early '70s will return. Any sort of regulation of industry will be history. You think businesses, in general, are good citizens? Think again – we live in a nation in which a law is needed to tell people not to litter.
• Prepare for the eradication of the First Amendment and the concept of a Free Press.
• Federally-funded "Gay Conversion" therapy will be instituted across the country – supervised personally by their creator and long-time advocate, Vice President Mike Pence. (How do you Republicans calling for the defunding of Planned Parenthood feel about this?)
• Drilling for oil in National Parks and other environmentally sacred lands will be initiated and supervised by Department of Energy Secretary Sarah Palin.
• The Department of Education will be eliminated as part of the continuing dumbing down of America.

Of course, this may all turn out to be moot given that under nuke-crazy Trump, this planet probably won't see the Summer of 2017. Remember: Trump's own people took away his Twitter account, yet think the nuclear codes are safe in his hands.

Amazing.

The End of The Road for The Donald

Today, the tidal wave known as the Trump Phenomenon will crest and roll back, falling short of its objectives; to the betterment of mankind, according to most.

Sixteen months after Donald Trump made that now-famous elevator ride, his third wife in tow, 14 months after I explained for you in two simple words the reason for his rise ("Duck Dynasty"), four months after receiving the nomination of the Republican party for President and one month after the conclusion of a series of debates which proved once and for all that Trump is not only temperamentally unfit for the office, but mentally unprepared, the day has arrived.

Election Day. Hallelujah!

Yes, the "temporarily unfit" part we're well aware of – but he was going to change! When the Republican debates began, he was going to "pivot" and get serious. (He didn't.) Then after he secured the nomination, he was going to pivot and act like a respectful, real candidate. (He didn't.) Then his handlers said, "just wait until Labor Day when the REAL campaign starts …" but again, he refused to pivot. Proof that a leopard can't change his spots.

But in addition to his volatile, child-like temperament, Trump showed in these last two months that he doesn't have the knowledge or the mental capacity to run the big show. Simply put, he's out of his league; a true mental lightweight. And why wouldn't he be? He's had no need, as it were, to be smart.

As youths, most of us are not given $1 million to play with (like Trump), so we pursue knowledge in an area that interests us so that we might make a living. We continue to pursue the knowledge of things around us that may or may not affect us for the purpose of ever growing said knowledge. But in Trump's case, he had no need to learn anything in the first place, even the need for any knowledge about his enterprises. If one of his businesses fail, shut it down and file bankruptcy. If he runs out of money, just don't pay contractors. This has been his life for 40 years and now that he has run for president, we're all familiar with the pattern. He has proven to be a shallow little man with a small brain containing zero real ideas for our nation. During more than one moment in the third and final debate, I was reminded, once again, of Marlow's discovery of Kurtz in the jungle in Conrad's Heart of Darkness: " … he could not have been more irretrievably lost than he was at this very moment …"

However, for me personally, the lack of intelligence is the least of it. Beyond this, even beyond the specific personal jibes, the disparaging of entire cultures and myriad other sectors of society, there's an overriding cloud that hangs over Donald Trump.

He's an asshole.

Not a troublemaker, per se, for the sake of righteousness in the classic political, cultural or even journalistic sense; not a muckraker; not even your basic shit-disturber. He's just a plain asshole. That said, I understand that many in Trumpdom may like these qualities in the guy, or even in their friends or themselves because they think it's time somebody stirred the pot. And when you do so for a good reason, well, that makes you a muckraker. But when you do something with no factual basis or no sincere cause, but merely for the sport of it, that makes you an asshole.

Unfit to be president? Given his professional history of red ink, bankruptcies, legal problems and stiffing contractors, Donald Trump is unfit to run a business.

Given his personal history of playing the victim in virtually every challenging situation he's been in, Donald Trump is unfit to be a human being.

Holt The Dolt

It seemed that last night's debate moderator, Lester Holt, had neither the guts nor the political inclination to put the screws to 'ole Donald Trump when the moment called for it. So, for the purpose of clarification, I'm happy to ask the questions that Holt The Dolt should have asked:

"You, Mr. Trump, say that we shouldn't let jobs leave our shores; do these include the jobs you shipped overseas to manufacturer your extensive line of "Trump-wear?"

"Do you really think, Mr. Trump, that income tax evasion makes you look smart – or just criminal?"

"Maybe you're right, Mr. Trump, that it may be time that this country was run by someone who knows something about money. Considering that you've lost more money than you've made over your lifetime … can you recommend someone?"

"Would it really be possible for you, Mr. Trump – the king of debt – to lead us out of the 'debtor nation' status you say we're in?"

"Mr. Trump, you say you have the right temperament to be president … just for clarification, could you please repeat that statement with a straight face?"

There was no relief in sight this morning amid the talk shows, in particular when Trump's Campaign Manager, Kellyanne Conway, expressed relief that Trump was able to "show restraint" last night. Which was great – first time for everything. But what happens when at some point he DOESN'T show restraint and the provocateur is not Hillary Clinton, but instead one of the nuke-toting, hot-headed dictators from around the globe?

Just wondering.

One Less Nut

An editorial in today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch on anti-feminist gadfly Phyllis Schlafly who died yesterday at 92, said that she was, among other things, a successful businesswoman.

But doesn't a successful businesswoman or businessman actually make money? Ha! Not Phyllis – she went to her grave proud of her oft-stated swank that she never had a paying job after she married – that she didn't need to – that the men in her life were willing to provide for her.

Which is great when you come from a perfect family with plenty of money (or at least as much as is needed to get by without worries) or even marry into such an arrangement. Or, as in Schlafly's case, both.

'Course, the fact is, not every family is perfect like Phyllis'. Some people – some WOMEN – have to WORK for a living. Not every woman is born with a silver spoon in her mouth, enabling her to run off on any crazed, half-cocked endeavor, political or otherwise, no matter how looney such endeavor appears to be. And the case of The Woman Who Said Housewives Should Stay in The House But Didn't Do So Herself was pretty looney. But it was really more than that – it was absolute hypocrisy.

And that was Phyllis Schlafly in a nut- (and I do mean "nut") shell – your classic far right, holier-than-thou hypocrite.

They hate gays until one springs up in the family.

They hate abortion until their 15-year-old daughter is raped.

They hate guns until a loved one is a victim of our too-loose gun laws.

Phyllis Schlafly most likely had plenty of hate in her, with most of it, obviously, reserved for women – that is, women besides herself.

Given that at the height of its potential power in the 1970s when the push for equal pay for both sexes could have taken root, it could be said today that Schlafly – who fought AGAINST this idea at the time – was instrumental in pushing the movement BACK four decades. Appropriate enough for the woman who thought that the best thing to happen to a woman during her lifetime was the invention of the clothes dryer; who once said, "by getting married, the woman has consented to sex, and I don't think you can call it rape;" and in a final act of insanity, jumped on the Trump bandwagon. Pretty pathetic. They'll bury her later this week, along with her antiquated ideas about women, work and American culture in general. In Phyllis Schlafly's world, Gretchen Carlson and Megyn Kelly and the rest of ladies at Fox News would just have to take it.

A sad legacy left by a despicable human being.

Hope

Throughout every election year there seems to be a recurring outcry: "Is this the best we can do?" Now that both party conventions have been completed, that plea takes on a more official, albeit more ominous sheen for this election year of 2016. Except that this year, I'm confident in my answer of "NO – it's NOT the best we can do." 

Let me take you back to June 22^nd of this year – just a few weeks ago – to the Democrat party's sit-in/protest over gun control legislation (of the lack thereof) that took place in the U.S. House of Representatives. Agree with the maneuver or not, agree with the politics or not, we saw and heard a series of 5-minute spiels from one seemingly smart, honest, passionate, capable politician after another. And I'd be willing to bet that on the Republican side of the house, there are also plenty of smart, honest, passionate, capable politicians – with no name recognition and no money – certainly not for the kind of high-powered financial run that a presidential bid requires.

Which is why I give Bernie Sanders a lot of credit, despite my general disdain of him. Sanders didn't have the name or the money, but he had the balls. One might instinctively say the same thing about Trump, but the fact is that Trump HAD the money and the name – which makes it pretty easy to have the balls.

Maybe there's a chance we'll wake up from the current nightmare to find Martin O'Malley and Paul Ryan at the top of their respective ballots – a couple of decent guys who, despite their own requisite faults, represent the mainstream interest of their parties with sincerity and passion. But they – or some heretofore unknown – will have to wait until next time. For now, we're stuck – with Hillary and Trump.

The Real Donald Trump

Belieeeeeve me, as Donald Trump likes to say, when I tell you that I'm still struggling with getting my head around the idea of Trump as the Republican nominee. Not because he actually made it this far – in a nation of morons consumed by Reality TV, this was bound to happen eventually. But more so out of fear for the future – the ultimate threat that a Trump presidency brings to the world – that on any given day, in his turret-syndrome like state of mind, he could blurt out something that might piss off some nuke-abled foreign dictator enough to cause said dictator to commence to firing, as it were. Sure, it probably won't be Russia's Putin, given the love that has sprung up between the two, but in the realm of national security, nothing is a sure thing.

So who, in truth, is this Trump guy?  The crowning affirmation of Fox News' 20-year mantra of "hate, hate, hate?"

He's a guy who flits about in his own 757 who claims the problems of America seem to stem from the elite. Really. He said this. And he's probably right. And he's one of them.

He's a guy who fancies himself a rebel, yet, with his first political decision, did the most politically expedient thing of all in naming Mike Pence as his VP candidate.

He's a guy who, I believe, has come to think that, thanks to his psychotic delusions, he is truly indestructible as a human being as well as being untouchable politically.

He's a guy whose juvenile, blustery behavior was, I'd long thought, that of a simple buffoon. But over this summer of our discontent, I've come to realize he's truly a psychopath who has no business being near that Red Button, despite any perceived business acumen.

Oh, yeah … his business acumen …

Fact: He's lost more money than he's made in his life.

Fact: 90% of his businesses have failed.

Fact: His father gave him $1 million to play with when he turned 18. Currently he's worth just under $5 billion, putting his net gain to date at around 5,000%. Sounds pretty good, right? However, I started at 18 with about $1 (like most people, probably), and I can tell you that my total assets, while not in the seven-figure range, are worth more than $5,000. (Many others, too, I bet.) Which makes many of us better business people than Trump.

And, by the way, rumor has it that early on, his father set him up with a lawyer who knew how to manipulate the tax code and bankruptcy laws to favor Trump. (Yes, Donald, you're right – the system IS rigged – and you're the biggest benefactor.)

That's the real Donald Trump. And now the Republicans are stuck with him.

"Exterminate all the Brutes."

It's been a long and painful wait, but after seven years of trying, following a proclamation early in the Obama presidency that his singular duty as a U.S. Senator would be to block the new president at every turn, 70-year-old Mitch McConnell may get his way. McConnell's vow to and block Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court may just succeed – much to the detriment of our nation, our democracy and the Constitution itself.

Hard to believe, but not everyone is enamored with the inclusive, progressive leadership Obama has delivered – old dinosaurs like McConnell are more abundant than you may think. And the truth is that there are factions in this nation who would take us back to a time when women couldn't vote, blacks were slaves and we had prohibition. Hell, we've had three presidential candidates in this current campaign cycle who would, on Day 1, shred the Constitution and rule by the Bible – a fine book for day-to-day personal guidance and inspiration, but not (so far) The Law of The Land. Incidentally, one of those revisionists is still in the hunt for the White House. But more on that later. Right now, Mitch McConnell and the old-timers have another problem, which could derail his attempt to stymie Obama.

Earlier this year, as this unbelievably horrid campaign for president really began to take shape, I figured Ted Cruz for the True Nut; that Donald Trump was just a buffoon who wanted nothing more than to bury China, or even own it. Yeah, the trade deficit with Mexico bothers him, too, but the easy solution to that would be to just make the damn place the 51^st state and OWN all those "brown ones," as George H. W. Bush so infamously referred to them. In a Trump administration, the so-called "social" issues would just fade away. Abortion? Second Amendment? Immigration? To hell with that boring stuff – it's time to make a deal, baby! That's Trump – and I've been counting on him.

Not Cruz, of course – the social agenda is at the top of his list. It's been clear as long as we've known of Cruz that this freak has been hell-bent – much like his long-disposed cohorts, Huckabee and Santorum – to shred the U.S. Constitution, hold the Bible aloft as the Law of the Land and, in doing so, take us back to 16^th Century England. And I still believe Cruz would do that.

That said, Trump revealed himself yesterday to be something more of a concern than first anticipated. His latest rantings about abortion and women and doctors are frightening, and one comes to realize that it's more than China that Trump wants in his back pocket. It's the whole world. If he could flip a switch and eliminate everyone on the planet except for a few choice requisite Trumpettes, he would. It's now obvious that Trump wants to be an undisputable king, even if there's nothing left over which to reign.

As his rants have risen to a new level, though, it's become more and more obvious that Trump may well, indeed, be out his element. Of late, his verbal meanderings have reminded me of the passage from Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," at which point Marlow realizes that Kurtz "could not have been more irretrievably lost than he was at this very moment, when the foundations of our intimacy were being laid – to endure – to endure – even to the end – even beyond."

Ah, yes … the intimacy. It was a disillusioning moment for Marlow when he discovered just how far around the bend Kurtz had gone. And it must be equally so for Trump disciples. Have they reached the tipping point yet? Or perhaps, the boiling point? Who knows? It seems as if we've been in this place before, only to see the madman escape. But now? As I ponder Donald Trump's fate, I must say that I'm torn.

On one hand, Democrats need Trump to enter the convention in Cleveland this July with enough primary votes to already have the nomination locked down upon arrival, given that polls show Hillary Clinton wiping the floor with the poor slob come The General in November. But on the other hand, I feel a macabre sensation about the upcoming GOP convention; a strange anticipation to witness history, what with the real possibility of an open convention.

Of course it helps that it's not my party. My party has its own share of troubles, but certainly not like they had back in '68 when the streets of Chicago became a war zone. And maybe that's why I'm filled with such curious anticipation – because I missed it the first time and always wished I could have been there, but that never again would we as a country witness such chaos. Though this year, we may – in Cleveland.

And that will disappoint about half of Trump's followers who actually believe the crap that spews from his mouth about abortion and the Bible and immigration and guns. But the other half … ah, the other half! They're going to be tickled, right down to their Klan-monogrammed underwear. They don't care which country The Donald buries, as long as he buries SOMEBODY.

Either way – open convention or not – there's a good chance Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee, and perhaps even president. Sad as that seems, there's consolation knowing that under a Trump regime, the survival of our U.S. Constitution – and the concept of a Land of Laws – is much more assured than it would be in the hands of backwards bumpkins like Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell.

The Reagan Era Finally Ends

"The evil that men do lives after them … "

- William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

The news hit at five o'clock last night like an anvil dropping. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was dead – suddenly – overnight, in his sleep, while visiting friends in Texas. Perfect. In Texas. Where all used up, washed up, past their prime and past their time Republican dinosaurs should go to die. With the swiftness and suddenness of the Citizens United decision, which Scalia championed, unashamedly – and has changed the course of elective politics in this nation of ours – the Court's judge who sat furthest right, as it were, was gone. Within hours, the jockeying began, initiated by Republicans with the announcement from Mitch McConnell that the "vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president." But let's set that aside for just a few minutes and think about the man and what has just happened.

Through the night and certainly this morning on the talk shows, there was weeping from both sides of the aisle about how beloved the guy was, even if you disagreed with his politics … what his hobbies were, how he was a such a man-about-town, with his wife in tow on the social circuit … everything you'd expect from those who live in the cesspool of shallowness that is Washington, D.C. Well, at this point, I'm less concerned with Scalia's hobbies than I am the damage he did to this country over three decades.

He was a "traditionalist" they've said. Maybe he was – like George Wallace was a traditionalist – a self-proclaimed constitutionalist until he wasn't, always and only for the purpose of satisfying his own personal opinions. As an "originalist" he claimed that his method of constitutional interpretation was to look into the meaning of words and concepts as they were understood by the Founding Fathers. But if that was true, he wouldn't have written the 2008 opinion which overturned Washington D.C.'s handgun ban, freeing up individuals to own a gun for private use – and not just in connection with service in a militia, as stated in the 2^nd Amendment and as intended by the Founding Fathers.

One could go on and on about the evil that Scalia did which will live after him, but if we toss aside everything else, it's impossible to toss aside the fact that it was Scalia, conspiring with his right-wing brethren on the Court, who gave us George W. Bush – a brutal vestige of his time on the bench.

And now, according to a whole herd of elephants, he's not to be replaced until after the election this November when, God willing, a Republican is elected – and the more conservative, the better, by which to properly fill Scalia's place, right? Hell, in last night's Republican date, 'ole Donald Trump called for delaying the process, as if the business of this branch of the government was going to come to a screeching halt for a year-plus. Hey Donald, this may be beyond your abilities of comprehension, we're trying to have democracy here!

There are so many reasons to be joyous about the death of Antonin Scalia. But most of all, this occasion finally and officially marks the end of the Reagan Era; a finale that has been 35 years in the making. Reagan initiated and presided over one of the most despicable chapters in this country's history, defined by a shift to the right that included an unprecedented hatred for minorities, women and gays. In naming Scalia to the Supreme Court in 1986, Reagan ensured that such a legacy would continue, at least for a while. But now Scalia is gone. And the era of Reagan is – thank the Lord – finally over.

Scalia was said to remark to those who complained about his role in the ascension of George W. Bush to the White House, to "get over it." Well, to those who are saddened by the death of Scalia – an unmitigated, unflinching, hypocritical asshole – I would simply laugh, and say, "get over it."

 

Kathleen and Nikki: Together at Last

It's good to see that Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker seems to have finally gotten past her three-decade-plus crush on the Family Bush. It's NOT so good to see that the latest object of her admiration is even crazier than the previous one. In case you missed her column yesterday, Parker's new crush appears to be Nikki Haley, Governor of South Carolina, and newly-touted GOP VP Candidate.

Really?

In trying to protect her old-time Republican party from the Nut Crowd (as she and fellow Washington Post conservative columnist Michael Gerson have been working feverishly to do), Parker probably thinks she has landed in safe territory with Nikki Haley.

Really?

This is the woman who won all sorts of accolades this summer when she (finally) called for and lead the removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina state house property – after four and a half years in office. And only after the murder of nine African Americans in a Charleston church by a Radical Christian Terrorist.

Let's be clear: It took the murder of these nine people for Haley to – on the surface – come to realize that the Confederate flag was still a sign of racism and a dangerous flashpoint.

And Kathleen Parker thinks this is okay.

Really?

Parker claims that Haley has been "changed by her time in office." You bet she has. She's suddenly realized that unlike South Carolina, the nation as a whole won't tolerate a racist in leadership.

Haley likes to tout her immigrant roots, but is too politically savvy, of course, to use her given first name. (She was born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa.) She no doubt understands the thinking in South Carolina and throughout much of the Republican Party – "Indian descent? Why, she must be a Muslim!"

Maybe Haley understands the still-prevalent racism in this country all too well.