No, I haven’t lost my mind.  I heard what Ted Cruz said about Donald Trump on Tuesday, just before he bowed out of the race.  I know that Ted Cruz didn’t intend his remarks to be an endorsement of Trump; far from it.  However, when you think about it, what Ted Cruz said about Trump simply highlights the fact that Donald Trump is tailor made for the times in which we live.  Again, no, I have not lost my mind.  I didn’t like Trump before Cruz ended his campaign, and I still don’t like him now.  Indeed, in these posts, I had adopted the style of Cato the Elder, ending every offering with “Donald Trump must not be the nominee of our Party.”  Well, that ship has sailed.  For good or ill, Trump is it, and I have stated that I will vote for him because the alternative is even worse.

Now, what about what Cruz said about Trump?  Let’s review.  Cruz said of Trump, that he is a narcissist at a level that this country has not seen; he’s a pathological liar, who doesn’t know the difference between the truth and lies; he’s utterly amoral; he’s a serial philanderer; and he will betray his supporters.  How could that possibly be an endorsement?  Just look around at America in 2016.  Trump is a narcissist at a level that the country has never seen?  Well, Il Duce Obama certainly fits that description, but Trump gives even him a run for his money.  When Trump speaks to any subject, the discussion begins and ends with his favorite subject:  himself.  Trump praising Cruz after Cruz suspends his campaign; 1) “I don’t know if he likes me or he doesn’t like me;” 2) “he’s a great competitor;” and 3) “I’ve had times when things weren’t going great.”  The point is that we live in a world that is obsessed with love of self.  Tom Wolfe coined the term, “the Me Generation” way back in the 1970’s.  The internet, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., has only made things worse.  And don’t blame the young people.  All their lives, they are told they are special; the center of attention.  No matter how they do, they get a trophy.  We used to tell kids, “if you work hard, you can be anything you want to be.”  Now, they’re told, they are owed a living whether they work or not.  Most of the electorate is content to follow the Kardashians on Twitter for hours, but would never bother to pick up a newspaper, or read a book.  Trump’s good with that crowd.  What did he say?  “I love the uneducated.”  And they love him.

Trump is a serial philanderer, and utterly amoral?  That’s no problem for the “Me Generation.”  They’ve grown up worshiping celebrities, and obsessed by fame.  Remember the Biography Channel?  Every celebrity biography was exactly the same.  The early days, the fame, the good times; and then tragedy struck.  Adultery, divorce, drug addiction, bankruptcy, rehab, and a new beginning.  Trump fits right in with the celebrity crowd.  He is one.  He’s amoral?  Today that’s a plus.  Morality is out of fashion; so judgmental.  We’re not allowed to judge.  You want to marry another man, two men, your sister, a goat?  Great!  What, you’re trans-gendering, and this week you feel like a woman?  How special!  Who are we to judge.

Trump is a pathological liar, who can’t tell the truth from a lie?  What are you, a purist?  On one level, when you’re on both sides of every issue, which one is the lie?  And he’s the perfect opponent for Hillary.  She lied to make her husband President.  She lied to keep her husband President.  She lies about Benghazi.  She lies about her emails.  She lies about her private server.  Need I go on?  I actually heard a Hillary pollster on TV admit that she’s lying about her positions to wild-eyed leftist Democrat primary voters, but then will change positions for the general election.  He was proud of it.  It’s just good politics, he said.  And when she gets caught, Hillary says, “every other politician did the same thing.”  Sound familiar?  Of course, Trump says he’s not a politician.  Trust me, children, anybody who can convince a majority of the voters that Ted Cruz, the most decent and honest man in Washington is a liar, is a politician.  Trump says he’s a different kind of Republican, though.  He’s right.  He’s a Democrat.

Trump will betray his supporters?  Not exactly high praise, but also not at all surprising.  Why should voters expect anything else?  The Democrats betrayed the minorities they swore to represent.  They’ve fared worse under Obama than in previous years.  And the Republicans?  Don’t get me started.  Constant betrayals by the Republican leadership is what created Trump.  He’s the outsider, right?  But riddle me this:  When you’re the President, how can you be an outsider?  Il Duce Obama notwithstanding, the President is not a dictator.  At the end of the day, he (or God forbid, she) has to work with the Congress, those people who promise you anything and deliver nothing.  Trump can’t change that.

So to repeat, Ted Cruz’s criticisms actually were an endorsement of Donald Trump.  And here we stand, facing our presidential Hobson’s Choice.  We can vote either for Bart Simpson (Ay Caramba) or Nurse Ratched (Medication Time).  Thomas Jefferson said, “The government you elect is the government you deserve.”  I’ve always thought H.L. Mencken said it better, “People deserve the government they get; and they deserve to get it good and hard.”  It looks like we’re going to get it good in 2016.  God help us.