Frankly Speaking

Donald Trump About eight months ago, I wrote a blog post on Donald Trump, wondering if his recently-launched campaign to gain the Republican Party's nomination for president would have staying power. It most definitely has, as his wins in primary after primary have shown. Most of the media commentary on his primary wins, in both Canada and the United States, has focused on his crudeness, his comments on Mexicans and Muslims, his attacks on those who hold him to account (Megyn Kelly of Fox News being the best example) and his unsuitability for presidential office. One of the best comments in that regard comes from Michael Gerson of the Washington Post, who is a former aide and speechwriter to President George W. Bush. Clearly, Trump is resonating with many voters in the various primaries held thus far. Whether this is due to crudeness (which is doubtful) or policy (his immigration policies do resonate with many Americans) is impossible to accurately measure. A look at hi...

Former Surrey councillor Dalton Jones, who's been around the block a few times, has a great expression about the United States. He calls it the "Excited States of America." This applies most particularly to its politics. In U.S. politics, nothing is more closely watched than the protracted, convoluted and messy job of picking candidates for president. This process is always at its messiest when a president is nearing the end of his second term, and the office is wide open. However, the utterances by Donald Trump, one of more than a dozen candidates in the running for the Republican nomination, take the phrase "Excited States" to a whole new level. Trump, a multi-billionaire real estate developer with an outsized personality, has already smeared most Mexicans, and Americans of Mexican origin, by suggesting that most of them are rapists, drug dealers, criminals and miscreants of other persuasions. He did allow that a few might be alright, saying ...