Why I fear Donald Trump. Two words, one name: Allen West. [View all]
They're basically two sides of the same coin. Both classic examples of bonafide Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Both with a hair trigger temper. Both making utterly outrageous statements and picking fights with anyone and everyone who dared stand in their way.
Both had no elected experience and fashioned themselves as outsider candidates.
Both built false reputations for themselves. Donald Trump bills himself as a great businessman and negotiator, never mind his four corporate bankruptcies and the fact that just about every venture he's placed his name on has failed miserably. Allen West fashioned himself a great military man, even though he was forced into a hasty retirement from the Army under threat of court martial due to him having conducted a mock execution of an unarmed Iraqi detainee.
The only differences are that West admittedly does have better speaking skills than Trump's third grade rhetoric, and then there's the whole Black Republican thing (which made a convenient namedrop for any Republican to disavow any claims of racism).
But other than that, they are remarkably similar in tone and personality and general lack of fitness for office.
And yet, Allen West was elected in his congressional district and served two years in Congress (where West promptly got absolutely nothing accomplished in terms of legislation and only seemed to spend his time making headlines by his crazy, off the wall statements).
The difference is, Allen West was one of 535 legislators, and his incompetence and bombastic narcissistic personality was muted in the masses. Whereas Donald Trump's running to be our sole executive.
The rise of West and Trump isn't so much attributed to their opponents as it was the false appeal of nationalism and "not being politically correct." And there's a significant portion of the electorate who eats that shit up like candy, and that's what has me worried the most.
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