Can Republican standard bearer Donald J. Trump go anywhere and be around anybody or anything for any reasonable length of time without insulting them or it? I am beginning to believe that the answer to this question is a resounding no. The Donald recently campaigned in my great state of colorful Colorado and based on Trump standards, was on his best behavior. He has been here a few times before and during his speeches he stuck to slamming the people and things that he regularly slams like Hillary Clinton, Paul Ryan, the Republican Party, the American election system in general, and anyone else who doesn’t support him. However, this time when he was here he veered off course.

From out of the clear blue, he implied that Colorado might be cheating in counting our votes. Then he pointed to the audience and told the audience to watch us; then he looked into the camera and said, we’re watching you. It is Autumn, the leaves are changing colors and it is beautiful! Now I did not hear him say – or imply – that our trees weren’t green enough; or that the change of colors of the trees wasn’t all that great, or that our state isn’t all that colorful. But who knows what might come out of Donald Trump’s mouth next, right?

So if he comes back to Colorado a few more times before Election Day there is no telling what he might say. Well, just in case he is even thinking about slamming Colorado in that way – you know, talking down the trees, their coloration and things like that; in paraphrasing Representative Louie Gohmert I issue this warning. Republican standard bearer or not, I will not tolerate the Republican (gulp) gentleman casting aspersions on Colorado’s asparagus! If you don’t know anything about Texas Representative Louis Buller “Louie” Gomert, Jr. then you probably won’t get the joke…

Anyway, Mr. Trump just seems to find it impossible to not insult people who do not agree with him or things that do not meet his standards. I must admit that he is a formidable adversary who seems to love the very idea of it being him against the world. And he has worn me down more than anyone in any election before has worn me down. It is not the kind of wearing down that normal politicians dish out to their opponents and those in the public who may or may not regularly follow presidential elections and become weary of the obfuscation and hyperbole, it is more like the wearing down that one might experience from being placed in solitary confinement for a long, long, long, long time. It tends to boggle the mind. You want to escape it but the odds of success are miniscule. So like that prisoner that is placed in solitary confinement, in order to survive, you endure it.

To survive Donald Trump’s antics during this election and continue to move forward, I find a bit of levity to be helpful and, without doubt, necessary. Paragraphs two and three of this article was my attempt at that. If you didn’t find it to be funny, don’t worry, it’s okay. It would have been good if you were able to get a good laugh out of it but I will admit that I am in survival mode here and I was being selfish; it energized me and made me feel better.

I imagine that with the way this election has been conducted there are a whole lot of people who are weary and will be glad when it is over. Even if you are one of those who have never before thought about America putting a shorter election cycle into place this election has probably made you at least think about it. As for me, I think that a shorter election cycle is worth considering right along with getting all of the big money and dark money out of it as well. Wishful thinking, huh?

For anyone to experience this election and maintain their sanity might prove to be a struggle but to experience it without it having an impact on how they view our political system and its process is all but impossible. At the very least all of this is frustrating and has the potential to discourage people so that they stay at home and do not vote. I am asking that you not allow that to be the case with you. It is imperative that you do not let your frustration with the system prevent you from voting because your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it! Think about it; your vote just might be that key vote that determines who will occupy the Oval Office beginning in January 2017!

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line