A gay person who votes for Trump is like a Jew voting for Hitler.  

Uncritical, non-stop coverage of his campaign rallies has propelled Donald Trump to the Republican nomination for President of the United States.  

Credit it where it's due; The Donald is a consummate showman.  He knows what the people want, and he knows how to get the media to bring it to them for free.

Moreover, he knows that the media will then analyze him as a phenomenon, and bring him even greater attention.  He can pretty much say what he wants, no matter how outrageous, no matter how untrue, no matter how contradictory.  As long it's in keeping with his persona, in the vaguely political realm, he can just make stuff up and count on no one remembering what he said just five minutes ago.

And the media, particularly cable, dutifully reports what his lies and his boasts, takes it seriously, and presents it as an equal counterpoint to his opponents -- and reality.  

He's a demagogue, of course.  And he's learned well Joseph Goebbels "Big Lie" technique.  But he's also a fabulist in the sense of Baron Munchausen, a fictional character who enthralls audiences with his impossible tales of spectacular achievements.  

Or perhaps we give him too much credit, and simply say he's a bullshit artist, the kind of guy you can find in every working-class bar in America.  Like Cliff Klavan, the know-it-all postman on the Cheers TV series, he is a font of useless and often untrue information, spouts nonsense with total self-assurance, bedazzles his beer-drinking buddies with tales of derring-do.  Until they tire of his shtick and shut him up.

It's time.  Someone needs to call him out.  Ideally, it would be someone of unquestionable authority, but in this cynical age that leaves out political and media figures.  Political opponents have raised doubts about even the Pope's political pronouncements.  Conservatives even dismiss hugely wealthy figures like Mike Bloomberg for their liberal views on guns and public health.  

But if Bloomberg, or Warren Buffett, or Bill Gates, were to point out that they really can buy and sell Trump, or actually set out to do it, they might incite him to panic, and raise serious doubts in the minds of his supporters.  

There's one other possibility -- if an ordinary person, a person with no political ambition or pretense, were to somehow face him down, he might well be neutered for all the world to see.  

He's a barroom bully, without the courage or resources to back up his boasts and his threats.  He needs to be shamed and forced to leave the public stage.

Donald Trump talks tough.  He promises to crack down on Muslims, to build a wall on our border with Mexicans, and to stand up to foreign countries.  He has joked about getting with murder -- literally -- if he shot someone on New York's Fifth Avenue.  He exhorts his crowds to physically assault people.  Most recently, he has threatened to hit people "so hard their heads would spin" at the Democratic National Convention, including Michael Bloomberg.

Perhaps it's time to threaten him.  A lawsuit might be a good start.  But even better would be challenging him to show his manliness by putting his fists where his mouth is.  

He'd never do it.  It doesn't look this puffy orange man has ever had to fend for himself.  He affects the manner of being a tough New Yorker, but he had a privileged childhood, dodged the draft, and has always had his lawyers do his fighting for him.  He's afraid to release his tax returns -- and his academic records -- and seems to have done most of his investing with other people's money.

He's not a young man, and a strenuous fight might kill him.  But if he's as tough as he says, it's time to show it.  Come on, Donald, show you're a man.  Put up your dukes.  Or go sniveling back to your mansion, you pathetic blowhard.  

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These last two weeks have truly been historic in America.  For the first time, a major party has nominated a woman to be its candidate for President.  And another has nominated the first clown.

DONALD TRUMP CALLS FOR TAKING DOWN THE STATUE OF LIBERTY by Mitchell Kornfield

Republican Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump today called for the dismantling of The Statue of Liberty which has stood in New York harbor for over 100 years.  "If we're not going to be letting in immigrants why should we have this big symbol welcoming them in?" Mr. Trump tweeted last night.  He also said that since most immigrants come from over the border with Mexico then the statue has outlived her usefulness.  "Can you imagine all the jobs we could create if we developed that property?" said the real estate mogul, adding, "I have just the man for the job," before saying that property on islands in New York harbor are very valuable and could be put to better use than showing off some old statue that comes from France a country that encourages immigrant terrorists to live there.  Trump also said that we could save a lot of money minting pennies using copper melted down from the old statue, provided of course we don't mind having a big batch of green pennies in circulation.  So far there has been no comment from Hillary Clinton.

I'd only add that all those pennies can be used to pay the workers whose manufacturing jobs Trump will bring back.