As my nonagenarian heart beats, lessening the minutes I have left on this earth, I shudder at the spectacle of Donald Trump’s news clips, knowing full well that others revel in his diatribes. Trump’s clips are not just weird, they are Faustian — the bargain of the Republican Party to a liar and prevaricator. He is a vile, incompetent old man strategizing to wring freedom and choice from the soul of our land. He is an old screwball from the dark side. He is a larcenist living on strategic lawsuits to enrich his real estate empire, who succeeds late in life through a talent of vindictive rhetoric to enthrall half the voters in the land.
The Faustian bargain defines Trumpism. Wikipedia says “a deal with the Devil is the pact between a person and the Devil or another demon (in this case Trump), trading a soul for diabolical favors, tend(ing) to include wealth, fame, and power (among others).”
To get elected, Trumpian politicians embraced the new vitriolic party of Trump over the traditional Republican conservative values purported by Sen. Mitt Romney.
I worry about Trump’s base in Utah. Traditionally Republicans who have morphed into strange sycophants loyal to Trump. The latest convert is Spencer Cox who reportedly gave in to his more verbal hard liners. I understand many Utah issues are at stake in the upcoming election. I wish Cox and others with power could separate the wheat from the chaff.
Moral judgment supersedes political power in my aging eyes.
Richard H. Keller, Salt Lake City
