Donald Trump: The Tears of a Clown

     It’s a relief to know that when he’s not preoccupied with cabinet picks guaranteed to scare the crap out of any rational/sane person, Mr. Trump is now demonstrating a new found restraint and maturity.  The facts speak for themselves, don’t they?
     Our first example of this new-and-more-mature Donald came in his response to Hillary Clinton’s ever-increasing margin of victory in the popular vote count.  The most recent tally had her up by over 1.5 million votes, and climbing.  There is obviously no Trump “mandate”; in fact, he will serve as a minority president (based on the sort of campaign he ran, I doubt that’s a word he wants applied to him in any way!).  So, how did Trump respond?  He took time out from the trivial matters of assembling a government to whine that he could have easily come away with a “huge” popular vote victory if he’d decided to campaign more often in states like California or New York.  Notice the new maturity?  The man can’t stand to lose, by any standard.  He needs to understand that Clinton will likely win the popular vote by a significant number (most estimates are 2-3 million votes) and that he’ll govern courtesy of the Electoral College.  Incidentally, when President Obama was re-elected in 2012, Trump mistakenly thought Romney had carried the popular vote, and he denounced the Electoral College--deeming it a “disaster for democracy”.  He claimed the election was a total sham & travesty, and suggested “revolution” was necessary.  Hmmmm.
     This past Friday we were treated to another glimpse of the new Trump “restraint” when he settled three lawsuits (one brought by the New York Attorney General, and two class action suits filed in California) alleging Trump had defrauded hundreds of individuals who had enrolled in real estate seminars he had launched in 2005.  The Donald has always maintained he never settles lawsuits, and he proclaimed Trump University was fantastic, hugely successful, etc.  After quickly coughing up $25 million to settle these three suits, Trump took to Twitter to denounce the plaintiffs, to proclaim he’d actually “won” by settling for so little, and making it clear that--under other circumstances--he would have never folded like a newspaper.
     Finally, the two most recent examples of Trump’s “new” temperament--revealing the thick skin required of a commander-in-chief--came to light this past weekend.  First, after Vice President-elect Pence ventured to Broadway and chose to attend a performance of “Hamilton” where he was roundly booed once he was recognized, Trump was livid.  He was apparently further incensed by the eloquent words directed at Pence by a cast member at the end of the show--as Pence was making a hasty exit.  After conducting one of the nastiest campaigns in the history of our country, and refusing to ever apologize for the countless individuals and groups he deliberately chose to persecute and insult, Trump actually demanded that the cast of “Hamilton” apologize!
     Then, in the wee hours of Sunday morning, the President-elect felt obliged to take to Twitter in order to attack “Saturday Night Live” for Alec Baldwin’s hilarious portrayal of Trump in Wonderland.  If we’re constantly subjected to his whining over inconsequential matters such as these, what’s he going to do in the rough-and-tumble world of international politics?  The tears of this clown won’t cut it at that point.  Kellyanne Conway, Trump's own campaign manager, admitted he's a ridiculous man-baby... it's going to be an awfully long four years.  God save us all.