Dread!

I should be as happy as a lark.  Next week I leave on a three week trip to Europe.  I have made reservations for my annual trip to Mexico City in November.  My cousin and her husband say that they want to go with me to Mérida in January, and there is a trip to Portugal in the works for next June.  I have a busy schedule of doing what this retired teacher loves the most... traveling.

And yet, I feel as if a cloud is hanging over my head.   I fear for my country.

(Image from the web)

Never in my 64 years have I ever seen a Presidential candidate who is as hateful, incompetent, egotistical, and dangerous as Trump.  He is a demagogue who plays on the fears and basest emotions of certain segments of our population.

Even before he entered into politics, I did not care for Trump.  I never bought any of his clothes, or stayed at any of his hotels, and I certainly never watched his lame "reality show" on TV.  Five years ago when he made the ridiculous accusation that President Obama was not born in the United States, I lost any vestige of respect that I might have had for him.  Then he announced that he was running for President, and one of his first statements was that Mexican migrants are a bunch of criminals and rapists... maybe there are a few decent people among them.  That was just the beginning of the vitriol spewing from his mouth.

So now he is the Republican candidate, and his running mate is an anti-woman, anti-science, anti-gay fundamentalist.  I find it unbelievable that at this moment Trump is leading in some of the polls.  

This is a man who admires "strong leaders" like Vladimir Putin.  That should tell you what sort of President he would like to be.  Trump has stated that he would not necessarily come to the aid of our NATO allies.  Why doesn't he just send a written invitation to his buddy Putin to invade Russia's former satellites in Eastern Europe?  I would also bet that ISIS would love to see Trump win the election.  It would make their recruitment of new members so much easier with him in the White House. 

Yes, I am very afraid.  I don't want to live in a country that would choose this man as President.  I don't relish the thought of pulling up stakes; I have lived in the same house since my childhood.  But I have been seriously considering the logistics of moving to Mexico. 

I will be in Mexico on election day, but in October I will go to the county board of elections to cast my ballot early.  On election night you can be sure that I will be glued to Mexican television, watching the results and keeping my fingers crossed.