Donald Trump can be quite accurately described as Benito Mussolini with a comb over.  Those who have lived long enough to remember the fascist dictator of Italy during the last world war will recognize in Trump the same, jaw-jutting, belligerent manner of speaking, the same swaggering strut, the same disdainful sneer, the same intolerant demonization of those who hold opposing views, the same bigotry, the same colossal, egomania, the same vulgarity of expression, the same lascivious nature.   The similarities go on and on. The same childish petulance, the same shallow intellect, the same marginal knowledge, the same insatiable lust for power, wealth  and fame, the same emotional instability, the same division of people into winners (those who can and do impose their will on others) and losers (those who do not), the same cunning secrecy, the same perversion of truth.  

Every Presidential election is equally a referendum on the character, intellect and disposition of the citizens of the nation.  That Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump should emerge as the Democratic and Republican party candidates is a sad commentary on the members of both parties.  The election of Trump is an equally dispiriting commentary on the citizenry as a whole.  One can dismiss the whole of it as a temporary aberration in the flow of evolution and future of the nation; a temporary obstacle to be overcome.  A mistake to be corrected.  But if it is not; if Trump accurately reflects the nature and direction most of the people of this nation wish to take, the future is bleak indeed.  It never needed to be so.  It should not be so now.  It must not be so in future. Pity this pathetic caricature of a leader and lets get on with it.