That he decided to run should have surprised no one.
That he did it spectacular fashion with his typical bluntness and flamboyant style should have surprised no one.
And, it didn't.
Donald Trump – showman and businessman extraordinaire – surprised no one when he threw his hat into the ring as a GOP presidential candidate.
He had been edging around about it for ages – leading fans to egg him on to just do it. And then, he did.
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But – ah yes, but.
Political correctness raised its ugly head and The Donald ran headlong into the tactics of today: Personal destruction for the person who doesn't tow the line as to what is supposedly acceptable speech and thought.
Donald Trump said two things in his speech as he declared he was in the political race for the next presidential election.
He said, flat out, he is rich – and as a result doesn't need donors to finance his campaign and, he said, immigration needs to be fixed because too many Mexicans crossing our border are bringing crime and drugs to our country. He'll build a wall to keep them out.
With that, Donald Trump opened the doors of vilification and personal destruction the likes of which I've never seen.
Let's be clear. Liberals generally hated Trump for his success while they did business with him over the years. They knew he was conservative politically and a whiz at business, which made him extremely wealthy. He was never shy about that – nor should he have been. He earned his fortune, and he can spend it as he pleases.
He has and does, and he plans to continue. In fact, he said he'll pay for his campaign himself and that he is richer than anyone even thought he was.
Suddenly, that became a negative – being rich and saying so.
He was lambasted by rich liberals who play the same game but pretend they're just little people who happened to live the "lifestyles of the rich and famous."
I found it ironic that the same week Trump made his statement, I was reading "Daring, My Passages," the memoir of writer Gail Sheehy. She recounted a party given by Richard Reeves for 20-plus journalist friends at a rented castle in Italy. She said it was at the end of the '90s, and everyone was flush financially.
People flew in from all over the world, were driven by chauffeured Mercedes to the gates, dressed to the nines for dinners, pretended to be from moneyed ancestral families and waved at tourists who were "gaping from the garden below."
Sheehy recalls that one night, after a spectacular dinner in "the baronial great room" one of the guests toasted: "Here's to us. We're rich!"
Oh, I see. But when it's Donald Trump, who really is rich (and not just riding the bubble) and plans to spend his own money on a presidential campaign, well then that's another thing altogether.
But the really "unacceptable" thing that Donald Trump said was call attention to our immigration system.
Trump said illegal alien Mexicans bring drugs, crime and rape. Like it or not, he's right. Just ask the Border Patrol, which faces these people daily. Look at the statistics – but it's hard, because media ignore them.
Not only did Trump get criticized for supposedly insulting Mexicans and for his "poor choice" of words, but it began an avalanche of retribution.
It seems as though any product or service that has the Trump name on it has to be destroyed. Sponsorships for TV coverage for his beauty pageants were pulled, NBC cut ties with him as did Macy's and racing venues, and golf tournaments and on and on.
It's amazing how truth can cause this reaction, and not only from the liberal media but also by other GOP candidates. There seems to be a gathering of forces to side against Trump, but no one has shown that what Trump said isn't true.
Perfect example, yet a horrific tragedy, was the random shooting death last Wednesday of Kate Steinle in broad daylight in a tourist area of San Francisco. The killer was arrested 20 minutes later – 45-year-old Francisco Sanchez – a Mexican citizen here illegally.
He has seven past felony convictions, four involving drugs, and had been deported to Mexico five times but kept returning. Federal immigration officials wanted San Francisco to return him to them but the city refused. It's a sanctuary city. Sanchez was in a city jail facing pot charges, but a judge dismissed them and he was released April 15.
And now, 32-year-old Kate Steinle is dead.
We aren't getting the cream of the crop from Mexico and other countries. Most crossing our border without proper documentation are poorly educated and are often illiterate in their own language, much less English – and, yes, they are illegals.
If they sneak across our border, they're illegals, like it or not. You can come up with whatever name you want, Dreamers or otherwise – but it doesn't change the fact that they are illegal aliens and should not be here.
Trump spoke about the social problems caused by illegals. Look at the number of illegals in our prisons for major crimes, look at the financial and social burden on towns and cities and schools systems and hospitals and other social services as a result of the influx of illegal aliens.
The only issue is their illegal status, which is out of control and needs to be addressed and corrected.
Donald Trump has spoken about issues Americans do care about and the support he's getting from average people.
Politicians are so concerned with pandering to minorities that they're willing to sacrifice the country.
Regardless of the outcome, Donald Trump deserves our thanks for focusing on issues that too long have been swept under the rug and lied about.
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