Life imitates art

To the editor:

 Given Donald Trump’s obsession with fictional characters such as Hannibal Lecter, I wondered which one best described his performance at the Sept. 10 debate. Two immediately came to mind.

At times, Trump channeled Howard Beale (portrayed by Peter Finch in “Network”), shouting “Our country is being lost. We're a failing nation … you're going to end up in World War III.”  Not much different from Beale’s mantra of “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.” At other times, SNL’s “Grumpy Old Man” (played by Dana Carvey) seemed more appropriate as Trump’s rambling and ranting sounded a lot like “I don’t like things now compared to the way they used to be.  In my day, 52 years ago, the states decided women’s reproduction which led to back alley abortions. And we liked it.”

I would be remiss if I didn’t add one more fictional character that captures Trump, the Family Circus comic strip’s ghost “Not Me,” who shows up whenever the kids are caught red-handed.  When pressed on his role in the January 6 insurrection, Trump claimed “I had nothing to do with that other than they asked me to make a speech. I showed up for a speech.” What a coward!

If it weren’t so sad, it would be comical. A major political party once represented by Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and Nelson Rockefeller now offers an individual like “this,” as VP Kamala Harris so aptly referred to Trump during the debate, for the nation’s highest office. Even sadder is the fact that tens of millions of Americans will vote for “this” come November.   

Joseph Cannisi