Donald Trump an his support and his supporters give me cognitive dissonance. I’ve tried to find the appropriate age to compare his behavior to and I can’t. Whatever age I come up with it feels like an insult to that age. Even a toddler kind of knows that when they do something its wrong but they don’t  have the experience and control over their own actions. By three and four they know better. When my niece was 4 I could see the wheels turning as she made the conscious decision on whether she wanted the “thrill” of doing something with the known punishment that would come if she did it. Sometimes she would decide to go for it and take that punishment and then apologize for her actions. So I can’t compare Trump to a toddler or a young child, which seems closest. I’ve thought about teenage boys but no…

Trump is a bully. That is very clear. He is a petulant child who refuses to know better. He talks about having to “hit back”. Hitting back is not what adults do. It can’t be what a President does. Trump tries to change the subject when he doesn’t know something. He tries to blow things up. He uses his deflection and pernicious innuendo to try to mask his own odious behavior. Those around him, the mainstays of the Republican party, twist themselves into knots trying to defend, justify, and normalize Trump. The media works hard to normalize him. They shake their heads and say that it won’t effect him and always there is a pivot back to what is wrong with Hillary.

It’s a pattern and I have to ask what is this election doing to our kids. There are not two sides here. This is not two sides on a political coin. It hasn’t been for a long time. Trump is just a disgusting public face to it.

How do we teach our children right from wrong when we have a party that lies, that denies facts, denied and derides science and then nominates a man who takes the worst of everything that they are and doubles down on all of it.

The President is more than a person it is a position. The President sets the example for our country.

Donald Trump says that our closest neighbor is sending rapists and murderers. He says that a religion must be barred from our country. He mocks the handicapped. Unless you are a white male there really isn’t a part of this country or this world that he hasn’t been offensive to. He attacks a sitting judge for his heritage. He makes children afraid that they will be kicked out of the country because of the color of their skin or their religion. He lies constantly. He thinks that climate change is a hoax by the Chinese and says that the only climate change we have to worry about is nuclear winter. And then he says that he wouldn’t rule out using nuclear weapons. How do you teach your children right from wrong when the candidate for the highest office in this country is doing everything that you are teaching them not to do. How do we protect our children from him.

Every day there is another thing. When other republicans will denounce him but still support him their words our meaningless.

We expect a lot from our President. I can’t imagine Donald Trump comforting us after a shooting. I can’t imagine him standing with a leader and treating them with respect. This man is an embarrassment. His candidacy is an embarrassment. The republicans are an embarrassment. We need two strong parties but the republicans have to become a party that does not lie. They have to believe in science. They have to give in to facts.

Our world has challenges yes but one of our own political parties should not be one of them.

And finally, the Republicans have to begin to support women. You don’t tell a woman that she must leave a job or that if she was just strong enough abuse would not happen. We have to value our girls as much as our boys. We just have to. Opening our hearts to others doesn’t make us weaker it makes everyone stronger.

I’m scared. We have to learn and grow. We have to repudiate everything that is Donald Trump. This isn’t about a political party. This is about the soul of our country. A house divided against itself cannot stand. Donald trump is battering against who we are. Don’t let him tear down the house.