NOT (much) ABOUT TRUMP

OK, I that's not true. I was channelling The Donald there and told a whopper. This is about Trump. But it's not what you think. I am not going to rag on the guy.  Yes I worry about the world, and I have all the trad liberal values, so I find his racist sexist xenophobic bullying and barefaced falsifications tiresome, scary, and darn near risible. All right, maybe I'm ragging on him a bit.

But.

One of the sticks Trump is being beaten with now is his comment about the underage kid he may be dating in ten years. And that comment shows an almost (almost) likable side.

Nothing to do with underage kids. Nothing to do with him saying what we're all thinking. I hope no grownup is thinking about dating underage kids. Geez.

But.

The comment is (follow me closely here) a joke. Trump is laughing. And who's he laughing at? Himself, that's who.  He's laughing at his own creepiness.  That's rare.  How often does a politician point at his own weakness? Did George W make jokes about how stupid he is?  Did Bill Clinton make jokes about his libido?  Hell, does Obama laugh at his perceived desire to please everyone, his inability to play hardball with Congress?  

I am not saying politicians should laugh at themselves.  Politics is power.  I used to wait tables at corporate functions, and it was easy to spot the CEO - the one who was not smiling. So Trump's ability to laugh at himself (now and then) does not make him a better leader.  What it makes him is the sort of person I could imagine having as a friend IF -- if he weren't such a gigantic knob in every other way.

That's all.