Donald Trump: Putting the "bully" in "bully pulpit"

Increasingly, the evidence is pointing to a certain conclusion: Donald Trump is running for president because he believes the power and fame of the White House will allow him to settle the score in his ever-expanding list of petty grievances. Sure, there are other things he likes about it, like the attention and the opportunity to slap the word “Trump” in gold lettering across the front of the desk in the Oval Office, are motivating factors. But for those who have been following the campaign closely, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Trump spends much, perhaps most of his time, honing an enemies list of people he imagines have personally slighted him and fantasizing out loud about putting them and anyone he associates with them in their place.

I’ve always believed that one of the first questions anyone running for President should answer is “Why?”

“Why do you want to be President?”

I’ve always believed no one should be allowed to run for President until they can elucidate what is driving them to run for the highest office in the land? What do you have to offer? What do you want to accomplish? What’s your VISION? Several months in, and I’m still waiting for Donald Trump to answer those questions.

That this question seldom gets asked says a lot about the state of our media and our collective tolerance for bullshit and dishonesty. Why would any sane, rational person willingly choose to pursue a job which pays so relatively little when contrasted with the responsibility, the scrutiny, and the generalized ridiculousness any President is subjected to? I can think of nothing that would convince me to open myself and my family up to such invasive scrutiny…yet there are those who spend years chasing the dream. Then again, I’m an Introvert in the purest sense of the word, and the idea of the media pawing through my life seem’s like Dante’s seventh circle of Hell.

Then you have Trump, who seems to have fallen into the GOP nomination out of some sort of happy accident. Why does he want to be President? DOES he want to be President? Does he actually have a vision, a plan for moving America forward? Is he just making it up as he goes? Or is his campaign merely a ruse intended to promote his brands and with it boost his bottom line?

Or…and here’s a theory probably closer to the truth than anything…does Trump want to be President in order to give him a platform to settle old scores? Is it more about having the ultimate bully pulpit- the nuclear launch codes and the ability to issue executive orders that he believes will allow him to get even with others? Is it as much about settling scores in a way no other mere mortal can as it is about being the leader of the world’s preeminent economic and military power?

My prejudice is that we’re electing a leader, someone to represent America on the world stage, who has a vision for leading America into a brighter, more prosperous future.

But what do I know?