You are probably aware of the revelations by Tony Schwartz who ghost-wrote Donald Trump’s book The Art of the Deal — which Trump swears he wrote by himself (and which Schwartz says he would now title The Sociopath). Schwartz’s comments are  making the rounds on the internet and are worth reading. Many of them reveal traits of Trump’s personality that are easily inferred from his public persona which has become so prominent (and annoying) of late. But some are revealing and deeply troubling, given that they are written by the man who got up close and personal to the huge ego that wants to become our next president. I refer the reader to this web page for further information, but I include several of the traits that were most alarming to me:

Schwartz is not troubled by Trump’s ideology because he does not believe he truly has one. He considered Trump’s personality “pathologically impulsive and self-centered.”
“More than anyone else I have ever met, Trump has the ability to convince himself that whatever he is saying at any given moment is true, or sort of true, or at least ought to be true.” Trump seems pretty convinced that he wrote the book himself. Schwartz also said, “lying is second nature to him.”
“I put lipstick on a pig. I feel a deep sense of remorse that I contributed to presenting Trump in a way that brought him wider attention and made him more appealing than he is. I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization.”
Schwartz remarked on Trump’s inability to focus on any topic for more than a few minutes, aside from his self-aggrandizing. It is impossible for him to focus on anything for long periods of time. He said, “that short attention span has left Trump with a stunning level of superficial knowledge and plain ignorance.”

I want to draw the reader’s attention to the comment near the end where Schwartz says that “I believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes there is an excellent possibility that it will lead to the end of civilization.” Now, allowing for hyperbole, it does give one pause to think that this man might be so deranged that he would start a Third World War. Even to consider this a possibility at this point makes one shudder. But, given the thin skin, his temper, and the man’s deep reservoir of hatred and vindictiveness toward those who have the gall to disagree with him — much less criticize him — it seems less like hyperbole.

There are a great many people who have begun to realize what a danger to this country this man would be if elected president. Some are even devout Republicans, like Mark Cubin, who have become aware that this man is not to be trusted. Some, like Cubin, have come out openly for Hillary Clinton, despite their ties to the opposition party. This is a very good thing. There are those, however, who would reject both Clinton and Trump and vote for a Third Party candidate, because they are convinced the system is corrupt and both candidates are unworthy of the highest office.

Those who want to change the system which they regard as deeply flawed are, despite their slightly frantic tones, not far off the mark. The system needs changing. It has been transformed into an oligarchy, too reliant on big money and the influence of avaricious and ambitious people who have lost sight of their public duty to the ordinary citizens of this country. But, as one of the folks who posts on Facebook pointed out recently, in this election the stakes are too high to try to vote in someone like, for example, Jill Stein, who might have a strong case to be our next president but who would be unlikely to win and, moreover, as I have noted in previous posts, would prove to be an ineffective president. In addition, the case can be made out, as some already have, that a vote for Stein, or any other third party candidate, is a vote for Trump.

The real issue before us, then, is the number of people who will turn out in November and vote for Hillary. I hope it is a landslide and not simply because she is the only sensible alternative to Donald Trump, but because I have become convinced that she will make a fine president.