Newt Gingrich Worse than Donald Trump

If you're rich, you're eccentric. But if you're poor, you're crazy. If I say or do something "different", someone like myself might have the police show up at my door doing a "wellness check" on me. But the rich are often able to put a nice public relations spin on their erratic behavior with an official spokesperson. Take Donald Trump for example, the man who has his name TRUMP on everything he owns, from his helicopters and hotels to the labels in his underwear. Isn't that kind of weird?

Megalomaniacs are usually pretty easy to spot...they have huge neon signs with blinking arrows pointed at themselves. But although Trump takes credit for almost anything he thinks will make him look better than someone else, his absurd vanity might only be considered as "eccentric". He gets a pass from the talking heads on TV. Instead of calling him out for what he is, they'll say things like, "Well, the Don knows how to market himself better than anyone else I know." Is that what you call an excessively wealthy clown who goes bankrupt several times, then pats himself on the back for being successful after dumping his used-up wife for a younger woman and then thinks he can be President of the United States? His head is bigger than his mouth, which in itself is quite an accomplishment.

And then there's greed, the excessive desire to possess wealth, and just like lust and gluttony - is a sin of excess. Greed is a very excessive or rapacious desire that is deeply inherent in people who pursue wealth, status, and power...an inordinate desire to acquire or possess more than one needs or deserves. This includes Trump, the bankers such as the executives at Goldman Sachs, and most corporate CEOs. But then again, we could say this about many of our politicians as well. Their avarice includes disloyalty, deliberate betrayal, and treason - such as through bribery. 

And like "The Don", I suppose most are megalomaniacs too. And judging by what I've witnessed throughout my life, these same people have no conscience or shame, and are usually guilty of the other Seven Deadly Sins as well (wrath, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.) I believe one usually begets the others.

Which leads me to this: If these men and women who regularly practice reckless greed and ruthless ambition, who are so self-absorbed with their own pleasures and desires, and hold so little empathy for the rest of humanity, how could they possibly believe in an after-life and any punishment for their evil deeds after they die? If this were the case, couldn't one also reasonably assume that they don't believe in a superior entity either? For some reason I just don't get the impression that people like Donald Trump lie in bed late at night, deep in thought and inner circumspection, praying to God to be a better person. If so, then He must never listen to them because "The Don" has always been an asshole ever since I've known of him.

And if these people who are driven by excessive greed aren't the anti-Christ, they do seem to have a black heart, lacking any soul at all. Why lie, cheat, and steal at all if you're already a millionaire, let alone if you're a billionaire - - - you've already lied, cheated, and stole enough already!

I suppose we all have a little greed inside us. It's human nature, we're all born with it, just like original sin. But most of us aren't exposed to the same temptations that the mega-rich are. Most of us won't cheat on our tax returns, not because we're necessarily overly honest or patriotic, but for the fear of the repercussions if we were ever to get caught. Unlike a wealthy person, we can't afford the fine and penalties if we get nailed with an IRS audit.

Why is our political system set up so that usually only eccentric and rich megalomaniacs can run for higher office...those who get campaign funds from other eccentric and rich megalomaniacs, so that they can only represent the interests of eccentric and rich megalomaniacs, those who run our lives (Koch Brothers, etc)? 

But if I were a greedy, uber-rich, and psychotic eccentric Republican CEO of a huge multi-national conglomerate such as GE, Boeing, Exxon-Mobile, or GM, I'd vote for Donald Trump rather than Newt Gingrich. Even though "The Don" has grandiose plans to slap the face of the Premier of the People's Republic of China, bomb Libya to take their oil - and even though he's a draft dodger (he received a series of student deferments while in college during the Vietnam War and then he topped those off with a medical deferment after graduation that helped spare him from fighting for his country) - Donald Trump's not near as crazy eccentric as Newt Gingrich is. 

Newt thinks "there is a gay and secular fascism in this country that wants to impose its will on the rest of us". Newt is downright pathological. I can imagine him as a kid waking up every morning scheming and planning all the different ways he could hustle the lunch money away from his school-mates. When it comes to presidential candidates, he would be much worse than Donald Trump. And because Newt's smarter than the Trumpster, he would be much more dangerous too.

You might ask, "So what if we have all these wealthy, powerful, and godless megalomaniacs controlling every aspect of our daily lives? What's the point?" The point is, power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I have to admit, I'm a little nervous with all these rich and crazy eccentric people running my country and micro-managing the economy and telling me what's good for me; and in the end, deciding whether or not I live or die. That's just plain crazy eccentric.

When a Rich Man is Hungry, a Poor Man Starves

It has not been "feast or famine" for these past threes years during the Great Recession. It has been feast AND famine. The investment bankers on Wall Street were feasting as they counted their gold, while the unemployed were applying for food stamps. As the wealthiest among us bought yachts and mansions, the poorest among us were losing their cars and being evicted from their homes.

A rich man: Ambition (not to be confused with motivation), in its malignant sense, is a will to an end - regardless of the means (as in "ruthless ambition"). Raw ambition, with greed as the primary motivator, is an excessive desire to possess wealth or goods with the intention to keep all for oneself. Ambition is driven by hunger and sometimes, because of envy (or "comparative thinking", whereas one is consumed by wanting more, having little appreciation for what they already have). Instead of being grateful, they forget about those less fortunate than themselves (and even the most desperate among us, such as the unemployed), but instead, they focus only on those who are more fortunate than they (competing or keeping up with the Joneses). 

The poor man: His ambition is also driven by hunger, but for basic primal needs, such as food and shelter for survival. "A laborer's appetite works to his advantage, because his hunger drives him on." ~ Proverbs 16:26

And if you think these wealthy, powerful, and godless megalomaniacs give one damn about you (whether you live or die), then YOU'RE crazier more eccentric than me!

It is better that Obama be re-elected...at least he knows what it's like to be a poor man.