Back in 2008, Radio Times (Britain’s version of TV Guide, only cooler) had a terrific cover – Daleks crossing Westminster Bridge, and proclaiming, “Vote Dalek!” Watching Donald Trump’s Friday night address to his adoring fans brought this image back into my thoughts with frightening clarity.

Don’t know what a Dalek is, even in 2015? Well, that’s why God made Google.

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There are still folks who discount Donald Trump’s candidacy, and mock his rallies, but all I can suggest is that such folks get back on their medication, as quickly of possible. For quite some time now. the Republican party, talk radio and Fox News have encouraged an atmosphere in which Americans look upon folks they disagree with with disdain, as actual enemies of all that Americans should hold dear, and to ignore traditional sources of information that don’t hold to the party line.

You know, like newspapers.

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Whiners dismiss political critics as “haters” and get their “news” and “history” from websites which would be laughed out of existence on a rational planet.

Watching men and women on TV interviews who praised him for his blunt talk (yes, well, do do cranky old men in barber shops – and loons on Facebook) not too many (meaning none) seemed concerned about his lack of specifics on issues.

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And, of course, like generations of voters, they have become used to candidates who make promises like, once in office, they will be able to bully everyone else in the world into doing doing exactly what they want. And how well has that worked out for presidents in the past, who deal with members of Congress, and even Supreme Courts who don’t see the world through their eyes?

I wish some reporter on the campaign trail had the wit to ask a candidate about that during a debate.

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Well, amid cries of “White Power!” and the admiration of folks who compared him favorably to the late George Wallace, Trump held his latest rally this weekend. And it should be remembered that it took Trump some time to denounce the violence committed in his name, when some of his supporters took their boyish enthusiasm to extremes and badly beat a Mexican man.

Folks who support him are passionate, Trump said at first, and they want America to be “great” again.

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Not to worry, though. I doubt many of the Trump supporters actually read newspapers, so they aren’t likely to read much of the criticism against him – or any of the actual facts, refuting his rhetoric.

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About that Dalek cover

Not only was the “Vote Dalek” cover voted the most iconic British cover of all time, but in 2013, it was named the Professional Publishers Association Cover of the Century.

Here is the cover:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/3102812/Vote-Dalek-image-voted-best-magazine-cover-of-all-time.html

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Quote of the Day

“Please not yet. Those are the three eternal words. Please not yet.” ― John D. MacDonald, A Deadly Shade of Gold

rsdrake@cox.net