Watching Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump give his acceptance speech last week at the GOP convention, my thoughts drifted to the Looney Tunes episodes from my childhood.

Now that may seem weird, but stick with me a bit. I don’t think I’m losing my mental faculties — at least not yet.

As Trump talked Thursday night, two different Bugs Bunny episodes from my childhood came to mind.

The first memory was of a Looney Tunes episode that probably doesn’t get much airtime now due to its decidedly non-politically correct theme.

In the episode, dubbed “Hillbilly Hare” Bugs leads two long-bearded mountain men in what becomes a rather violent — at least by today’s standards — square dance. The long-eared Bugs outwits the two hillbillies, and they follow his lead as he sings a song that makes them beat the snot out of one another.

Trump certainly seemed like Bugs Bunny to me. Singing his fear-laced song, playing his fiddle and luring Americans to follow along, blindly.

A pile of statements Trump said in the speech has been proven — most by multiple sources — to be either outright false or heavily misleading.

Yet, like the naïve hillbillies in the cartoon, comically people seem to just follow along without much question.

As best I could discern Trump, yet again, offered little to no specifics on his plans, presumably because no specifics exist.

The theme seemed to be: Trust me. I’m on your side, and I’ll be fighting for you in Washington.

It all sounds good, if more than a little far fetched?

Trump said he thought of himself as the voice for Americans and that he will make America rich again.

Trump’s arrogance simply turns me off, yet the bafflingly unreal nature of his speech Thursday means I could not turn away.

At another point in Trump’s speech, another Bugs cartoon came to mind. In this one, Bugs is caught by an enormous abominable snowman that clutches Bug tightly in his hand.

The abominable snowman is convinced he can love, hold and squeeze his little pet to care for him.

Trump thinks the same thing apparently.

Trump’s message was simple: He will be America’s daddy, and we should all just let him handle all the complicated details for us.

Trump implies that the day after he takes office, America will change.

He suggests the violence in the country will somehow cease just hours after he places his hand on the Bible.

That all sounds great, doesn’t it?

If electing a single person could solve the country’s problems instantly, who wouldn’t throw their support behind the orange-haired billionaire?

Trump continues to play Americans like the proverbial fiddle played by Bugs Bunny as he tricked the hillbillies.

The fact is one man, even in the role of the U.S. president, cannot singlehandedly stop violent crime or terrorism.

For Trump to boldly suggest his very inauguration and policies he could enact — but has not outlined — on day No. 1 could make a huge change in the nation’s safety is ludicrous.

I can only imagine that Democrat Hillary Clinton will espouse her own amazing abilities as the Democratic National Convention opens this week in Philadelphia.

The choices facing Americans this year are completely and utterly polarizing. In my opinion, neither seems fit for the highest office in the land.

The Libertarian candidate is looking better and better.

 

Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.