I Gotta Bad Feeling On This One

Over the past several weeks and months, as I've contemplated Donald Trump's nearly inexplicable rise in popularity, the scene below from Platoon has somehow worked its way to the forefront of my thoughts.

Study the poll data, there's Red. Skim a comment thread or two, there he is again. Watch a news clip online, there's Sgt. O'Neil.

Trump rallies are now drawing 30,000. The seething mass of fear and grievance is metastasizing. Suddenly our water cooler chats are not quite so light-hearted.

The latest campaign developments feel more and more like slow-motion train wrecks. An aura of dread creeps in as mounting facts and figures slowly begin to dismantle our collective disbelief. The implausible is suddenly now plausible. Rational thought is turned on its head all around us. The specter of a Trump presidency lurks out there in the jungle of America's future like so many Viet Cong guerrilla fighters.

I am Red, and yes, "Bob, I gotta bad feeling on this one, alright? I mean I gotta bad feeling." ☮︎

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