Observing the meteoric rise of businessman Donald Trump during his campaign for the Republican nomination for President of the United States, several pundits, political analysts and social media experts have run to the same defense: "There's no way that Trump can win the general election. The American voter is much smarter than that and this would be an insult to their intelligence." However, let's keep it 100: is the rise of Trump and the real possibility that he could be the 45th President an insult to the American voter and the democratic political process that we darn near deify, or is it an indictment of America? At so many patriotic events, we are encouraged to sing Katharine Lee Bates and Samuel A. Ward's "America the Beautiful" as a sign of our solidarity with what is often billed as "the greatest" or "the most powerful" nation in the world. Given the historically divisive social climate in our country, how "beautiful" is or has America ever been and to what "greatness" is Trump truly returning us? He represents everything that many Americans--regardless of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, generational gap, religion, etc.--believe and exhibit, whether they realize it or not. In a four-part series over the next several weeks, I intend to highlight many of the harsh and sobering realities about America and manifest just how "American" Donald Trump is...
