My big question is, what’s Trump’s end-game? What is motivating him? Does he really think that the things he’s doing are right? Does he want to become a dictator? If he really believes, as he says, that nobody but him can accomplish the things that need to be accomplished, I don’t see him willingly stepping down after he’s termed out, and especially not if he’s voted out after one round.

And what about this wall? I can’t believe that he really thinks that the wall itself is necessary; it all seems like a means to an end, but it’s not clear what that end is. The far off days of the Watergate scandal call out, whispering, “Follow the money…” Since the current manufactured crisis is all about the appropriation of five billion dollars, and since he’s not willing to even discuss a penny less, it makes me wonder if he’s got contractors lined up to take that money. Contractors owned by friends of his, or run by people to whom he owes money or other debts. There were Russian oligarchs happy to stamp their asbestos bales with Trump’s image when he got regulations for that substance removed. It’s easy to imagine that there’s someone out there just waiting for their $5B payout.

Unless it’s all just about sowing discord and thumbing his nose at the people whom he feels haven’t given him the respect he deserves. I mean, if that’s the case, you’ve got to admire his ability to commit to the bit, but I just don’t believe he’d do all this without some significant personal profit motive. His whole life’s message has been about profit and success.

I don’t know. Maybe there isn’t a single answer. I can’t wait for things to stop getting worse. I’m not even thinking yet about them getting better; I just want him to stop tearing down the things that were at least pointed in the right direction.

It’s such a pity that, in a world where most people attempt to trust each other, try to get along, it’s so much easier for a few terrible people to tear things down than it is for the rest of us to build things up.