With less than a month to demonstrate some modicum of seriousness and depth, Squirrel-Hair gets yet more petty and vindictive

So Saturday Night Live puts on a skit, as is customary, spoofing the presidential candidates. Alec Baldwin plays S-H and gets in a few good zingers.

At a moment when Russia is instructing its citizens in how to put on gas masks, when the "A"CA is collapsing by the hour, when the government's annual deficit is creeping back up, when post-America's universities have become embarrassments to anyone who reveres intellectual rigor, not to mention a moment when early-voting indications for S-H's prospects look grim, he decides to focus his energies on a Twitter whine about the skit.

Stil, those who began guzzling the Kool-Aid when he made his escalator descent in the summer of 2015, as well as those who have been a bit more reluctant but, since the nomination, have harped on the binary-choice angle continue to look past those flaws of his that are now obviously fatal.

Just this morning, I caught a minute or so of Ingraham's show - I was station-hopping, I promise - and once again, she was yammering away about how "he needs to focus like a laser on the issues and not get sidetracked." Well, Laura, you like to couch your attempts at persuasion in let's-get-real-type terms, so - let's get real. He's going to frustrate you right up until 6 PM on November 8. He's not going to heed your exhortations. You've had fifteen months at least to look squarely at who he is and how he rolls.

You and all your Bot buddies refused to consider the possibility that this guy was bad news in July 2015 when  . . .

 . . . Frank Luntz asked whether Trump had ever asked God for forgiveness. "I am not sure I have," Trump said. "I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I don't think so. I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don't bring God into that picture. I don't."

A candidate who seeks to make a good impression should also probably refrain from describing Holy Communion in the way Trump did: "When I drink my little wine — which is about the only wine I drink — and have my little cracker, I guess that is a form of asking for forgiveness, and I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed. I think in terms of 'let's go on and let's make it right.'"

Or in August 2015, when this came to light:

Former president Bill Clinton had a private telephone conversation in late spring with Donald Trump at the same time that the billionaire investor and reality-television star was nearing a decision to run for the White House, according to associates of both men.

Four Trump allies and one Clinton associate familiar with the exchange said that Clinton encouraged Trump’s efforts to play a larger role in the Republican Party and offered his own views of the political landscape.

Clinton’s personal office in New York confirmed that the call occurred in late May, but an aide to Clinton said the 2016 race was never specifically discussed and that it was only a casual chat. 

The talk with Clinton — the spouse of the Democratic presidential front-runner and one of his party’s preeminent political strategists — came just weeks before Trump jumped into the GOP race and surged to the front of the crowded Republican field. 

The revelation of the call comes as many Republicans have begun criticizing Trump for his ties to Democrats, including past financial donations to the Clintons and their charitable foundation.

Or also from last August when he staked out this position:

Trump was asked, [relevant exchange beings around 3:00] “You want to lower the tax, you want to implement a flat tax.” Trump objected to this characterization. After host Sean Hannity said, “I thought you liked the flat tax.” Trump stated, “The problem with the flat tax is it’s sort of the same. I actually believe that people as they make more and more money can pay a higher percentage.” Later he added, “I don’t like where everybody’s paying the same. If I make a billion dollars, and somebody else is making a hundred, and he’s paying ten dollars and I’m paying — to me, I don’t know. I like somewhat of a graduation. What you have now is a system that’s too complicated. The easiest thing to do is make that system uncomplicated, and make it really good, make it really good. And you know, as far as the IRS, people say ‘Let’s get rid of the IRS,’ somebody’s got to collect the money.”

Or this one:

 Trump: I would look at the individual things that they [Planned Parenthood] do, and maybe some of the things are good, and maybe, I know a lot of the things are bad. But certainly the abortion aspect of it should not be funded by government, absolutely. 

CNN: So you would take a look at it before you’d defund it. That’s what’s being asked right now. Many in your party are doing the opposite. They’re saying defund it, and then look at it. You’re saying look at it first.

Trump: I would look at the good aspects of it. I’m sure they do some things properly and good and good for women. And I would look at that.

Or this exchange from last October with  Bloomberg's Stephanie Ruhle:

She asked him about how he'd do in the comforter-to-the-nation role that both W and the Most Equal Comrade (after the Connecticut school shooting) found themselves in and he saw a grand opportunity to indulge in something he relishes: vulgar comparisons of degree of virtue:

'OK, I think I have a bigger heart than all of them,' he said. 'I think I'm much more competent than all of them.'

But notice he didn't want to dwell any longer than necessary on that softy "heart" stuff. In the next utterance, he's moved on to talking about "competence," implying that, due to the kind of guy he is, unforeseen statistically rare catastrophes would absolutely never happen with hi in charge.

And then, characteristically, he just kind of sputters all over the place:

'If you look at Sandy Hook, those people are still begging for help. It's a disaster, and it's a disaster all over the place.'

'Government has proven to be a disaster during the Obama administration,' Trump pivoted. 'What we need is a leader, we don't have a leader.' 

"Government has proven to be a disaster during the Obama administration" - meaning, what? That government, properly administered, can be a ubiquitous and unfailing hero to all?

Or his response last spring to the question of why Easter means to him:

Donald Trump says Easter “represents family and get-together and — and something.”

Appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” on Easter Sunday, Trump was asked what Easter means to him and if he had an Easter tradition. The real estate mogul replied, “Well, it really means something very special. I’m going to church in an hour from now and it’s going to be — it’s a beautiful church. I’m in Florida.”

“And it’s just a very special time for me. And it really represents family and get-together and — and something, you know, if you’re a — a Christian, it’s just a very important day,” Trump said.

Or his response to  a question about a favorite Bible verse:

Trump responded, “Well, I think many. I mean, when we get into the Bible, I think many, so many. And some people, look, an eye for an eye, you can almost say that. That’s not a particularly nice thing. But you know, if you look at what’s happening to our country, I mean, when you see what’s going on with our country, how people are taking advantage of us, and how they scoff at us and laugh at us. And they laugh at our face, and they’re taking our jobs, they’re taking our money, they’re taking the health of our country. And we have to be firm and have to be very strong. And we can learn a lot from the Bible, that I can tell you.”

Or his thoughts on presidential demeanor:

At a rally in Wisconsin on April 4, he mused that, “I can be presidential, but if I was presidential I would only have — about 20 percent of you would be here because it would be boring as hell, I will say.” During a Thursday appearance on NBC’s Today Show, he was more direct: “I will be so presidential, you will be so bored. You’ll say, ‘Can’t he have a little more energy?’”

Or his position on the minimum wage:

Donald Trump said Tuesday night that the federal minimum wage must be raised, and promised to implement a $10 per hour wage if elected president.

"I would say $10," Trump told Fox News host Bill O'Reilly when asked about the specific figure he would recommend. "But with the understanding that somebody like me is going to bring back jobs. I don't want people to be in the $10 dollar category very long. I believe it should be raised."
Trump is laying down this proposal in response to Democrats, who have said he wanted to lower the minimum wage.
Not to be outdone by his liberal pals, Trump is pretty much blowing up everything conservatives and small government proponents have stood on.
The billionaire businessman said he would use the federal wage as a base and encourage states to implement their own minimum wage that is higher than the $10 figure. But he also said some states need higher wages while others do not.
"If you take New York, it's very expensive to live in New York," Trump said.
It's not his first foray into hating heartless Republicans over the minimum wage. We knew about this long before his nomination was official.

Or his response to George Stephanopolous's question about what kind of sacrifice he might have ever made for his country comparable to that of a soldier who gets killed in action:

Trump said: “I think I've made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I've had tremendous success. I think I've done a lot.”

Or his 2012 interview with former Fox host Greta Van Susteren in which he called Madame BleachBit a "terrific person" who was doing a great job as Secretary of State.

Or all the juvenile jabs at Ted Cruz, such as calling him "Lyin' Ted," or mocking Heidi Cruz's looks on Twitter, or saying Ted was "soft and weak, like a little baby," or insinuating that Raphael Cruz was implicated in the JFK assassination.

Or his expressed admiration for Putin.

No, Bots, Squirrel-Hair is not going to grow up in the next three weeks.

Do what you want in the damn voting booth, but shut up about how he is some great hope for those who cherish America. And you damn well need to knock it off with the attempt at shaming those of us who have understood for years that this charlatan was unfit for any public office, from county commissioner to president.