It’s a terrifying game, the sort to cause nightmares, or loss of sleep–whichever you fear most. I came across this game on Grist, in an article by Katie Herzog. It’s called “Trump, Carson, or Cruz.” The sole object of the game is for you to pick out which of these three candidates is the next president. You can’t choose a Democrat, or any other Republican. It has to be one of these three.

Now, before I get back to the game, I need to tell you that for the last several days the various choices have been lurching around in my head like a rabid dog. I’ve been asking myself the question, “What would I do if I were a Republican and had to choose amongst the available candidates?” What would I do?  Honest-to-dog, I don’t know. If not voting wasn’t an option, nor was slashing my wrists, who would I choose? The game described by Katie Herzog narrows the field–fairly realistically, if the polls are to be believed–to the current top three candidates. That makes it somewhat easier, if not more attractive

After mulling it over for a millisecond, I figured if I played it out under those rules, perhaps I would be freed from ever thinking about it again. So, I’m giving it a whirl.

Let’s start with Donald Trump–before I become so depressed I can’t continue. There are so many excellent–colorful, anyway–words that can be, and have been, applied to him I don’t need to waste much time thinking of them/him.

Loud
Incoherent
Vain
Liar
Racist
Irrational
Narcissistic
Ignorant
Self-serving
Fascist
Nazi
Unpredictable
Undependable
Irresponsible

Oh, well, I guess that’s enough for now. You can add more if you like. The main thing about Trump is that he is a hate monger. He not only spews hate, he encourages it in others. He deliberately sets out to foster it, and relishes the acts of violence that his vitriol generates.  He’s dangerous.

Ted Cruz

Liar
Racist
Irrational
Narcissistic
Ignorant
Self-serving
Fascist
Nazi
Undependable
Irresponsible
A Bully
A Bigot
Creepy
Sleazy

He’s a lot like Trump in many ways, but he is neither incoherent nor unpredictable. Like Trump, he is a hate monger. Unlike Trump, he is devoid of any sort of people skills or charm. He’s really creepy.

Last, we come to Ben Carson

Liar
Irrational
Narcissistic
Ignorant
Self-centred
Undependable
Irresponsible
Clueless

Carson is not like either Trump or Cruz. Mostly, he’s just a wackadoodle. I don’t sense much hate in him, just a level of political ignorance and political incompetence that is scary. Certainly he is narcissistic, self-centred, and probably vain, and he definitely has problems with truth-telling. His problems with lying, however, seem less about deceiving people than trying to build himself up. In a presidential election that isn’t cool, but it somehow feels more stupid than duplicitous. Overall, he seems like a pleasant, but self-centered man who is way out of his depth once he leaves the operating room.

You can probably see where I’m going with this. While I think Ben Carson would be a disaster in the White House, at least there is a chance that he could surround himself with people who know about the many things he doesn’t. At least he isn’t a hate-monger. Of the three candidates, he would be inept, but not toxic. Therefore, I would have little choice but to go for the wackadoodle.

I don’t want to play anymore. MM