Practically everyone giggled or held their mouths agape when Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president of the United States. Personally, I was taken aback. Trump was never my candidate of choice; my choice dropped out about halfway through.

I became an observer.

Since the campaign began, I’ve written at least three commentaries pointing out how Trump was squandering his campaign. The features were that he had everything at his disposal to run with, and he was undermining himself, and the messages were hungry to hear.

Trump had the microphone, the name, the dais, the money, the willingness to speak up and meet a crowd without pretense in the 2014 election, and he didn’t use a teleprompter which would have demonstrated some behind-the-curtain operative artificially choreographing him. His truth-speak was diminished with the elaboration and help from the liberal mainstream media capturing the words they chose to select and to this day, display.

Anyone who thinks there are not rapists and drug dealers coming across our borders doesn’t have his eyes open.

The L.A. Times has written articles on the predator coyotes who take thousands of dollars to herd illegals across our porous borders, with many along the way succumbing to rape and simple abuse.

Trump’s message should have been couched in the fact that America is meant to be a destination of legal immigration. The illegal interlopers take the jobs of the good people who followed the laws.

It is perplexing why Hispanics are not protesting for curbing illegal intrusion – because it’s their jobs, for the most part, that are threatened.

The riotous “Black Lives Matter” is more perplexing. I have not found one negative comment Trump has made about African-American people. But then, sane people know BLM is about anything but caring about black lives; that’s another commentary.

As for Trump’s ill-perceived anti-Muslim comments, anyone in this country who doesn’t have his ears perked up on vetting the swarms of alleged refugees must be someone like the Obamas, Clintons, Kerrys, leftist celebrities, etc. They have private armed protection for themselves and their families, along with big walls around their homes.

Trump simply said, halt chaotic refugee influx from lands like Syria etc. He called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”

He did not say bar them forever; no thank you to the MSM.

Any and all of the above threaten American citizens, and Trump has no problem calling any of it out.

Trump is known to be unartful with his words. PC he is not. PC is destroying this country in big chunks, and the people are saturated and angry.

Trump has and is giving all candidates a run for their money. Who knew? The success is not Trump’s fault; blame the recalcitrance of the same old modus operandi of the Washington sheep.

Many of the sycophants have been cemented in Washington far too long.

The “experts” refused to listen, and the people are rebelling. Bernie Sanders calls it a “political revolution.” He just didn’t plan on Donald Trump leading the charge.

The “they” didn’t listen when the people spoke at the ballot boxes in 2010, after the disastrous Obamacare entrance.

The citizenry was fed up with the dire effects of “leftism,” and the Democrats lost 63 seats in that year’s election while the Republicans gained 63.

They didn’t listen.

In 2014, the Republicans doubled down by taking over the Senate, adding to their majority in the House, winning gubernatorial races and picking up seats in various state legislatures. It was the largest expansion since 1928 … 86 years.

They didn’t listen.

With all of the harshness, bashing and criticism, Donald Trump looks to be the Republican nominee for president of the United States of America.

Can you hear us now?

Betty Arenson has lived in the SCV since 1968 and describes herself as a conservative who’s concerned about progressives’ politics and their impacts on the country, her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She says she is unashamed to own a gun or a Bible, couldn’t care less about the color of the president’s skin, and demands that he uphold his oath to protect and follow the Constitution of the United States in its entirety.