Donald Trump calls himself a “common sense” conservative. You shouldn’t treat the words trivially. In truth, they are casual, if not wearisome, workaday words. But they likely are the most telling and overlooked words he’s uttered on behalf of his candidacy. He’s not about to lecture anyone or expound on precisely what the words mean. Donald a professor ain’t. He leaves it to hifalutin highbrows to analyze and pontificate. And the Establishment is all too willing — in this case, the Conservative Establishment. You didn’t know there was such an animal until recently and wouldn’t have guessed that some members of that haughty crowd are Tea Partiers — specifically, Tea Party leadership.  You always believed these liberty loving people were in love with — uh — liberty. Common sense told you that. It also told you that Conservative Establishment purists have no understanding of warfare — that, like the Confederacy, they may win more of the battles and lose the war. The purists have anointed Cruz because he’s convinced them he will win the battles — eradicate Roe vs Wade, bulldoze Obamacare, decimate the “Washington cartel,” prosecute Planned Parenthood, blow up the Iran deal, end the persecution of religious liberty, simplify the tax code, “eliminate” the IRS, fix immigration, destroy ISIS, create jobs, end pernicious regulation and balance the budget, so help me God, gasp, gasp. He will do all this if he has to stand up to the Devil himself. He has taken millions from conservative PACS and large donors but don’t you think for a nanosecond he will curry any favor their way. Right. By contrast, the Conservative Establishment has more than one bone to pick with Donald. Out of the gate, he’s just not nice. Un-Christian-like, he insults the disabled, a war hero and even sweet old ladies if they criticize him, including old lady Hillary. He’s a Yankee who has rubbed shoulders with left wingers his whole life. Practically speaking, he doesn’t have a clue how Washington works. Forget the bull in the china shop; he would be a Caterpillar 797F. The man has never held public office; he’s not even an attorney and everyone knows attorneys are eminently trustworthy. Yes, if you believe him, Trump said he would repeal Obamacare, decimate the “Washington cartel,” blow up the Iran deal, simplify the tax code, fix immigration, destroy ISIS, create jobs, end pernicious regulation, return Education to the States, carve up the Federal bureaucracy, renegotiate foreign trade and foreign aid, restore the military, establish energy independence and “make America GREAT again.” But Trump is vague on a bunch of domestic issues, like abortion, same-sex marriage, Planned Parenthood and Religion. You see, he just doesn’t pass cherished Conservative values. One Establishment fears him because he doesn’t bleed Conservative Red. The other Establishment fears him because he’s not a true Republican. The Democrats fear him because he’s audacious enough to bulldoze the House of Cards they spent decades building. They all fear him because he doesn’t need their money and won’t wear their handcuffs. And the entire ruling class — the Beltway Club, Big Media and Big Business — fears him because their gravy train could hurtle right off the golden tracks. Which leaves you to pose some hypotheticals. Without Donald Trump in the race, would Ted Cruz have advanced to the front of the GOP pack? Without Donald, which of the 16 candidates would have prevailed? Without Trump in the race, one thing is certain — the GOP would be serenely confident knowing that its future would have been in good hands —  Establishment hands. Which leads you to recent history. In 2012, millions of doctrinaire Conservatives stayed home in rejection of Romney — a good man, an accomplished man, who didn’t pass their litmus test. Out of Conservative spite, America swallowed four more years of BHO. With God on his side, Robert E. Lee was hell bound to smash the Union at Gettysburg. His trusted field officers begged him to reconsider since the enemy held the high ground. This was a battle he wanted desperately to win. It was the battle that lost the war. Conservatives might consider using a little common sense.

It’s a modest, middle-of-the-road sports car. In its heyday, a hot commodity for the middle class. In its heyday, a fun drive, owing to 50/50 weight distribution and impressive drag coefficient. In its heyday, a fun ride on city streets, county roads and interstate highways, night or day. Well, the fun is basically over. Stuck at a red light at midnight, it’s no fun when a Yukon Denali camps two feet off your back bumper, headlights blazing away, arousing images of a cremation oven. Or when an Expedition presumes that 45 mph in a 45 mph zone isn’t fast enough and decides to encourage you by filling up your rear view mirror with its massive grille. They’re everywhere — Suburban, Tundra, F-150, Escalade, Sequoia, Silverado, Ram, Navigator. You’re a 175 pound scat back surrounded everyday by 240 pound linebackers and 280 pound defensive ends. Basically, you’re dog meat. In your heyday, you had a sweet ride, hearing the special thrum of the rotary,  with thoughts of a twisting open road and clear vistas. Now the only sound you hear is your own strident voice as you routinely hurl the most profanity laced invective this side of the nearest golf course. You know it’s juvenile to curse people you don’t know simply because they enjoy owning and driving giant wheels. But you curse anyway. You curse because too many of them are bullies, like some big kids on the playground who pick on small fry. You curse because you feel like it. And as you let go with an especially rich tirade, a strange thought inches its way between your eloquently delivered G, F, D, S, B and C words, used singly and in rich combinations. How would you feel if you knew your every spoken word were recorded and transcribed onto pages that comprise your Book of Life? Most likely, you’d be a little put out. How put out? Somewhere between horrified and terrified should cover it. Nobody wants to read thousands of his ill-conceived, thoughtless, impatient, angry, bitter, judgmental and stupid utterances. Nobody, that is, except politicians and other celebs whose self image is so exalted, they’re happy to sound off and spout off just to revel in the attention. In fairness, except for Trump, their statements aren’t spontaneous but are just as rehearsed as a stand-up comic who gives three shows a night. Few audiences will ever hear Obama make an unprompted statement. Known for her addictive use of F-Bombs behind the scenes, Hillary offers her adoring fans a practiced grin and practiced talking points. You have it on good authority that her Book of Life will be printed in two volumes — one entitled Queen of Lies. Bernie, on the other hand, doesn’t need talking points since he’s been saying the same things since 1965. You can’t listen to a Sanders delivery without thinking of Frank Costanza (Jerry Stiller)in his most animated Seinfeld performances. His Book will be more like a Manifesto. If Donald were an ordinary Joe, his verbal command would exclude him from getting any job that requires lingual abilities. Billionaires are universally judged by a different standard. He will therefore love his Book no matter what it says he said. But Ted Cruz cares deeply about what he says since he expects one day to deliver his Book of Life in person and read and rejoice in it forever; and given his legal expertise and evangelistic fervor, he very likely, from time to time, will want to have editing privileges. The son of a Postman has accomplished so much, has worked so hard to do the right thing, has reached out so sincerely in a spirit of non partisanship and unification, that his Book might be mistaken for The Little Engine That Could. Meanwhile, nobody on Earth is recording the words of the rank and file. Their words are lost, day by day by day. However, if your Book Of LIfe  happens to exist in the spiritual realm, in another dimension, you must, at any cost, remain mortal well beyond your mortal expectations. You need more  time to write many new chapters, better chapters, more worthy chapters. You must balance the scales. At the very least, you must try. You never know who might read it.

Imagine, if you will, that you’re a modern Rip Van Winkle. You wake up in 2016 after having been asleep for 60 years. As far as you know, life is still where it was when you took a snooze. World War II is history. Elvis is the rage. Norma Jean Mortenson becomes Marilyn Monroe. Eisenhower authorizes “In God We Trust” as the U.S. National Motto. Boxing champ Rocky Marciano retires undefeated. West Germany bans the Communist Party. Don Larsen throws the only perfect game in World Series history. France and England bomb Egypt to force re-opening of the Suez Canal. And Brown v. Board of Education desegregates public education. Fair enough. Business as usual. You pick up a newspaper to catch the latest and see a guest column by a well-known CEO of an internationally relevant corporation. He writes:

 . . . N.C.(HB2) enacted last week bans all local non-discrimination ordinances with protections for people based on sexual orientation and gender identity . . . The law overturns an ordinance that the city of Charlotte enacted known as the ‘bathroom bill’ . . . I am appalled by the law and bewildered as to why elected state officials would take an enormous step backward . . . Many of our tenants and buyers have expressed outrage . . . and prominent businesses . . . including Pepsi, American Airlines, Facebook, Dow Chemical, Paypal, Lowe’s Home Improvement . . . and Bank of America, (seek) to repeal the law. . .  (At our Company). . . commitment to excellence . . . is to treat all people with dignity and to act with integrity. Inclusiveness is a core value of our organization. We celebrate diversity and view it as a strength and unequivocally denounce any form of discrimination.

Too bad you’re not Rip because you’re not dreaming. Let’s see if you have it right. This guy, his organization and all of these world-class companies want to celebrate diversity by forcing my wife, my daughter and your grandchildren to share toilet facilities with genetically equipped males, either dressed like women or not, because these males consider themselves to be female oriented. My, how magnanimous. You must assume, therefore, that he suggests we should applaud the idea of testosterone laden Lesbians having access to and relieving themselves in Men’s Rooms. Surely, you must have it wrong. Better read N.C.(HB2). Regardless, you think Mr. “appalled and bewildered” should re-examine his lofty corporate “code”  to “treat all people with dignity and to act with integrity.” Seriously? All people? No, he really means “some people.” He means you should forsake the silent majority for the militant minority. He has not the slightest intention of treating all people with respect. His intention, and the intention of other prominent companies, is to pander to an LGBT community that represents influential customers, suppliers, workers, buyers — and revenue. In effect, he had to write his editorial or risk the ever present threat of boycott — as well as his lucrative livelihood. In fairness, however, you think the private sector should be free to adopt its own bathroom rules. If private businesses want Unisex toilet facilities, let them benefit or suffer the fallout with their employees and customers alike. But public facilities — Federal, State or Local — paid for by taxpayers, should be governed by the People whose voice is routinely ignored. Of all places, the bathroom is personal space. This is one subject that shouldn’t be left to politicians or special interests. Show some common sense. Give the people a referendum. Yes, it’s a waste of time. A waste of money. You and everyone else already knows the outcome.