”I am your retribution,” Donald Trump told a gathering of ultra-rightwing conservatives earlier this year.

He relishes the persona of the big bad wolf howling at the door; the menace to society lying in wait; the dark lord ready to terrorize the land.

The idea that the president is supposed to keep every American safe from harm, foreign and domestic, is not a precept of the MAGA cult.

In fact, cult members love that their leader’s 2024 campaign has been dubbed “the revenge tour.”

The mugshot from his arrest at the Fulton County jail in Georgia is an apt depiction of Trump as evil incarnate.

Guess he thought undecided voters would find his well-rehearsed stare so chocked full of virility that they couldn’t help but want him.

However, what astute people recognize in his beady eyes is the soulless man promising vengeance if he takes over again.

Trump’s sour puss reminds me of the last line of a Taylor Swift song:

“Why you gotta be so mean?”

It’s the perfect caption for the official photo of state prisoner #P01135809.

Yet, those pursed lips and furrowed brow evoke giddiness in the lemmings who adore him. They misconstrue his pose as a sign of strength.

What’s more dangerous than Trump’s look is his bullying of Republican politicians who kowtow in public and cower in private.

Mark Meadows is a case in point. The former congressman was the White House chief of staff whose impotence was heightened during the January 6 riot at the Capitol.

At a recent court hearing in the Georgia racketeering case, the co-defendant testified that he performed alleged criminal acts to avoid being yelled at by his boss.

Think about that for a moment. A grown man said out loud in a court of law, before God and everybody, that he feared Trump’s rage.

The chief of staff is supposed to be the one person who can give it to the president straight in order to save him from poor choices and bad behavior.

Betcha no one is surprised that Trump’s closest aide couldn’t get thru to him.

Former Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus lasted in the position for only the first six months of the administration.

Then came retired Marine General John Kelly who often looked uncomfortable when Trump told lies or said something stupid.

Former Congressman and Tea Party darling Mick Mulvaney was up next. He reportedly called Trump a “terrible person” and stayed away from him as much as possible.

Being closely involved with the twice impeached, four-times indicted ex-president means you risk losing your dignity and your freedom.

Just ask former loyalist and disbarred attorney Michael Cohen who spent nearly 14 months in federal prison and another 18 months under house arrest for his role in “fixing” Trump’s personal messes.

Cohen now tells anyone who’ll listen that his former boss is diabolical and incapable of feeling anything for others; something that a lot of people experienced before the 2016 election.

Trump caused workers to lose wages and contractors to go out of business because he refused to pay them for work on his failed Atlantic City casinos.

A federal court ordered Trump to pay $25 million to students he duped into accepting non-accredited degrees from his eponymous university.

Charities that help veterans also had to sue to get $2 million that he solicited on their behalf.

Numerous development schemes, concocted with shady characters around the world, left investors high and dry.

And, he’s famous for not paying attorney’s fees in a timely manner.

These facts barely scratch the surface of Trump’s history as a despicable person.

Oscar Wilde is quoted as saying, “Everyone may not be good, but there’s always something good in everyone.”

It’s difficult to apply that sentiment to the 45th president.

Much more apropos of Donald Trump can be found in the afore-cited Taylor Swift song:

“All you are is mean
And a liar, and pathetic, and alone in life
And mean, and mean, and mean, and mean.”

The proven con man who’s hell bent on retribution should never occupy the Oval Office again. I pray sensible voters agree.

Jo Ann Allen retired recently from Colorado Public Radio in Denver after 47 years of reporting the news. She is the creator and host of the podcast Been There Done That.

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