So I watched Larry King tonight and it's the first time I've ever liked Donald Trump. I remember my trip to New York on the Thanksgiving after 9/11. It was at the end of the weekend that I saw a billboard while I road the bus back to the Newark airport. It read: "Be Strong, Be Brave, Be American" - Trump
I had been in New York the Saturday before 9/11 for the wedding of my daughter's former college roommate. On the actual day of the tragedy, I worried that my daughter might have gone down to Wall Street that morning. And on the Thanksgiving weekend after 9/11, heading back to Minneapolis, I saw the larger-than-life Trump "advertisement".
To others, it might have seemed an admirable thing to do - to put up a billboard like that. To me, it was arrogant, patronizing, and borderline jingoistic. I really hadn't known much about Donald Trump before seeing the gigantic sign, but getting more familiar with him a few years later on "The Apprentice," didn't really increase my opinion of him. The subsequent skits on Saturday Night Live let me warm up to Trump a bit more and see a different side of the man, but I was still not a fan. But tonight on Larry King, I actually liked Donald Trump! There's nothing like a Depression to tone someone down a few notches. He was reasonable and rationale with no affectation. He talked about Republicans' need to give the Democratically supported stimulus package a try. He didn't equivocate on his feelings of the importance of promoting entrepreneurship, but admitted the situation was dire and called for giving President Obama's proposals a try. He talked about global impact. His tone was far different than the billboard I saw 8 years ago. Sometimes, it seems, the worst of times can bring out the best in a billionaire.
