He's extremely intelligent, articulate and a highly capable lawyer and politician. He may come across as a bible-banging nutjob fanatic, but I don't think he believes a word of it himself. His politics and style are not the result of sincere but misguided conviction, but of a calculated and cynical assessment of how to manipulate certain segments of the American electorate to achieve political power. He's a demagogue, an opportunist and a very dangerous man. He reminds me of Gingrich, Hitler or Castro--cunning, ruthless, ambitious, even brilliant, but totally unprincipled.

People like them rarely get past the innate common sense, inertia and conservatism (with a small "c") of American politics, but they can assemble a powerful and disaffected minority, a constituency of hatred, fear and ignorance, and they know how to organize and inspire it. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have a chance to make it all the way to the Presidency; for one thing, he has alienated and double-crossed too many of his own potential allies. But in the event of a national crisis or emergency, where his natural enemies are weakened or divided, he could easily exploit a political vacuum and leverage himself into power. In fact, I believe that is exactly what he's counting on: he seeks to precipitate a moment of national instability or paralysis which will justify radical and unprecedented action. It is perfectly consistent with his political behavior up to now.

Dare we speculate on an Anschluss with his native Canada? The historical parallels may be purely coincidental, but still highly disturbing.