Cutting through the Trump show

Garry Kasparov:

Trump’s vile New York values: How The Donald represents the worst of a great city

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It's tempting to rally behind him-but we should resist. Because the New York values Trump represents are the very worst kind. He exemplifies the seamy side of New York City - the Ponzi schemers and the Brooklyn Bridge sellers, the gangster traders like Bernie Madoff and the celebrity gangsters like John Gotti — not the hard work and sacrifice that built New York and America.

Born into millions, Trump wants us to believe we can follow in his footsteps if only we buy his book, go to his classes and, yes, vote for him. He stands for fake values and fake value, debt instead of cash, appearance over substance, gold paint instead of the real thing. Soon after that showy scene, the Plaza became Trump's second bankruptcy. But he was already moving on to the next headline, to his next performance.

He may have business experience, but unless the United States plans on going bankrupt, it's experience we don't need.
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But what is the point of clear phrasing when the thoughts the words represent make no sense at all? What does "telling it like it is" mean when the meaning of "it" changes all the time? The most New York habit I can imagine is to tell someone exactly what you think. Trump tells people what they want to hear, a practice we already get far too much of from Washington.
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Kasparov has had first-hand experience with totalitarian government and does not want to see the US repeat that mistake with a man like Trump.