How can Trump lead a country he doesn't understand?
This takes me back to that run-in with the Mexican elitist, who had been brought to my home by a friend. He came from a wealthy family in Mexico City, and he was on a student visa. After getting an education, he planned to return to Mexico to run the family business -- unless, he said, he got a better offer from a company in the United States. He had an undergraduate degree and spoke perfect English. I bet his test scores were good.
He reminded me of those high-class Mexicans who, a hundred years earlier, wouldn't have given my poor and dark-skinned grandfather with his sixth-grade education the time of day.
And there this little jerk was, sitting at my dinner table, badmouthing the United States. He was saying how we brought misery upon ourselves by meddling in the affairs of other countries. What I remember most of all was that he acted like he was doing my country a favor by coming here, going to our universities, even taking a job.
Apparently the concept of looking down on fellow human beings isn't exclusive to U.S. presidents.
I argued with my dinner guest for a while, as others in the room became more uncomfortable. Then finally, fed up, I told him to leave.
Behold the kind of people that Trump insists we need more of -- high-achievers incapable of humility, devoid of gratitude, flattered that they're being recruited, and so well versed in fouling up their home countries with their sense of entitlement that now they'd like to do the same to this one.
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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com. His daily podcast, "Navarrette Nation," is available through every podcast app.
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