Donald Trump. The man who turned tacky into gold, has been pushing himself on the American people for years. Armchair shrinks have been picking apart his motives for decades, labeling him as everything from a megalomaniac to a psychopath. While those diagnoses might motivate him some, there is some genius in there too.

He started The World’s Longest Con by pretending to be a PR agent man making phone calls to press outlets to say fantastical things about the amazing Donald Trump. He spent all of his energy over the next couple of decades making sure that his name was on everybody’s lips. His need to be on tabloid and magazine covers is legendary, and he collects them to show off whenever possible still.

It’s called The Long Con and it plays on two of humanities biggest weaknesses, desperation and greed. At the moment we’re still in the buildup stage, and America is his mark. The long con that Trump has been playing out for three decades now will make Bernie Madoff look like a 18th century pickpocket if it succeeds. Bernie only took his marks for about $17 billion. Donald Trump is going to the big haul, the United States Presidency.

Donald Trump is an absolute artist, a con artist. It helps to remember that the con in con artist stands for confidence. A con artist first has to earn your trust, show you that they are trustworthy, and then that they’re willing to help you out too. Watch Donald in front of any crowd and listen to what he says. He hones in on that group’s trigger and hits it almost every single time, truth be damned.

Of course by now most people know that his family name isn’t even Trump, it’s Drumpf. During his formative years Donald watched his father spent his time and efforts building a slumlord empire. Donald then took up the reins, and very soon had his very own racial bias lawsuit that he brags about to this day, since he considers the settlement a win if he never expressed guilt and only paid a fine.

All was well in Trumptopia as he began to build in Manhattan, portraying himself as tycoon and a shrewd dealer, when in fact he climbed that ladder on the backs of the workers he stiffed, literally not paying them for work they had done.

And then there were the women. Only the most beautiful and glamorous would do. Objectification, adultery and divorce, normally issues in any campaign, have barely even come up in this election, why we can only speculate. One reason is that the Democrats can’t afford to go there considering the last name of their candidate, and then there’s the Republicans who are still reeling from having to swallow a very, very bitter pill. Suffice it to say that Donald has always wanted to look the part of the uptown playboy, and has never hid the fact that he knows he would never get woman of the caliber he does if it wasn’t for his money. He is the epitome of everything possible with capitalism.

As the twentieth century picked up steam and the country became less prudent and conservative and more liberal and lavish it was only a matter of time before someone like Donald Trump emerged. A man who sees the possibilities of what money can unlock beyond the normal person. Of course this only works if you can also see how fluid morals and ethics actually are in American society. As much as the religious right has been trying to wish America into being a Christian society with all of the accompanying moralistic restrictions, the fact that no one, least of all the candidates they’ve backed, has been able to adhere to such puritanical limitations matters little, it’s the ability to display your righteous indignation at your political opponent’s indiscretions is what really matters. Now that they’ve lost this card, best not bring it up for a while.

So why call his presidential bid a long con? Believe it or not it was almost 30 years ago that he first mentioned running for president, and continued to do so a handful of times until this election season. But, true to form, he has systematically tested the country for weaknesses since the first mention, biding his time until the perfect amount of desperation and anger existed that he could ride like a wave with little or no effort. Once that kind of climate existed he jumped in and harnessed it, riding the free press his statements stirred up. He’s done so in such a way that he’s been able to spend a fraction of the amount of money the Democrats have, and in some cases with almost no need for a ground game. All because of his bombastic style and passing acquaintance with the truth.

But let’s not forget The Long Con, because it’s been going on this whole time. As soon as he became the nominee Trump stopped pretending to fund his own campaign because the donors and the RNC are footing the bill now. So what does he do? He actually hikes the rent on his own campaign office in Trump Towers almost 500%, from a monthly $35,458 in March to $169,758 in July. Then there’s the fact that he actually makes a profit off of his Secret Service detail because he owns the plane, as well as some other funky ways to turn a buck by running for prez. I’d love to include the whole charity scam in with The Long Con but it’s actually in its own category. At least we can still see what he tried to do to the veterans charities.

Trump knows that politicians lie, so like everything else he does he does the same thing only on a grander scale, and it’s one of the things his supporters love about him. They see it as him using the system against itself. He makes a bold-faced lie and then reverses it the next day, and if it’s pointed out to his supporters they say he’s just using the politician’s game against them. And they have a point. When Trump said he “could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and [he] wouldn’t lose any voters” he was making an extremely valid point! While there’s not much you could say to sway most voters once they’ve made up their minds, during this election season and with this candidate, there is nothing anyone can say or do to dissuade his supporters. Literally the only way to defeat him is to get enough people willing to vote against him. And since that means that they would have to vote for Hillary Clinton… well it’s quite possible that this was all part of The Long Con.

In fact, Donald’s favorite tool is other people’s frustration and anger. How else could he repeatedly plant the idea that the entire system is rigged, the primaries are rigged, the parties are rigged, and the debates are rigged? So rigged in fact, that an average run of the mill white guy, born into affluence like himself, can’t catch a break in this country anymore! Think about that. Trump is one of the few people who could plant the idea that white men who no longer get special treatment, are really the big victims in this country.

Do you really think Trump likes Bernie Sanders? Do you really think his indignation at the way Bernie’s supporters were treated was real?  No way! Trump knew all along that the fix was in at the DNC, and it was in his own best interest to sow more seeds of hate for the Clintons. He certainly did everything he could to encourage the Bernie or Bust movement. And it worked, in fact it’s still working.

A little self-disclosure, I was on the Bernie or Bust wagon too. For the first time in my life I actually volunteered for a campaign, because Bernie inspired a lot of us to finally get involved. But what does it say about the seeds of hatred that have developed around the Bernie or Busters? They are still holding in to their anger even though Bernie himself is begging them to look at the big picture? And since Bernie’s candidacy was supposed to be about issues, issues that the DNC adopted to gain his support, then those holding out seem to care more about what was done wrong to hurt them instead of the issues that originally attracted them! Sure you can vote for another candidate who’ll support those issues, but you really only have one opportunity of seeing them happen.

Hate is a horrible emotion and Trump’s ability to spread strife is as powerful as anything he has ever done, and the Bernie or Bust movement is playing right into his hand. While Sanders supporters look back in the primary and stew over their injuries, Trump uses their anger like fuel, making it easier for Donald Trump to win by draining votes via anger and protest, let alone all of those who will sit out the vote in apathy.

For those voters who see defeating Donald Trump as a second chance to defeat Hitler, they’ve got the right idea. I’ll grant you that the possibility that Trump will resort to ethnic cleansing is remote, but the idea that he will create a climate for it to grow in is guaranteed! As it is we are already poised for blindly following Nationalistic tendencies and labelling them patriotism.

As it is we are enough generations away from the last World War that we’ve already lost the reverence for life, and willingness to sacrifice it, that our grandparents had. A smoldering fire has been lit in the Arab world as a result of decades of failed U.S. policies, and every step we take from this point on could mean the lives of thousands, maybe millions. I implore every Sanders supporter, every independent, and every rational person who reads this, please take a moment to think about everything you hate about Donald Trump and then imagine how much worse it will be if he gets the power he wants.

And for once I’m going to do a very unusual thing for me, and ask that everyone who reads this to share it. Post it on Facebook, Retweet it, and email it around. There are too many people talking about how crazy and dangerous the man is for us to not do anything at this point. There’s not much time left.