Have you been listening to Donald Trump?

Sure, we all hear him.

But have you been REALLY listening? Like to what he is actually saying?

Check this out… he has been saying some crazy stuff. It’s vile, repulsive word vomit. It just keeps coming up.

Like this, about Mexicans: “They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists.” He said that when he launched his campaign. To be president of the United States.

Mexico is one of our neighbors and allies. Hispanics are predicted to rapidly increase in population and percentage of our total population. Maybe not the best move.

Trump also advocates a “complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our representatives can figure out what is going on.” Here’s what I know: a certain other demagogue also advocated for the exclusion of a group of people in his country.

Do you know who that was?

Hitler.

It was Hitler.

We all know how that ended.

Let’s recap though, shall we? Millions of people died simply for their faith or ethnicity or both or really just because. I’m not saying that the Donald IS Hitler. I’m merely pointing out that his rhetoric is shockingly similar to the rhetoric of early Nazi Germany.

Now let’s not forget Mr. Trump’s other favorite targets: females. Almost no woman of note escapes his squinty gaze, regardless of political affiliation. He has taken aim at: Ariana Huffington, Hillary Clinton, Megyn Kelly, Carly Fiorina, Rosie O’Donnell, and young attractive women everywhere.

 Can you forget this gem?

“You know, it really doesn’t matter what the media write as long as you’ve got a young, and beautiful, piece of ass.”

That is a real thing this man has said.

Apparently, as long as you are young and have been doing your squats, whatever!

Here’s my problem with all of this: we are potentially poised to elect this person PRESIDENT of our country. He will be the most powerful person in the free world. He will have nuclear codes and the finest fighting forces at his disposal all of the time.

And he can’t seem to control his mouth or his temper. If someone annoys him or offends him, even slightly, he taunts them, mocks them, and attacks them. Remember the disabled reporter that he went after in November? Yeah, that guy happened to call Trump out on a blatant lie that was incredibly wrong, and was able to be proven wrong.

Now let’s enlarge that to, say, the United Nations, the G8 Summit, or literally anytime he interacts with any national or world leaders. Who is this man going to tick off? Who will tick him off?And what will come out of his mouth?

I have no idea. And that terrifies me.

We live in a globally interconnected world and rely on each other for support and help.

What happens when he decides that he’s right, and everyone else is wrong? Will he launch a nuke at Putin or Kim? As for our allies, the UK is already totally repulsed by him.

It seems that this doesn’t matter even a tiny bit to his voting supporters though. They apparently have lost their minds, their hearing aides, or are choosing to ignore all the nasty, insane things Trump says because “he’s being honest.”

Wake up, America.

You are about to put a man who has said hateful, awful, racist, misogynistic, false, and generally crazy things into the White House. Home of Honest Abe Lincoln, Ronald “The Gipper” Reagan, Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, and Dwight Eisenhower.

Is this really the message we want to send to the world?

So let’s listen. And I mean really, really, really listen to what he is saying.

Then think, hard. Leaving policy (he actually has very few published policies and they are mostly just rhetoric) out of it. Do you want the person who represents YOU to the rest of the world to be this guy?

Ask yourself these questions:

• Am I a racist?
• Am I a male chauvinist or misogynist?
• Am I homophonic?
• Do I blindly hate other religions and cultures?
• Is this what Jesus would do or say? (Remember him? The guy who wanted us to love one another?)

If you answered “No” to any or all of the above, you should definitely vote for someone else. Literally anyone else. I’m not even going to tell you which other candidate to choose.

Donald Trump has said some crazy stuff. It’s time we actually start listening to what he is saying about other people.

I sure don’t want those vile and insulting words coming out of the mouth of my president. And neither should you.

About the author: Meg Flanagan is a teacher, blogger, writer, runner, mother, and military spouse. She is passionate about helping ALL children learn, offering tips to guide parents through the K-12 education world, and providing useful advice to teachers of all ages and stages on her website MilKids. Follow her on Pinterest, Twitter and LinkedIn.