Steven Singer writes here that Donald Trump is a very bad person. I think that is what bothers so many of us about him. Not just his boneheaded policies. Not just the terrible people that he puts in positions of responsibility. It is his lack of character. He is a mean, hardhearted man. He is selfish and amoral. He is a pretender. He has no heart. No soul. A very small brain (remember when he seemed surprised to learn that Frederick Douglass is not alive?). His upbringing must have been deficient. No one gets this mean without guidance.

Donald Trump is not just a bad President.

He’s a bad person.

No. That doesn’t go far enough.

He’s one of the worst people ever to hold public office in this country.

He’s a pathetic excuse for a person. A narcissistic and incurious fool.

Donald Trump is what happens when you spoil a child and he never has to prove his own worth.

He is the fruit of our worship of wealth and the ruling class. He is the lie of trickledown economics. He is what happens when you give someone all the rewards our society has to offer – just for showing up.

But he’s not a racist.

Not really. Not in the strictest sense. That would require some kind of commitment.

Nor is he a sexist. That would require ideology.

Trump doesn’t hate anyone. He doesn’t divide people up into categories. He just loves himself so much that his regard for anyone else seems lacking.

In Trumpland, there are only two personas – himself and everyone else.

But I don’t entirely agree with Singer. In my view, judging Trump by his words and actions, he is the textbook definition of a racist and a misogynist and a xenophobe. Remember when he mocked a reporter with a disability? That’s not just because of his narcissism. Maybe he is all of these hateful things because of his narcissism. But make no mistake: he has contempt for people who are not white, not male, not rich, not him.

Maybe someday we will look back on this era and laugh at our folly. How did this man become president? How would the Founding Fathers have anticipated such a low character? I recommend you read Federalist Paper #68, written by Alexander Hamilton, and you will see that the reason for the Electoral College was to create a mechanism to prevent the election of a person of low character who was a charlatan and a demagogue, especially one who owed his allegiance to the machinations of a hostile foreign power.

But now, it is hard to laugh at anything this fool does. People are suffering in Puerto Rico because of his indifference. Millions of people will lose health insurance because of him. Unions that provide protection for working people and a path to the middle class will be crushed because of him. We will suffer for many years because of his mean-spirited policies.

But we must not lose our sense of humor, because like all bullies, he can’t stand to be laughed at. Watch Saturday Night Live. Watch John Oliver. Watch Jimmy Kimmel.

Humor and art will be our sword and our shield against narcissism, stupidity, and meanness.

That, plus give as generously as you can to those individuals and groups that are fighting against his misguided rule and fighting to elect a House of Representatives in 2018 that will prevent him from funding and defunding what he chooses.