Pope Francis #popefrancis @pontifex joins Instagram! Join him at @franciscus

@pontifex Pope Francis joined Instagram today! Join him at @franciscus on Instagram.

I just love Pope Francis. He embodies love, compassion and humility. Can't wait to follow him on Instagram.

What on Earth is going on? Trump is a spade.

My Mother and Dad taught me never to discuss politics or religion. Keep it to yourself, they said. Your beliefs are personal, they said. Yet, here I am, spewing my guts. I'm not really setting out to break the rules, but I just can't help it when my firmly held beliefs overload my ability to keep quiet.

I break that rule every day because if I didn't I would implode. I am goaded into it by co-workers and friends, I am blinded daily by the insanity and outright lies scrolling by on my Facebook and Twitter feeds, I turn it on whenever I watch the news, I hear it on the radio. Families are divided, my friends list is dwindling, yet here I am.

I'm watching and listening. I feel as if I've just seen a two-headed monster ... or like I'm witnessing a car wreck and can't turn my head from the horror that is unfolding in front of me.

There is a total lack of human compassion, no one wants to help their fellow man, the Republican debates are debacles, rallies are worse than Friday Night Fights, and there is a great and deepening divide between Democrats and Republicans, and even between pro-Trump Republicans and anti-Trump Republicans.

They are tearing themselves apart and have really sunk to new lows ... grown men fighting like school children and getting into real-life pissing contests, actually defending the size of their schlongs on national television. I was taught that we are supposed to respect our flag, respect those leading our country whether you agree with them or not, and respect yourself by not hurling hateful insults and spewing vulgarity.

Here's the thing ... until there is no more breath in my body I will continue to speak my mind whenever I see injustice. And that's what I see. The Republican front-runner Donald Trump is either perpetrating an elaborate April Fool's joke (which I am still not completely convinced isn't true), or he is the embodiment of evil.

He is a bigot. He advocates hate, violence and torture. He speaks horribly to and about women, ugly people, fat people, he mocks handicapped people, he doesn't own up to anything. This man who wants to run our country says he doesn't know anything except what he sees on the internet whenever he is confronted with an uncomfortable fact. His tweets are ridiculous, he re-tweets bogus, completely false information (has he never heard of snopes.com?), he tries to threaten and intimidate his opponents and has anyone that's not like-minded roughed up and tossed out of his rallies.

He actually has his supporters raising their hands and pledging their allegiance to him at his rallies. Remind you of anyone?

He is supported by the KKK ... that same KKK that he really doesn't know much about ... yeah, right. Did he not take history like the rest of us? I think I learned who the KKK were in fourth grade. Who the hell doesn't know what the KKK stands for?

He hates immigrants and he even slammed the Pope. I'm not a Catholic but that was among the most offensive things I've heard. Pope Francis is the most compassionate religious figure I've seen. He actually lives what he preaches. He forgoes the finery of previous Popes, rides around in a used Renault instead of a BMW or Mercedes, he shows love and understanding to the poor and downtrodden, he speaks out against rampant capitalism, which I'm sure puts Trump on the defensive to begin with.

But for a man like Trump to say the Pope is "disgraceful" for questioning his Christianity over his constant droning about building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico ... well, that really takes the cake for me. Disgraceful? What a joke. Trump was quoted as saying he was tired of Christianity being attacked and weakened, "unlike what is happening now, with our current president." In other words, he is implying, again, that President Obama isn't a Christian, which is completely untrue. The Obamas are Christians. So Trump is being the ultimate hypocrite, as he has on too many occasions to even count.

What on earth is going on here? I have never seen a political candidate behave in this manner in all my years and actually get away with it. What that says about our society is pretty scary. Mitt Romney made one little secretly recorded comment trash talking 47% of voters (basically calling Obama supporters a bunch of welfare moochers), and it spelled doom for the rest of his campaign. Trump has openly, not secretly, bashed pretty much every segment of our society, even his own supporters, and they keep coming back for more. What about the filth and vulgarity? What about his comment about Romney? He said he could have asked Romney to drop to his knees he was so desperate for his endorsement and he would have done it. What kind of comment is that?

Of course, it's nothing compared to him saying, in essence, that he would bop his own daughter if he weren't her father. https://youtu.be/diMp241gAcw

Or what about him saying he could shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and still not lose any voters? I think even he is amazed by how staunchly his supporters will tolerate his deplorable behavior. But think about that statement for a minute. In light of all the gun violence plaguing our country, is that a statement a leader should make? He's no leader. He's a narcissistic hate monger.

I believe in the right of all Americans to exercise their right to vote for whomever they feel is qualified to lead our country.  But I'll likewise never stop exercising my right to call it as I see it ... to call a spade a spade. Trump is a spade.

Without followers, evil cannot spread