American’s source for balanced and objective news, the New York Times, just published an opinion piece from contributor Timothy Egan.

The title of this carefully weighed exploration of the issues?

“Trump’s Evil Is Contagious”

Yep … that’s the title.

Hard to believe some people mistake the New York Times for a Left-leaning publication.

There’s no benefit to deconstructing Egan’s in-print psychotic episode. You can probably guess what it contains: a typical amalgam of “Childrens in cages! Soooo mucha lies! Pardons for also-evil war criminals who had their pictures taken next to dead terrorists! Errrr maaAAHHH GERRRD!”

The editors at the New York Times must figure if they repeat these beliefs enough, they will come true–the fruits of reading too many self-help books on affirmations and positive thinking.

But Egan’s journalistic tantrum presents an interesting question:

Can you IMAGINE having something like this written about you?

Can you imagine the toll it would take to open a (formerly) prestigious publication and have a bunch of half-truths, purposeful distortions, and context-free aspersions dropped in a flaming bag on your doorstep?

Can you imagine the courage required to run for president, knowing full well that Egan and the Objective Bunch would devote the next four years (now likely eight) of their bitter lives to savaging you with every weapon at their disposal?

Of course Egan’s impotent rage is just a shard off the tip of the iceberg. President Trump was publicly warned before he assumed office that the Democrats would see to his impeachment, imprisonment, and infamy. They vowed to obstruct and defy him at every turn no matter what. His own party wasn’t much more supportive at the beginning.

Why would anyone run for–or assume–the presidency, knowing full well he would face witch hunts, frame-ups, illegal surveillance, and a 24/7 hostile press from day one to the end?

Despite what you may have heard, the presidency isn’t easy at the best of times. Four to five hours of sleep a night. No days off for years at a stretch, even when appearing to golf. Never-ending emergencies and changes of plan. Travel every few days–a schedule punishing for a man in his 30s, never mind a senior citizen.

Every move a president makes, every breath he takes is logged, noted, documented, scrutinized, and criticized. The presidency is a four-year, sleep-deprived, never-ending pain-in-the-butt job.

Then there’s the whole death-by-shooting issue.

Four presidents have been assassinated while in office (Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and JFK). One in eleven presidents has been killed at the helm.

Theodore Roosevelt and Robert Kennedy were shot while campaigning. Ronald Reagan was shot in office but survived.

Andrew Jackson, FDR, and Gerald Ford came VERY close to death in office (missed shots, guns that misfired at the last moment … chilling stuff). Gerald Ford experienced TWO of these.

To put all this in some context: the official “most dangerous job” in the United States–logging work–has a death rate of approximately one in 1000, or 0.001 percent.

Modern U.S. presidents are under unending credible threats of death. The stress–particularly in public–must be immense. And remember: the threats aren’t just to the president but to his wife, children, grandchildren, friends, and extended family.

Why would a guy in his seventies seek out such a bag of headaches?

Donald Trump had billions in assets, international fame, and a beautiful family to enjoy. Why devote his retirement years to a stressful, unbelievably dangerous job that risks everything he has, everything he holds dear?

Would you? Would you pursue and remain in a job that was costing you tens of millions? That had scoundrels scrutinizing your children for any pretext to prosecute them in order to get at you?

Egan and his ilk would likely dismiss these questions with “Trump’s power-mad and crazy!” Their hypothesis cannot be disproved–which is probably why they use it so often.

But there is another possibility which few consider.

What if Trump believed that events were so dire these days in the United States–and in the world–that his children would have no place to live soon, unless something was done?

What if he believed the wealth and advantages he bequeaths his family wouldn’t *matter* when the United States implodes from a President Clinton 2.0, or a President Sanders and his-spend-it-all-and-see-what-happens policies?

A truly courageous man who loves his family might walk into the present fecal hurricane and risk everything to rescue his family’s future.

A truly courageous man might sacrifice his retirement; work 20-hour days; bear the calumnies of *millions* of Timothy Egans; and risk death, bankruptcy, and perhaps prison to try to give his country and his family a future with some semblance of freedom.

Only history will tell if this surmise is true. And maybe not even history, depending on who gets to write it.

But good grief, it’s inspiring to consider. Are we watching a man with an undeniably checkered past–a man who has no doubt watched all sorts of evil from a front-row seat–go all-in to keep his children and his nation from the grasp of the last century’s most evil and destructive movement, Marxist socialism?

The courage of such an effort beggars description. If it is true, who among us but the most selfless war hero qualifies to shake his hand?