Puerile politics reaches its next stage, heading to November

Imagine a toddler in the stands at a ballgame calling the opposing team "a bunch of poopie faces."

That's pretty much what you're hearing from the highest public office in the land.

The child's playmates and siblings laugh at this, of course.

Now imagine the same indulged tyke standing before a big stadium rally, pointing at all the people, thumbing his nose at the adults who aren't there, sneering at the media, mocking somebody's physical attributes and showing off by using bad words.

Permissive adults in the crowd encourage it; they wouldn't scold him about sportsmanship or tell him that isn't nice.

Adorable! Yea, Donnie!

In 2020, the nation's foremost preschooler uses "Mini Mike, Pocahontas, Crazy Bernie" as taunts. "Fredo" is somebody's brother; got that from another kid, on YouTube.

Nyahh, nyahh, nyahh!

For 2016, it was "Lyin' Ted, Little Marco, Crooked Hillary." One of them used to be his friend, but he's mean to her because she wanted something he got. The other two are his friends now because they don't want to be left out.

Clever names from a clever fellow.

At a Super Bowl party in Florida, nobody scolds the husky child when he can't seem to stand still during "The Star-Spangled Banner." He mugs and waves his arms like he's leading the band. He looks around for a chair while members of his family and most guests behave and stand at attention.

Last week, John Kelly, who used to be Donald's chief guardian, said he didn't like his old charge's behavior, for a number of reasons, not the least of which is how he treats others.

So the president tapped on his favorite toy, the device with the Twitter app that nobody can tell him not to use.

"When I terminated John Kelly, which I couldn’t do fast enough, he knew full well that he was way over his head," Trump taunted.

"Being Chief of Staff just wasn’t for him," Trump tweeted. "He came in with a bang, went out with a whimper, but like so many X’s, he misses the action & just can’t keep his mouth shut, which he actually has a military and legal obligation to do."

This shows what bedraggled Kelly had to put up with trying to clean up after the president.

For one thing, Kelly could never get him to stop making up stories about people.

Now Trump is all but chanting "Nyahh, nyahh, nyahh," and so his friends and supporters will jeer along with him.

He likes talking with his friend Roger Stone, who brags that he plays dirty tricks on people and makes funny faces at the cameras. Now Roger got himself in trouble, and his friend wants to get him out of it. No rules for Roger.

Devotees, young and old, will ask what harm all of Donnie's little fun can cause.

Maybe an adult can explain to them.

By Dan Janison

dan.janison@newsday.comDanJanison

Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.