A dwarf! He stressed to me that he was taller than José María Aznar, Spain’s leader at the time. A few years later, on a television talk show, he informed Italians that he was “definitely taller” than Napoleon. And a few years after that, at a political rally, he proclaimed: “I am taller than Putin and Sarkozy,” referring to his Russian and French counterparts. “I don’t understand why all the caricaturists portray me as a dwarf, whereas the others are allowed a normal height.”

We give in, Silvio. You’re a mountain among midgets.

And we admit it, Donald. No one’s hair sweeps the heavens like yours.

You two are the biggest, the best, shaming all the rest.

Now will you please just let us be?

Trump shows no signs of doing that. Last week he made a new bid to be envied, once again unzipping his accounts and flashing the world his finances. This time he claimed to be worth about $10 billion, which is almost certainly a gross exaggeration. His assets expand with his ego.

His popularity with voters does, too, according to recent polls, which showed him at or near the head of the pack for the Republican presidential nomination. I don’t expect this to last, but it probably means that we’re stuck with him through at least a few debates.

So it’s time to search for solace, and perhaps there’s some in knowing that he’s not a peculiarly American creation, nor is he a particular indictment of our political culture and electorate.