It has been incredibly interesting to observe what is certain to be an unprecedented primary campaign season. Witnessing what has been seemingly inexplicable up until now, some conclusions have become more clear in regards to the Trump and Bernie phenomenon. Sadly, all of those conclusions lead to a terrible ending which will likely cause irreversible harm to our nation.
It has become abundantly clear that the citizens in this country are completely fed up with the Ruling Class that exists in the form of the career politicians in DC--deservedly so. This Ruling Class has made it obvious that they simply do not care what the desires of the voters are. They do not see themselves as representatives or public servants, but rather overlords who are wiser, smarter and better equipped to make decisions for the little people. Their priorities are getting rich, maintaining power at any cost, preserving the party power, enriching their cronies and on an occasional off day, the People or the Constitution might make an appearance on the list somewhere near the bottom during an election year. Their ability to tickle voter's ears with the rhetoric they want to hear and then turn around and slap them in the face politically is becoming legendary even for politicians. It is endemic in both parties and voters from both sides feel completely isolated and abandoned. That brings us to the current races.
Bernie (Feel the Bern--aw yeah, baby!) is a little easier to understand than Trump. The painful truth is that Hillary Clinton is one of the most unlikable people to ever make an appearance on the political stage. She is shrill, mean, elitist and fake as a three dollar bill. Even committed Democrats, who are scared to death of crossing her, were happy to have another option in form of Barack O last time around so they didn't actually have to hold their noses and vote for her. The Clinton Shtick is just so old. Hillary's enabling of her disgusting sexual predator husband is worsened only by her ruthless campaign against his accusers. Bill Clinton is starting to get the Bill Cosby treatment--it's not the 90's anymore and women are no longer willing to look the other way. Bernie Sanders to some, is a refreshing relief from the naked political aspirations of the Clinton Machine. By all appearances, he is a good man, good husband, and sincere in his misguided efforts to serve the American people. He is a direct result of the exhaustion voters feel towards the antipathy of the current bunch in DC. However, and to put it simply, the fact that he is an avowed Socialist disqualifies him from being the President of the United States. He could be the President or Prime Minister of many countries in Europe, but shouldn't even be considered based on his political ideology. At risk of offending some readers, the truth must be told: Socialism is completely incompatible with the Constitution. (Please study the Constitution and read the Federalist Papers before you attack.) It's true. If that's what you want; go live where Socialism is practiced and leave the rest of us out of it. Unless you define success as a declining Europe in financial ruin, a politically correct society run amok and a moral malaise leaving Europe directionless, then socialism is and always has been a gigantic failure. Socialism has never produced anything, prospered anyone or solved anything--it will not fix our problems.
Trump is a different problem altogether. He is a different iteration of the current problem in the White House--narcissism. Trump may be great at bullying his way around the business world--it is hard to argue against his success--but have voters actually listened to what he is saying? It is delightful to see him masterfully work over the MSM. It is entertaining to hear him call out the idiots we currently have in Washington DC. But what is he actually offering? The only "substance" offered to date is that it will be great because the Donald is great; it will be great because the Donald said it will; it will be so great that you will get sick of it being great. And if you dare to disagree, prepare to be attacked and belittled in the most infantile way possible. Is the purpose of the President to entertain us in this shallow, soundbite-laden, microscopic attention span culture that is America today? Is it merely a popularity contest to see who has the biggest ego, who can tell the most outrageous lies, who can vilify the most fellow-citizens and who can enlist the most mindless cult-of-personality groupies? If the election of the US President has descended to such depths, then all hope truly is lost for our Republic.
The oath of office for the President is the following: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." And his duties, as outlined in the Constitution include the following: Commander in Chief, making treaties (to be ratified by the Senate), appoint judges and ambassadors, providing a State of the Union and to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed". That's all folks. He is not a dictator, he is not a legislator, he is not a judge, he is not in charge of the economy. He is supposed to protect and defend the Constitution, the citizens, see to foreign policy and enforce the law. It's not very glamorous when you think of it that simply. Is that what people are seeking in the presidency anymore? If we were to compare and contrast Obama vs. Trump, I wonder who would have the most sentences containing "I" or "me". The Presidency isn't about either one of them--it's about preserving and protecting this Republic as founded. We are wrong to seek more than that in a President and even worse to allow it. We have suffered as a nation through eight agonizing years of "me" and "I", lawless Executive Orders, all the while thumbing his nose at the Constitution, the Congress, the Supreme Court and the will of the people. Do we want to slap an "R" on Trump and live through any more years of that? For Republicans to throw their support behind such a man after professing an urgent desire to preserve and defend Constitutional principles is mind-numbingly hypocritical.
Trump is a complete political unknown--and while that may have some understandable appeal--shouldn't we know who are electing? No-one really knows what Trump believes. What are his moral underpinnings? What is his understanding of the Constitution? Is he truly committed to what is best for the country or to stroking his gigantic ego? The anger that voters feel towards the political establishment is completely justified and righteous. It is within our power to change it. But if the change we seek takes the form of an angry, knee-jerk reaction that places an unprincipled man without a shred of Constitutional understanding in the Oval Office, we will pound the final nail in the coffin of our Republic. Our governance is intentionally ugly, slow and combative. The power is divided on purpose to guard against too much in one place. The Executive Branch has already become far too powerful as the Legislative Branch has abdicated its authority to both the Presidency and the Supreme Court. Will we continue down the path where a personality becomes more important than principal? That has never gone well--ask the Europeans about the last hundred years or so. We ignore the wisdom of the founding to our own peril. The rank hypocrisy of supporting someone like Trump will pale only in comparison to our own foolishness.
It has become abundantly clear that the citizens in this country are completely fed up with the Ruling Class that exists in the form of the career politicians in DC--deservedly so. This Ruling Class has made it obvious that they simply do not care what the desires of the voters are. They do not see themselves as representatives or public servants, but rather overlords who are wiser, smarter and better equipped to make decisions for the little people. Their priorities are getting rich, maintaining power at any cost, preserving the party power, enriching their cronies and on an occasional off day, the People or the Constitution might make an appearance on the list somewhere near the bottom during an election year. Their ability to tickle voter's ears with the rhetoric they want to hear and then turn around and slap them in the face politically is becoming legendary even for politicians. It is endemic in both parties and voters from both sides feel completely isolated and abandoned. That brings us to the current races.
Bernie (Feel the Bern--aw yeah, baby!) is a little easier to understand than Trump. The painful truth is that Hillary Clinton is one of the most unlikable people to ever make an appearance on the political stage. She is shrill, mean, elitist and fake as a three dollar bill. Even committed Democrats, who are scared to death of crossing her, were happy to have another option in form of Barack O last time around so they didn't actually have to hold their noses and vote for her. The Clinton Shtick is just so old. Hillary's enabling of her disgusting sexual predator husband is worsened only by her ruthless campaign against his accusers. Bill Clinton is starting to get the Bill Cosby treatment--it's not the 90's anymore and women are no longer willing to look the other way. Bernie Sanders to some, is a refreshing relief from the naked political aspirations of the Clinton Machine. By all appearances, he is a good man, good husband, and sincere in his misguided efforts to serve the American people. He is a direct result of the exhaustion voters feel towards the antipathy of the current bunch in DC. However, and to put it simply, the fact that he is an avowed Socialist disqualifies him from being the President of the United States. He could be the President or Prime Minister of many countries in Europe, but shouldn't even be considered based on his political ideology. At risk of offending some readers, the truth must be told: Socialism is completely incompatible with the Constitution. (Please study the Constitution and read the Federalist Papers before you attack.) It's true. If that's what you want; go live where Socialism is practiced and leave the rest of us out of it. Unless you define success as a declining Europe in financial ruin, a politically correct society run amok and a moral malaise leaving Europe directionless, then socialism is and always has been a gigantic failure. Socialism has never produced anything, prospered anyone or solved anything--it will not fix our problems.
Trump is a different problem altogether. He is a different iteration of the current problem in the White House--narcissism. Trump may be great at bullying his way around the business world--it is hard to argue against his success--but have voters actually listened to what he is saying? It is delightful to see him masterfully work over the MSM. It is entertaining to hear him call out the idiots we currently have in Washington DC. But what is he actually offering? The only "substance" offered to date is that it will be great because the Donald is great; it will be great because the Donald said it will; it will be so great that you will get sick of it being great. And if you dare to disagree, prepare to be attacked and belittled in the most infantile way possible. Is the purpose of the President to entertain us in this shallow, soundbite-laden, microscopic attention span culture that is America today? Is it merely a popularity contest to see who has the biggest ego, who can tell the most outrageous lies, who can vilify the most fellow-citizens and who can enlist the most mindless cult-of-personality groupies? If the election of the US President has descended to such depths, then all hope truly is lost for our Republic.
The oath of office for the President is the following: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." And his duties, as outlined in the Constitution include the following: Commander in Chief, making treaties (to be ratified by the Senate), appoint judges and ambassadors, providing a State of the Union and to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed". That's all folks. He is not a dictator, he is not a legislator, he is not a judge, he is not in charge of the economy. He is supposed to protect and defend the Constitution, the citizens, see to foreign policy and enforce the law. It's not very glamorous when you think of it that simply. Is that what people are seeking in the presidency anymore? If we were to compare and contrast Obama vs. Trump, I wonder who would have the most sentences containing "I" or "me". The Presidency isn't about either one of them--it's about preserving and protecting this Republic as founded. We are wrong to seek more than that in a President and even worse to allow it. We have suffered as a nation through eight agonizing years of "me" and "I", lawless Executive Orders, all the while thumbing his nose at the Constitution, the Congress, the Supreme Court and the will of the people. Do we want to slap an "R" on Trump and live through any more years of that? For Republicans to throw their support behind such a man after professing an urgent desire to preserve and defend Constitutional principles is mind-numbingly hypocritical.
Trump is a complete political unknown--and while that may have some understandable appeal--shouldn't we know who are electing? No-one really knows what Trump believes. What are his moral underpinnings? What is his understanding of the Constitution? Is he truly committed to what is best for the country or to stroking his gigantic ego? The anger that voters feel towards the political establishment is completely justified and righteous. It is within our power to change it. But if the change we seek takes the form of an angry, knee-jerk reaction that places an unprincipled man without a shred of Constitutional understanding in the Oval Office, we will pound the final nail in the coffin of our Republic. Our governance is intentionally ugly, slow and combative. The power is divided on purpose to guard against too much in one place. The Executive Branch has already become far too powerful as the Legislative Branch has abdicated its authority to both the Presidency and the Supreme Court. Will we continue down the path where a personality becomes more important than principal? That has never gone well--ask the Europeans about the last hundred years or so. We ignore the wisdom of the founding to our own peril. The rank hypocrisy of supporting someone like Trump will pale only in comparison to our own foolishness.
Well said Lori! I dread voting day based on today's front runners.
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