America the Beautiful

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Loving America these days is like being in a relationship with an abusive boyfriend. As a private citizen, it doesn't matter how hard you try, how much you love your country, every once in a while it's going to turn around and punch you in the head.

Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican candidate for President. Donald Trump. The Trumpsicle. The man who has single-handedly brought the tone of American politics down to a level I never thought I'd see in my lifetime. A self-avowed misogynist and bigot. A hypocrite of the highest order, who touts his business success, while having no less than four bankruptcies in his business holdings. A classless goon, who urged his half-witted followers to physical violence in support of their candidate. He's tone-deaf, entitled, privileged, and rude. And most importantly, he's completely and utterly unqualified to hold the office of the President of the Untied States.

And he's the presumptive Republican candidate for the Presidency.

It's my opinion that this coup is exactly what the Republican Party has earned and deserves. They let the whackadoos and the bigots run away with their party, and this is the natural outcome. They sowed, and this is what they're reaping. The Tea Party idiots and bigoted scared white dudes brought them to this impasse, and I have no sympathy for them. Boo-hoo, you're now the party of unserious ass-clowns. You did it to yourselves, with your updated Southern strategy and appealing to the lowest common denominator.

Unfortunately, that leaves the rest of us a paucity of choices when it comes to the leader of free world.

I know a lot of people feel as strongly about Hillary Clinton as I do about Donald Trump. Some of these concerns are legitimate in my opinion, but many of them are the direct result of a concerted smear campaign by the Republicans that has lasted decades. People have the right to vote as their conscious dictates, and many people really, really don't want to vote for Hillary. I get that.

But at least she's a serious candidate. She's qualified. She understands international diplomacy. She has policy positions, and members on staff who are experts in their field, not inchoate ramblings about how "great" she's going to be.

For me, most presidential elections are a matter of holding my nose and selecting the candidate that makes me want to vomit the least. I've already made my decision, and it's a pretty safe bet that I'm going to judge harshly any citizen who chooses to hand the reins of our Republic over to Donald Trump. It says something about us, something that doesn't bear a close examination, that so many Americans think this is the best we can do on the world stage.

Populism makes my teeth hurt. Angels and Ministers of Grace, defend us.

4 comments:

vince said...

There are a lot of reasons why I dislike Hillary Clinton, and would prefer she not be the Democratic nominee. I would far prefer Bernie Sanders. But in a choice between her and Drumf, the decision is a no-brainer for me.

The Republican Party has become the party that only wants you if you're rich, white, male, straight, Christian, and angry. It is the party of exclusiveness and exclusion, fueled by rage and money, and supported by many against their best interests.

What the other Republican candidates and the Republican leadership could never grasp is that Trump is both the the end result of the monster they have been creating for years, but he's also the monster they most fear - one they cannot control. In many ways he's exactly what right-wing pundits and Republican leaders have been saying for some time. He doesn't understand or particularly want to understand how the game of politics is played, he's not conservative as defined by many of the Tea Party faction, he gives lip service to being a Christian but won't tow the fundamentalist line, and he doesn't really give a damn about the Republican leadership and what they think he should or should not do.

But it's those very qualities that appeals to his base. The Republican Party has made so many promises they were both unwilling and unable to keep, that a large part of their radical core doesn't trust them any more. They have been focused on doing nothing but being against President Obama. And that has turned many of their own followers against them. That Trump is making promises he can't keep as well doesn't seem to get through to them. But that Trump doesn't give a damn about what anyone, including the Republican leadership, thinks, does, and that's the element that the leadership and all the other candidates could never fully grasp. And when they attacked Trump, all they did for his supporters is confirm that Trump was right - that the party they have supported for years was repressing them (true), is doing very little for them (also true), is controlled by big money (very true), and were united to stop by any means, fair or foul (true), the one person that can help them and America become "great" again (not true).

Of course, there's now a backlash against Trump effectively being the nominee by many right-wing pundits, and backlash against that backlash. With any luck, that will affect the ability of the party to get people out to vote for Trump and the Republican ticket. But we'll see.

Anne C. said...

We were just talking about this in the car yesterday.
While there is a hint of shadenfuede (something I am usually not prone to) that the GOP has gotten exactly what they've been brewing for decades, there is a much larger part of me... the part that is a moderate, who recognizes the value of some conservative ideas... who is spitting mad that the Conservative brouhaha has drowned out and robbed the American Republic of conservative thought. We NEED thoughtful opposition and rational compromise to thrive and they have $%^*ing robbed us of it. It's infuriating.

Zana said...

If we could just stop gas lighting each other.

mom in northern said...

You have Nailed it miss Anne...My thoughts exactly. I live in "fear and Trembling" about the future for us all....