I think I’m all turned around on Trump now. The man is a genius.
I mean, an obvious asshole and an evil genius, but still. . . .
Having him in the White House will be the most incredible reality TV show of all time, shown in real time with no editing on every network in the world.
Watch how he tries to rebrand 1600 Pennsylvania Ave as "The TRUMP White House"™, and gets all the furniture removed and replaced with “something classy.”
See him argue with Congress over the new military uniforms his company will be making (in Bangladesh) for the armed forces, or his attempts to make his daughter Ambassador to Tahiti.
Watch as the Joint Chiefs constantly try to hide the “nuclear football” from him. Good times!
Maybe he’s stupid like a fox, really does knows he’ll never win, sees his brand would fare better if he loses the election (a knee-jerk “see I told you” to every problem someone else has to deal with is much easier than actually working), knows “disgraced former President” isn’t great marketing, and he’s just milking the campaign for all its worth?
People are going to get desperate. My daughter was talking about him today. She has up to now been a big Bernie supporter. Of course 15 year olds don’t get to vote, but I encourage at least being involved intellectually. So her argument at this point is that maybe Trump is the best choice, because no matter what his actual political beliefs are, he is never going to get anything done. Hillary, on the other hand, is connected. She could do some real damage.
My view at this point is just to try to support whatever candidate will be least likely to construct policies and alliances that will end up with my grandchildren being loaded into rail cars and shipped off to camps.
This is my fondest wish for him as well. I want him to suffer some kind of malfunction that renders him incapable of speech . . . and after that I hope he lives a long, long time.
I disagree wholeheartedly with your daughter on both points. For starters, by winning the presidency, trump automatically throws US international relations into chaos. He says one thing one day, another thing the next (that doesn’t even begin to address his rampant misogyny, racism, etc. etc. etc.), so how the hell can national relations be built on such quicksand? Don’t count on the legislature or the business community to negate trump’s slime. As the saying goes, first they came for the socialists, and I did nothing, because I’m not a socialist…
Beyond that, what does a trump win say to Latinx? Mexico/Mexicans/Mexican-Americans specifically? Muslim-Americans? People who say they believe in addressing or eradicating income inequality in America (ala Sanders) who then turn around to support a billionaire who clearly doesn’t care a whit about people outside his income bracket are not, IMHO, thinking logically, or they’re under other, more sinister reasons (see also: David Duke/trump).
trump needs to be defeated, IIRC as others have pointed out, in the election and not at the convention. If not, then Americans legitimate his batshit crazy statements and we go down the rabbithole of ultranationalist, racist lunacy.
I don’t think that she meant that Trump was a good choice. Or that she agrees with any of his positions, assuming he actually has positions on issues. choosing between the two main candidates right now is like choosing whether we would prefer to be shot or stabbed.
I was listening to Phantom recently, and the following quote seemed apropos for those disgusted by both presidential candidates:
Too late for turning back
Too late for prayers or useless pity
Past all hope of cries for help
No point in fighting
For either way you choose, you cannot win…
Choosing between the two main candidates right now is like choosing whether we would prefer a center-right Wall Street friendly Dem who will likely focus on women’s/family issues, or a thin-skinned racist demagogue with tiny, vulgar fingers who hates women and thinks the world owes him, and wealthy white people like him, everything.
Which is to say that “shot versus stabbed” is a terrible analogy for many reasons.
I think she presents herself as a centrist who is concerned with family and women’s issues. That would be great. I think that you would find that we agree on most women’s issues. But I don’t think that is really her priority. That is just how she frames her arguments. She always did that. Everything was “for the children”, because everybody likes kids, and if you disagreed with her views, it must be that you hate children. I think she is a very smart person, but is so thoroughly corrupted that she feels nothing but contempt for most Americans and the things that they care about. I doubt that the Saudi and UAE leaders gave her over 100 million dollars because they support women’s issues. I suspect that her awarding rights to mine uranium in the US to Russian companies had more to do with millions in donations to the Clinton Foundation than it did to her commitment to our national security.
I suppose that I am expected to now list some of the ways in which Trump is misunderstood, and down deep inside is actually a civil-minded patriot. I cannot do that.
I would rather elect a random person out of the phone book than either of them. Most people are essentially decent and care about the welfare of others, so it is likely that a person chosen at random would at least try to do what is best for the country.
