I
sometimes think I must be living in some alternate reality than some of my
conservative friends and, heaven forbid, the people that are supporting Donald
Trump. The way some conservative friends
(many of whom I love and respect) talk, you’d think the Obama administration
was leading us into Armageddon. I get
it. Well, not really, but I get that
when you’re on one side of the political spectrum and the other side has a lot
of power that things don’t feel too awesome.
The eight years under George W. Bush really made me feel our country was
going in a bad direction, so I get that people who liked that direction think
Obama and his administration are leading us completely the wrong way from where
they want to go.
I’m
just one guy with one perspective, and as someone who has liked the direction
we’ve gone since Barack Obama became President, it’s hard for me to fully
understand what he’s done that has made conservatives so convinced that it will
pretty much be the Apocalypse if another Democrat is elected President and
continues his policies.
And
the thing is, you can read or view anything that supports your view, whether
you are conservative, liberal, or somewhere in between. The media spins everything and depending on
what your news sources are, you can believe anything that supports your
views. I am as guilty of this on the
liberal side as my Fox-loving friends are on the conservative side. I try, actually, to read and view all sides
of an issue so that I can be better informed and, hopefully, understand the
truths and nuances they might be buried beneath all the hype and
mud-slinging. I am fully aware that
MSNBC, the Washington Post, and the Huffington Post, for example, are just as
skewed to a liberal point-of-view as Fox News, the Drudge Report, the New York
Post, and the National Review, for example, are skewed to the conservative
side. I know, for example, if someone
sends me a link to the Daily Kos that I may have to take it with a grain of
salt due to its heavy liberal slant just as much as I would do the same with
GlennBeck.com with its conservative slant.
So I
get that other people in this country have an entirely different perspective
about what is going on in this country and I also understand that people are
having a very different experience with this administration and its policies
than I am. But I’m doing quite well
under this president and because I am it’s hard for me to relate to those who
think we’re living under some Nazi dictatorship. I have a really good job, my home value has
increased, I have great health insurance, I’m legally married to my husband, I think
the USA has a better reputation with other countries than we did under the Bush
administration, Obama has tried to keep this country out of war, my gay friends
can serve openly in the military, Osama bin Laden is out of our lives (though,
admittedly, we are still dealing with groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda), his
administration has tried to focus on green initiatives, which is important to
me, he's tried to help the middle class, of which I am a member, etc.
When
we were in the throes of the recession our house was underwater, the company I
was working for was making drastic cuts and I wasn’t making much money, and I
wasn’t legally married to my husband, although I very much wanted to be. So my life has improved a lot during this
administration. Others’ lives have
improved as well. A dear friend of mine
who has dealt with chronic illness and a lack of health insurance due to
insurance companies’ unwillingness to insure him wrote this on his Facebook
page the other day: “It is also because of [Obama] that I have been able to
provide for my family for the past 5 years. His work has afforded my family to
live so I thank him in so many different ways. Thank you to the Obamas for all
they have done and all they might continue to do. We truly need more men and
women like them in this world.” I know
others who feel the same.
Granted,
I know other lives are not so great under this administration. Some people’s health premiums have skyrocketed
under Obamacare and, contrary to Obama’s promise that you could keep your same
doctor under his plan, that has not always proved to be true. People are still struggling economically and
do not see that the economy has gotten better the way it seems to have improved
for people like me. People employed in
the oil industry, for example, aren’t doing well at all. Stocks have gone down in many companies,
including Apple, Disney, and Walmart, the latter which has had to close many
stores (but don’t get me started on Walmart – that’s a whole separate post
about what a terrible company I think they are and how much of their downfall
is due to their own practices – still, I understand people are losing jobs, and
the economy is still struggling in some areas). Many homes are still in foreclosure (although
my neighborhood is nowhere near what it was 6 years ago). People are worried Obama is trying to take
away their guns (and, by the way, he’s not).
Many religious people feel the country is in moral decay and that their
rights are being trampled on. People are
afraid of ISIS and undocumented immigrants and worry that Obama’s
administration has made our country less secure. So I get that everyone isn’t happy like I am.
But
I am happy and I am much more optimistic that things will continue to be good
for me under someone like Bernie Sanders of Hillary Clinton (or even Martin O’Malley)
than they would under someone like Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, or,
heaven forbid, Donald Trump.
I
don’t even relate to anyone in the Republican batch of presidential candidates
this cycle. I actually quite liked John
McCain when he ran (until he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate, and then
he lost me because I couldn’t stand the idea of her being just a heartbeat away
from the presidency). I didn’t care too
much for Mitt Romney, but at least he seemed sane. But this current clown car of candidates I
just can’t quite get on board with.
Ironically, two of my least favorite candidates, Ted Cruz and Donald
Trump, are currently leading in the polls.
Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum (and withdrawn candidates
Bobby Jindal, Lindsey Graham, Scott Walker, and Rick Perry) I can’t (couldn’t)
stand. Ben Carson seems like a nice
enough fellow (although some of his ideas and beliefs seem a little out there
to me), but he is not presidential material, in my opinion. Rand Paul I have no strong opinion
towards. I admire him fighting for what
he believes in, but it’s not what I believe in.
Jeb Bush, who’s floundering terribly right now, seems almost reasonable
to me; I almost feel sorry for the guy.
But I also don’t agree with the policies he supports, so I wouldn’t vote
for him anyway (but who could have imagined 8 years ago that I would be so
sympathetic to a Bush?). I actually
think Marco Rubio would be a good president and would be a strong leader; he
just happens to support ideas I disagree with, so I can’t see myself voting for
him. I actually like Chris Christie and
John Kasich as people and if you put a gun to my head I could probably vote for
them, but when I see the three candidates on the Democratic side there’s just
no contest for me. Ted Cruz is too
extreme for my tests and has shown himself to be too uncompromising for my
taste. He’s way too right-wing for
me. I admire that he wants to fight for
the values he believes in, but he’s got super tunnel-vision, in my opinion.
And
Donald Trump. Good gravy, what can I say
about this guy? When he first was
running, it seemed like a big joke (and maybe it still is – I wonder if Trump
really believes half the stuff he says of if he’s just pandering to his
base). But who could have guessed he’d
do so well in the polls? Certainly the
other Republican candidates didn’t. I’m
sure Jeb Bush just watches, slack-jawed, as Trump continues to trounce him in
the polls and wonders what the hell the Americans who support Trump are
thinking. I know I do.
I think the man is an ass. I think his
rhetoric is very anti-American and dangerous, but he seems to be riling up a
large swath of racist Americans. I always think
comparing people to Hitler is very hyperbolic, but some of Trump’s behavior
reminds me of Hitler. His talk of
building walls to keep Mexicans out and of banning Muslims from this country
strikes me as the very kind of rhetoric Hitler used to eradicate Jews and other
so-called “undesirables” from German society. When I was a kid I wondered how someone like Hitler even came to power. Didn't the people see what a monster he would become. And then I look at somebody like Trump and think, "Oh, it's very subtle." Not that Trump himself is subtle (and nor was Hitler), but that people want to find someone to blame for their troubles (the Jews, the blacks, the Muslims, the Mexicans, etc.) and when a leader riles those people up, watch out!
Now I'm not saying Trump is in the same league as Hitler; I'm just saying I think he's dangerous. I think he preys upon and exploits people's fears, and maybe that's my problems with a lot of the candidates in the Republican race for president (or maybe with the Republican party, in general): I think fear is a great motivator they use: fear of the next terrorist attack, fear that if we don't go to war our enemies will be out of control, fear that gay marriage will lead to the downfall of society, fear that Obama's trying to steal all your guns, fear that you need those guns because somebody is going to attack you, fear that your religious beliefs are being trampled, fear that the immigrants are stealing your jobs and invading your country, etc. And I'm not implying that those fears aren't always legitimate. Yeah, our enemies do attack and will continue to attack us; yeah, having a gun might protect you; yeah, some immigrants are a burden to the country, etc., but I feel things get so generalized at times - ALL your 2nd Amendment rights are being taken away; ALL immigrants are bad; ALL socialist programs are bad - and I don't think that's true.
I also find some of these Republican leaders so hypocritical (and, believe you me, I'm not saying Democratic leaders aren't hypocrites as well (I think Hillary can be a hypocrite on certain issues, for example). I mean, you're pro-life when it comes to abortions, but you won't lift a finger when it comes to all these gun deaths. So those lives don't matter? Those kids that were killed in Newtown, Connecticut aren't worth at least trying to do something to change the gun culture in this country? You don't think the government should be involved in marriage when two people of the same sex want to get married but the government can totally be in your business when it comes to a woman's reproductive rights? You worry about your religious rights being trampled if your a Christian, but maybe it doesn't apply so much if your a Muslim or an atheist? If Bill Clinton's having a sexual peccadillo with Monica Lewinsky, he's not fit for office while, you, Newt Gingrich, are having an affair yourself while his impeachment hearing is going on, and you somehow hold some moral high ground as Speaker of the House? You blame Democrats for overspending yet you didn't mind so much spending billions on a war that was built on misinformation, right? You say we should concentrate more on mental health issues than gun control when it comes to active shooters, but you won't support a health care system that might better help those people be able to afford good health care. In fact, you continually try to repeal the Affordable Care Act instead of trying to improve it or, heaven forbid, even come up with better alternative. I just find it all so frustrating.
As for Donald, who is perhaps an anomaly in the party in which he is choosing to run (but still espouses beliefs and tactics that many in the Republican party feed on), I find him to be extremely arrogant, rude, sexist, racist, his
diplomatic relations are abominable, and so far has not offered any feasible or
specific policy plans. He keeps talking
about “making America great again,” but I think his behavior and rhetoric is
drawing out the kind of element that makes America look terrible and, ultimately, will make America terrible. I thought George W. Bush was an awful
president, but Donald Trump would beat him in that contest. Even Dick Cheney came out against him, and
when Dick Cheney is the voice of reason, you know there is seriously something
wrong with Donald Trump.
And now he has the endorsement of that crazy loon, Sarah Palin, who, I'm sorry, is dumb as a rock. I watched her stump speech for him and was both dumbfounded and physically ill. I kept saying out loud, "I can't. I. Can't." These two buffoons together is beyond my comprehension. And the fact that people are falling all over themselves to support these two is incomprehensible to me. That woman can't even put together a coherent sentence. She talked about "squirmishes," and I yelled, "It's skirmish, you idiot!" but maybe "squirmish" was appropriate because "squirm-ish" was exactly how I was feeling listening to her ramblings while Trump nodded and smiled.
Republican party leaders and candidates are falling all over themselves trying
to figure out what to do because none of them want Trump to be the nominee
because they don’t think he can win against Hillary Clinton, the presumed
eventual Democratic nominee (although Bernie Sanders, who I quite like, looks like he may just give her a run for her money). I kind of hope Trump doesn't get the nomination and runs as a third party candidate because that would be disastrous
for the Republicans because he would surely split the vote.
Frankly,
I still don’t think Trump will win the nomination nor do I think he can win, but I
also I didn’t ever expect him to get this far, which frankly, has been disconcerting.
I
think I get what people see in Trump (or Ben Carson or Bernie Sanders on the
other side and Ted Cruz, to a point).
People like that these people aren’t afraid to speak their mind and that
they’re unfiltered and, especially in Trump’s case, don’t spout a bunch of
talking points, but just speak their mind.
But Trump is unbelievable to me.
I really think, “Is there anything this guy can do that will turn his
base off?” I’m beginning to believe
not. People are sick of the
establishment and like that Trump says exactly what’s on his mind (and what’s
probably on their minds) and, political correctness be damned, he’s going to
say it. I find him repugnant. I truly hope he’s just playing a huge joke on
the American people, but if this man somehow becomes president, we are in
trouble.
A
friend of mine, a friend a like; a woman who’s very religious, wrote recently
on her Facebook page in response to some racist propaganda she received, “This
is why we can't allow the refugees in. This scares me! It's hard enough to
trust people now as it is but if this is what we're facing then we're in big
trouble!” and posted a meme that said, “One nation under God, not Allah. Share if you agree,” and I was stunned. I thought, “Does she really believe that the
majority of those Syrian refugees she referred to are just poor civilians
trying to escape their war-torn homeland or that the Allah those Muslims pray
to is not as dear to them as the Christian-based God she prays to (or that they’re
not one and the same God)?” And I
thought, “This kind of rhetoric is exactly what people like Trump are inciting
in people.” I found it ironic that this
same friend also quoted Martin Luther King: “He who passively accepts evil is
as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil
without protesting against it is really cooperating with it."
Another
friend, one I like less and respect less than the aforementioned friend, put a
meme on her Facebook wall that said, “If a shooting by a weirdo with a bad
haircut is cause for banning Confederate flags, removing statues of Confederate
soldiers and erasing southern history then the shooting by Muslims in San
Bernardino is cause for banning the hijab, Muslim symbols and all mosques on
American soil, right? Fair is fair.” And I know there are people, perhaps even
people reading this right now, that agree with these sentiments. Lots of people all over America agree with
these sentiments. I can’t imagine people
like Trump would have the groundswell of support they do without such people
with such sentiments.
Did
you see the silent Muslim woman protester kicked out of a Trump rally? It wasn’t the getting kicked out part that
bothered me so much, but the hate and anger that was spewing from the mouths of
some of Trump’s supporters. It is vile
to me.
I’ve
watched all the debates this election cycle, both Republican and
Democratic. I have to say that the
cordiality Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have shown one another, even when
they disagree on policy points is such a stark contrasr to the name-calling I
see from someone like Trump. It just
shows a real lack of maturity to me.
Now
on the Democrat side, I’ve always liked Hillary Clinton, but I’d be a fool if I
didn’t say that she can be very disingenuous, sometimes dishonest, and
certainly will say whatever she needs to to get elected. She can be a hypocrite on certain issues. I think she’s overly-ambitious. Still, I agree with many of the policies she
supports and I’d certainly vote for her over any of the Republican candidates
simply because she would take the country at least in a similar direction as
Obama (and, as I stated at the beginning of this post, I’ve been quite content
under his leadership).
Martin
O’Malley. Poor guy, trying to remain
relevant but getting lost beneath all the Sanders/Clinton media hype. I like him.
I think he’d do a decent job, but he’s not going to win the nomination.
I
quite like Bernie Sanders. I like his
ideas and philosophies overall, although I don’t agree with him on everything,
and I do wonder how we really will pay for all the big dreams he has for this
country. I also think, regardless of his
current popularity, that it will be hard for a self-avowed Democratic Socialist
to get elected, and if the Republicans in Congress who have fought against
Obama thought he was bad, I can’t imagine what they will think of Sanders. If Congress is controlled by Republicans,
good luck getting any of those policy ideas turned into laws, Bernie. Those Republicans will fight you tooth and
nail. Still, I admire his convictions
and how consistent he’s been throughout his political career.
No
matter who the eventual nominees are for President on both the Republican and
Democratic tickets, it is already clear at this point that I will be voting for
the Democratic nominee, whomever it ends up being.
It's certainly turning out to be an interesting race to the White House. Time will tell. I just hope it's a result I like.
