Donald Trump will bring his campaign to Lakeland today, but I won’t be at the
airport to greet him. I do, however, have a strong opinion on his candidacy.
Unlike the candidate himself, who threatened his opponent with jail, and just
yesterday “unshackled” himself to go even lower, I will instead go high and
employ all the subtlety I can muster.
At today’s Trump
rally, no weapons of any kind, down to sticks, needles and produce, will be
permitted. To a man who prefers his fans armed and dangerous, any gathering
without guns is surely panic time, with each stop more frightening than the
last. Even more unnerving to the Playa-in-Chief, men of a certain age will be
strictly admonished to keep hands in pockets for the duration -- unless some
thug sneaks in and needs decking, of course. After all, the Republican Party is
not sending us their best, and I fear that Central Florida may not be sending
its best to meet him.
To be clear, I
would never in a million years have voted for Donald Trump, even when I thought
he was a slightly better man than he has proved to be. I did not vote for
Hillary Clinton, either, in the 2008 and 2016 primaries, but I will cast my vote
for her in November. Although I disagree with Hillary on several issues, and do
not defend her faults and mistakes, she is sane and that’s a good thing in a
leader. Viewed in the context of this election and the country’s future, her
weaknesses pale when compared to those of Donald Trump, a man with no record of
self-sacrifice or public service during his entire 70-year life, no comprehension
of major issues facing the nation, and apparently no ability to tell the truth.
Ever. About anything.
Symbolically,
Trump’s biggest lie yet may have been an offhand remark in Sunday’s presidential
debate. “I’m a gentleman,” he declared. That laughable quip came not from a real
gentleman, but from a man unfit to be in the same room with any woman I know,
and just as unfit to be in a locker room with real men. His vile temperament,
overarching grandiosity and total lack of preparedness showcase a charlatan
unsuited to public office at any level. Some have questioned how a con man who
most likely would never be elected to a town council could become the
presidential candidate of a major political party. The answer is obvious: He is
the vacuum sweeper collecting and embellishing all the fear and loathing that’s
been cultivated by political extremists for more than a decade. The Donald sucks
it up and spews it out.
The things I find
most repugnant in Donald Trump are the very things that appeal to far too many
of his well-known supporters, including on-air crackpots and well-documented
hate groups. His campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” is a clarion call
to reactionaries and culture warriors determined to “take their country back” --
as if their birthright had been stolen by lowlifes and imposters. Trump’s most
impassioned backers are driven by unbridled animus. Their numbers include a
block of voters who to this day deny a twice-elected president’s legitimacy and
mock his aspirations to continue building a more perfect union. They wave their
flags and their fists as they proclaim their dedication to life, liberty and
justice for all, then work themselves into a near frenzy for candidates and
policies that would deny full constitutional rights to anyone they deem
unworthy. Witness any Trump campaign rally.
I commend the
handful of elected Republicans with the integrity to separate themselves from
the nastiness that overshadows their party, but I have no respect for spineless
leaders, including our local congressman, who, fearing a backlash from Trump
voters, have effectively sacrificed whatever principles they ever may have
possessed. My utmost contempt, however, is reserved for the cadre of so-called
religious leaders falling over themselves to cast their lots with a vindictive
demagogue. Their unearned claim to ownership of the high moral ground, based
solely on their own self-appropriated, “deeply held religious convictions,” is
not only a galling insult to people of faith who disagree with their peculiar
brand of religiosity, their claim is also a full-frontal assault on the millions
of thinking Americans whose values encompass our country’s secular,
constitutional foundations. Even though slick politicians and self-righteous
preachers, like the rest of us, are free to share their personal opinions on
anything and everything, their chosen professions do not endow them with a
monopoly on values. Their “political incorrectness” claims are not an acceptable
cover for their rhetoric nor a license to plow the fields of hate along with a
man like Trump and his shady associates.
How can we as a
civilized people even pretend to care for our fellow man – the sick and the
poor, the hungry and the homeless, the orphan and the refugee, the powerless and
the oppressed, the person of a different faith or of no faith, the victim of
hatred or of prejudice – if we choose a sniveling bully to lead us? This is a
great country, and I am not willing to risk its future by turning down a blind
alley to some imaginary place in the warped mind of Donald Trump. He is the
embodiment of a festering bigotry that must be rejected if we are to thrive
together. That is why my vote goes to the one person, imperfect though she may
be, who stands between him and the White House.
See how subtle I
can be?
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