Why I will not vote for Trump
’You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?’’
With those words, Joseph Welsh, the lawyer for the Army, silenced Senator Joe McCarthy in 1954 and brought an end to the maniacal witch hunts that Republicans had condoned since 1950. McCarthy was finally disgraced and the homophobic, blustering bully retreated into alcoholism and the annals of ignominy, after ruining careers and lives with reckless, baseless accusations of disloyalty to the United States.
In much the same way, Republicans are again allowing a demagogue like Donald Trump to hijack, label, and stigmatize the GOP as the party of racists and bigots by remaining silent while this mountebank offers nothing but smears and innuendos against his opponents as a substitute for substantive policies and direction for America. With their silence, the doyens of the GOP are compromising their integrity by allowing Trump to condone childish Indian war hoops delivered at his rally, by encouraging his followers to ‘’’beat the crap’’ out of protesters, by demeaning women and minorities, by resurrecting anti-Semitism with a six-point star in an anti-Clinton ad which his gnathonic surrogates deny as a symbol of Judaism.
Trump, a poltroon whose only military experience was prancing around in a uniform like a cockalorum at the New York Military Academy for rich spoiled brats, boasts that he knows more about ISIS than the generals and actually believes they will blindly obey his orders to commit war crimes to defeat an enemy. He sounds like a delusional Hitler cowering in his bunker refusing to believe the war he launched is lost. Are Republicans so stupid and so cowardly as to allow this clown of many faces to lead its party?
The more of Donald Trump’s rants I hear, the more reasons I find not to vote for this authoritarian maniac.
I hesitate to validate Trump’s populist appeal with my vote because his bombastic rhetoric resonates with the mob mentality of a small segment of the electorate that foolishly believes he is as straight-shooter who speaks its language, at a sixth grade level, and who says what everyone is thinking. Trump is a demagogue who excites less-educated voters to whom the details of how he will accomplish his messianic promises do not matter. He appeals to those voters who substitute slogans and labels for analytical thought, who fail to see he is a callous billionaire living in a gilded penthouse pretending to represent the working class fearful of losing jobs to foreign workers and foreign trade.
I also hesitate to trust Trump’s temperament with my vote. We cannot afford to have as a president a spoiled brat rich kid, prone to snap judgments, temper tantrums, and name-calling. He is the school-yard bully, a disgusting blowhard who would be a threat to First Amendment rights of those who disagree with him. Like Kim Jong-Un, he is an insufferable narcissist who craves the adulation of sycophants. Chris Christie has become his obedient lapdog – a total lacky -- along with every other milquetoast Republican politician who can only repeat the party mantra of ''Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan.'' They are a pathetic excuse for leaders. At some point, the American public should tire of his narcissistic swagger -- he knows everything and everyone else is stupid. The apotheosis of this jerk is nauseating.
I do not believe Trump has the integrity and moral character to act in the best interests of the United States. I cannot support with my vote an unscrupulous robber baron who roots for a downturn in the American economy so that he can profit on the misfortune and misery of others. I fear that, as President, Trump might say or do something to cause a financial crisis so he can swoop in and buy on the cheap. His assets in a blind trust would be a national joke. Trump would have a conflict of interests between doing what is good for the country and what is good for Trump. His remarks show that Trump would come first, America second. Moreover, the lawsuits concerning Trump University, which have not been dismissed, show that there is substantial credible evidence that he is an unconscionable scam artist. His business bankruptcies have cheated scores of contractors and creditors out of money. He is nothing more than a self-promoting narcissistic charlatan with a retinue of vacuous sycophants touting his trumped-up virtues and bogus business acumen as qualifications to lead this nation and the free world.
Last, I cannot vote for a man who has no real policies or vision for America beyond a slogan or a sound-bite that suits his whim for the day. His bloviating rhetoric is full of glittering generalities that resonate with low-information voters who lack critical thinking skills. He builds excitement among the mob looking to be entertained at his rallies. The mob gleefully shouts ‘’Build that wall!” But the ring-master of the circus fails to explain the ‘’how’’ of the grandiose plan. The same can be said for Trump’s messianic promises to eliminate the threat of ISIS, or to restore a favorable balance of trade, or to return manufacturing jobs to the United States. Although everyone loves an ‘’America First’’ foreign policy, Trump’s false patriotism is nothing more than fodder for mindless flag-waving and cheering as if at a high school football game; however, the cheering mob gives little, if any, thought to the consequences of a withdrawing from NATO, abandoning our allies, antagonizing friendly Muslim nations, reneging on our commitments and treaties, or bombing indiscriminately in the Middle East and using torture on our adversaries. Trump, a scam artist who never donned the uniform and who has lived a life of playboy luxury, cannot possibly know better than our military leaders and career diplomats how to deal with those nations that wish our destruction.
In 1840, Harrison portrayed himself as the ‘’common man’’ born in a log cabin running against aristocratic Van Buren with the slogan ‘’log cabin and hard cider.’’ Thus was born the myth that ‘’only in America’’ can a poor boy [like honest Abe] grow up to be president. I think that billionaire Trump, with all of his hallmark hubris and braggadocio, has debunked the myth that poverty and humble origins are a virtue in modern American politics. The philistine element of the electorate lionizes this moron who has no articulated policies or vision for the country and who regards the presidency as a hobby to dissipate his ennui.
We cannot afford to have an affluent, aging jackanapes, prone to puerile temper tantrums and name-calling, as our President. A scalawag who roots for the American economy to collapse so he can make a profit is a despicable money-grubber. As President, Trump would have a conflict of interests between doing what is good for the country and what is good for Trump. His remarks show that Trump would come first, America second. His braggadocio of business acumen resonates only with the lowest elements of American society --- the Archie Bunkers who would stand aside in pious silence while this schismatic soapbox orator makes promises he cannot keep at the expense of those who are most vulnerable to the latent bigotries born of fear and prejudice he seeks to unleash. He vows, for example, to bring back to the Rust Belt industries that are no longer relevant or viable in today's economy. Coal no longer heats houses. Steel operations are computerized. The once thriving towns along the Ohio River, bustling with steel mills and coal mines, are now decaying remnants of a prosperity that is forever lost in the past like ghost towns of the Old West. Trump offers them nothing but a slice of false hope in return for their vote. Trump thrives on the misfortunes of others
Candidates for the presidency once appealed to the hopes and aspirations of all Americans. Trump appeals to base prejudices and fears of ignorant bigots for his own hopes and aspiration to become a dictator. He is a threat to American democracy and our civil liberties, and he is a menace to world peace.
