Wednesday, July 13, 2016

It’s a party; cry if you want to. [Politics]


It’s a party; cry if you want to.
by Keith Thomas

You know, I started out to write one piece about the upcoming election and ended up with something entirely different. Presidential elections are just like a party for a huge celebration of a system of governing that has existed for a couple of hundred years. It’s a raucous party at times. People can show up that were never expected. It’s also a party that easily gets out of control like a party held at your parents’ house when they were out of town.
What a show this election party has been so far! It is salacious and sordid. We may have to come up with new descriptive words for what is taking place. The full frontal assault on decency and civility will no doubt continue unabated. After this election we will all finish up feeling a little more mentally unclean I think.  We’ll also end up with a President.
Coming at us from the extremes of all sides is rhetoric that says you’re stupid or much, much worse if you’re voting for the other candidate. I don’t find these kinds of arguments conducive to winning people over to a particular viewpoint or candidate. They aren’t meant to be. They’re intended to be insulting, a public shaming intended to keep thoughtful inquiry suppressed. Not that that means anything.
"Truth,' it has been said, 'is the first casualty of war." [Philip Snowden, 1916.] I’m going to say that the same holds true for elections especially these days and it applies to all sides as much as we may want it otherwise.
There are no perfect candidates. In writing this I had to come to grips with why I told people that I disliked Hillary Clinton as well as Donald Trump. (My conclusion surprised me. But more on that later.) I really have no views on the other candidates this time around. My belief, rightly or wrongly, is that they will be lost in the storm, but at least they provide voting options. They provide a nice distraction from the often tawdry big show. I have voted for alternate party candidates in the past. This time around due to the dissatisfaction of so many of the electorate with the mainstream candidates I think that it’s quite possible that they could take in 15% +/- of the vote this time around. Blank ballots could even pick up a percentage point or two. In practical terms, two of the major contenders for a “third party”, the Green and Libertarian parties, do not have an electoral path to the Presidency. They are “get our issues out there” parties.
A lot of people aren’t entirely happy about the candidate that they will ultimately cast their vote for in this Presidential election. That is probably an understatement of ginormous proportions. For many this will be another of the “lesser of two evils” vote once again. One of the things that we need to do I believe  is that we have to put what is taking place and why we have been conditioned to think of certain things concerning the candidates and our government in perspective.
First off I believe that it’s important to ask how our culture in general got to such a toxic state of hate and mistrust. I am quoting here from Donald Trump’s book “Trump:  The Art of the Deal”.
“Even though the publicity was almost entirely negative, there was a great deal of it, and that drew a tremendous amount of attention to Trump Tower. Almost immediately we saw an upsurge in the sales of apartments. I’m not saying that’s a good thing, and in truth it probably says something perverse about the culture we live in. But I’m a businessman, and I learned a lesson from that experience:  good publicity is preferable to bad, but from a bottom-line perspective, bad publicity is sometimes better than no publicity at all. Controversy, in short, sells.”
What constitutes the truth in this day and age has become a moving target. What Trump said back in 1987 applies to our current times as well except our culture has managed to become even more “perverse”. We have had decades of a constant bombardment of hate and negativity. Let’s face it, hate sells. Negative advertising in campaigns sells. Personal attacks sell. The threat of violence sells. Fear of anything that we’re unsure about or that is foreign to us sells. There is a never ending stream of propaganda feeding this fear, frustration and ambiguity. Repeat the same lie often enough by enough people and it becomes the truth. With each passing year finding the actual truth in the morass of spin and statistics coupled with an endless supply of speculation becomes increasingly difficult if not impossible.
I am going to quickly interject here the recent findings of the last Republican Benghazi Committee timed for release during the election cycle. This is the 8th iteration of this committee. When you get past all the pontificating here’s the result of over 2 years and an estimated $7 million dollars:  Hillary Clinton is not guilty of any crimes. (This verdict is from some of the very people that claim that the system is rigged.) All of the theories and pre-conceived answers were unproved. Oh yes, and our entire government, including those on the committee, could have done a better job.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are the presumptive nominees. It would be a huge mistake to think that either one of them can’t get elected. Seriously, President Obama should not have been able to get reelected if even a fraction of the negative publicity had been true yet Republicans managed to snatch a defeat out of the jaws of victory and he was elected to a second term. In their recognition of that Republican leadership has doubled down on the strategy that didn’t work last time and is launching a campaign of hate into the stratosphere.
 In this election cycle Hillary Clinton was staring at the possibility of felony charges over her handling of classified emails. That possibility is now over or at least should be. The head of the FBI, formerly respected by Republicans, recommended against filing charges. Conservatives exploded. Liberals exulted. The rest of us tried to maintain hope that a long-suffering country’s nightmare is over. I can’t begin to tell you how sick I am of hearing about yet another of a long list of government officials screwing up email.
Sadly, the reprieve only lasted for a couple of nanoseconds before Republican Congressmen and women started talking about forming a committee and have since done so in order to hold more meetings and investigations, right up until the election. There’s even enough time for them to vote against Obamacare, a.k.a. the Affordable Care Act to those whose lives have been saved by the act, a couple more times before the election. Our leaders in Congress don’t really trust or have much faith in the government even though they control the House and the Senate. That seems a little odd to me but there you are. It turns out that we most believe in government when it provides the pre-determined answers that we want.
Donald Trump is still facing the possibility of civil charges over his Trump University scam in New York. (These charges concerning Trump University have been progressing through the court system for years. The only reason that they’re hitting now is because his lawyers have been using delaying tactics.)
We are hearing from the leadership of both of major parties that people must rally behind their party’s nominee. That positon says that a political party comes before the country. This is sad. This is not the United States of Republicans or Democrats. Men and women who previously said that Donald Trump was a grave threat to our nation are now supporting him. I used to be a Republican. While I wasn’t a Republican for very long I was a Republican longer than the current front running and presumptive nominee of the party. I am now back to being an Independent where I shall remain.
A dynamic split in both parties seems inevitable. There has already been some pretty awesome fallout. There often is during election cycles. The degree to which it has happened is what’s making this cycle noteworthy. Various groups of supporters and individuals have already drawn lines in the sand as to their professed positions regarding possible match ups and/or possible third party candidates. For many these stated positions will turn out to be flexible when the reality of the situation that the nation is in solidifies. Many will simply opt out, not only out of the election but out of parties.
It also seems to me to be historically demonstrated that states that have voted Republican the majority of time will continue to do so this election. There is a huge belt of conservative/Republican leaning states throughout the Midwest. If the Antichrist ran as a Republican in these states he would still get the majority of the vote. (I accept that referring to the Antichrist as a he is sexist.) Don’t get me wrong, there will be some metaphorical rending of garments and lamenting but when push comes to shove party stalwarts will vote Republican. It is just the way it is. Now stalwart Democrats might not even admit to the possibility of the Antichrist being their nominee but if she was they would vote for her.
There is a wealth of information available regarding the candidates of the two main parties. It is hard at times wading through the morass of speculation and conspiracy theories versus their actual history and positions. Both have positions that have changed or evolved just as our nation has. Videos and audios of them talking in interviews or at events have been helpful. I prefer the longer uncut videos as opposed to edited snippets. We also have their written comments although that requires more sourcing and verification. I believe that the most accurate picture of a candidate comes before the final push for votes takes place. In the last few months of an election most candidates are just saying what they think needs to be said to gain the most votes.
The Grand Old Party (GOP) leadership is in that proverbial position of being between a rock and hard spot with no best option of what to attempt next. If they were to deny Trump the nomination by some procedural maneuver the party would lose a major faction of his diehard supporters. P.E.R.I.O.D. (I don’t believe that they will. It’s kind of like the incessant but never acted upon talk about impeaching President Obama.) If they support him as a nominee many will be risking committing political suicide from conservative supporters who abhor the vulgarity of Trump as a man and candidate, leaving them with the prospect of having another major faction of the party supporting Clinton or a third party candidate. What I will refer to as the religious right of the party are already divided over Trump. Whatever scenario goes down the man has already shredded the party.
Tactically the Democratic Party is making a huge mistake if they don’t understand that part of their base is going to vote for Trump—probably larger than they will acknowledge.
I don’t need to spend much time on Hillary Clinton. She has been pounded for the last couple of decades with practically every accusation imaginable. There are hundreds if not thousands of sites on the internet dedicated to promoting the afore-mentioned conspiracy theories and accusations. I get something new every day in my email or web feeds. It’s just ridiculous propaganda possibly believed completely by those reading and distributing it. They are true believers.
I was chasing down one of those “new” conspiracy theories that was going to take down her entire campaign awhile back and realized that it was in reality one that I had already tracked down umpteen times before. The old theories have been repackaged, reformatted and are being marketed as being new again. Nothing has been proven and that really doesn’t make any sense given the weight of the entirety of all the accusations and theories.
That’s when I realized that in reality she hasn’t been convicted or found guilty of anything other than being human. That’s was when I had the epiphany that I disliked her not because she was guilty of anything but because I have been pounded with so much negative material that it just became a part of my thoughts. (It made me think of when I was stationed in Germany and was listening to a pirate radio station. Someone had left a station on and I didn’t want to bother with getting up to turn it off. I wrote home a lot and was there for a couple of hours. The station had a guy droning on and on about hating white people. It was just “we must kill the white man, kill the white man” over and over. As I was sitting there writing I found myself thinking “yes, we must kill the white man”. What? I got up and turned off the station. Now, it was not the belief that we should kill the white man that stuck but rather the words, like an ear worm.) Had I been asked if I had a favorable opinion of Hillary I would have just said no. Now, I have a neutral opinion.
I am not a fan of the Clintons. But as I reflect back, the reality is that for all the years, make that decades, of pounding vilification against the Clintons with the focus shifting to Hillary in the last decade, they have never been convicted of any crime. There are those I know that will say that they are just that devious and crafty at not getting caught. There’s also that they are just not guilty. Either way they come out being better than anyone that has tried to take them down.
Hillary Clinton has taken everything that has been thrown at her. She’s still standing and she’s still trading punches and she wins. Otherwise she wouldn’t still be here. Trump has never been through an experience like this other than the primary. This is his first time in the ring. He made it to the bigs without going to the minor leagues. He was the Don Rickles of the Republican Party primaries. He didn’t have to know anything. He only had to put on a good show.
Donald Trump maintains that he’s a counter-puncher and only hits back in response. What he does is he provokes response. For example he will lash out at Hillary Clinton over her husband’s infidelity in order to get her to engage him in scandalous debate, despite his own marital infidelities. He excels in such debate. He doesn’t mind wallowing in the mud as long as he can drag his adversaries down in there with him. If they won’t get in the pit with him he just splashes the mud up on them.
I know a number of veterans supporting Trump. Why? Obviously I am not one that is. For me he is a fortunate son draft avoider. He started off with a 1Y, received 4 deferments for school and then got a medical deferment before receiving a high number when the lottery started. Why support a man that made the decision not to serve the country during such a difficult time? I would have more respect for him if he had opposed the war for religious or other convictions like Muhammad Ali. He certainly didn’t play the ‘Man Card’ then and that would have been a great time to do it.
Yet he’s a war monger. Not only is he an advocate of war but he advocates committing war crimes. He denigrated Prisoner of War Veteran John McCain and said that he preferred those that didn’t get captured. (Yet McCain is supporting Trump.) Well, if you don’t serve you certainly don’t have to worry about getting captured. I’m not sure that people realize that was an insult to a lot of POW veterans of numerous wars from a man who avoided service.
Whatever happens at this point Donald Trump is going to end up one of the most hated men in America. His ego may let him relish that. I’m not sure that he’s ready for the level of hate that he has directed at others being aimed back at him.
I can’t really say for sure that Trump is a racist even though much of his rhetoric leans that way. I also know that he has no control over who chooses to support him. Whether anyone likes it or not it does seem clear that those that are racists are also drawn to his campaign. One of telling points though for me was when he singled out his Afro-American supporter in the crowd at a rally. The guy really stood out in the crowd. Trump does have the support of a few minorities but by and large he is the white person’s candidate. Perhaps a better way to say it is that the majority of his support seems to come from white people. It’s just the way it is.
I do want to pull from Trump’s book some items that I believe apply to the man that he is today.
“If there’s one thing that I’ve learned about the rich, it’s that they have a very low threshold for even the mildest discomfort.” [Pg261]”
“Barron is a member of what I call Lucky Sperm Club. He was born wealthy and bred to be an aristocrat, and he is one of those guys who never had to prove anything to anyone.” [Pg 236]
 “The other thing I do when I talk with reporters is to be straight. I try not to deceive them or to be defensive, because those are precisely the ways most people get themselves into trouble with the press. Instead, when a reporter asks me a tough question, I try to frame a positive answer, even if that means shifting the ground.” [Pgs 57-58]
“Even in elementary school, I was a very assertive, aggressive kid. In the second grade I actually gave a teacher a black eye—I punched my music teacher because I didn’t think that he knew anything about music and I almost got expelled. I’m not proud of that, but it’s clear evidence that even early on I had a tendency to stand up and make my opinions known in a very forceful way. The difference is now that I like to use my brain instead of my fists.” [Pgs 71-72]
I am biased about teachers. There are a number of teachers in my family. I can’t imagine throwing a punch at a teacher at any age. Trump didn’t get expelled so that pretty much confirms being a member himself of the Lucky Sperm Club. Even though he said he wasn’t proud of punching his teacher, he still made it a positive statement about being strong.
I believe that Donald Trump would do the same thing for America that he has done for the Republican Party. He would tear the country apart.
What should we look for in a President? There are a lot of different answers to that question, but here are some suggestions:
·         Recognition of the importance of the office (worldwide there are only a handful of leadership positions of countries that wield as much economic and military power as the United States. The President is the most recognizable representative of what we are as a nation whether we like it or not.)
·         Leadership skills: Respectful in dealing with others. Able to build a consensus. 
·         Knowledgeable grasp of the intricacies of government. Education. Experience.
·         Humanity
·         Honesty
·         Compassion 
·         Grace under pressure
·         Common sense 
·         Ethics
·         Moral, physical and mental strength
·         A servant’s heart
People have strengths and weaknesses in different areas. I don’t believe that any of our current candidates rise to the level of being evil and all of them are flawed. In aspiring to the highest elected position in our country, I would certainly want the candidate I vote for to bring a lot more to the table than what I have to offer and come closer to the ideal than the other candidate(s).

In consideration of all these things, then, I have decided to cast my vote for Hillary Clinton.