I have had this essay ready to go for at least a month; I honestly didn’t think it would be necessary to post it. Nonetheless, I kept in on the bench, just in case. I was confident that the point to be made was too obvious, and that even those bitter, angry, irresponsible, ignorant whateverthehelltheyares who are keeping Trump’s candidacy afloat—and thus making it more difficult to sort out the real candidates—would have figured it out by now. I was wrong.
There are lots of reasons why Donald Trump shouldn’t be anyone’s candidate to be President. He is a narcissist, for one thing, and that is a pathology. Narcissists are dangerous in positions of power. He has no experience in politics, which he appears to believe, based on his statements, consists primarily of bribing people, since that is what it largely means in his eternally corrupt businesses of construction and gambling, and pitching them things, which is not the same as persuasion. He seems to think leading a company and leading a nation are similar jobs: they are not, though they involve some common skills. Trump is largely ignorant of most issues facing us, and takes pride in winging it, simply saying the first thing that pops into his mind. What Presidents of the United States say have cascading impact: think about the horrible consequences of Obama’s infamous “red line” statement, which has led to the willingness of despots and terrorists to defy U.S. interests and warnings, confident that nothing would be done by a confrontation-averse President. Anyone assuming President Trump would be different in this regard from candidate Trump is the sort of person who would trust Iran to follow a nuclear agreement, a current monstrosity that is also, in part, the result of Obama’s “red line” gaffe.
The one area where Trump has actually put forth a fleshed-out policy is red meat nonsense, completely unworkable and impractical, as well as offensive to core American values. That is his absurd “Deport them all, build a wall, amend the Constitution” illegal immigration prescription. Yes, the illegal immigration joint negligence perpetrated by greedy business interests and cynical Democratic party strategists who would trade the best interests of the nation and the rule of law for long term demographic trends favoring their party is infuriating and frightening. Still, proposing ludicrous solutions that can’t be accomplished (even if sane people wanted them to be) is neither a mark of intelligence nor responsible leadership.
Beyond immigration, Trump is all generalities and posturing. He’s “tough.” Tough can be good; tough without principles, and Trump appears to have none, is, by turns, bluster, stubbornness, cruelty, recklessness and bullying. Donald Trump really seems to have no regard for ethics at all, which makes him, by definition, untrustworthy. Being untrustworthy is an ethical deficiency no leader can have.
We know Trump lacks trustworthiness because he has shown repeatedly that he willingly defies so many basic ethics values that add up to trustworthiness: Truth-telling, Reliability, Sincerity, Integrity, Charity, Benevolence, Consideration, Empathy, Generosity, Fairness, Process, Openness, Competence, Accountability, Self-restraint (ya think???), Prudence (ditto), Respect, Civility, Courtesy, Decency, Dignity, Tolerance, and Acceptance. To be fair, Trump has some virtues: he works hard. He is candid, which is one of his major attractions for those who have been frustrated by President Obama’s double-talk and Republican politicians’ empty rhetoric. Trump has some courage, though that is not a virtue but a tool of the virtuous as well as the unethical. He has a variety of integrity in that he does not seem to hide his flaws and faults, though he also isn’t aware that many of them are faults. He is undeniably a patriot.
Yet while all of this makes Trump a terrible bet for America’s future, it is not disqualifying based on historical standards. We have elected Presidents without experience, who were narcissists, sociopaths or psychopaths, who were not too bright, who were unjustifiably cocky, who spouted policy nonsense, who had only style without substance, who acted tough, who were the product of marketing rather than talent. Some of them turned out to be pretty good; some of them surprised everyone and changed their ways. None of them wrecked the nation. I am confident that even at this difficult time in our nation’s history, reeling from the serial incompetence of the Bush and Obama administrations, the United States could survive a Trump Presidency as a nation.
We could not, however survive it as a culture.
Placing a man with Trump’s personality and his rejection of the basic features of civilized conduct and discourse to an extent that only the obscenely rich or the resolutely misanthropic can get away with would ensure that American culture would deteriorate into a gross, rude, selfish, assault muck in which no rational human being would want to live. A generation raised under President trump would be misogynist and proud of it. It would value appearances over substance, success over character and principles. It would extol, as Trump does, the empty values of the celebrity culture. Bullying would be acceptable; “after all, the President does it.” So would boasting, posturing, bluffing and faking it. He would make us, in short, a nation of assholes.
Even if Trump was a policy whiz, a political magician and a foreign policy master who balanced the budget and restored American’s primacy in the world, it would not be worth what would be lost: dignity, fairness, civility, caring, respect.
And it would be lost. That is what the news media doesn’t—can’t?—explain, and what Trump’s naive supporters don’t understand (unless they already have no dignity, fairness, civility, caring, and respect, in which case they don’t care.)
Leaders are role models, and leaders of nations lead the culture above all. This is not subject to debate. While many choose to deny or ignore this basic truth of organizations and human nature, the evidence—historical, anthropological, psychological, empirical, practical and common sense— is overwhelming. Leaders make us into them; that’s what makes them leaders. Having leadership skills is not in itself a virtue, though being a leader without them is an ethical breach. Trump has many leadership skills, which will make his influence on the culture stronger, for better or worse…and the only possibility is worse.
Our Presidents, almost every one of them, have for the period they were in office profoundly altered the way Americans viewed themselves, and more importantly, the right way to be. A President who shamelessly and repeatedly belched in public would almost instantly validate that as acceptable conduct among the young, just as Bill Clinton’s Monica maneuverings regarding what was sex led to findings of a newly casual attitude toward fellacio among middle school students. No President, not one, has ever exhibited the rude, boorish, childish public behavior of Donald Trump. The most uncivil of our Presidents appear as paragons of dignity compared to Trump, and there is a reason for that. Every President, indeed every major party nominee for the office, has recognized the vital importance of the Presidency’s role in upholding the nation’s cultural values.
I chose today for this post after listening to Trump’s interview with Chris Cuomo this morning on CNN, on the topic of his gratuitous attack on Carly Fiorina, one of his competitors for the Republican nomination. Trump had said, in an interview with Rolling Stone,
“Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president. I mean, she’s a woman, and I’m not s’posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?”
If I heard my son say anything like that about a girl, a boy, a woman, anyone, he would receive a lecture, a warning, and punishment. No President in 200 years has spoken about someone’s appearance as the disqualification for a responsibility, or for deserving disrespect. Trump does this all the time. I cannot teach my son if the President of the United States has validated unethical and despicable conduct.
Cuomo criticized the remark, saying that it was “unpresidential.” Does Chris Cuomo know what he means by that? (It’s in the paragraphs above, Chris.) I don’t think he does, or else he would have explained it clearly, because it is important. He said to Trump at one point,
“You say that you’re going to be President of the United States. There is a manner of behavior that goes with that. I’m not saying be Mr. P.C., I’m not saying be Captain Gentility and let everybody beat you up, but the idea of returning a blow every time you receive one, you know that doesn’t work in any high level.”
What’s the matter with that conduct, Chris, other than “it doesn’t work”? ( It’s “worked” for Trump.) Cuomo doesn’t know the underlying principle involved, it just sounds good, but the concept has passed into the category of empty wisdom because nobody remembers what the reason for being Presidential is. Role models, Chris. Cultural influence. Leadership.
To avoid breeding a nation of assholes.
Trump then displayed other ugly features of what would become cultural norms under President Trump. He refused to accept responsibility for his words, arguing, absurdly, that when he was talking about her face, “I’m not talking about looks. I’m talking about persona.”
Welcome to the new America, where children are taught not to admit wrongdoing, to lie and deny, and to never, never, apologize.
Then this:
TRUMP: And what she’s saying about my hair, I know that’s OK and you won’t defend me.
CUOMO: That’s tit for tat. That’s —
TRUMP: Because my hair, by the way, I think you know me well enough, it is my hair. But when she —
CUOMO: Somebody comes on my air and makes fun of your hair, I’m going to them to shut up and move on to something else. If somebody does that to you on my air, and they say he shouldn’t be president because of his hair, look at his hair, I’ll say, shut up….
Good job here by Cuomo. That is Tit for Tat, and that’s another rotten value that President Trump will teach the next generation, along with the use of ad hominem attacks as an acceptable debate tactic.
We have never had a President that embraced misogyny, cruelty, meanness, insults, nastiness, rudeness, boorishness, and refusal to accept responsibility for obvious mistakes as acceptable conduct. Trump is already a travesty on what America’s critics regard the worst features of our national character: as President, he would make those features our best.The United States will become a nation of assholes.
I don’t want to live in a culture like that.
Neither do you. That is why we can never let Donald Trump, or anyone like him regardless of policy positions and leadership skills, become President of the United States of America.
Pass it along.
Ethics Alarms 
Best piece on Trump. Anywhere. You really explain why, which has been missing. Great job of articulating the essential issue at hand.
I am humbled by your praise.
I feel deeply about this.
By the by, afford yourself the time to read this insightful bit
We are already a “Nation of Assholes”…we elected a black Narcissist for two terms, not to mention he was not eligible to hold this office, and he and Moochele hate this country!!
i am reading this piece and although I agree with his general thesis, I cant get past the micro-points that sound like he doesn’t know anything about the last 8 years.
-“We have never had a President that embraced….boorishness, and refusal to accept responsibility for obvious mistakes as acceptable conduct.” – HUH ???
-“Trump then displayed other ugly features of what would become cultural norms under President Trump. He refused to accept responsibility for his words” – ahh hello ??? Bushes’ fault has become a joke in my office.
-“Every President, indeed every major party nominee for the office, has recognized the vital importance of the Presidency’s role in upholding the nation’s cultural values.” -really ?? does that include killing of white cops ? smoking a little pot ?? redistributing one earned wealth ???
And this is the most breath-taking statement in the piece:
-“Our Presidents, almost every one of them, have for the period they were in office profoundly altered the way Americans viewed themselves, and more importantly, the right way to be” -and then he goes on to mention Monica. talk about irony. I mean do you want your son to treat woman the way Jack Kennedy did ?? If my kids see politicians as role models, then I have been an absolute failure as a father.
I really don’t understand why smart people like JM and my sister, who are probably polar political opposites, cant see why a circus clown like Trumpers could get elected in this country. We are already a country of circus clowns who know more about reality TV than we do history and the constitution. We are not our fathers country any longer.
-“We have never had a President that embraced….boorishness, and refusal to accept responsibility for obvious mistakes as acceptable conduct.” – HUH ???
You can’t use ellipsis in a statement like that, it was a full package. We have never had a President that embraced misogyny, cruelty, meanness, insults, nastiness, rudeness, boorishness, and refusal to accept responsibility for obvious mistakes as acceptable conduct. No President fits that package. LBJ could be boorish. Obama won’t accept responsibility. BUT LBJ accepted responsibility, and Obama’s no boor.
-“Trump then displayed other ugly features of what would become cultural norms under President Trump. He refused to accept responsibility for his words” – ahh hello ??? Bushes’ fault has become a joke in my office.
What are you talking about? Again, Obama’s refusal to accept accountability is an ongoing disgrace, but he isn’t making ugly personal insults EVERY DAY and denying them. This a material difference.
-“Every President, indeed every major party nominee for the office, has recognized the vital importance of the Presidency’s role in upholding the nation’s cultural values.” -really ?? does that include killing of white cops ? smoking a little pot ?? redistributing one earned wealth ???
Are you intentionally being obtuse? The post is about person speech, style and conduct, not policy. That was clear. Obama hasn’t shot any white cops, unless I missed it.
And this is the most breath-taking statement in the piece:
-“Our Presidents, almost every one of them, have for the period they were in office profoundly altered the way Americans viewed themselves, and more importantly, the right way to be” -and then he goes on to mention Monica. talk about irony.
I mean do you want your son to treat woman the way Jack Kennedy did ?? If my kids see politicians as role models, then I have been an absolute failure as a father.
OK, you ARE intentionally being obtuse. You do know that Kennedy’s misogyny wasn’t known while he was President, right? That the values he modeled were humor, grace, courage, patriotism, style, dignity, youth and energy. Sure, it was an act. So what? He inspired a generation. You do know that a President’s revealed bad conduct after he’s in office is irrelevant to his cultural influence, right? Guess not.
Fantastic essay, Jack. Thank you.
Sadly , even one of my Usenet allies is supporting Donald Trump.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/soc.culture.israel/trump/soc.culture.israel/S0dEvrXBwyo/gZDD7VvfMAQJ
So far I’m picking Trump for President……
Yes Trump is a American/German but he has balls and isn’t afraid to speak his mind especially when it is the truth. The last Presidents that really had balls were Truman and Kennedy. Everybody is always idolizing Regan but he lost me when he didn’t retaliate after the US Marine Compound was blown up in Lebanon. Here is Trump’s website should you want to contribute. I’ll tell you one thing that he makes it into the Presidency, the fucked up people in this country that hate the USA will be history. That Trump were to become President you’ll see the Standard of Living index for American Citizens reach an all time high. No Brag Just Fact. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j1qkorFszY Here is Trump’s Website. https://www.donaldjtrump.com/ I plan on making a contribution soon.
It’s ignorance about what is important about leaders.
This guy, however, sounds like a moron. Eisenhower used the threat of dropping the big one at least three times. Nothing like making historical comparisons without knowing anything about history. Fits my profile of a Trump supporter to a T…
Here is one reason why he supports Trump.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/soc.culture.israel/trump$20israel%7Csort:relevance/soc.culture.israel/NaRdFwc_HEs/5qClEI0oD68J
“Since his daughter Ivanka Trump is a Jewess having made an observant orthodox conversion accepted by the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel then the Honorable Donald Trump being the builder he is may help Israel to demolish the Dome of the Rock and rebuild the Third Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, Israel. “
Kaboom.
Wha…?
Amazing that the subject of Israel can make people go Kaboom.
“He would make us, in short, a nation of assholes.”
Chickens or eggs…?
Good commentary.
There is a chicken egg dynamic here, to be sure.
That was my reaction too. You confuse cause and effect.
I think that many are already there. I say “many” because none of the Americans I know – including SMP – are anal orifices.
We in Australia don’t have the same respect for the Prime Monster that you have for the President, and the current incumbent is a pale shadow of The Donald (and always has been – I was at Uni with him.) So his Trumpiness isn’t so contagious. But it’s there, and I’ve seen a side of this country I didn’t know existed. Ratbaggery. Thuggishness. Mendacity.
It’s still unacceptable, and it still is understood, even by the boors, as not the standard. The President is supposed to exemplify exemplary character and is judged on the basis. The prospect of boorishness, rudeness and meanness being accepted as exemplary is very different from what you are saying. Yes, obviously there are a lot of assholes here, maybe even 32%—Trump’s polling #—though I doubt it; I think at least half of that number are ignorant people. It’s not yet at the tipping point where they drive the culture. Trump would push it over the top…or brink.
Whereas the Australian Prime Monster is supposed to exemplify Politicians – creatures rather less trustworthy than used-car salesmen.
Hillary Clinton for example would fit right in here. What we have is worse.
There used to be a TV show here by a guy named Jerry Springer. Millions watched it.
I would be happy if just about any of the republican candidates including Carson. Cruz, Walker, or Fiorina won the nomination. I am hoping that Trump flubs up big time in the next debate. The idea of Trump vs Hillary or Biden is appalling.
Trump seems to be as bulletproof as Hillary. Terrifying.
Hillary is clearly NOT bullet proof. Check the latest polls.
I don’t trust her even to go away. She’s like a zombie.
When I saw the photo at the top, I assumed you were identifying those pictured as Trump supporters. Clearly, the people in the photo don’t have time to vote. They’re too busy getting tattooed and taking selfies. I’m hoping the same will be true of whomever the pollsters are talking to who say they will vote for Trump. They’ll be strutting around on the Jersey shore on the first Tuesday of next November.
Of course, I hope the people who are telling pollsters they will vote for Bernie Sanders will also be too busy sorting vegetables down at the COOP on the same day.
So which candidate’s supporters are you hoping will show up to vote?
Too late, Jack. It’s a done deal.
iPhones can now send middle finger emoji after iOS 9.1 beta update that also brings burrito and cheese block
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/iphones-can-now-send-middle-finger-emoji-after-ios-91-beta-update-that-also-brings-burrito-and-cheese-block-10496331.html
I watched the Biden-Ryan debate and thought Biden was such a jerk he may have cost his boss re-election. Mayne that was wishful thinking on my part, but it turns out that Biden “won” the debate according to the polls. Trump v. Biden would really say something.
Biden was terrible, rude and unfair, though not Trump level bad. As I wrote here, Ryan blew it by not going Joseph Welsh on him and directly embarrassing him with a public, “What’s the matter with you? Why are you acting like this? I’m being fair to you, why do you think its Ok to be rude to me? Have you no decency?” moment. It would have worked. I always works.
The GOP Presidential candidate who hits Trump with this will leave a mark. Sometimes it’s crucial that some one calls out an asshole to his face before he’s seen as one.
I agree completely.
It MIGHT have worked. I believe the liberal media would have spun it as Ryan being thin skinned, the bloggers would have accused him of acting “butthurt,” and the rest of the liberal populace would have fallen right in line. It may be crucial to call out a jerkass, but it can also be dangerous, particularly if you are dealing with a sociopath who isn’t capable of decency. Now, if Ryan had stood up and flattened Plugs with a clout to the jaw…
It takes guts, but seldom has anyone deserved it like Biden. And he was interrupting, mugging, sighing, eye-rolling. I lost respect for Ryan because he didn’t stop it.
You know, I had another attorney jump up at scream at me during a deposition because she didn’t like my body language which she described as similar. I told her to sit down and if she yelled at me again in front of my client I would break her fucking neck. She never tried to “school” me again.
You’re going to LOVE the post I just put up…
Damn straight I do. That woman is a see-you-next-Tuesday.
Your client was probably thinking “Wow! That was worth every penny of that retainer!”
Trump has a certain guttural appeal that explains his 32% favor ability rating. A very nice essay.
I agree with you Jack. Between Hillary and the Donald, I don’t know what I would do, and I can’t stand Hillary. Maybe stay home. Or move to Australia.
But, don’t be so tough on the populace. After repeatedly sending Republicans to Washington to kick ass, we get cowards like Boehner and McConnell. Trump is an overcorrection. To paraphrase Gene Hackman in Mississippi Burning, I don’t want Trump to drag us into his gutter, but there’s a certain attraction to the argument that the people we want him to fight in Washington are rats, and maybe the gutter is exactly where he should be.
I think it’s an overreaction to the heavy political correctness of the Obama administration, especially of the second term. At this point a lot of us are “I don’t give a damn who’s offended. I am going to say what I think and do what I please, I’m an adult, I work, I pay taxes, and I will no longer just shut up and stay quiet and motivated to feed the bottomless welfare pit.”
There’s also a component of the overreaction derived from the rhetoric of the Left. Can you believe a president actually equating fellow American politicians with the hardliner party of our enemies?
The right is sick of the insulting rhetoric and are glad to have someone pushing back the same way. Though it will only make things worse.
Absolutely right. I for one am tired of being called five different kinds of hateful and ten different kinds of ignorant, and so are a lot of the right. Now enough people are mad to start pushing back HARD, which doesn’t involve being necessarily civil, and Trump is tapping into that. Matt Walsh is on his way to becoming the Dan Savage of the right, with rhetoric just as blunt and insulting, but fewer f-words, and a lot of those on the right like it. A lot of the governors simply will not give the president any deference, and I think he has only himself to blame for that. I for one wouldn’t mind if someone pulled a George Galloway and confronted one of these insulters from the left, hit him in the mouth, and broke his jaw. I also wouldn’t mind if some of these attempts to stir up civil strife turned ugly and a few organizers ended up dead. Enough is enough, and where this nation is, is too much.
It’s all just the Cold Civil War continuing. Though I don’t doubt certain elements society would mind it becoming hot.
Woe betide us should it actually happen. It would be a second Dark Age, I believe.
“I’m an adult, I work, I pay taxes, and I will no longer just shut up and stay quiet and motivated to feed the bottomless welfare pit.”
In a nutshell, yes. The mantra of today’s silent majority. The victimizers.
The victimizeERS. ???
Clearly, I believe, T. Rumpus has some competence that a POTUS should have (more of) which T. Revagina, the “Resume’ Gal,” does not. Still, character-wise, both are absolutely unacceptable to me at the ballot box.
Hey, wait a minute; did you get these pictures from the immortal Hot Chicks With Douchebags? If so, you are even cooler and humor-endowed than I thought!
http://hotchickswithdouchebags.com/
Moi??
Awesome!
Wow, just..wow! That’s not even something I’d say to my wife, in the privacy of our home. I’d expect to be confronted and shamed. What a disaster.
I’ll confess to not following what’s going on with our candidates as closely as I should be. I’m having difficulty with time management lately. I knew that he was a poor choice, but this and another thing I heard yesterday make him unacceptable to me, maybe even a draw with Hillary. I didn’t know that he was a shape-shifter, having changed party affiliation numerous times in the past. I can accept that your views can evolve with time, but the rate at which he made these changes reveal nothing but opportunism.
Excellent and extremely convincing, by the way. I will pass it on.
uh hellooooo, Obama is the biggest narcissist around and his “political experience” on the national stage was a one term senator that didn’t even complete his term. The guy has never run a business in his life or even so much as lemonade stand. Trump is a highly successful multi billionaire based on knowing how to run businesses. This is the most left wing asinine article I have read lately.
Yes, Todd: you’re an idiot. Sorry. You need to know.
You will find many references on this blog to Mr. Obama’s narcissism, his lack of experience, and his incompetence, none of which has any relevance to the article. At best, your bleating echoes #22 on the Rationalizations List (It’s not the worst thing); at worst, it suggests that you with can’t read, or commented without reading.
What is it about “That is why we can never let Donald Trump, or anyone like him regardless of policy positions and leadership skills, become President of the United States of America” you don’t understand? Apparently everything. There is nothing partisan, ideological or left wing about the essay at all, unless the right wing would be happy with a nation of assholes. I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t, but I wonder at times.
You have fulfilled my estimation of a typical Trump supporter–careless, rude, not to bright. Here’s a tip: when you are a guest on a blog for a first comment, you don’t beging “Hello?” especially when you don’t understand the post. Do that again, or offer a similarly dumb comment, and you’re banned, You have two strikes now. Do better. Last chance.
Re-todd!
Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Feel free to delete, of course.
Even though I’m from Boston and that’s how most of my friends would pronounce it, I’d never delete based on a word. Well, not never: I think I did it a couple of times when I was just starting the blog, then realized it was wrong.
Just to keep you all informed on Ethics Alarms’ ongoing effort to find a genuine Trump supporter who isn’t an inarticulate dolt and can defend his or her support for the boor with substance, we just got a trenchant comment from a sage named Andrii, whose comment was, “The author is a crapped asshole!”
Thus proving the thesis of my essay while attacking it. A master of irony!
A good article, Jack, and I will share it. But I have a question — which is more dangerous to our nation: assholes or criminals? I agree Trump is crude mouthed and a jerk. But Hillary is an unindicted criminal who has compromised the integrity of the State Department, FBI, IRS, and Justice Department. Not sure how you compare a crude loudmouth to a criminal.
Trump is also a criminal, and worse, has no idea what crime is. He just hasn’t had the brains or opportunity to engage in Clinton style crime. The post is about one, special, fatal feature Trump has that Hillary does not. Read the billion or so (I’m Trumping there) posts about his other deficits by searching for “Donald Trump.”
Trump is crude and his comments indefensible. Hillary Clinton is dangerous and unfit to be president. She compromised the integrity of the State Department, FBI, IRS, and Justice Department. Her insecure server, with classified information on it, was hacked and the FBI knew it and didn’t indicted HIllary,
Tell me something I don’t know.
Yes, “Trump is crude and his comments indefensible”; he’s also ignorant, lazy, corrupt, arrogant, a pathological narcissist, a fantasist, a liar, a misogynist, a fool, a political incompetent, a terrible delegater, a poor judge of character, lacking in any relevant experience, literally unable to comprehend what ethical conduct is, governed wholly by rationalizations, unaccountable, feckless, incompetent, cruel, mean-spirited, devoid of common sense, self-control, prudence, compassion and decency, and, on top of all of that, inarticulate and dumb as a brick.
Stopping at your first phrase in describing Trump’s flaws is like saying that Al Sharpton talks too fast.
As I compare their two very different vision for our nation, I find Hillary’s completely unacceptable. One of these two very flawed people WILL be president.
. I cannot endorse either candidate, but I will be voting for Donald Trump’s agenda for America that will be implemented by people I do respect.
Donald Trump’s vision is of a nation where free speech and religious liberty are constitutionally protected, bedrock principles.
Hillary Clinton’s vision continues along President Obama’s path where such principles are quickly jettisoned with the latest turn of the sexual revolution.
Trump’s vision aspires, as a first priority, to use our nation’s military as a fighting force to keep America and the world safe from terrorists seeking to destroy Western nations.
Clinton’s vision would continue President Obama’s practice of using the armed forces as a social experimentation lab, where the LGBT agenda takes precedence over troop readiness and morale, and where placing women in ground combat roles supersedes obvious gender differences.
Trump’s vision would seek to build a federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court, which interprets the Constitution as an enduring document for the nation, with timeless guiding principles for civil government.
Clinton’s vision would appoint liberal-progressive judges to federal courts who believe the Constitution is a “living, breathing document” that bends with the times and with evolving cultural moral standards.
These statements are not mine. They are taken from the candidate’s web sites and recent speeches.
For me, it boils down to this.
–Trump will cut taxes, by far mainly on the rich – and massively raise the deficit.
–Clinton will raises taxes, by far mainly on the rich – and reduce the deficit.
That is agreed to by all economists except the few dead-enders who STILL believe trickle-down economics hasn’t been proven a failure.
For one example, try The Economist, in its article What Plan? Trump’s Sums Do Not Add Up.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2016/08/what-plan
Before one gets to “views,” one has to assess abilities, experience and character. Trumps views change daily, with the winds; Hillary’s with the polls and depending which audience she addresses. Trump was a pro-choice, pro-trade Democrat a few years ago. And he’s an idiot.
Issues literally are irrelevant with this pair. MO’s and evident character traits, plus demonstrated abilities and predilections, are. You have no idea what either will try to do, but we have a very good idea the manner in which they will try to do it. Clinton: deviously, but occasionally competently. Trump: dangerously, impulsively, and stupidly. Easy choice.
So I should take that as your preference for and endorsement of Hillary Clinton? I strongly disagree. With a long career in government I know exactly what Hillary will do as President. I may not know what Donald will do, but I’ll take my chances with a narcissistic and crude person over a known criminal who has repeatedly put the security of our nation at risk.
Endorsement? Nope. Nor do I support her in any way. I just have an obligation to make a binary choice, and the worst option is beyond obvious. I just recognize, as anyone should, that she is obviously more qualified by temperament, experience, ability and, yes, even character, as bad as it is, than Donald Trump, which is as low a bar as you can get.
And no, you cannot get away with “narcissistic and crude” here. Many Presidents have been narcissistic, including some great ones, and if “crude” was the only other problem, then I would pick Trump in a heartbeat. Take out crude and narcissistic, and that still leaves ignorant, lazy, corrupt, arrogant, a fantasist, a liar, a misogynist, a fool, a political incompetent, a terrible delegater, a poor judge of character, lacking in any relevant experience, literally unable to comprehend what ethical conduct is, governed wholly by rationalizations, unaccountable, feckless, incompetent, cruel, mean-spirited, devoid of common sense, self-control, prudence, compassion and decency, and, on top of all of that, inarticulate and dumb as a brick.
No responsible voter can risk making such an individual President, and doing so is indefensible. Indefensible.
I worry about Hillary and the Democrats and their flirtation with totalitarianism, but my final word on Trump’s fitness and those who are so Hillary-spooked that they would rationalize it away is likely to be here.
Isn’t the term “un-indicted criminal” an oxymoron?
Just as one can be an unethical lawyer without breaching the black and white of any rules, one can be a criminal without indictment or conviction. One may also be “innocent in the eyes of the law,” but correctly regarded as guilty everywhere else.
As is HIllary’s “career of service.”