There is so much noise in this election cycle - candidates, scandals, sex, emails. One could argue that is always that way, but in reality, the situation is far more polarized than I have ever remember experiencing.
I have thought a great deal about this election - who I should vote for, what will happen to the Republican Party, what will happen to the houses of Congress. And so I thought I would share some of these thoughts:
- Donald Trump may be one of the worst people in all history. He embodies everything that we should stereo-typically hate in a person. He defines the ugly American. Even his body language is a performed, calculated and obscene exaggerated part of his overall performance. Personally, I don't think we have actually seen the REAL Donald Trump - I think we are seeing the character created persona that was developed for his TV shows. I don't really know (or do I really much care) about his acumen as a businessman, except that the Trump character is not like any businessman that I have ever met (and I know A LOT of them). We - as a voting public - have very little understanding of his political policy views, his values, or his vision, apart from some vague soundbites which are often contradicted in the very next breath. He is NOT a Republican from anything that I can see (which actually gives me a minuscule level of comfort) - The best way that I would describe him is as a preference poll populist: one that reads the polling data from the previous day to determine the message and direction of the day. The idea of his as the elected leader of my country is nauseating.
- Hillary Rodham Clinton may be one of the worst candidates in all history. She embodies everything that we despise in a politician. She is pompous, dis-ingenuous, self serving and heartless. Personally, I have actually considered if she is some kind of strange robot / android type being controlled by the man behind the curtain. The fact that she is a woman has absolutely no bearing at all of any of the disdain that I hold for her (my issues with her have nothing to do with her gender). In fact, if I were a woman, I would be extremely disappointed that Clinton is the example that being used to represent women in general. Her campaign and political career has been one continuous opportunistic moment after another - first wife Clinton in the AK governor's mansion, then in the White House as First Lady, then moving to NY to take a very safe Democrat Senate seat, then as the Secretary of State. We do know exactly where she stands - she stands for Hillary and whatever is in her best interest. Her social media message says as much. As President, it will be the friends of the Clinton Family Foundation gang, pay to play, and anything that will serve the Clinton dynasty and legacy. The best way that I would describe her is a self serving bureaucrat: one that uses her position and influence as a government employee for personal gain, regardless of the expense. The idea of her as the elected leader of my country is nauseating.
- The third party candidates that are running have lost before they have started, primarily because we are a two party system. I am not advocating a parliamentary or coalition type system by any means - I an just sharing that the two party system generally works for our country, and would be working now, and will still work in the future. Gary Johnson and Jill Stein may be better humans and politicians than Trump and Clinton - from the little that I know about them, I have to believe that they are. But they decided not to play within the confines of the already accepted two party system, and therefore are marginalized. Frankly, Libertarian Gary Johnson - even with his complete lack of foreign affairs knowledge or experience - is still a better Republican than Trump is / will ever be.
I will likely write more later. I still have other things to share about this. But these thoughts have been in my mind lately.
