The Disaster Of A Trump Victory in November
It should come as no surprise that Donald Trump is out of control and seems hell bent on destroying America, and is completely indifferent to wrecking his own party along the way, win or lose in November; he is the Trump Tower that the Republican Party has been building for nearly forty years, starting with the Nixon campaign’s “dirty tricks” in 1968, moving on to using Joseph Goebbels’ “big lie” theory, i.e., tell a lie loud enough and long enough and people will believe it. Republicans in general and the ultra conservative wing of the party especially have spewed out incredible lies and distortions aimed at anyone opposing them, demonizing everyone they perceive to be “liberal,”, “progressive” or just a little left of center.
Just a few weeks ago the Republican convention trotted out Patricia Smith, who holds Hillary Clinton “personally responsible” for the death of her son Sean in the Benghazi tragedy. Her speech was painful, her story very moving, and letting her deliver that speech was cynical and morally reprehensible. She ignored the fact that repeated, highly partisan “investigations” could not place legal or even moral culpability on Hillary Clinton. The Benghazi tragedy was more investigated than the JFK assassination or even the 9/11 horror, and still the Republican attack squad could not place blame on Clinton. But convention shouts of, “Lock her up!” at times drowned out speakers, and one campaign official stated she should be put in front of a firing squad and executed for treason – and there was no rebuke from Trump or the Republican party.
When Khizr Khan spoke at the Democratic convention, his wife Ghazala at his side and in obvious emotional distress, his point was that Trump’s proposed ban on Muslim immigrants was immoral and unconstitutional. Trump responded with anger and counter attacks, claiming that their son, Army captain Humayan Khan, who died protecting his men and was given the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, was killed because of failed Obama and Clinton policies in Iraq. But Capt. Khan died in 2004, during the first term of the Bush/Cheney administration, and while Colin Powell was Secretary of State. The Kahn’s showed no bitterness, only unyielding grief; their son was the best this country had, and he was a Muslim immigrant.
Trump and the Republican party ignore clear, unbiased statistics about the declining crime rate, the improving economy, immigration impact and the unrivaled strength of the American military. Trump himself insulted veterans by accepting a Purple Heart medal to which he had no claim of any kind, and his claims of “sacrifice” for his country are skewed; profiteering and bankrupting out of debt repeatedly, hurting small businesses in the process, are sacrifices only in the mind of a narcissist. Trump and his party ignore systemic racism, sexism, hatred for the LGBT community, and income and wealth inequity, and seek election by creating divisions among us.
If Trump wins in November, our allies will pull back at the thought of an American leader devoid of any moral compass, wrapped up in his delusional, ignorant and intolerant polices, both foreign and domestic. Our enemies, starting with Vladimir Putin and other sociopaths like him, will rejoice. And if he wins, the majority electing him will get exactly what they deserve. Sadly, the rest of the country, those of us who tried to be an “informed electorate,” will be dragged down too. And this country will no longer be the “beacon on the hill,” it will likely deteriorate into a laughing stock. A Trump presidency will move us closer to climate disaster by ignoring clear and compelling evidence that we have to address global warming. But maybe that will be moot – the moment he takes office, the odds increase astronomically that we could soon face a nuclear winter.