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| Trump supporters appearing to raise their hands in a Nazi-like salute |
Donald Trump can do no wrong. Awhile ago he said that if he
shot and killed somebody in the middle of Times Square, people would still vote
for him. I think he’s right. The more outrageous
he gets, the stronger his support seem to get.
This weekend Trump had to cancel an appearance at The
University of Illinois - Chicago Circle Campus. Because anti Trump protesters turned
violent even before he showed up. The opposition to this guy is just as fierce
as his support is. This followed a Trump
event where his supporters got violent with protesters. Which many blame
on Trump’s rhetoric urging people to get violent and that he would pay their
legal bills!
I mean… REALLY?! Is this the kind of man we want to be the
leader of the free world?! I have never seen anything like it in my lifetime.
Trump has managed to bring out the worst in all of us.
The media has been relentless in criticizing him. They have
correctly pointed out what to me is obvious. The man is a vulgar self promoter that
has incited violence among his supporters and inspired violence against him by
his detractors. He is a man that will say anything to get elected.
When challenged does he not back off. He doubles down. He
refuses to take any responsibility for the violence that took place at his
rallies responsibility.
In what has to be the ultimate analogy to Hitler, Trump
asked people at one of his recent rallies to raise their hands and pledge to
vote for him in a primary regardless of any possible impediment. But instead of
raising their hands they way would in a court, they raised it in what looked
like a Nazi-like salute.
Was this a ‘Heil Trump’?! Absolutely not. I am not accusing
anyone of Nazi-like feelings. Not Trump and not his supporters. But one cannot
ignore the irony of an image like that in light of the kind of racist-like rhetoric from Trump that one might hear from a racist dictator.
How in heaven’s name can anyone support this guy after all
he has been saying? His rhetoric seems to get worse with each passing day! Maybe
the answer is contained in my question. The hand of God is guiding this.
But there are more mundane explanations. There is a lot of
anger by the typical middle class American voter. Anger about the increasing
divide between the rich and the poor. The middle class is shrinking as incomes
decrease while the rich keep getting richer and living the kind of ‘good life’
that they can only dream about – with the possibility of achieving it
decreasing year after year while politicians in Washington ‘fiddle’.
Bernie Sanders is the most likable candidate. How can you
not like his attack on income inequality and the shrinking middle class? It’s
just too bad his socialist ideas aren’t realistic, un-American , and ultimately
counter-productive. The last thing we need to do is turn the United States into
another Europe. Which is what he is selling.
What the people supporting Trump are saying is the same
thing the people supporting Sanders are saying: Enough! They want someone that
says what is on his mind regardless of the fallout. They want that person to say
to congress what he is saying on the campaign trail.
People are also tired of the political correctness that
disallows saying anything negative about Islam. It’s not that they want to
overturn the first amendment. But a lot of people are afraid of the kind of
terrorism that stems from that faith. They appreciate Trump’s candor on that
subject instead of the usually politically correct response about religious
freedom.
It’s not that Americans want to deny refuges from countries
at war entry onto this country. It’s that they don’t want themselves to get
shot in a mass murder by someone from a religious group that in our day has a proven record
of doing so. People like hearing him say that we should treat terrorists that
behead our citizens in kind – instead of saying that water-boarding is torture.
Trump taps into this kind of thinking. People like what they
are hearing from him – and not hearing from other candidates. That’s why he is
getting the kind of support he is. The media coverage – although mostly
negative – loves covering this guy because this is what gets people to pay
attention to them. And yet the more they condemn Trump, the more support he
gets. They are going to support the guy whose thinking reflects theirs.
What about all the anti Trump ads by political pacs? Waste
of time. They will only encourage more support. Trump has inspired people who
never vote to come out and support him. The numbers voting in primaries is unprecedented.
Just to be clear. I don’t think Trump’s supporters are evil
or stupid. Because that would make half the country evil or stupid. I refuse to
believe that. They are just rebelling against the system. This may be our ‘Arab
Spring’!
I am appalled that this guy is very likely going to get the Republican
nomination to be the President. But it seems likely now.
What about the general election? I no longer believe that
Hillary Clinton is the inevitable winner in a contest with Trump. The momentum
is on Trump’s side. And his support is increasing. Clinton, in the meantime has
her hands full with Sanders, having lost Michigan to him in a major upset.
There is no doubt that she will get the nomination. Her lead in the delegate
count is likely insurmountable. But in a general election, all bets are off. Sanders has shown her to have weaknesses. Her
negatives are probably just as high as Trump’s.
I have said that in a contest between Trump and Clinton, I
would support Clinton. But she is a very unappealing candidate for me. The more
I see her and hear her speak, the less I like her. Her authoritarian angry tone is almost as
scary as Trump’s ugly rhetoric. That tone combined with her position on social issues
will move the country even further away from the values I hold dear. I may very
well sit this one out (for the first time in my voting life).
How can I sit-back and not vote against a possible ‘President
Trump’? Because the Trump we see is not the Trump we will get. He is not a
racist. He is not anti Israel. He is not a misogynist. He is not anti
immigrant. Despite his current image – his record shows that he is basically a fair minded man who knows how to get things
done.
There is no negative record of him in any of those contexts prior to his entry
into the Republican Presidential primary. What we see now is a man who knows
better than anyone else how to get publicity. He does what it takes to get it -
by getting the media to focus on him. He knows that publicity – good or bad –
is publicity. And ‘as long as they spell his name right’ – he’ll take it.
I do not believe the country will fall apart under either candidate.
I certainly hope not. But I cannot stomach Trump or Clinton – and I doubt I
will be voting for either of them.
