Trump vs. Clinton vs. Us

In the wake of Donald Trump’s latest racist comments, everyone is talking about him. Which is kind of what both parties want, so that everyone will ignore the monster that’s about to eat them.

June 7, 2016

”In recent days, Trump has been accusing U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing a lawsuit against Trump University, of being biased because of his Mexican heritage. The judge was born in Indiana” (Bloomberg Politics)

I find it interesting that Paul Ryan would publicly disavow Donald Trump’s statement...

"Claiming a person can’t do their job because of their race is certainly the textbook definition of a racist comment." (Paul Ryan, June 7, 2016)

...and I entirely agree with that, but at the same time Ryan declared his continued support for Trump.

“But Ryan quickly added that Trump would give Republicans a better chance of getting their legislative agenda enacted than would his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.”
(Bloomberg Politics, ibid.)

What fascinates me is that such an obviously racist statement as Trump made would, in previous elections, all but disqualify him from the Presidency; in this election, however, even conservative politicians who strongly and publicly disagree with this racism are more than willing to continue supporting Donald Trump.

This speaks more to the Republican Party’s inherent racism than it speaks to Trump’s.

But perhaps more importantly, it speaks to the deeply felt Republican hatred of Hillary Clinton that they would continue to embrace such a man just because he now represents their best chance of keeping her out of the White House.

The Republican Party is obviously prepared to embrace any extremism in order to defeat Hillary Clinton in the general election. But (and I say this as a Bernie Sanders supporter) I find it even more disturbing that this attitude and its emphasis on defeating Hillary Clinton at any cost, lionizing Trump as Donald the Hillary Slayer, has had the effect of further strengthening her campaign and causing her to be seen even more as Hillary the Trump Slayer.

And it bothers me that I see this same “her-or-him uber alles” attitude occurring on both sides of the aisle. I see Democrats willing to compromise their positions on things like Citizens United, which once upon a time was universally and vehemently opposed by the entire left, becoming tolerated by a more corporate-friendly Hillary Clinton. I hear the statements she has made regarding her willingness to compromise on abortion rights, and it sends shivers down my spine.

And I hear once-proud Progressives making excuses for her, willing to support her no matter how far she strays from their ideals, because they feel that she’s their best hope against Trump.

(To be fair, that’s not the only reason Clinton supporters have for being Clinton supporters, and I will admit that some of their reasons for being so are good ones. But I more often hear that “it’s her turn!” or “it’s time a woman was President!” and these are poor reasons for supporting any candidate, in my view.)

I see opposition to either candidate from within their respective parties being squelched by the parties themselves. I see opposition to either of their favored candidates being treated as party disloyalty. And I see these attitudes as being destructive to their parties.

I think we need to get beyond thinking about this election as one candidate vs. the other, or as one party vs. the other. I think that this election has become more of a clash of personalities than a clash if ideas, that we are choosing a leader without regard to what that person actually represents, solely on the basis of how much we like them.

I realize that this isn’t the first national election that could be described thus, but never more so. I realize that this is something we have allowed to happen gradually, and now the monster is loose.

I think that the harm that these two people may do to their respective parties is potentially immeasurable. For this reason I can respect the Republican establishment for their efforts to stop the Trump juggernaut, even if they have soiled themselves while trying to embrace the monster that is devouring them. I cannot respect the Democratic Party for its unashamed efforts to enshrine Hillary Clinton so far in advance of its own nomination process being complete; they have their own monster devouring them, but they’ve been more than willing all along to feed it their own flesh just to guarantee its victory.

I can’t speak to the Republican Party’s problems other than to point to them and say, “Hey...you’ve got a problem!” I’m more involved with the Democratic Party, even if it’s only as one of its lowliest supporters, the very sort that the party is trying so desperately to ignore. Not only can I point at the problem, I can give my opinion as to what’s causing it, and perhaps what might be done about it.

To that point I will only say this: Perhaps we, as Democrats, liberals, and progressives, need to realize that it’s not Donald Trump that we need fear will cost us the Presidency...it’s Hillary Clinton, whether she wins or loses, that may cost us everything we have.

The Blues Viking
The opinions expressed here are mine and if you don't like them you can get your own damn blog.