I am shocked too. I am shocked that anyone is surprised by any of this. You don't have to know a thing about Donald Trump's history to see what kind of man he is. All you need are the recordings of his debate performances and Twitter feeds from the primaries until now. It's all there. He doesn't just view women as objects - he views EVERYONE as objects. We are pawns in his game to "win". It's all about his ego, and many have been seduced by Trump's promises to give a few political prizes if folks will just look the other way at his personal antics.
My question is, how has looking the other way worked out so far? Not only is his candidacy a disaster, but evangelical Christians have given a skeptical world just what they need to confirm that evangelicals are the hypocrites the skeptics always believed us to be. Evangelical support for Trump gives them fodder for believing that we never really had principles to begin with and that we just spouted pragmatic platitudes in a bid for power. Conservative Christians give the appearance (if not prove the reality) that we are merely concerned with maintaining control, even if it means supporting someone who exhibits every characteristic we say we abhor.
Look, I get it that many now believe (post-primary) they have no choice but to support Trump in order to keep Hillary out of office. I cannot bear the thought of a Clinton presidency myself. I am convinced that Hillary is as corrupt and self-serving as they come. I know she will pack the Supreme Court with liberal judges who will set us back decades. The problem is, I can't bear to think of a Trump presidency either. I understand every election is a choice between imperfect candidates; however, Trump is antithetical to everything that it means to be a Christian or a leader of a free nation. Don't kid yourself that Trump is a moral man who will make sound decisions. He is and will be a disaster. He will make "deals" that give up only enough political goodies to aggrandize himself. He does not operate from principles, and he won't uphold yours or mine no matter what he has said up to this point.
What do we do with the choice between the twin disasters of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump? I, for one, will not support either of them. (And please don't start the nonsense with me that an abstention or write-in is a vote for Hillary - that argument is neither mathematically nor logically sound, and it doesn't sway me anyway.) What I want to say at this point is directed at those who voted for Trump in the primaries. What exactly did you expect? Did you really think then that Trump was anything other than what we are seeing now? Did you think he would settle down and be presidential? That he would take advice? That a billionaire, misogynistic, self-absorbed, narcissistic playboy was actually interested in regular people? Make no mistake about it, his problems are not over yet. This will only get worse before the election is over (and probably after it too, whether he wins or not).
I don't know who will win this election, but I do know that we are all going to be losers no matter what. Maybe next time, we'll take the office of the president a little more seriously. I am very concerned about what happens between now and the next election - who knows what pieces we will have to pick up or what national price we will have to pay. I genuinely hope that I have this all wrong, but I am convinced I do not. You can rightly criticize me that all I'm doing at this point is complaining rather than offering solutions. Fair enough, but I think in this instance there are no solutions. It is going to be a difficult path - one the people have chosen. We will deserve everything we get. God have mercy upon us all.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I encourage your comments and welcome the dialog! I will publish any comment whether positive or negative if made with appropriate decorum toward myself or others. I reserve the right to exclude comments strictly based on my subjective perception of appropriate decorum - author's privilege!