Hillary & Trump: Two Deeply Flawed Candidates

By many accounts, the 2016 Presidential Election year is a complete campaign in the ass. Two deeply flawed candidates manipulated and exposed deeply flawed processes in both major political parties, not the least of which is for the GOP, how to vet their candidates more thoroughly, and have the ability to remove them from official party candidacy, and for the Democrats, how to maintain candidate neutrality, and prevent party officials from influencing candidates of the top officials’ choosing toward nomination. I predict many much-needed changes on the horizon for both parties… following the November General Election.

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by Gary Cosby, Jr.
Used with permission

WARNING:  This is a long post. It is also my final political post before the election.

I am not an editorial writer but today I am going to play one on Facebook. First, let me say, everyone is welcome to comment; however, if your comment uses foul language or is abusive to anyone else, your comment will be deleted. One of the great problems we have today is our lack of ability to disagree and still have civil discourse; therefore, we will practice it or be censured. Keep in mind, this is my opinion and you do not have to agree with it. Thank your First Amendment rights for that.

By now, we all know this presidential election cycle has presented us with the two poorest candidates in memory, perhaps in all of American history. Certainly there have been poor candidates running for one party or the other throughout our history but not facing one another in the same election.

They have turned the presidential debates into bad Saturday Night Live skits. In fact, I doubt the writers of SNL would have been able to dream up anything this hideous. The American political scene will never be the same and that is not a positive thing.

Donald Trump has managed to single handedly immolate the Republican Party. He could have done no more damage with a bomb than he has done with his words. To make matters worse, Trump has run such a poorly organized campaign he has decimated the volunteer infrastructure within the party that is so critical to getting out the vote. Not only does this hurt his chance to be elected, it hurts the chances of Republicans on the ballot running for other offices who depend on the party infrastructure.

Trump has shown reckless abandon for his fellow human beings hurling insults at virtually everyone who is not a white male, a strategy that has pushed independents, women, minorities and moderates away from the conservative movement. Again, this not only hurts Trump, it hurts other Republicans running for lower offices. He has killed the Republican Party as we know it.

He, not Clinton, has shown contempt for the basic rights granted in the Bill of Rights. His desire to muzzle media outlets that don’t praise him is right out of the Hitler/Goebbels playbook. Now there is a comforting thought. As an aside, if you have never read “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,” take the time and read, before you go and vote. There are some terrifying parallels between America and Trump today and Hitler and nationalist Germans in the early to mid-1930’s.

Trump has done everything in his power to gift-wrap the election for Hillary Clinton. He has managed to do what I considered impossible. He has made Clinton look presidential and statesmanlike. Perhaps you don’t know but Trump is not a life-long Republican rather, he is a party flipper having been a Democrat, a Republican and an Independent during his adult life. While that is not a problem and is completely legal, conservatives should not be deceived into thinking he is conservative. He is what he wants to be in the moment.

Trump is now claiming a conspiracy is afoot to keep him from the White House. If that is true, Trump himself is the chief architect. No one could have done more to sabotage the election than Trump whose bombast is his own worst enemy. To now point the finger at the media is nothing better than pandering and could be much worse. By making this ridiculous claim he is pouring gasoline on a pile of already dry wood and standing by with a match. He is literally saying, “If I can’t win, I will destroy this so no one else can win either.” Not only is this rhetoric childish and immature, it is extremely dangerous given the current sociopolitical climate and is close to being criminal.

Worst of all, for me personally, is the way Trump has exposed a deep hypocrisy within the Christian community. Too many conservative Christians persist in defending the man and urging us to vote for him so we can stop Clinton. Is that not the ultimate, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend?” While I am painfully aware of my own personal hypocrisy, I have been shocked to see so many Christian leaders lay down all semblance of the belief system they have spent their lives promoting and defending to support the antithesis of all they have advocated personally and in the pulpit. Seriously, just switch labels. Make Trump the Democrat and Hillary the Republican. Are you still defending the verbal sewage he is spewing? It breaks my heart.

Clinton is no better and she may be worse. Despite, or perhaps because of, her years of public service, I can think of no one more corrupt and less deserving of power.  From the White Water scandal, which includes the somewhat dubious death of Vince Foster and the associated cover up, to her “management” of the first push for national health care, to the Benghazi disaster, to the email scandal, she has left a wake of destruction, questions, and obvious manipulations. Even a child would have suspicions about her behavior.

Her only saving grace has been the sway her husband still holds in D.C.  Were she not named Clinton, she would long ago have been shoved to the side in disgrace and likely faced prosecution for her numerous misdeeds. She is living out the Trumpism that if you are rich and powerful enough you can get away with anything.

I have heard this phrase come up recently in regards to Clinton, “she has dedicated her life to public service.” Umm, yes, and that is supposed to make us all feel better? If a person devotes himself to a life of crime is that supposed to make me respect his effort and dedication? I think not. I strongly suspect her motives for public service are far from altruistic.

While everyone can see Trump’s nasty side, he shows it daily, Clinton’s nastiness has come out piecemeal over the years from stories told by insiders in the Clinton White House from the 90’s. Her treatment of White House staff, her security detail and the military personnel attending her might even make Trump blush. Clinton certainly is no lily-white crusader for truth, justice and the American way unless that way brings her power and riches.

Partly because she is not Donald Trump and partly because she has long been the darling of the left-leaning national media, her sins have not been excoriated as they would have been if a Republican, or even a lesser Democrat, were committing them. The Wall Street journal recently ran a story blasting media for covering up Clinton’s sins and all but accusing them of being part of a conspiracy to help her get elected.

The bottom line is, Hillary Clinton has used her position unethically and/or improperly on many occasions and has never faced the music for her transgressions. You can do a quick Google search and find the numerous allegations against her and Bill. Quite possibly, Yellow Dog Democrats aside, she is the most hated and distrusted woman in American politics.

Most conservatives fear her influence will go long beyond her term of office due to the number of vacancies expected to come up on the Supreme Court. Conservatives are saying this could be the death of America as we know it. This demonstrates a decided lack of knowledge about how the government works. Worse, fear mongering is a low-blow tactic no matter which side uses it. By the way, a Donald Trump presidency doesn’t guarantee any better nominees than a Hillary Clinton presidency.

Allow me just a moment to remind you of your high school civics lessons.

Supreme Court justices are indeed nominated by the President; however, nominees must be approved by Congress. A president may wish to strongly tip the court in one direction or the other but can’t actually do this without the consent of the Congress. That is our system of checks and balances operating to ensure no one exerts too much influence on the political and legal system. This tends to moderate the Court.  Our founding fathers were wise men.

As you can see, I am no fan of Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. I will not support either one of them with my vote for President but I will vote. I intend to cast a write in vote in this election. I will have nothing to do with either of these very corrupt individuals. I already know many of you will say I am handing the election to one candidate or the other. What I have determined is we will never have anything better than we demand and I demand someone better than either Clinton or Trump.

I hate it that our nation has arrived at this juncture. It is the closest thing to a disaster in our political system that I have seen in my life. I will have no part of it. I will use my vote to demand better. I urge you to go vote. Do not stay home. Use your vote. The non-presidential candidates of both parties need our support even if you don’t feel you can support the top of the ticket. Go vote! The races for Senate and House of Representatives may never have been more important than they are this time. Your vote is absolutely essential. Use it.