First stop: The post where I remind you why Trump is not only bad for America, he’s the worst.
(Next stop: Local Culver City elections, where even if everybody knows your name it doesn’t mean you need to run for elected office)
We have an opportunity to make major changes in three months, an opportunity to vote ourselves out of our country’s unenlightened, fear-mongering, destructive course.
The ball’s in your court.
On the macro scale of things—let’s be brutally frank—unless you are a multi-millionaire, a xenophobe, or a racist, you’ll join the rest of us by ensuring Donald Trump doesn’t get another term. And the way to do that?
Vote.
It’s easy to dismiss all politicians as shady, claim one is the same as the other.
But in the case of the US president, there’s not an argument to be made (again, unless you fit into those three categories). The US has gone from representing an ideal to the global community to being characterized through the lens of the leadership of a deeply odd, unintelligent, unkind, amoral, friendless, hate-filled liar who has naught a concern for anything that doesn’t directly relate to himself. He went unchallenged by those in his party when he insisted President Obama show his birth certificate, and he’s still not shamed by such a blatantly supremacist view: he’s now asked the same of the democratic nominee for VP, Kamala Harris. The latter clip is noticeably delightful because a woman journalist with a very slight accent is told by Trump (speaking over her): “I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”
Trump has repeatedly refused to release his taxes (even though every other candidate has). He believes he is above obeying the law, and he certainly doesn’t know how to negotiate or lead.
He did know about Russia’s illegal and traitorous meddling in the 2016 election.
He spoke proudly of his famous quid-pro-quo proposal.
He only has “standards” when he wants to call someone out when they’ve called him out. Forbes magazine infuriated him when they wrote his claims of being worth $3.3 billion were bunk and valued his brand at the more modest $125 million.
His admin has been a long-line of revolving Trump supporters, one less informed than the other. And those who’ve “succeeded” have been embarrassing examples of white privilege, by words and actions (I’m looking at you, Betsy De Dos, William Barr, and Brett Kavanaugh).
As expected, he’s decimated environmental protections, giving way to oil, coal, and ranchers. The divide between rich and poor has never been wider
Name calling and not-at-all-clever name-coiner Trump has the opposite of “poker face,” and his lies were predictable and evident. For example when he says “I don’t know anything about it/him/her/them” he really means I’m distancing myself from this. When he talks about all the people who come up to him, wet from tears and addressing him in every fourth or fifth word as “sir,” he’s referring to something he wants to promote himself. When he says “the likes of which have never been seen before,” it means either it was an average turnout/incident, if it even happened at all.
He happily (with the seeming approval of the GOP) courted and openly admired dictators (because he’d like to be one himself), dismissed Haiti and African, countries with POC as “shit holes.” You do not have to “interpret” or “read-between-the lines” where Trump is concerned. He’s emboldened those who hid their racist beliefs to bring them front and center, and lied and lied and lied. He empowered raging racists by making them his consultants, Stephen Miller and Stephen Bannon.
He was advised by now convicted felons and Russia allies Paul Manafort and Roger Stone. He commuted Stone’s sentence; he would’ve commuted Manafort’s but he was released early due to COVID-19 fears. He’s really trying to make white-collar crime “normal.” Michael Cohn, too, is in jail, but he was surely considered disloyal by telling the truth.
He learned to conduct business without empathy from his father Fred Trump, as well as from the notorious Roy Cohn.
Not understanding freedom of speech or the purpose of the press, he’s openly called for suppression of the press. He turns press updates into self-serving monologues.
He’s behaved deplorably throughout his narrow-minded narcissistic existence: this US president has been accused by at least 25 women, of sexual misconduct/harassment/assault, he’s defrauded hundreds of people through his ill-fated and ultimately unsuccessful businesses, including a casino, a university, an airline, and a men’s clothing line (phased out by the exclusive seller Macy’s in 2015), eyewear, fragrance, home lighting and crystal and more.
He will throw any former (or current) colleague who displeases him right under the bus.
OH, and his handling of the pandemic and treatment of the country’s leading infectious disease doctor has bordered on homicidal. He’s now brought in a new doctor/advisor, Dr. Scott Atlas, who he clearly hopes will promote his (terrifying) agenda for COVID-19.
All the above is utterly indefensible.
There’s no other alternative
Joe Biden wasn’t “my” original candidate, but he is miles away a better person than Trump. Think about how people are focused on his inappropriate expressions of affection with a sniff (the worst thing they can credit to Joe Biden?) and compare that to everything about Trump (and the minimum 25 women Trump has assaulted).
What grades would Trump receive as 45? Compare with: What grades would Biden receive for his work as President Obama’s VP?
I was enthusiastic about literally everyone/all the possible democratic candidates with the exception of Tulsi Gabbard and the guy who won the democratic nomination. I am and have been a Bernie supporter (so you can see where my bias is) and felt such promise with the possibility of having Sanders as a leader. Whatever. Well, not whatever, but it was a great loss for every American.
That said, I’m voting for Biden. I’m not going to make any worthless pronouncements of not voting or voting for any other alternative. It’s true, my dudes: a vote for anyone other than Biden is a vote for Trump, period. Hillary Clinton had 2.9 million more votes than Trump did, and still didn’t win.
Donald Trump is the whole package.
Before you leap to “a whole package of crap,” do consider the details:
- He’s used the presidency to make millions for himself and his insidious family
- He’s mocked the disabled
- He doesn’t even consider, he’s just outwardly rude to anyone who isn’t stumping for him
- Has called, on record, in his own words women “ugly,” “fat” and “ nasty.” He can’t stop himself.
- He comes up with (poorly conceived and disrespectful) nicknames for elected officials and even leaders of countries
- He literally not only habitually lies, but it’s also astonishing if he tells the truth
- His administration has been a revolving door of privileged, deeply unqualified (primarily) white men
- He has lifted many (with the goal of all) of the hard-won environmental protections exclusively for financial gain for either himself or his supporters
- He sought and received Russia’s interference
- He was impeached
- He has no concept of loyalty
- He brought hate-mongering and racism to the forefront
- He has a press corp masquerading as a news organization–Fox
- He’s hypocritical to the point of noting that information could fill a book (and pretty much has)
- He gave us Betsy De Vos
- He gave us Brett Kavanaugh
- He gave us Stephen Miller
- He gave us Steve Bannon
- He gave us Steve Mnuchin
- He gave us Jared Kushner (making private business deals with companies in Israel and Russia on taxpayer time)
- He gave us the nausea of seeing Don Jr., Eric and Kellyanne Conway uncomfortably and ignorantly punt for him
- He’s an awkward, friendless person, but not in any sympathetic way. He’s not only “even” awkward with his wife, he is majorly so. We get it, we know why.
- He cannot shake hands like a normal person.
- He posts like a crazy person on Twitter (and doesn’t check his diction, grammar)
- He is really, really stupid
- He may not be able to read
- He describes himself as “a stable genius” with “a big brain”
- When he flubs something on a teleprompter, he NEVER owns it, and tries (very poorly) to make it sound like it’s on purpose (why does he care so much about this?)
- He absolutely, for certain, pretends to know anything about religion. His only god is himself.
- His wife loathes him — all that slapping his hand away!
- He has used the belonging-to-the-American-people white house for campaigning
- He very much believes that if you’re brown, you’re a step down Even if you’re a brown kid.
- He developed his “character” and principles from very questionable arenas (Fred Trump, Stone, Cohn)
- He commuted Roger Stone’s sentence
- He has pardoned justly convicted criminals to suit his agenda
- He suggested that COVID-19 (“19?? No one knows what the 19 is for.” No, *you* don’t know) would go away during the summer (it didn’t)
- He’s just not clever in his retorts, and they only serve to prove what a mean, small-minded person he is.
- He suggested that COVID-19 might be cured with the application (how?) of internal UV light or the ingestion of bleach
- He positioned what little stance he had on COVID-19 to benefit the wealthy
- He repressed Dr. Anthony Faucci (!!!)
He is not a critical thinker. Most of the time, he’s completely incomprehensible. He’s repeatedly proven he is unfit to be the commander-in-chief. Vote, please.
One more time, for the record, I’m voting the Biden/Harris ticket.
