OK: IT’S TIME TO, “PUT UP, OR SHUT UP!”
Donald Trump’s damage to America will not go
away quickly, even if he loses.
The first reaction from Donald
Trump was predictable after the latest letter to Congress from FBI Director Comey said the FBI
was sticking with their former statement from the July meeting. That statement being, that there was nothing
to warrant an indictment of Hillary Clinton. Trump of course, yelled
“Foul”!
Now Trump is saying, there is no way they
could have reviewed the 650,000 e-mails in 8 days.
Even though 90% of the e-mails were from or to Anthony Weiner, and those
were not considered. The remaining 10% that
were reviewed was accomplished by automated software. This was easily explained by the experts, but
as far as “The Donald” is concerned,
“The system was rigged.”
Let’s face it, the overall damage that Donald Trump’s
campaign has done to America, it will not go away quickly, even if he loses.
In addition, the Republicans in Congress have
pretty much signed up to continue their grid-lock of the US government and
their commitment to destroy Hillary Clinton in any way they can.
One liberal opinion writer wrote that if
Hillary did win: “The evidence suggests
that Hillery’s GOP foes will try to
end her presidency prematurely by colluding with an implacably hostile conservative
media and, it now seems, right-wing agents inside the FBI.”
This was of course, written just before Director Comey
published his 2nd letter that exonerated Ms. Clinton, just 2 days before the election .
But what the FBI Director’s decision did do was
show how reckless he was when he made the mistake of issuing the October 28
letter bringing up the e-mails so close to the election. No investigation of any kind has ever been
announced by the FBI, or any federal agency, that close to a federal
election. That single move gave a great
advantage to Clinton’s opposition whether it was for Trump or for her
congressional critics.
This action opened the gate for Trump to tell
even worse lies than he has been telling and it seriously emboldened his
supporters to be even more riotous and physical at their rallies.
Being an avid follower of American politics,
I have to admit that as bad as some of the past presidential campaigns have
been, this has been the ugliest and most negative campaign that I can
remember. And I must admit, that most of
what has made it so bad can be placed on the shoulders of Donald J. Trump. Mr. Trump personally nurtured the nation’s division
with his lies, and his follower’s aggression and rancid prejudice.
So, what have we learned about this celebrity
candidate over the past two years?
We have seen close up that Mr. Trump is:
selfish, undisciplined, untruthful, greedy, misogynistic, vindictive and he is
intellectually lazy. We learned that a
Trump victory would unleash untold clashes within our populations. Many individuals, both men and women have
proclaimed that they would take to 2nd Amendment actions if Trump
were to lose. A Trump loss will not
advance the cause of social peace and mutual tolerance.
Most Americans still believe in making the
experiment in self-government work. They
also insist on the need for Congress to govern, not to obstruct, as they have
been doing over the past 8 years.
This is the man who opened his campaign by
declaring that many immigrants to our country from Mexico are “rapists”. That, and other Trump comments legitimized
negative, far-right politics and an open expression of bigotry. Because of Trump, White Nationalism has again flourished in the so called, “Garden of Trump”.
Because of the months long campaigns, we now
know about Trump’s treatment of women, his financial stiffing of many who
worked for him, his positive statements about authoritarian world leaders and
dictators, his openness to be assisted by the Russian Putin’s personnel, his comments
against a Gold Star family and their heroic son, and his promises to use the
instruments of government to punish his enemies.
We all know that for anyone else being like this, it
would have reduced their share of the nation’s votes to single digits.
Our current deep political divides along
lines of party, race, class, gender and region, have guaranteed that even a man
as deeply flawed as Trump would still have a firm foundation of support.
Many Americans, that have been negatively
affected by economic and social changes, are in such a bad circumstances that
they have embraced Trump as a way of expressing their rage.
The support for Trump among white
working-class voters says that they do not find the former economic promises of
politicians believable. Believable enough to remove them from making the riskiest vote they
will ever cast in their lives.
By supporting Trump, Republican politicians
such as House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell (Ky.), have said that this ridiculous candidate’s endorsement of
their agenda of tax cuts and deregulation, that endorsement matters far more than his
authoritarian attitude or his overall intolerance and thin skin.
What is despicable, is Trump’s close alliance
with those that are always going after Hillary Clinton. Those Republicans in Congress such as House
Reps. Jason Chaffetz (Utah), Darrell Issa (Calif.), Trey Gowdy (S.C.) and all
of their supporters, have spent years hurling false charges at both of the Clintons.
Unfortunately, FBI Director Comey’s second
letter could not fix the damage he caused Clinton and the Democrats.
Of all the mistakes or failings of Ms.
Clinton, nothing she has done has justified the vile hatred that has come her
way. As a Senator and the Sec.of State,
her popularity was of one of the highest of any US politician. Her approval ratings were in the 70 to 80
percent, that is until the day she announced she was running for president.
If as expected, Hillary does win, somehow the
country will need to reject the tactics that the Trump campaign has offered for
denying Hillary’s legitimacy. His claims
of a “rigged system” has no basis of
fact, but that has never kept Donald Trump from marching forward.
However, based on the past, it is expected
that the GOP will be offering unending
investigations that will offer accusations based on their preconceived
conclusions. This is not the mission of the US Congress, however, some hpw the foul spirit of this 2 year political campaign cannot be
allowed to continue for the next four years.
Now it’s time to see what this election day will bring.
Copyright G.Ater 2016
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