By: Mildred Robertson
I watched Monday night’s debate in both amazement and horror
as I observed the debacle which is the 2016 Presidential Election. Let me
clarify that I am a Hillary supporter. It is not a default vote for me. I
believe that she is capable and qualified to lead this nation as the first
elected female president, and I will proudly cast my vote for her. It is
definitely NOT a vote for the lessor of two evils.
I see only one evil, and the fact that this individual who
apparently has no redeeming characteristics is two heartbeats away from the
White House frightens me more than Putin…more than Korea…more than Isis. It is
incredible to me that at least a third of Americans, and maybe more, find
Donald Trump to be an acceptable choice to lead the most powerful nation in the
world.
To date, Donald Trump has articulated no discernible policy
in any area of politics. In foreign policy he has discussed building a wall to
stop immigration and pulling our country into isolation by defaulting on our
NATO obligations. Disturbing…yes—policy…no. He has laid out no plan as to how
he would accomplish either goal. (We know
Mexico is NOT going to build the wall!)
On domestic policy, he insists that he would force
businesses to bring jobs back to America. This is ironic in that he himself has
exported many jobs outside this country. And again, he has expressed no solid
policy on how he would accomplish this goal. Nor has he laid out a reasonable fiscal
plan to “Make America Great Again.” According to experts, his proposed economic
policies would propel us back toward the recession from which Obama just dug us
out. And he is proud to evade paying the very same taxes that are used to
support infrastructure, fire and police departments and schools; the very
foundation of safe, thriving communities.
His response to social issues are just as bizarre, as he
courts the African American vote in one breath and promises to nationalize “Stop
and Frisk” in the next; a practice which has been found to be both
discriminatory and unconstitutional. He still refuses to say that he was wrong
in demanding President Obama’s birth certificate and claims to be proud of
having “forced” him to present it. Tone deaf in everything associated with
discrimination, he does not see the parallel between his demand, and the historical
Southern practice of making Black people present papers to prove their status. He justifies his early business practices of
red-lining by saying that everybody was doing it.
Trump and his organization have embraced racists, disparaged African Americans and Latinos, attacked
women, offended fallen soldiers and their families, and denigrated war heroes.
It appears that he also may have evaded taxes, carried out illegal practices in
his foundation and bilked contractors out of money that they earned and
deserved. He has a history of being a philanderer, and has no understanding of
religious practices; even though he tells the religious right that he is a
deeply religious individual. He is a proven liar and may possibly have amorous
feelings toward his own daughter.
When you couple his total lack of preparation and qualifications for the Office
of the Presidency with his moral deficiencies, it is amazing that millions of
Americans are capable of choosing this man to lead them. It is amazing that
they would embrace this caricature of a human being and say “He speaks for me.”
It says more about millions of Americans than it does Donald
Trump that someone of his ilk would be allowed to become the standard bearer of
a national party. It means that every third person I see in the mall, or on the subway or in a restaurant or on my job has likely embraced the racist, bigoted, immoral and dimwitted philosophy this campaign represents. While millions support Donald Trump, let’s hope that
millions more stand up and say, “This is NOT who we are! This man does NOT
speak for me!”
We all have the opportunity and the obligation to say just that
on November 8th.
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