Yesterday, I heard journalist Carl Bernstein call this election the Gettysburg in America’s cultural wars, meaning that this election might very well determine the nature of our future existence as a nation. I found that a very striking and fitting analogy for this race. This race entails two very different visions for America, one filled with light, the other darkness.
For example, the difference between last week’s Republican convention and this week’s Democratic convention was breathtaking. The Democratic convention was a showcase of diversity across the spectrum of America– there were even many longtime Republicans that spoke to the crowd. It had substance. It had optimism and a positive message that spoke to the ideal of the American can-do spirit. It was uplifting and inspiring with too many awe inspiring speeches and stories that I can’t even begin to list them here.
It was about us, about our love for this country and not the love for the hate-filled rhetoric of an angry reality star.
It was filled with light.
On the flip side, the Republican convention was the darkness, somehow both an angry and low energy affair filled with a crowd that lacked the vitality and diversity that makes us America. There were only 18 black faces out of the over 2400 delegates, a number so low (that’s only about .07%, folks) that the black delegates were asked to not congregate so that they could better disperse through the crowd. The whole event terminated with Trump’s dismal vision of America and his assertion that he alone could solve the problems of this country. He couldn’t even deliver on his boast to make the Republican convention a “showbiz” convention, packed with flash, celebrities and a “winner’s night.” I must have somehow missed that part of the convention.
No, he portrayed this country, including our military, as being filled with fearful cowards who are not up to a challenge. He certainly didn’t offer one to the people of this country in his rambling diatribe. No, he offered to take over with an air of authoritarianism that is all too reminiscent of Mussolini and the rise of Fascism in Italy in the 1920’s.
You do know how that turned out, don’t you?
He says we must believe him when he says that he and only he has the answers and solutions we need, though he has yet to offer any tangible plan for us to see. Nor has he any evidence of having any answers in the past as a so-called businessman. He is a businessman in the way that the Kardashians are celebrities– all flash and little substance. He is all about brand. That’s it.
Take for example, his only experience in operating a publicly owned corporation, Trump Resorts (DJT). If you had invested $100 dollars in it at its IPO in 1995 and cashed out ten years later you would have been left with $4. Four– a loss of over 95% of your investment. This company lost staggering amounts of money every single year from 1995 until 2005 at a time when other casino stocks boomed and the stock market index was doubling. A $100 investment in his competitor MGM Grand turned into $600 over the same time frame.
But he made money. He stripped every cent he could get his tiny little hands on from the corporation until it finally collapsed in bankruptcy. Great articles on this in the Washington Post and MarketWatch.
And while he says he will put Americans to work, only this past week he and his Palm Beach resort filed for 65 guest worker visas so that he could fill staff with foreign workers, even though there are hundreds (according to local labor stats, there are actually over 1300 who are looking for work in the same field) of nearby resident in need of jobs. His record of filling his staffs with foreign workers is astounding. There is nothing illegal in it but it certainly doesn’t jibe with his boastful rhetoric.
His proposals and his resume are short on facts because the facts are not his friend. His word is not his bond and even contracts to which he set the terms are subject to being challenged when he feels it is to his benefit. This is not a man of honor. This is a many without empathy and little reason, a man who seeks to punish those who he believes have slighted him. In fact, even last night at a rally, he spoke about his desire to retaliate against the speakers at the Democratic convention who pointed out his flawed life and ideology.
At one point last night he said, “I was going to hit this guy so hard his head would spin, he wouldn’t know what the hell happened.” This is last night, folks. This man wants the power and strength of the US military at his beck and call. God help our troops if this man somehow continues to hoodwink those Americans who refuse to see the evidence of his reality.
And it is there for all to see. He has shown what he is, who he is. He is a lifelong bully, a spoiled petulant manchild who is fixated on his own image and his own voice in the grandest form of narcissism we may have ever witnessed. He uses the lie as tool. He has never taken any personal responsibility for any of his failures, always finding a scapegoat on which to lay blame. Nor will he take responsibility for his failures if, God forbid, he becomes President.
And there will be failures. That is the nature of the job. That is the very nature of life.
Do your research and don’t believe his vapid promises without first considering the reality of them.
Now for the record, I consider myself a Liberal who is proud of the many accomplishments of the progressive movement. I like and respect Hillary Clinton very much. I believe she will work harder for us than any President we have seen in our lifetime. That is just how she goes about things. But she is not perfect in any way. She has made mistakes but that is often, unfortunately, one of the risks in taking on great tasks.
Nor is she the caricature from the Right that has been formed over the last 30+ years, a period of time in which her every word, her every action, her every look and even her appearance have been put under a microscope and dissected. Think about it, how many of us could hold up with that kind of constant inspection over that long a time? If you’ve not made a mistake, spoken a wrong word or didn’t do things that you deeply regret then you are either a better person than me or you have not lived a life of consequence out among the people. I know I couldn’t survive that kind of constant examination.
I will end by saying that I would rather have Hillary Clinton fighting for me than nearly any other person that comes to mind. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Trump fighting for any other person than himself.
If you must respond, I will respect your opinion because in America it is understood that there is often a difference of opinion.But please be civil. No name calling. No broad smears or conspiracies. Use facts please. That is something I seldom see when reading comments from Mr. Trump’s supporters.
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I read this week that that Rex Tillerson, the president and CEO of Exxon Mobil who considers himself close to Putin, is at the top of the list as a potential Secretary of State in the Trump Administration.
I hear all the time that this election is about bringing change to our country. While that sounds pretty good for some folks, especially those who feel like they’ve somehow ended up with the short end of the stick, I want to speak a word of caution:
Wow.
“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.”
I was going through some old images the other day and for some reason I always settle on this image shown here, an old piece from my earliest painting efforts over twenty years back. I call it The Incantation. At that moment a news station was on the TV, with its incessant and seemingly never-ending coverage of the presidential primaries.
Redtree Times 