In my opinion, Trump is completely and 100% unqualified to be president. Worse, he has no clue that he is completely and 100% unqualified to be president. Just the other night he reiterated his asinine idea that we should have “taken the oil” from Iraq, and that the US generals are “reduced to rubble,” that Vlad Putin is a helluva guy, and that he didn’t support the war in Iraq (he did – it’s on tape), that he knows more about ISIS than the generals (which led to the “rubble” statement), and that the military should have some kind of court system (uh, they do already).
He said all of this in the span of twenty minutes at the “Commander In Chief Forum.”
Somehow Trump supporters – I have no idea what they are thinking, except that there appears to be two reasons to be for Trump:
2. He’ll shake things up.
Regarding the latter, that is true, but that is not a good thing. He got into a Twitter war with the president of Mexico last week – and he (or the Mexican president) lied about what went on in the meeting. My money is on Trump for the lie. Either way, it was cussing stupid. The problem with Trump not knowing the context around NATO, around nuclear proliferation, and with his having insanely thin skin and his policy (described in one of his books, and demonstrated in the election cycle) of hitting people back harder than they hit you, is that I can’t trust him with the military and the nuclear codes. I can’t trust him to run American foreign policy – he has no clue, and he has demonstrated that time and time again. And he has no idea he has no clue, which is incredibly dangerous. In my opinion, due to his erratic nature, we are more at risk of nuclear war, nuclear accidents, and economic collapse under Trump than otherwise.
Trump is not a Conservative. His policies are retrograde populist. “America First!” is not a conservative policy, it is an isolationist policy. Isolationist policies including tariffs lead to economic hard times. The Great Depression was exacerbated by the protectionist policies the Smoot-Hawley act, which raise tariffs and reduced global trade dramatically. Conservatives are about free trade, not the protectionist policies Trump is threatening.
He’s good at real estate, for the most part, and he’s good at promoting himself. That does not translate into public service.
In a two-party system that leaves Hillary. There are many, many people who are voting Trump just because he is not Hillary. This is a huge mistake.
Hillary is nowhere near as bad as her more extremist critics say she is. Millions of dollars have been spent over the years trying to even bring charges, let alone convict her. If she really is guilty, then the extremists trying to prosecute her are extremely incompetent – which means to be that are full of it. As they say, dox or STFU.
However, she is still a Democrat. I personally have never voted for a Democrat in my life. Hillary is no Ronald Reagan or Barry Goldwater. Her policies are straight-up liberal Democrat. So we know what she will do when elected. Which, actually, is a good thing. At least we know.
But just because she is the only qualified major party candidate does not mean you have to vote for her. Just don’t vote for Trump. The GOP has fielded a candidate that pretty much guarantees the Democrats will rule the roost for the next four years, but we don’t have to fold. There are two alternatives to Trump who you can vote for to vote your conscience against Hillary, and also remain true to your Conservative or Libertarian bona fides.
The first is Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate. He has a ton more real experience than Trump, and has actually been in executive office. He doesn’t seem to be a bad guy, but in my opinion the Libertarian foreign policy leaves a lot to be desired – but he is significantly better than Trump.
The second is Evan McMullin. Unlike Trump, he has loads of policy experience, and knows what being a Conservative really is.
Of the two, McMullin is my man – he seems a good mix of the Libertarian and Traditionalist factions of the Conservative movement.
True Conservative policies – true conservative policies – value freedom over concentrated power, and that includes concentrated power in the hands of the wealthy, not just the government. Conservatism means: progressing into the future by applying the lessons of the past. By championing freedom to be with as little hindrance as possible. By respecting our traditions and American history – and the constitution – while realizing that the blessings of liberty are not available to all, and should be. By respecting human knowledge and applying it to the betterment of all. American Conservatism is based on the American Constitution, one of the most liberal documents ever written.
To my mind the candidate that reflects true American Conservatism is Evan McMullin. I think that if you are a conservative, you should look into his candidacy. But whoever you vote for, please don’t vote for Trump.
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Published by Mark Patterson
Yet another traveler on Spaceship Earth. I blog about humanity, life, life hacks, and technology. I earn my living advising companies on how to treat their customers better.
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