It has become a political cliché to state that any particular election is critical to the history of the country, and it’s true, they all are. But this one really is unique. This is not merely a choice between two contending political persuasions, two visions of America’s future, two individuals of differing ideology but both within the elastic bounds of political competence. Trump, unlike any of his Republican predecessors running for president, is an amoral self-seeker of fundamentally despotic temperament, a crude misogynist, a liar exceeding anything we have seen in decades, a demagogue oblivious to and dismissive of inconvenient facts, a purveyor of conspiratorial innuendo, and a mercurial bully far too uninformed and narcissistic to wield the power of the presidency. I have compared him to Kim Jong-Un, ruler of North Korea, except that as president Trump would have a Constitution, a congress, and a free press to at least partially clip his wings. And so, to the “undecideds,” you cannot congratulate yourselves for your high principles by sitting this one out. If you have to hold your nose while voting for Kamala, fine, do it. And then—but only if you vote for her—if she does something you don’t like, complain at will.
(This was the final paragraph of “A Pox on Both Your Houses? No” posted on August 14, 2016, when Hillary Clinton was running against Trump. I have changed only two things: Bernie-or-busters is now to the undecideds, and Hillary is now Kamala.)
John Rachal's Blog
Even More So Now
October 4, 2024 at 12:35 am (Political Commentary)
It has become a political cliché to state that any particular election is critical to the history of the country, and it’s true, they all are. But this one really is unique. This is not merely a choice between two contending political persuasions, two visions of America’s future, two individuals of differing ideology but both within the elastic bounds of political competence. Trump, unlike any of his Republican predecessors running for president, is an amoral self-seeker of fundamentally despotic temperament, a crude misogynist, a liar exceeding anything we have seen in decades, a demagogue oblivious to and dismissive of inconvenient facts, a purveyor of conspiratorial innuendo, and a mercurial bully far too uninformed and narcissistic to wield the power of the presidency. I have compared him to Kim Jong-Un, ruler of North Korea, except that as president Trump would have a Constitution, a congress, and a free press to at least partially clip his wings. And so, to the “undecideds,” you cannot congratulate yourselves for your high principles by sitting this one out. If you have to hold your nose while voting for Kamala, fine, do it. And then—but only if you vote for her—if she does something you don’t like, complain at will.
(This was the final paragraph of “A Pox on Both Your Houses? No” posted on August 14, 2016, when Hillary Clinton was running against Trump. I have changed only two things: Bernie-or-busters is now to the undecideds, and Hillary is now Kamala.)
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