2016 Presidential Election

What’s Past Is Prologue: Why Verifiable Reality Can’t Even Stop Donald Trump

I was just having a conversation with my friend about how unbelievable Donald Trump is in denying he said and did certain things, that are so easily proven otherwise. Like…um…there’s a paper, video, and audio trail, sir. Nope. Doesn’t faze him. Some might think that he is completely disassociated from reality. I’d like to think that, but I think it’s even worse. At least in that case, he’d have an excuse beyond just being a complete narcissist.

To me, I find it unfathomable that someone who is so skilled at using social media and the press to his advantage, could be so defiant in the face of demonstrable video and audio that is irrefutable and damning. I don’t think he’s disassociated from reality. I believe he knows that cameras have caught him in lies and ensnared him in inconsistencies. I just think he’s a man that has gotten his way his entire life, and flies in the face of reason and doubt, that would most certainly make the rest of us apologetic and contrite. His reversals and refusals would cripple anyone else, but in Trump, they only make him MORE resolute and defiant. He ALWAYS doubles down. He has such a force of will, that he is defiant in the face of inarguable truth. I have never seen an actual human being demonstrate the concept of Hubris more than Trump — like you would find in a Greek Tragedy. He puts Oedipus to shame. He puts Nixon to shame. He is so proud and singularly focused, he doesn’t need physics and reality to get in his way. It’s stunning.

Donald Trump is so convinced of his own greatness, he honestly believes that he can will facts and evidence out of existence. He believes his cult of personality can honestly erase all of his many flaws and inconsistencies. And why not? Despite a media that constantly point out his many gaffes, his own supporters see him as flawless and always consistent in reinforcing his message of hate. Those who love him refuse to hold him accountable, and therefore, he never has to contemplate change, self-reflection, or regret. As he has said repeatedly, “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” I honestly believe there could be video of him raping, torturing, or killing someone, and he would probably still not lose any voters. It’s unprecedented.

Trump has the ability to make US all feel crazy for trying to use HIS words against him, and prove that it’s not us who are insane. My friend, Tammi, put it best: “It’s like Donald Trump is Gaslighting the entire nation.” Yup. That’s exactly it.

Why Hillary Clinton Will Lose the Debate, Even if She Wins…by Jon Ferreira

I’ve heard many people preemptively declare Hillary Clinton the presumptive winner of tonight’s debate against Republican nominee, Donald Trump. Many view her intelligence, grasp of policy, superior debating skills, and Presidential demeanor to be so vastly superior to his, that there is no way he could possibly compete with her on stage.

After all, Donald Trump is easily baited, and is completely unstable and unpredictable when faced with adversity and challenges on stage and on the campaign trail. He is known for his outspoken and unapologetic bigotry, misogyny, sexism, racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and many other seemingly insurmountable deficits and short-fallings. Donald Trump is perhaps the most publicly reviled Presidential candidate in history, and one would think, the easiest target to take down. Simply put, Donald Trump has been his own worst enemy, and in any other campaign, it would have taken only a handful of the gaffes he has made to end his run, but not so with Trump.

When Ronald Reagan was President, his critics and detractors called him “the Teflon president”- a nickname that was coined by Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder, reflecting how a plethora of scandals surrounding his presidency seemed to have no effect on his individual popularity with the public. Seemingly, nothing could stick to President Reagan, and he left office as wildly popular – if not more – than when he came in. If Reagan was considered the “Teflon President,” than surely Donald Trump has been the “Teflon Candidate.” Despite a 24/7 constant media obsession with every boneheaded, racist, and dangerous thing he has ever said and done, Donald Trump still managed to beat out 17 other Republican hopefuls, gained millions of rabid supporters, won over thousands of independents and disenfranchised voters, and closed the gap between him and Hillary Clinton. Currently, the two are neck and neck in the polls. Trump has done the unthinkable: he has used the hateful rhetoric of an authoritarian demagogue and fascist to demonize huge swaths of the American public, and used divisive language to incite violence and hatred, YET still managed to win over nearly half the electorate. This hatemonger is actually a viable candidate for President of the United States – arguably, the most powerful and influential job on the planet.

Donald Trump’s supporters admit that he sticks his foot in his mouth repeatedly, although they admire him for “telling it like it is” and for speaking the truth to power. They want a candidate who is willfully Anti-Political Correctness, and who flies in the face of traditional politics and convenient policy soundbites. They want someone they perceive to be like them, and Hillary Clinton is decidedly NOT that.

For those on the Left and in support of Hillary Clinton, it would seem that she has all the preternatural abilities and advantages going into tonight’s debate. She has been active in politics for over 30 years, and has spent a lifetime in service to the poor, to children, and to middle class families everywhere. She is the former First Lady and spouse of a former President, and knows the workings of the White House and Capitol Hill. Clinton is an experienced ex-Senator and former Secretary of State, who had very high favorability ratings while in office. Hillary also has a wonkish understanding of policy and the nuances of Government. If anything, Hillary Clinton may be the most capable politician to ever run for the Office. Her grasp of policy and governance is stunning, even to the most veteran of politicians. She also has a practical knowledge of how Washington works, and knows full well what it means to collaborate and work across the aisle. For good or for bad, Hillary Clinton is a career politician and a Washington insider, who has an infinite number of connections and alliances. She also has many enemies and detractors, but what politician doesn’t? It is undeniable that Mrs. Clinton knows how to get things done, and possesses a good deal of political capital. Hillary Clinton may be one of the most experienced, intelligent, and capable people to ever run for the office of the Presidency.

And yet…and yet…she may still lose. Even despite the enormous deficits of her polarizing challenger, and all her many strengths and capabilities, there is still something undeniably looming underneath Hillary Clinton’s Presidential run. There are still huge obstacles to her being elected. It’s something we’ve heard about for months, but it’s something that will inevitably rear its ugly head in the debates specifically. You see, it’s not her grasp of facts and figures, Hillary’s comprehension of policy, or her innate ability to debate that worries me. Clinton obviously has all those strengths in spades, and perhaps in a normal debate, against a more traditional candidate, those would all be huge assets. Yet, even against a more orthodox candidate, as a woman, I still think Hillary has the unenviable task of having to win over people who society has predisposed to dislike her. Her intellect, poise, and debating skills have NEVER been the problem with Hillary Clinton. IT’S ALL ABOUT LIKABILITY.

Men are praised for power, and women are praised for how they look, and for being demure. If she attacks too much or gets too animated, she is labeled a “crazed and shrill bitch.” If she lays back and debates the finer nuances of policy, she’s an “egghead wonk, and completely unrelatable.” And the worst possible scenario is if she appears wonkish and elitist, and seems to be patronizing and haughty at Trump’s inevitable ignorance and perceived stupidity. Remember Al Gore’s loud sighs in his debates against George W. Bush? He was expressing the frustration the rest of us Liberals were feeling at Bush’s lack of policy knowledge and superficial understanding of government. Gore was sighing because he was a smart and capable politician, with years of experience and a firm grasp of how to govern this country. Gore was sighing for all of us, and for everyone who recognized that Bush was simply unsuited for the job of President. Yet, as we soon realized, his justified sighs were patronizing and haughty, and only served to alienate the public and humanize George W. Bush. Those sighs not only made Gore unlikable, they made Bush imminently likable and avuncular. As was oft repeated, many Americans felt that they would enjoy sitting down and drinking a beer with Bush. He was one of them. Those sighs ultimately humanized Bush, and made him instantly relatable. Well, those sighs would be even worse coming from a woman.

I hate to say it, but I think Hillary is — and always has been — in a lose-lose situation. She’s a woman, and sadly, judged by an irrational and woefully sexist patriarchal standard of how a woman should behave. But more so, whereas men are judged positively and worthwhile for being aggressive and confident, women are seen as “bitches” – or worse – for showing the exact same temerity. On the other hand, if she comes across as too wonky and knowledgable, she’s simply a “know-it-all nerd” who nobody likes. If a smart and capable man like Al Gore had trouble seeming relatable, comfortable, and likable, it is a thousand times worse for ANY woman, and especially a woman like Hillary Clinton – with all her perceived baggage – real or imagined.

I wouldn’t have necessarily chosen Hillary Clinton to be our nominee, but I like Hillary. I think she is deeply flawed, and has made some catastrophic mistakes, but which of us hasn’t? What politician doesn’t come with baggage? I liked Bernie Sanders, but Hillary is much more electable in today’s political climate. Even if I don’t always think she represents herself well, I know Hillary Clinton is smart, capable, experienced, and passionate about the same issues I care about. But sadly, I also think she’s in a practically no-win scenario when debating this cocky sociopath. I do think Hillary Clinton may narrowly win the Presidency, but in many ways, she will never be “America’s President.” As you know, no candidate will ever receive the mandate of the vast majority of the people ever again, as was sometimes the case in the past. Our society is currently too divided and polarized. However, Hillary Clinton, if elected, will undoubtedly be the most unpopular candidate to ever win the Presidency. If she can nearly be beaten by a man as grotesque and deplorable as Donald Trump, there is something clearly deeper than her past mistakes in Benghazi and email servers at work. This is more than emails and Whitewater. Hillary Clinton is a woman, and although she may become the first female President of the United States, she will never “WIN” a debate. She can’t. We won’t allow her too. It’s not Hillary Clinton I’m worried about tonight. It’s everybody else.

The War on Truth & Intellect: Anti-Intellectualism & The Religious Right

A reasonable person might ask, how could anyone vote for someone as stupid as Dr. Ben Carson? Why would you ever want to elect an ignorant person to the most powerful and influential job in the world? The sad fact of the matter is, not everyone in this country places such importance on intelligence as a prerequisite and qualifier for President. As much as the Right condemns those of us on the Left for having no values and attacking their faith, one of the most fundamental values we cherish is that of intellect, and the pursuit of knowledge. Intellectualism and human betterment have always been deeply held principles, and reason is central to progressive belief. There are plenty of religious people who count themselves liberals, but more often than not, they are reasonable and embrace plurality and diversity of opinion. Being a liberal or progressive does NOT preclude one from being faithful or religious.

Conservatives often rightly condemn us as elitists, but they often wear their own ignorance proudly, and as a badge of honor. As if being less intelligent and more faithful and religious was a good thing. But to them, it is. Faith will get you into Heaven, but don’t forget where Knowledge got poor Adam and Eve. Almost from the outset, some read the Bible as a cautionary tale against seeking knowledge and questioning God’s will. Asking questions and being too clever was looked at as sinful or prideful, and often severely discouraged and punished. Naturally, this is just one narrow and rigid interpretation of the Bible, but it has been led to a persistent and pervasive attitude towards education and learning that has found its way down through the ages, and into many evangelical and conservative faiths today.

The people considered fundamentalist have the narrowest view of the Bible, and are rigid in their condemnations of others for behaviors they view as sinful. They seek to return America to its “Christian values” and fanatically believe America is being eroded by moral decay and a culture of permissiveness and sex. They are distrustful of medicine, science, technology, socialism or other types of government, non-Christian religions, minorities and laws like affirmative action, homosexuality, immigrants, Hollywood, the media, gun control, and many other hot-button issues. These are the people who vote and support candidates like Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman, and once upon a time, George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. This is a very different Republican party than Eisenhower, Nixon, and William F. Buckley inhabited. And as much as they love to claim them as their own, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt truly belonged to a party closer to resembling today’s Democratic Party. Anyone who knows the history of the parties and evolution over the last 150 years, knows as much. Over the last 40 years, the party has been hijacked by the Religious Right, and there has been a war on intellectualism. The days of Buckley’s incisive criticism and articulation of the party’s views are long gone, and the GOP is left with deeply faithful fanatical Christians, who have very little intellectual chops, but aren’t short on faith and moral outrage. They prey on fear, and use minorities, women, immigrants, and xenophobia to scare their base, and whip up the party.

People like Ben Carson can say outrageous and patently false statements, because 1) No one on the Right is going to fact check him, and 2) It doesn’t matter what facts and figures he has, because they’re not judging him on his intellect or veracity, but on the faith in his heart and commitment to fighting the culture wars from the Oval Office. They want an advocate to outlaw abortion, impose the death penalty, overthrow gay marriage, remove all environmental regulations, work to bring Creationism to schools and remove Evolution, build border walls and brutally enforce strict immigration laws, remove regulations from business and stoke a free market, cut taxes, reverse Obamacare, eliminate most social entitlement programs, and work to undo all the other progress the Left has made in this country. They care about moral crusaders and the soul of their candidates, but the mind is perhaps the least important part.

When Donald Trump uses the slogan, ‘Making America Great Again,’ it’s insulting to many Americans, and so sadly misleading. When was it great to begin with? Was that during the genocide of Native Americans, and when the country stripped them of their land? Or was it during slavery, and the years the country was bitterly divided and fought a civil war? Or when the Irish were rejected work? The lynchings and Jim Crow era? Perhaps it was when women were denied the right to vote or to work, or Japanese internment camps. Or was it Vietnam and the turbulent ’60s? The point is, there was no time America was “great” because it wasn’t great for everyone. Sure, maybe if you were a white, male, wealthy, Christian landowner in the south, there might have been great times. But it sure wasn’t for their slaves and the women in their households. America is a great country, and since the lofty goals outlined in the Declaration of Independence, and added upon in the Constitution even still today, it aspired to be something greater than it was. ALL men created equal. And women, and blacks, and gays, and every other person in this great country. But there is no ‘great’ to return to, Mr. Trump. The great is in front of us, as we take steps to make this country great and free for everyone.

The truth of the matter is, Intelligence is often the biggest indicator of tolerance, acceptance, open-mindedness, and a commitment to social justice. The pursuit of egalitarian principles is most often achieved by the smart and the bold. On the other hand, ignorance is the biggest indicator of bigotry, homophobia, sexism, xenophobia, jingoism, and violence and a predilection to fight. Poverty is often the leading cause of ignorance, and not surprisingly, education and a war on poverty have been two of the biggest pieces of agenda on the Democratic platform. By stamping our poverty, we stamp out so many other things, such as violence, ignorance, and bigotry. Yet the Right has proven time and again, that it would rather spend countless trillions of dollars on foreign wars of election, than on educating every American, and lifting them out of poverty. Imagine what kind of education we could have provided with all the money spent on Afghanistan and Iraq. But again, since intelligence is not valued and cherished by many on the Right, either is education. It’s apparently more important to build walls to keep foreigners out and to build bigger and better weapons to fight wars and exert dominance over the rest of the world. This is a macho, jingoistic, xenophobic, truculent, and violent mindset. One who shoots first, and asks questions later. Only a mindless cowboy seeks fights, rather than keeps the peace, and avoids them.

If this world is ever going to achieve peace and tolerance, it will have to be won by the intellectuals and reason-minded. That doesn’t mean an attack on faith or that religion has no place in a civil society. Faith can play a tremendous role in a community’s health and well-being. Religion doesn’t have to be at odds with science and reason, or intellectualism and rationalism. The two are not mutually exclusive. That is, until you make them so, and admonish intelligence, and uphold blind faith and hateful, ignorant views. The people who vote for Ben Carson are not voting for intelligence, but his eternal soul. The President represents ALL Americans, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Atheist, and every other faith and belief there is. We don’t need another devout zealot trying to shape this country back into the Christian nation it once was, because it never was. The Founding Fathers did not intend it to be, and made it abundantly clear that there was to be a separation of Church and State. So go ahead, and get angry whenever a state removes a Ten Commandments rock from the statehouse grounds or prohibits prayer in school, but then go and read the Constitution, and get a clue already. A vote for an ignorant man — brain surgeon or not — is a vote for poor leadership. This is arguably the hardest job in the world, and a President probably makes at least a hundred decisions a day. This is subtle, nuanced work, and it takes a considerable mind to process all that information, face tremendous resistance, work successfully with opposing parties, use diplomacy effectively, keep peace or judiciously wage war, and make small and large decisions that could have catastrophic results. This is not a job for the feeble-minded or anti-intellectual. We saw how well George W. Bush did with his eight mindless years in office. He took a considerable surplus and turned it into a huge deficit, he launched two costly wars which we still can’t get out of, he spent all of America’s capital and good will the world had for us, he set global warming and sustainable energy back decades, he made a royal mess of Hurricane Katrina, and made many other serious blunders. W was not an intelligent man, and as such, he was handled and manipulated by war hawks and powerful men with militant agendas.

America cannot afford another dim-witted man in the White House. And that’s the fundamental difference between those who would vote for a vacuous mind, and those who put weight in the intellectual heft of a candidate. Ben Carson fans have absolutely no problem believing Joseph built the pyramids to store grain, because they either believe it to be true, or don’t care if it’s false. Either one is dangerous. Those of us who know better should do whatever it takes not to elect those who don’t.