Never Trump – My Reasons

“Love him or hate him, Donald Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money.” —Donald Trump on Donald Trump

I have spent a good amount of time recently criticizing Donald Trump in writing, in conversations and on social media. I have been exhorting my fellow Pennsylvanians to vote for anyone else in the upcoming primary, because I love my state and don’t want to see it embarrassed by supporting such a candidate. But the more important long game is denying Trump the Republican nomination… because so much damage will be done if he is still a candidate after the convention.

I’ve been asked many times why I have taken this “Never Trump” position. I’ve also found it very interesting that when I post something anti-Trump, the only responses I get are negative towards his competition… never citing reasons to vote for him other than he’s different.

My reasoning is simple: he is not qualified and his mere presence on a ballot is an embarrassment to our country. But to be fair, I will expand my thoughts on this very sad subject.

Donald Trump is a manipulator, and his enthusiastic supporters are the “manipulatees”. He is an outstanding marketer, and has hit a nerve with a base that was desperate for this kind of dialogue. While it would be easy to take cheap shots at a small portion of them for their racism and bigotry, that would not be fair. The majority of Trump supporters have had a difficult time for many years, and their candidate has marketed himself to be the answer to their prayers. Trump has recognized a base that has lost traction because of the domestic economy, foreign competition and – by their logical extension – immigrants. Legal or illegal, it doesn’t matter. Mexican or Muslim, that doesn’t matter either.

But as legitimate victims of corporate greed or government policies, they absolutely must have their problems addressed because they are citizens of our country. That failure is a completely different debate. These people deserve better… better than Donald Trump. Because after the rallies are over and the Trump circus heads out of town, his supporters are left with promises for change and no real solutions to achieve it.

Trump has opinions on what is wrong with our current foreign policy and the state of our economy… all gloom and doom. But he offers no real solutions, not a one. When asked for specifics he dodges the questions, only saying that he will have the best people and he will solve all of the problems.

Go to his campaign website and read his “positions”. You will find his policies to be vague and lacking detail. But they have been composed by professional writers on his staff… clearly more professional than the candidate. And Trump continues to confuse and confound everyone by straying from this published platform during speeches and interviews.

I know, I know… all of the other candidates’ plans have come into question. That is part of the political process. But at least they are consistent, and I suggest you read those positions as well. Whether you agree or disagree, you will certainly find Trump’s opponents have put more organization and thought into their plans… and have been consistent in their presentations.

Personally, I disagree with his opinions on energy and climate change, foreign policy, the economy, immigration, guns, etc. But I do agree with his opinions on some things. Maybe…

• I can agree with his abortion stance, as I am Pro-Life. But I don’t think he is telling the truth about that because he wants to court evangelical voters.
• I agree that our commitment to NATO is out of balance with other member countries, but I don’t think we should remove ourselves.
• I’ll also agree with Trump that our system of electing a President is completely flawed – on both sides. But he wouldn’t care if it was working to his advantage.

Above anything else, Trump’s attitude is the main reason I would like him to disappear from the playing field. He respects no one, and changes his position on issues frequently – sometimes several times in the same day. And his quickness to call an opponent a liar flies in the face of the fact that he doesn’t tell the truth.

His hate is unprecedented in an election – at least in this country. That fact alone should stop his campaign in its tracks. Because America has always been – and should always strive to be – better than this.

He is a misogynist. I am constantly amazed at the sheer amount of dismissive and derogatory statements he makes about women. And I seriously question any woman who could possibly consider voting for him.

I’ve said in previous posts that when Trump announced his candidacy, he probably didn’t think he would win. I don’t think he ever wanted to be President, instead to be the trouble-making pundit on the fringes, getting financially rewarding speaking engagements and book deals. But now he’s clearly in over his head, and the American people are bearing the weight.

I don’t think it is possible for voters to agree with everything a candidate puts forth. There are way too many things that matter, so many details. While it’s very easy to blame a President for the economy and other problems, most of the big issues we face are shared by the Senate and House as well.

At the end of the day, I want my President to represent our country positively and professionally, and be committed to keeping my family safe. That is why a President Trump scares me to death. That is why I insist, “Never Trump.”

He may be rich, successful and a fantastic real estate entrepreneur, but Donald Trump is not qualified to be President of the United States. His attitudes and core beliefs will consistently make enemies around the world, and the indifference or loss of our allies. His hatred and policies will bring war to our country, and to our shores. And they will be fought by our children and grandchildren.

We can never let that happen.

Never.

No pics in this post other than the banner as I wanted my opinion to be the focus. As of today, I am still undecided who gets my vote, but I continue to shudder as some candidates stoop to Trump’s level. I will probably wait until there are only two left to make my choice. Hopefully, it won’t be the lesser of two evils…

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B-Musings – Pants On Fire Edition

“B-Musings”… sharing random blurbiage and ping-pong balls rattling around my dome.  Haven’t done this in over a year, but it doesn’t mean my brain is resting peacefully.

Liars – Not so long ago, calling someone a “liar” was one of the worst insults you could say. In this supercharged political season of today, it’s commonplace. Every presidential candidate has said  the “L” word frequently, certainly exacerbating a campaign that has been definitely not “presidential”.

It’s not just in politics, I’ve seen it occur in the workplace as well. I’m not sure what’s worse… the ease at which people wield this knife, or that the increased frequency of the sin that makes the accusation so normal. It’s just another subtle decline of our values, part of a larger landslide.

Beautifully Played – If you have read my blogs before or know anything about me personally, you are aware of my love for soccer. I watch, coach, live and love the beautiful game. I’m not writing this to expand my thoughts further on these feelings, but today I was reminded what the game is about for me.

As I said, I am a coach. For most of the last twenty years or so I have been involved in youth soccer. I’ve held several official and administrator roles at various times, but I’ve always been a coach. Sometimes I’ve been a good one, sometimes not so much. But I’ve always tried to teach my players to respect the game and their opponents. We don’t always win, but we try to play with integrity.

I knew going into my U-13 match this weekend that I would have some trouble fielding a team. Some players were sick, some had some family conflicts, etc. But we had the full eleven side and started the match. At halftime, one of my defenders had to leave to attend his lacrosse game. The opposing coach saw him leave and immediately took one of his players off the field.

I’ve been in this situation before… on both sides of the ball. What to do depends on many factors, and a somewhat meaningless spring soccer game made it easier to make the sides even. And he did that.

Sometimes in youth sports you see examples of adults behave badly because of a skewed sense of proprieties… not that day. It really doesn’t matter who won the match, and these kids all played beautifully. Clearly, I love this word…

It was a beautiful thing, on a beautiful day, and it’s all part of the beautiful game.

Funkified – I’ve been feeling funky lately. No… not George Clinton Parliament Funkedelic funky, but I’m not above posting a picture of him to add some color to all your lives… you’re welcome!!

I’ve just been in a rut. I’ve been busy at work, travelling, more work, etc. I’ve also been distracted by many things, like politics and the unbelievable rise of Leicester City Football Club (that could be an entire blog post). So I haven’t been reading and writing much in the last couple of months.

Reading a book usually gets me out of these funks, and that simple act rescued me again over seven flights in the past two weeks. This time it really made me think, as I am reading the autobiography of my favorite artist – Elvis Costello.

To be honest… this is a good book, not a great one. If you are familiar with Costello’s career you know that he’s pretty much done whatever he wanted, sometimes risking success and certainly record sales. In this book he tells his story… the one he wants to tell. It is sometimes boring and sometimes exhilarating. The chapter stories are told randomly, without regard to his chronology.

I own every second of Elvis Costello’s published music, plus hours of concert stuff and radio shows. I’m guessing I’ve seen him live close to thirty times. He’s recorded about a thousands songs… I love some, I like some, and a few I don’t like at all.  But I always respected his commitment to be his own artist, and he always inspires me.

You are reading this now because this week, he inspired me to read and write… and get funky.

Turn the sound up and enjoy my favorite Elvis Costello song… and maybe ask that same question. Enjoy your day!