Race for the White House Volume 75

What to write about today?

As usual, I could go in several different directions with this, but my thoughts are somewhat disjointed, and there is nothing I could cover in regards to this campaign that gives  me much to be happy about. Thank goodness for America's Pastime of baseball.

At the least, I know that either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton will lose this election and their ardent supporters will be very upset. The bad news, though, if the candidates remain in place until November, that the other side will be happy, and America will be worse off either way.

While I find Hillary Clinton's liberalism dangerous and her honesty and ethics repugnant, and while I will never vote for her, I still find Donald Trump worse. His defeat is the most important thing that can happen this year, and if the pieces of America and the Republican Party can be picked up after that, we can begun at that time.

If Trump can be taken at his word in regards to his current word in regards to policy positions (and I definitely do not think he can), I might agree with him more than I do with Clinton on some economic, foreign policy, and social issues (and agree with Clinton a bit more on some others). The talk on the right is often about the Supreme Court, with the assumption that Trump might actually win in November (and I do not think he can), and that he would nominate better judges. I have heard all those arguments, and they still do not matter to me. There are some lines that just can never be crossed for me. It ought to be abundantly clear that racism and division is at the heart of the Trump Movement. Some people buy into it, some do not realize it exists, but like what they think Trump represents, and others, perhaps such as Speaker Paul Ryan, know it is going on, hate it, but feel they have no choice but to express a preference for Trump over Clinton.

I will never do that and many others like me will not as well. I am a conservative not a reactionary. I may look like a Caucasian but I categorically reject white identity politics, regardless of the racialism and politically correct excesses of the left. I was inspired to be a Republican at a young age and to remain one as I got older by the messages of Ronald Reagan, Jack Kemp, George. W. Bush and many others, and have fought, especially as a minority party member myself, to broaden the base and include others who have felt left out. Donald Trump ruins all of that, and he does so proudly. despite the way he points out "my African-American" in a rally crowd or talks about how he has a "great relationship with the blacks." If the man is not personally a racist, he is trafficking in racism and I can never not oppose that, in any way that I can. What happened to William Bennett, the author of the "Book of Virtue?" Twenty years ago I remember him saying that Pat Buchanan was an unacceptable Republican nominee and a conservative independent effort would be mounted to oppose him if he is nominated. Now, a Trump nomination is all but assured and he is even worse than Buchanan, but Bennett says all Republicans must support him. Trump casino gambling debts perhaps?

There is not really much else that could more aptly illustrate Trump's racist campaign than his recent attacks on the federal judge presiding over the Trump University case (the content of which alone should render him unacceptable.) Back during the primaries, Trump made snarky passing comments to the judge being "Spanish", but now he is back on the theme, blatantly calling the Indiana born jurist a "Mexican." This is in spite of the fact that Trump himself was born to an immigrant parent as were four of his children. The candidate claims that since the judge is of Mexican heritage, he cannot fairly judge Trump in a courtroom because Trump is "building a wall." I legitimately do not know how any person who can claim to not be a racist can look at themselves in the mirror and be at peace with voting for that man.

So, what options do Never Trump/Never Hillary voters have? It remains unclear. Last weekend, the Libertarian Party did nominate a ticket of two former GOP Governors, Gary Johnson and Bill Weld.  I will certainly say that I find Johnson a better fit for the Presidency than Clinton or Trump but I really do not think I could actually vote for him. I am extremely troubled by his love for all things marijuana and have fundamental foreign policy differences. I sense that Weld is having to swallow a lot of his beliefs on some matters too to fit into the party, after barely being nominated at their convention. I watched a bit of their convention last weekend on tv and it was weird to say the least. I would not want those people in charge of the country, but I will likely be feeling the same way about the two major parties this summer.

A mention has to be made of an incident in San Jose this past week, as anti-Trump protestors, many of whom carried Mexican flags and signs of basic opposition to the United States clashed with Trump supporters. A female Trump supporter was caught up in the crowd and verbally assaulted and had eggs thrown at her. That sort of behavior is unacceptable in every way and should be denounced by everyone. Of course, Trump himself has called for violence at his rallies, so I will definitely say he shoulders some blame for the ugliness we have in our country today and what we will be facing the rest of the year, but the way to get people to vote against Donald Trump is definitely not to do the illegal and deplorable things the left-wingers did in California this week. That only plays into his racist message and validates his supporters beliefs.

For several weeks now, conservative pundit Bill Kristol (who has a horrible record of predictions) has been talking about finding a conservative on the right to Trump, but has been coming up empty, as such an insurgent movement is not something conservatives are known for. Now, a name has emerged, and it is one that I really do not know much about. David French is another conservative writer, but also an attorney and a decorated combat veteran. He has in the past said he would force himself to vote for Trump if it came to that, but later had a moment of conscience and fully joined the Never Trump effort. French would have no chance of winning but he is actually a Republican and seems like an actual honorable person. I could easily vote for him if I had to. We will have to see if he actually tries it.

This Tuesday, Hillary Clinton will likely clinch the Democrat nomination, even if she faces the humiliation of losing the California primary to Bernie Sanders. The polls right now, in the nation's largest state, where Democrats have a huge party advantage show a dead heat, with momentum to Sanders. If I was not taking all this time every week to vent about Trump, I could easily write many paragraphs about the problems and schisms in the Democrat Party. While I think they will eventually unite to oppose Trump, the divisions and anger there is real. The Sanders' crowd is going to be demanding a whole lot at the convention and Clinton, as weak as she is (in spite of the praise she received for bashing Trump in a speech late this week, to which no Republican has even bothered to come to Trump's defense) might have to give it to him.

The Republican Party is engaged in a civil war that could last a while, but Democrats should prepare to join them in an even larger internal battle next year.