Yard signs proclaiming “Everyone Sucks – 2016” are selling out fast. Will this be the go-to rally cry of our presidential election?
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My parents are renovating their master bathroom, and so my mom has had a plumber at the house regularly. She’s gotten to know the guy, at least enough to bring up the election, which I think usually indicates you’ve achieved a certain level of trust with a person.
And because I write about politics, she mentioned that fun fact to him, and he then asked who I was supporting, Clinton or Trump?
“Yee gads, neither! Really, how could you think such a thing?” This is what I imagine my mom saying, cringing backward in disgust at the very thought.
More likely, she said something diplomatic and less excited. “Oh you know, she’s um. She’s not really a fan of either of them.”
To which he replied, “Tell me about it.” Or something of that nature.
(As I was not present for the actual interchange, it does come secondhand to me, over hundreds of miles connected only by distant cellular satellites. A level of creative freedom is required, but take it for what it is: I may not be the best intoner of natural human dialogue…)
At any rate, the plumber told my mother that there is a man in Denver making a veritable fortune selling “Everyone Sucks – 2016” yard signage, and upon Googling that phrase, I found many images indeed, expressing that very sentiment.
And not only yard signs. You can get buttons and bumper stickers as well.
I will make a prediction and say this will be the most popular slogan of the 2016 election, as major swaths of both political parties, as well a hefty slew of Independents, wake up to the woeful choice a Clinton v. Trump campaign will provide them.
Sad realities of both the R & D candidates:
Criminal conduct? Well, Trump is currently involved in three lawsuits, not to mention a history of bending and breaking the law (more on that later). Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is under FBI investigation for breaking with government protocol (and common sense) by hosting her own private email server. As Secretary of State. Which meant classified information of the highest order was made pretty open to hacking.
Awesome.
Dubious business practices? Yep. The most famous case against Trump, to date, involves his illegal hiring of undocumented Polish workers to complete Trump Tower, for which he did not pay them even close to a living wage (if he paid them at all), and forced them to sleep on site. Sounds like a great boss… Anyway, he settled out of court. That’s just one example.
And what about HRC? Well, more news keeps coming out on the Clinton Foundation, an apparent charity organization that has a creepy record of taking mega bucks from nasty foreign regimes. And then, voila! Said regimes see some political deals come through for them while Clinton worked under President Obama.
Conjecture, perhaps. But there are other past examples of dubious business dealings in the Clintonian past.
Fabulously wealthy, but claim they’re in for the little guy? Of course.
At last, we have the rather unique, and uniquely horrifying, situation of both sides being connected to rape charges. For Trump, they came against him twice, from his ex-wife, Ivana Trump. Another, more recent claim, is from a young woman who says Trump raped her on the private island of convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. Trump denies both. His denials would mean a lot more if he weren’t on record regularly demeaning women, including his own daughter. And if he didn’t appear in Epstein’s infamous black book.
For Hillary, they came against her husband, from a former Arkansas politician, Juanita Broaddrick. Obviously, Hillary is not responsible for the actions of her husband.
But she is responsible for how she responded, and her go-to reaction seemed always the same: demonize the accuser, and defend Bill, no matter what evidence to the contrary might suggest (witness the Monica Lewinski trajectory of events, in which the then twenty-two year old intern was labeled a “loony toon”).
So. There you have it.
When you think Mitt Romney had to answer for supposed bullying he did (or did not) do in high school, and Barack Obama had to explain every word out of his former Chicago pastor’s mouth! This 2016 choice presents Americans with the lowest-caliber candidates… maybe ever?
And here’s the thing that really bothers me. Apparently, millions of primary voters were more than happy to overlook these things. Brush ‘em under the rug, so to speak, and vote for Clinton or Trump anyway.
Maybe they think all politicians are that way, but I would ask said voters this: Is everyone you know that way? Does everyone you know have several past appearances in court? Does everyone you know have a propensity to lie and dissemble that borders on compulsive? A tendency toward general criminality?
Because if they don’t, then it follows that not ALL politicians are this bad. Not every person in local and national government scores so low on character marks.
I wish voters would drop the cynicism.
My fear is that when this is all said and done in July, and Trump and Clinton are really and truly and the choice, I think many voters will share my sentiment that they just…
Are you losing faith in American democracy.
Source: 30dB.com – American Democracy
This one doesn’t really need much explanation, except maybe to those too young to vote. —Howard K. 30db
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Photo: Flickr/DonkeyHotey
I have not lost my faith in American democracy, because I have never had any. In turn, this is due to the fact that there has never been any such thing. America has, at times, been a republic, and other times, an oligarchy. Right now, it is much more the latter than the former.
Generally speaking, the best way to not lose one’s faith is to not be deluded by it in the first place
Both parties had a chance to nominate viable and respectable candidates. The Dems had Sen. Sanders and Jim Webb. The Repubs had John Kasich and to a lesser extent Marco Rubio. I may not agree with Sen. Sanders’ policy ideas but I believe he is running for president for noble reasons. Its a damn shame what we have to choose from. Trump and Clinton are both entitled egomaniacs. Trump’s rhetoric has been poisonous and Clinton has consistently operated “above the law”- sliding by a consistent drumbeat of corruption (how anyone could be knowledgeable about Whitewater, Terry McAuliffe’s scandals, the private… Read more »
SeeeDUBYA, I agree and to set the record straight, my response to Cynthia wasn’t an endorsement of Trump, There is and was no accusation thrown at any of the candidates that I didn’t investigate myself. Too many people take these accusations on face value and are too blind to see that it’s all about ratings and people watching these so called news networks. And the candidates are feeding them. The media has way too much power.
I think 2020 may be the year that things may change but I’m not going to hold my breath.
I keep hearing “racist” thrown around yet NO ONE has responded to my question “What makes him racist?”
Hi Tom, I don’t think I referenced racism in this particular article. But to date, there are the following reasons to believe Trump either a) harbors white supremacist tendencies of his own and/or b) doesn’t mind engaging with and accepting uncritically others who definitively hold white supremacist views. 1. Refusal to disavow David Duke & the KKK 2. Statement that Mexicans are mostly criminals and rapists 3. Offer to pay legal fees for Trump fan who punched black protester 4. Suggested and considered a black vs. white casting choice for a season of The Apprentice, believing it would be a… Read more »
#2 … this is what he actually said ““When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” #1 “David Duke is a bad person, who I disavowed on numerous occasions over the years,” Trump said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” #3 Two days after saying he told his team to look into paying the legal fees of a supporter who sucker-punched a… Read more »
BTW Cynthia, thank you for answering my question.
One issue I’ve seen with this election is that it seems that unlike any other election I can remember there is a definite air of “lesser of two evils approach”. I don’t see much from Clinton supports beyond constantly demonizing Trump and his nonsense. Yes Trump is bad and its become cliche to make a post that insults not just his policies but him as a person as well (which is so funny coming from people that will cry misogyny if you do the same to Clinton). There is very little from supporters about what Clinton herself is doing and… Read more »
I for one, strongly support Hillary’s candidacy and consider her a highly qualified and capable candidate. I do not sweep anything “under the rug.” I consider her a politician who has fought to stay in the game through some catastrophic challenges. I don’t ask her to be perfect. I ask her to be effective. When we lump Trump and Clinton together as being equally abhorrent we are doing great damage to our nation’s long term prospects. Trump is a dangerous racist lunatic. Clinton is a moderate liberal. To not mark that obvious distiction is to encourage people to be willfully… Read more »
Moderate liberal?
Your mother’s only mistake was asking a plumber for his political opinion. Perhaps not with a customer, but people think that I bloviate? Beyond that I remember my parents talking about, “Don’t blame me, I’m from Massachusetts” signs on front lawns during the Nix Fix. Who’d have thought it could get worse. I’m personally not angry. I’ve seen it coming, but I am disappointed that we’ve all been sucked into it’s fruition. Beyond the zealots, It’s like turning on a light in a closet only to find that you are in an auditorium of confusion. If I were to describe… Read more »
And you wrote that entire article without once mentioning Sen. Sanders.