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In this one man, Donald Trump, I see everything that is wrong with our nation and what some celebrate as success. This is not a man of substance. This is not a man of commendable accomplishment. This is not a complex thinker who can solve intricate global problems.
This is a self-serving egomaniac with a singular view of the world formed from his own narcissism. There is no “but Hillary” to offset his catalogue of maniacal life behaviors. He is beyond redemption and history will not be kind to his legacy. He brings shame on everyone who wants to believe in the pride of America.
Every one of us is soiled by his sad, tragic, despicable, deplorable existence. He is not making America great again. He is single-handedly making a mockery of all we hold dear. He is taking us down. This is not who we are. He cannot be an emblem of anything but shame and humiliation.
It will take decades for our nation’s reputation to recover from this global embarrassment. If we want the healing to begin, we need to categorically distance ourselves from this useless monster. We can offer only a humble apology to the world for his tirades, explaining that this is an extreme of the democracy we embrace, not a reflection of the character to which we aspire.
The debates we have witnessed have not been comforting, but they have been revealing, mostly of character and preparedness. It was actually the final question of the vice-presidential debate between Tim Kaine and Mike Pence — asking how we as citizens enduring this noise can get past our immeasurable differences — that seemed to me the most telling. It is difficult to believe our nation will fully recover from the divisiveness of this campaign and the last twenty or so years of Congress in our lifetime. I don’t see big picture unity on the horizon no matter which party is in power.
Ultimately I think this bodes poorly for America a hundred or so years from now. Both sides are fully convinced the other has a catastrophic vision of the nation’s future. It is possible with that perpetual split both sides might be correct in their prediction. If we don’t fix that somehow, I wonder if it matters who holds power in the interim.
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I don’t see Hillary Clinton as the lesser of two evils. I see her as a complex thinker who can lead no matter her flaws. I see Barack Obama as a hero who saved our nation from economic collapse and as an inspired legal scholar who thinks about justice and humanity with foresight and nuance. I am not a Democrat to be difficult. I am a Democrat because I have carefully taken stock of my values and need a voice much louder than my own to make the case for teaching tolerance and keeping hope alive.
In his own debate appearances and speaking engagements, Trump continues to demonstrate that he is largely incapable of expressing a single, coherent, on-point sentence. He rambles like a lazy school kid who won’t study before speech class. Imagine him in a cabinet meeting. Imagine him at a global summit. He is an emotional basket case, not a clear thinker. Take the word “disaster” out of his vocabulary and he becomes inarticulate. We see him pacing onstage with his back to the audience, looming like Frankenstein in a bad horror movie. We see him attack the debate moderators for doing their jobs. If this were a movie we’d have walked out on page 1 of the script.
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Want to know what an unaccountable, menacing, totalitarian dictator looks and sounds like? Play back the second presidential debate and watch the man who seeks the United States presidency exhibit his version of democracy and visionary leadership.
I am ashamed that people abroad are seeing this. Will we ever regain their trust in our dream after we’ve shown them repeatedly that a significant portion of our population considers Trump a viable commander-in-chief?
Vote in large numbers and send the global message that we abhor this lunatic.
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Photo credit:Getty Images
““I don’t see Hillary Clinton as the lesser of two evils. I see her as a complex thinker who can lead no matter her flaws.”
Wonder what the Haitians think of her.
“I am ashamed that people abroad are seeing this.” Have you ever experienced the Italian government/politics? My son in Italy has and as he told me, you’ve not seen corruption until you’ve lives in Italy. My German son who is married to a Muslim agrees with Trump especially on immigration. As he recently told me, what Americans see in he media about their immigration, is not what’s happening in real life. Just as the main stream media here “spins” things so as to influence people, they do the same with news in foreign countries. So there is no reason to… Read more »
Trump is the enema that D.C. needs to remove the stain and blockage of the Obama Cult of Personality. Viewing from abroad since his second term, the only way I ever darken the nation again (even as a tourist) is when there is a good flushing and evisceration of everything Obama.
“I don’t see Hillary Clinton as the lesser of two evils. I see her as a complex thinker who can lead no matter her flaws. I see Barack Obama as a hero who saved our nation from economic collapse and as an inspired legal scholar who thinks about justice and humanity with foresight and nuance. I am not a Democrat to be difficult. I am a Democrat because I have carefully taken stock of my values and need a voice much louder than my own to make the case for teaching tolerance and keeping hope alive.” JOKE! Must be a… Read more »
So many Americans have the mentality of my party right or wrong and my country right or wrong. In a democracy the people are supposed to think and choose. These Americans do neither.
Speak for yourself, sir!
I categorically reject the idea that all Americans are somehow stained by Donald Trump’s words and actions during or before his campaign. The Clintons too, for that matter.
Do you also condemn all Italians for Berlusconi’s fondness of “Bunga Bunga” parties or lay blame at every Russian’s feet when Putin silences another uppity journalist?
I do only speak for myself. If you travel abroad, you will likely experience what I experience. We are better than this. People have to know that.
As a german I can assure you you might be judged and blamed for the mistakes of your politician leaders …even if your only fault was not to hinder them…
Exactly, and it is wrong. A German coworker told my dad the other year that winning the World Cup marked the first time in his life where he felt that he could be proud of being German without also feeling guilty. I thought that was profoundly sad. Collective guilt is tempting because it is easy. We don’t have to point any fingers, just wave in a general direction. A functioning democracy is messy by nature. Unless a vote is unanimous, someone loses every single time. And we’re to blame them for that? I think, in its own perverse and fairly… Read more »
Which shouldn’t happen. Im sure you are referencing Hitler but fact of the matter is how many people who were adults and could have done something about Hitler back then are still alive today and what good does it do to collectively shame and blame all German people just because a leader from almost 60 years nearly ruined the world? I’m not sure how old you are but I wager you were not an adult in Germany during the rise of Hitler. At minimum if you were 16 in 1939 you would be 93 today. Its pointless to blame and… Read more »
[I don’t see Hillary Clinton as the lesser of two evils. I see her as a complex thinker who can lead no matter her flaws. I see Barack Obama as a hero who saved our nation from economic collapse and as an inspired legal scholar who thinks about justice and humanity with foresight and nuance] Sorry, but there are many in USA and worldwide, who will not agree with your comment, no question about it. With Clinton all will continue as it is. About Trump, he is the one, who is willing to change ‘something’, don’t ask me if for… Read more »
I don’t expect everyone will agree with me. We are simply attempting to Get Out The Vote and ensure that those who do submit their ballots. It’s all about numbers now. If we rally the electorate, we will succeed in making the right statement.