Friday, June 3, 2016

Issues can wait. Right now, we must vet for tone, temperament & character.

Kudos to Hillary for her speech yesterday. She laid it on the line, all the reasons why Trump would suck as President. Hope she keeps up that line of attack. And I hope Bernie does the same.

I agree that Hillary has flaws, arguably in both in her character and her track record. So, I am not a HC supporter. I am like a lot of Americans who feel that our country would be best served by more traditional conservative values and less of the progressive and libertarian agendas. But, at the same time, I absolutely don't want someone as reckless and offensive as Trump as President. That puts voters like me in a quandry to say the least, and we are still trying to figure out which way to jump in this crazy election. Do we vote for the lesser of the evils? Or do we hope a better choice comes along to vote for? Or do we stay home and not vote at all?

We reasonable folks would like this election to be about issues and policy; but it's not. it is all about temperament and character--and which is more entertaining--acting Presidential, or acting like a goon.

The people who are driving the dialog and making all the noise are not interested in engaging in sensible discussion in a calm, measured way (that, to them, is just more elitist, establishment mumbo-jumbo). No, they want to curse and yell and spew their pent-up hatred and prejudices. Trump, by eagerly sharing with them his laundry list of enemies to pick on (foreign governments, immigrants, minorities, the media, liberals, etc.) and then throwing away the rule book, has taken away the obstacles, like political correctness and good manners, and given all those angry provincial nativists carte-blanche to finally cut loose and be as rude and crude as they want, without worrying about who they might hurt or offend.

I shudder to imagine that all of this might be resetting our culture and painting over everything we traditional conservatives have always loved and cherished about the United States of America.  The 21st century may be ushering in a New World (dis)Order that many of us will live to regret.

As dismayed by it all as I am, however, I still plan to stick to my standards.  Before I even look at the issues, I want the tone, temperament and character to be there.  So, would-be candidates, hear this.  My vote is only one; but, if you want it, earn it. Be Presidential:
 
If you cuss in public, I will never vote for you. If you express your anger by name-calling and bashing, I will never vote for you. If you use name-calling and bashing as a way to be cute and popular, I will never vote for you. If you brag constantly about how great and smart and talented you are, I will never vote for you. If you incite intolerant people to hate, I will never vote for you. If you say things that are untrue (incl. passing off lies, exaggeration, hyperbol...e, and propaganda as truth), I will never vote for you. If you brow-beat people to get your way, I will never vote for you. If you believe that all is fair as long as you close the deal and win, I will never vote for you.

Now that we have that straight, let's see if, come November, there is a candidate in the race for Leader of the Free World who strikes me as being enough like the Pope, Jesus, Gandhi, or the Dalai Lama to deserve my vote.

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