To be honest, I am going to have to hold my nose when I pull the lever to vote in November, but I want to understand if I am missing something crucial that I should know before I do.
I can certainly understand the Partisans of the Right who are in the “Hillary Is Dishonest” camp. There is certainly enough evidence that she has not always been entirely forthcoming with the facts as they relate to her email server.
As far as the other candidate, there is no dearth of evidence that Donald will say anything that he thinks you want to hear and the truth be damned.
I can understand that the record (when looked at without the Partisan filter) shows that Hillary has experience that could be valuable to a Presidential candidate.
What I cannot see is what Donald Trump brings to the table that would make me want to vote for him. That is what I am looking for. I would not be entirely happy with Hillary as president, but I see no reason that I would be any happier with Donald – is there a reason for me to vote for him; as opposed to simply voting against her?
Here is where I am in my though process:
The false equivalency of “they both lie” does not really hold any sway with me. The fact that she has made false statements is (to my way of thinking) cancelled out by the number and nature of the of the whoppers that he has been caught in. So, on the “truthfulness” metric, she edges-out him slightly.
On the “Scandals” front, I might have to give this one to Trump, but that is only because he has no experience that would give him the opportunity to be in a scandal. There are allegations that Hillary has done some things that were not, strictly-speaking, legal – but again and again, the right would have you believe that she is everything from a murderer to an outright traitor. There is no actionable evidence to support this – and many of the claims that they make have been repeatedly proven false. So, if Trump takes this one, it is only through lack of any experience that would afford him the opportunity to compete.
Which brings us to the “Experience” front, you could argue that this is a toss-up except that it really isn’t! Donald has been a “successful” CEO and is a “billionaire” – the first of these statements is a subjective evaluation and the second is unproven – he may be entirely leveraged, he may be a billionaire free and clear – we cannot know because despite his repeated claims that he would (as is the common practice) released his tax returns. That aside – the government is NOT a corporate entity. The CEO of a company can steer where the company goes; the president must work with the legislature to come to agreements on what laws should be enacted. Hillary, on the other hand, has experience in government. You may not agree with what she has done, but she does know how to work with the legislature may have the edge on that respect.
Mr. Trump has alleged that Mrs. Clinton is “On The Take.” There is no demonstrable evidence of Quid Pro Quo for what money The Clinton Foundation (or Mrs. Clinton personally) has accepted from companies and foreign countries – what potential conflict of interest may have an impact on a potential Trump administrations is unknown and cannot be known because of Mr Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns (so we cannot see who is actually paying him and for what) and the supreme court’s “Citizens United” decision which means that he can take all the money he wants from all the sources he wants and doesn’t have to disclose it. In the case of Clinton, we at least know who we have to watch – Trump policies will come out of a sealed black box with no way of knowing what may end-up being political repayment. In my estimation, this point goes to Clinton.
So, that is to my thinking. In my humble opinion Clinton edges out Trump as being more honest, more experienced, and more transparent. Granted there have been scandals for her in the past, but with a concerted effort on the right to “stick it to the Clintons” for the past forty years and no actionable accusations surfacing against her, I am comfortable that the “scandals” that do exist are largely manufactured by the partisans on the right.
Where am I wrong!? I would welcome any credible evidence – that is to say evidence that is supported by documented fact – that I have assessed this incorrectly. Please comment with your input.
Again, I am not going to vote happily, it has been quite a few years since I had a candidate from either party that I could support – this is the main reason I dropped all party affiliation last century. I would welcome anyone who can give me a reason to be happy to vote for one of the people running.
Wherever you are today, I hope that you will not just take the partisan talking points as fact and will research your vote – this year more than any other, it is a vote that may totally change the way America is seen around the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment