GOP candidates blasted
First Lady Michelle Obama was castigated when she said, “For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country.” I suspect that Mrs. Obama is not very proud of her country in this era as sadly, it is a time that Americans of goodwill and open minds should join me in feeling mortified.
We are in the midst of a presidential election season in which the two front-runners for the Republican nomination are succeeding not through offering hope and optimism, but through spouting hatred, intolerance, scapegoating, and particularly in the case of thin-skinned narcissist Donald Trump, lying about anything and everything, making it up as he goes along. Trump seems to this point to be the “Teflon” candidate. He can be as outlandish, coarse, crude, profane, insulting, and inaccurate as he wishes, and it makes no difference. I fear that he was accurate in his assertion that he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue (in Manhattan, I presume), shoot someone, and lose no votes over it. Such is the nature of many of his blinders-wearing supporters, a group comprised largely of aggrieved blue collar white men with only a high school education, yet there are plenty of more erudite individuals who are supporting the Trump insurgency. I wonder how the blue collar Trump corps feels about their leader stating that wages are too high. I do not believe he was referring to his remuneration and profits.
Though I share the disgust of many who recognize how the leaders of both major political parties have betrayed us and failed to carry out their duties, I do not believe that the way to address it is through electing an individual who would seek to blow up our system of governance, turn us against our neighbors, who would make us a laughingstock of the world, and in the case of Mr. Trump, whose ignorance and uncontrollable temper could lead us into “the final war” in no time.
There is reason for concern and fear on the part of gay men and women, immigrants, and Muslims and other religious minorities as two of the leading “voices of America” endorse scapegoating and marginalizing these groups. The “us against them” mentality which is currently being played out has been likened to the style of George Wallace, Adolf Hitler, and Joseph McCarthy, not individuals one would think a leading presidential candidate would seek to emulate.
I do not endorse the slippery ethics that the Clintons have displayed throughout their many years in the public eye, but I would run to the side of Secretary Hillary Clinton to cast my vote for her if she were facing a dangerous extremist like Donald Trump or Ted Cruz in the all-important general election. She is an individual with vast experience in government, someone who knows the issues inside and out, is able to articulate them commendably, and is someone who, unlike “Lord Donald,” knows the difference between “Kurd” and “Qud”.
The popularity of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz is reflective of a country in turmoil, a nation whose best days are far behind it. Can the United States be rescued from itself or will its dark and base impulses carry us over a cliff?
The genial optimist: the late, beloved conservative icon Ronald Reagan, is surely turning over in his grave to see who represents the Grand Old Party in today’s troubled and rage-filled society.
Oren Spiegler is a resident of Upper Saint Clair.