It’s about voting values…
Values pave the road we walk on as we go through life.
Values are not just words, values are what we live by. John Kerry, Vietnam War decorated veteran, U.S. Senator, U.S. Secretary of State
Indeed, values pave the road we walk on as we go through life. They are our moral compass. We all have a value system – beliefs and principles that shape our behavior, influence our decisions and our judgements and that color our perception of right and wrong, of good and bad, etc.
With respect to the current presidential race, I believe that values and value systems completely overshadow ideology and policy considerations. And frankly, I find it hard to understand how it is that people of good faith can support Donald Trump in light of his words, his actions, and his criminality.
Typically, Trump supporters trot out Trump “policies” (re: the economy, immigration, etc.) to justify their support of Trump. But the current presidential race is not about policy. Rather, …
It’s about values…
The choice between Trump and Kamala Harris revolves around values. As noted above, that what Trump stands for, what he has done and fomented, and what he proposes to do should he win a second term is compatible with the value system of Trump supporters boggles the mind.
Put the following in the context of your value system and of that of people you know.
Trump supporters know that:
* Trump openly bragged about sexually assaulting women by grabbing them by the “pu**y” (his word, not mine).
* A jury of regular people found Trump liable for sexually assaulting a woman. The presiding judge characterized what Trump did as “rape.”
* Trump settled, for $25 million, fraud lawsuits brought against him and his for-profit “university” by New York state and former students who alleged the “university” was a scam that used false advertising to defraud people who “enrolled” in the sham school.
* A Manhattan jury of regular people found the Trump Organization guilty of felony tax fraud for having falsified business records so as to defraud tax authorities by failing to report and pay taxes on compensation for top executives.
A jury of regular people found Trump liable for sexually assaulting a woman.
* A jury of regular people found Trump guilty of 34 felonies having to do with falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels so as to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.
* Trump is under indictment with regard to other charges focusing on classified material, the Jan. 6 insurrection he fomented, etc.
In what universe…
In what moral universe is the foregoing litany of incidences of sexual assault, felony convictions, etc., not disqualifying?
As a convicted felon, Trump can’t even vote in his home state of Florida. Frankly, no one with the baggage delineated above would be a viable candidate for city council, school board, dog catcher or any other office anywhere.
Yet, the above litany of sexual assault, fraud, criminal behavior, etc., is of no import to Trump supporters.
Toss into the mix a huge, double dollop of hypocrisy. Raise your hand if you believe the Trump supporters would be as tolerant and supportive of the foregoing felonious incidences/behaviors if they applied to Harris rather than Trump.
Yeah, me neither.
Trumpism-MAGA-ism is not benign…
Trumpism-MAGA-ism is a bitter brew of hate, racism, antisemitism.
That Trumpism-MAGA-ism is treated – including by the media – as a normal, run-of-the-mill ideology and that Trump is treated like a regular, normal candidate is incomprehensible. Trumpism-MAGA-ism is a bitter brew of hate, racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia astride a vehicle of physical violence and is way beyond the realm of civilized political discourse.
Again, put the following in the context of your value system and of that of people you know.
Trumpism-MAGA-ism is at the root of several murders and attempted murders, viz.:
* 2017: Marching under Nazi and the treasonous Confederate flags, white supremacists marched through Charlottesville, Virginia chanting “Jews will not replace us!” and the Nazi slogan, “Blood and soil.”
One of those white supremacists murdered a young woman who was there to protest white supremacy.
Trump described the white supremacists-antisemites as “fine people.”
* 2018: A white supremacist went to the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to “kill Jews” because they were helping refugees – who, Trump repeatedly told his supporters, “poison the blood” of our country – settle in the U.S. He killed 11 Jews who were in prayer at the Synagogue.
* 2019: Echoing Trump’s false assertion that there was an “invasion” of the U.S. by Mexicans, a white supremacist set out to “kill Hispanics” and stop the “invasion.” He killed 23 Walmart shoppers and wounded 22 others in El Paso, Texas.
The MAGA-inspired insurrection of January 6, 2021 had racist murderous intent.
* 2022: A white supremacist killed 10 Black people in a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. The white supremacist said he was motivated by the “replacement theory” promulgated by Trump and other right-wingers such as Tucker Carlson.
* The MAGA-inspired insurrection of January 6, 2021 had racist murderous intent. The insurrectionists – who by their own admission were inspired by Trump – carried the treasonous Confederate flag, and one of the most visible insurrectionists wore a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt.
The insurrectionists sought to prevent the congressional certification of the 2020 election so as to keep Trump in power despite the fact that he lost the election. The insurrectionists called some of the policemen N****r as they mercilessly beat them. The insurrectionists also sought to murder Vice President Pence and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, failing only because they couldn’t find them.]
During the insurrection 140 policemen were assaulted and injured and two (2) people died, one policeman and one insurrectionist.
Apparently, these abhorrent actions have a home in the value system of the Trump supporters. No amount of blathering about this or that policy neutralizes the actual or attempted murder of innocent people.
S’more “values”…
Trump has warned us of the harm he will visit upon the country should he win the current election. For example:
Trump has said he will conduct mass deportations of immigrants who he claims are taking Americans’ jobs.
* He has said he will conduct mass deportations of immigrants who he claims are taking Americans’ jobs. Inevitably, American citizens will be among the deported. People don’t usually carry their birth certificate with them, so looks, last names, and accented speech will be the criteria by which “Americanism” will be determined. American-born children of immigrants will also be deported.
We’ve been there before, viz.: In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the U.S., in a wave of blatantly unconstitutional raids known as the “Mexican repatriation,” deported as many as 1.8 million people of Mexican descent. On the eve of the Great Depression then-President Hoover decided to go after people perceived to be “outsiders” – people who looked Mexican or had a Mexican-sounding name or spoke with an accent – who were allegedly taking Americans’ jobs. A large majority (over 60%) of the people deported were U.S. citizens, including American-born children of non-citizen Mexicans.
* Trump has said he will fire circa 50,000 current civil-service federal employees and replace them with Trump loyalists. Instead of taking an oath to uphold the U.S. constitution the Trump loyalists will take an oath pledging loyalty to Donald J. Trump.
* Trump has said he will prosecute and jail political opponents and journalists.
* Trump has said he will do away with the affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), leaving millions of Americans without insurance. For many, this will be a death sentence.
* Trump has said he will “terminate” the U.S. Constitution.
Trump continues lying, endangering people…
Trump telling his supporters that Haitian immigrants – who are here legally – are stealing the pet dogs causes a university to close down from bomb threats.
Yet again, put the following in the context of your value system and of that of people you know.
As we speak, Trump continues to lie, and his lies put people’s lives in danger, viz.:
* Trump tells his supporters that Haitian immigrants – who are here legally – are stealing the pet dogs and cats of Springfield, Ohio residents and eating them. The person who started the rumor has admitted she made up the story. Ohio’s Republican Governor as well as the Mayor and City Manager of Springfield have said there is no evidence of Haitian immigrants stealing and eating people’s pet dogs and cats.
Yet, in spite of knowing it’s not true, Trump continues spreading the lie, which has racial overtones. As a result, there have been bomb threats directed at Haitian immigrants, and schools have been closed as a precautionary measure.
* Trump tells his supporters that the Biden-Harris administration nor the federal agency FEMA has done anything to help the communities affected by Hurricane Helene. Among other things, Trump tells his supporters that FEMA has diverted funds so as to help undocumented immigrants rather than American victims of Helene … that FEMA is allowing only $750 to Helene victims … that no rescuing of people has taken, or is taking, place.
Republican Governors and other officials of the states affected by Helene have refuted Trump’s claims and have praised the Biden-Harris administration’s response to the devastation caused by Helene.
Fact check: Funds have not been diverted from FEMA in favor of undocumented immigrants, and $750 is only an initial amount allocated to families for immediate needs such as food, medicines, baby formula, etc. Moreover, billions of dollars in aid (food, water, generators, cash payments to families, etc.) have been allocated and distributed throughout the states affected by Helene, thousands of FEMA personnel as well as thousands of National Guard troops have been deployed to the affected areas to help victims of Helene, hundreds of rescues (by helicopter and boat) have taken place.
State and local officials in the affected area fear that Trump’s lies will be believed and will result in people not applying for aid that is readily available and that for some, not applying for aid will have fatal consequences.
Yet, in spite of knowing it’s not true, Trump continues spreading the lie that the Biden-Harris administration is doing nothing to help victims of Helene.
It’s not about party or politics…
Republican Liz Cheney, her father Dick Cheney, and many Trump administration officials have refused to join the Trump cult
The presidential election – which has already begun in some states – is not about politics or political party. It’s about values. Trumpism makes a mockery of the values that the normal-average-decent-law-abiding person lives by. Trump has converted the Republican Party into a personality cult, and a deadly one at that. To their credit, many Republicans – some high-level, high profile, such as Liz Cheney, her father Dick Cheney, former Congressman Adam Kinsinger, and many Trump administration officials – have refused to join the cult, but they are the exceptions.
Whatever one may think or feel about Kamala Harris and her policy proposals, the fact is that she has never even been accused of a crime, much less indicted or convicted of one. Nor has she defrauded anyone nor sexually assaulted anyone. Nor has she purposely put people in danger in order to score political points. Unlike Trump, Harris does not object to journalists fact checking what she says during debates or interviews. Overall, she very much mirrors the value system of the normal-average-decent-law-abiding American.
So, in a very real sense, when Americans cast their vote for president, they will be voting their value system. c/s
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