MY CHOICE FOR PRESIDENT IS…
As the Democratic National Convention gets underway, we know one thing for sure. November will be historic. The citizens of America will either elect a businessman from New York, a man with no formal experience in politics or, for the first time in the nation’s history, a woman as President of the United States. There have been times in the past when the candidates of one of the parties was somewhat more obscure, or at the very least less high-profile, but this year without question, name recognition is not an issue. Everyone knows who Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are? Or do they?
I don’t want to use this forum as a means of showing my support for one candidate by trashing the other, but in this election the majority of voters are at least somewhat impacted by that which they do not like about the other. It’s very much about spin. Take the most extreme supporter on either side and there is nothing the opposing candidate can do that will be seen as OK. However, there is one glaring difference in my estimation. We can at least claim to know the worst there is to know about Hillary. But what about Trump? Somehow people have come to believe that a millionaire businessman, the owner of hotels, private jets and helicopters, is somehow a regular guy, a man of the people. They look at me with a straight face and say they won’t vote for Hillary because she is a liar or corrupt.They actually allow themselves to believe that Donald Trump has gotten to where he is out of sheer brilliance and hard work. I won’t sit here and prosecute the case against him, but really? If you believe that I have a great university you should attend. It will make you rich.
I know the criticisms against Hillary and I will openly admit that I don’t like everything about her, but do I have a far greater amount of confidence in her ability to lead this country in the right direction than Donald Trump? Without question I do. Was Benghazi a tragedy? Of course it was. Could things have been handled better? Maybe, probably, I don’t know. But I do know that under George W. Bush 13 embassies were attacked and 60 people were killed. We’re America. We are hated by those who want to take what we have or change who we are. We are targets and will remain targets as long as there is evil in the world.
I don’t like the Iran deal. Never have, likely never will. But even if I am to see it as a total attack on Israel, which I don’t necessarily do, I see it as President Obama’s deal not Hillary Clinton’s. To say a Secretary of State is wrong for working towards the goals of her boss doesn’t make him or her complicit in the outcome of the goal, good or bad. It makes them a loyal servant to the Commander in Chief. I am also comfortable to go on record and say that in areas I disagree with the president, I believe him to be more someone trying to save the world, sometimes naively, rather than someone trying to bring anyone, including Israel, destruction.
Emails? Sorry. I am not even going to make a case as to why this is not enough reason for me to vote for Donald Trump over Hillary.
People say that Donald Trump is preying on the fears of the people. That is partially true. Sadly I believe he is also exposing the stupidity of many. I would never say that all people voting for Trump are stupid, many are highly intelligent, but I do believe he is counting on the vote of those that are stupid. If Hollywood made a movie, and the day after the Democratic National Convention started the Republican nominee’s best response to what he saw was calling the Democratic nominee Hillary “ROTTEN” Clinton, people would have assumed we were watching a Mel Brooks satire. But no, this really happened, and it happened from someone people still take seriously. Someone who made fun of Carly Fiorina’s face, likened Ben Carson to a child molester, called his opponents names like Little Marco and Lyin Ted, mocked a handicapped person, called Mexicans rapists, called for a ban of an entire religion, said John Mccain wasn’t a war hero because he got caught, and yes, even spoke about the size of his penis. This man is somehow considered to be more qualified than Hillary Clinton? Really?
As a Jewish man and a Zionist I say this. Many reading this see history and see Roosevelt and Churchill as great men. I won’t sit here and necessarily challenge that. Had they not led the world to victory against Adolph Hitler it is possible that western civilization as we know it would not exist and all we know as Jews would be gone. But before we judge people on a standard of perfection, or even good or bad, ask yourself how many Jews might have been saved had they destroyed the railroad tracks leading to Auschwitz and other concentration camps. If FOX News were around then, FDR might have been held accountable to the point of prosecution, Thomas Dewey might have been elected, and Harry Truman would never have become president. Who knows how World War II would have ended? I am not saying FDR and Churchill were perfect or the biggest fans of the Jewish people, but their jobs were to be leaders of the US and Great Britain, and that they were, in exceptional manners. We have every right to demand our leaders don’t hurt our cause, but we also must realize we are electing a President of the United States, not a president of the Jewish people, and we must therefore expect that president to do what they deem best for the country. Furthermore, before Jewish supporters get all excited about a Trump presidency merely because his daughter converted and he speaks harshly about Muslims, keep these 2 things in mind. When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Trump for his anti-Muslim rhetoric Trump punished him by cancelling his trip to Israel. Also keep in mind how Trump plans to reconsider aide to our allies, including Israel.
The point is, no matter who you are or where you come from, whatever good you believe you are hearing about Donald Trump, he’s only telling you to get your vote. Yes, you can say that about all politicians, but don’t tell me how different Donald Trump is from the establishment. He funded the establishment, including the Clintons, for decades.
I don’t buy into the fact that a Hillary Clinton presidency will be 4 more years of an Obama presidency. If anything I believe it is more likely to be closer to being 4 more years of a Bill Clinton presidency, and that would be just fine by me. I honestly don’t know how good of a president Hillary would be, but I feel that her demeanor, her experience and her intellect is enough to make me very comfortable in giving her my vote. I think her choice of Tim Kaine already shows she is making choices based on her agenda as opposed to the demands of others. I think she is ready to be president today, as opposed to her candidate who will never be ready to be president. Besides the fact that I’ve always been offended by the implication that America isn’t great, merely for the benefit of a slogan, I also know that Donald Trump couldn’t even make Atlantic City great again.
I know that many reading this find it hard to believe that I, someone who has always been so outspoken about the security of Israel could support Clinton over Trump, but guess what? I find it hard to believe that you don’t. You might be able to legitimately raise questions about her, but to me that doesn’t mean voting for Trump, someone who repeatedly shows signs of being a global menace. I’ve seen and heard enough bad from Trump to not vote for him while seeing enough good to vote for Hillary, and that is what I intend to do. What good you ask? In this political climate don’t count on answer, because most people asking won’t accept my answer anyway. You vote your conscience and I’ll vote mine and I’ll accept you for your choice whether you return the favor or not. After all, that’s the American way.
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