Ted Cruz dropped out. "Suspended his campaign," which is more or less the same thing, leaving Donald Trump to be the presumptive nominee. Really the only reason he wouldn't be is if the non-Trump delegates go to convention and make a stink and suspend the rules and basically burn the party to the ground. Not much to gain beyond a temper tantrum.
Me, I'm just quitting the party. Again. I was going to do it after I finished being a delegate anyway, and now there's no point in going to state convention either. I don't care about the Republican platform and committees. They aren't my party. Hopefully, things will change after this and something will break the back of the two party system, but that seems optimistic.
As far as this election season went, I am disgusted. Trump is a horrible human being and yet he is the favorite, and Ted Cruz was a strong conservative with very few negatives and he was character assassinated severely. I remember thinking, "Ugh, Ted Cruz, well, he's better than Trump," and then trying to figure out why I had a bad feeling about Ted Cruz. Most of what people were saying about him was a lie or gross exaggeration. Trump has been calling him "Lyin' Ted," for months without solid proof that wasn't just Trump bloviating, and this coming from the man whose positions on issues could change hourly. Cruz's character was so much a part of his appeal that they couldn't let it stand, and they had to destroy him on his strongest pillar. And frankly, I find that revolting. Any speck, any spot, and people would write Cruz off and dump him, whereas Trump could probably "shoot a man in the middle of a street" and it wouldn't change people's opinions of him one bit. It's disgusting and unfair.
And these extended to completely unfounded and stupid arguments, such as sorting Cruz into "Slytherin" and other idiotic Facebook-graphic style attacks that apparently need little in the way of logic or proof. A lot of our reasoning is being reduced to comics, memes, and pathos-based anecdote, and that is a scary scary way to form opinions and make decisions.
On the other hand, Cruz was not libertarian enough for me, but I felt that he would have been a decent president, a constitutional conservative, that might have prevented the implosion of our culture and civilization for another four to eight years. His foreign policy wasn't good, but at least he realized our interventions and meddling could do harm and Assad, although also not a good human being, had positives over unknown radical who would replace him if we toppled him. So, I'm sorry, Cruz. I went as far as I could in the system for you. I'm sorry that America rejected you. I'm sorry that apparently our majority is motivated by and believes in something I just don't understand. Don't blame me for this one. I can't figure it out. Apparently, I still had faith in humanity. I should have known better.
So where do we go from here? I read a comic that said, "I'm still undecided between Never Trump and Never Hillary," and that appears to be where maybe half the country is sitting. Remember, even though Trump is the "winner" of the Republican Nomination (most likely), he rarely got over 50% in any given state. That means over half the state didn't want him, so please, stop telling me that this is "the will of the people." Plurality is not majority, and under half of the voting Republicans in most of the states voted for him. He represents them, not the other +50%. And the Democrats are having their own problems on that front, with a lot of passionate people going for Bernie Sanders and watching the system keep them out. The Democrats are slightly more advanced in their ability to manipulate their outcomes than the Republicans. That puts probably more than half the country watch their options diminish to the worst case of "lesser of the two evils" that I have ever seen.
I do not believe I could vote for Trump. I'd say "Never Trump," except there is one tiny tiny chance that won't happen that could influence me: if he made Ron Paul either vice president or secretary of state. Then at least someone I trust would be having some influence on foreign policy.
But aside from that, why would I vote for Trump? Just to avoid Hillary? They're both terrible options. Really, who is worse? Hillary is a leftist warmonger crook. And Trump is a... [unknown][unknown]crook. Seriously, we don't know what Trump would do. His answers to things have deviated into taking both sides at the same time. If Russian jets buzz a US ship, will he call Putin to ask him to stop or shoot it down? Both, apparently. Some libertarians think that siding with Trump will delay World War III. Optimistic lot, they are. I don't know if it will. Obama was supposedly a candidate of peace, and he's expanded the ability of the president to wage unlimited war like nobody else before him. The office seems to have that corrupting influence, and Trump's positions are rambling and confused enough that I think it would destroy even his "good" ones.
Hillary would elect leftist judges to the Supreme Court. Trump would... well, he wouldn't elect another Antonin Scalia, he'd probably elect middle-to-leftist judges to the Supreme Court. So much different in outcome. Hillary would continue funding Planned Parenthood. Trump would... I forget, is he punishing the woman for having abortions, changing the Republican platform to included exceptions, or praising Planned Parenthood on all the other "good" things they do? Hillary would increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour. I don't know Trump's position on that one. Hillary would wage war. Trump would... well, is he going to make "good deals" or is he going to destroy ISIS and show the world who is "winning" again? Basically, we're trying to choose between a bomb that is visibly counting down, and a bomb that may or may not have a lit fuse. Some stinkin' choice.
And either way, we're probably going to get more trans bathroom bills, the draft extended to women, and continued abortion.
It's like in Independence Day where David is drunk and hopeless and kicking over trash cans to try and pollute the planet in hopes the aliens will give up and leave them alone. His father is trying to comfort him and tell him that they still had to be thankful. David asks, "What is there to be thankful for?" Julius seems stumped for a moment, then adds, "Well, you've still got your health."
Cause that's going to do a lot of good when the aliens finish eliminating all life from the planet.
I guess I've still got my health. Hey, maybe I'm being overly melodramatic. Maybe it's not quite the end of the world. I guess we'll see.
Good post, Linsey, capturing the sense of alienation/frustration/uncertainty for many of the voters on both sides. I, too, have not taken up the "Never Trump" mantra(yet), but wonder, even if he surrounded himself with "great" people, would he say "your fired" if they opposed him. Then, would he just continue to consult himself on foreign policy (and all other matters), ‘because I have a very good brain’!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to know that God is in His Holy Temple (Hab 2:20). That is the only thing that prevents total hopelessness! And maybe that's why we find ourselves in this dilemma. "...let all the earth be silent before Him."