Name:   copperline - Subject:   Final thoughts on the election Date:   11/6/2016 10:41:38 AM

With only a day or so left to go, it’s down to the wire for Hillary & Trump… and I have to say I am amazed that Trump’s appeal to such a large segment of the American people is still intact.   It has been a masterful example of marketing a TV show candidate with no credentials or experience, but who has persuaded a huge number of people to vote for him simply because he is brash, outrageous, white …and blindly opposed to everything Barak Obama has done in his 8 years in office. 

Because of his success, and his techniques for reaching that success, we are seeing things about ourselves that should be giving us pause… making us think about what we have become and where we are going.   But Trump’s campaign is not based on thinking deeply about issues or meaning, it’s about following the Pied Piper wherever he leads …. And thinking about it later.   

His supporters are genuinely worried about ‘the direction of the country’ and the disintegration of healthy  values in politics… but their solution is to support a candidate who has no demonstrated sense of morality or attention to ethical behavior.   He routinely embodies the harsh & inflammatory rhetoric that is sure to divide us further.    

It is a great irony that so many American voters think the electorate has been ‘dumbed down’  by politicians  who manipulate us shamelessly…and think that the antidote to this is electing a man whose entire life has been about living a life of excess & selfish self-promotion.   He doesn’t even like to read.

And while it takes 5 years of experience to land the job of assistant manager at Chili’s , some people think an inexperienced Donald Trump can master the reins of global power in the Oval Office overnight.

In the end, it seems to matter very little to his supporters what he really believes, what he has said, how many times he has bluntly denied statements he made...  He has a causal relationship with the Truth, but to his supporters who are fed up with lying politicians… this is not enough to disqualify him.   They don’t see that what they dislike in politicians is exactly what Trump embodies.

Trump is not only capitalizing on people’s hatred and fear, he has been encouraging it.  His candidacy has made White Nationalism, KKK-style racism, hatred of immigrants, and religious intolerance into viable and acceptable political movements in this country.  I, for one, think that this is a really bad idea.   At the end of the day, either he will have won the election and legitimized all these offensive political forces… or he will lose the election and carry on with a political movement energized by the worst and most dangerous of social ideas.  

For that reason, people like me see this election as a pivot point in American politics to the same degree that Trump supporters do.  But for us the choice is between hatred & fear or choosing a political path that seeks to treat people fairly & humanely in this country.   After all, it is a country whose original principles had to do with secular tolerance, a balance of interests between the powerful & the people, an appreciation for education over ignorance, of genuine leadership experience more than boastful over-confidence, of concern for people rather than self-glorifying postures.   Trump cares little about what happens to anyone else but Trump.  He has no track record to suggest otherwise.

To support him, you have to ignore all that.

To me, Trump has failed the most simple & basic of all standards in life.   The Living Room Test.  

The Living Room Test says that is someone’s behavior is not acceptable in your home, then they would not be deserving of your vote.  If a visitor in my home insulted my other guests with vile comments about their character, racial heritage, or physical disabilities, I would make them leave.   If a visitor was loudly offending everyone in the room with rude & self-assured pronouncements that were obviously lies, I would treat them the same way I would if one of my guests had too much to drink.   If a visitor announced his conviction that he could grab women in my home “by the pussy”, he would be shown the door quickly.  It’s a simple standard we use every day, but somehow we gave Donald a pass to do just these things….and more.

I don’t think I am alone in the use of the Living Room Test.  I was raised in the South where there was an expectation that people would have some sense of honor & mutual respect for each other… while braggarts & fluffy Charlatans were dismissed as idiots….

Not elected President.

One way or the other, this will all be over soon.   I think the campaign has gone on too long, allowing us to find our way down deep into this muck… completely diminishing  thoughtful consideration of candidates & policies in favor of news cycles dominated by unsubstantiated hints of scandals & outrage.  It is certainly not a good sign for our country when public schools that have been used as polling places have to tell their students to stay home on Election Day so to avoid the potential risks of conflicts breaking out between adults voting at the polls.  

Reading stories about those scattered school closures around the country should be the most disturbing of all the news stories we have ever read.  And electing Donald Trump would validate the worst traits in us as a nation.

I may not be crazy about Hillary Clinton.   But I’m not crazy.