Beginning
with Ronald Reagan, I have voted Republican in every presidential
election since I first became eligible to vote in 1980. I worked in the
Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations and in the White House for
George W. Bush as a speechwriter and adviser. I have also worked for
Republican presidential campaigns, although not this time around.
Despite
this history, and in important ways because of it, I will not vote for
Donald Trump if he wins the Republican nomination.
I
should add that neither could I vote in good conscience for Hillary
Clinton or any of the other Democrats running for president, since they
oppose many of the things I have stood for in my career as a
conservative — and, in the case of Mrs. Clinton, because I consider her
an ethical wreck. If Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton were the Republican and
Democratic nominees, I would prefer to vote for a responsible
third-party alternative; absent that option, I would simply not cast a
ballot for president. A lot of Republicans, I suspect, would do the
same.
Read the rest here.
I am not sure I have ever been able to say this about an op-ed in the New York Times but there is a first time for everything...
I agree with every single word of this piece. Were it possible, I would add my signature to it.
11 comments:
Member of the establishment declares he will not vote for anti-establishment candidate--not surprising.
I am seeing the opposite reaction. My parents have dutifully voted for the Republican nominee their whole lives. They are typical hardworking, law-abiding conservatives who've been loyal to the institutions their whole lives. They are furious over mass immigration and offshoring.
Trump may be a total fraud who does nothing, but he is the only one raising the issue. It is meaningless to debate whether marginal tax rates should be 28% or 32% when when you import hundreds of thousands of net tax-consumers every year. It is meaningless to praise hard work and meritocracy when you flood the domestic labor market and play labor arbitrage with capital and bail out finance for its recklessness. The Republicans are protecting Obama from his own left flank on TPP--these people are atrocious! They need a good kick in the teeth. Hell, they need to be dragged from their offices and sent packing.
For me, Trump is not so much a candidate as he is a weapon.
Trump has the "testicular fortitude" and money required to speak the truth without fear of repercussions. He can't be bought and the RINOs are terrified. Trump and Cruz represent those of us who are tired of the status quo, the ship is sinking and the RINOs are rearranging the deck furniture.
Appropriate reason for not voting: candidates are all advocating unconstitutional things.
Inappropriate reason for not voting: Trump is a big bad meanie.
It doesn't matter much to me. I stopped voting when McCain was the nominee and backed the bailouts despite it obviously being in his political interest not to. People note voting and people voting for Trump both degrade the regime. Ideally, long ago, the Democrats would have disappeared, and we'd have delightful debates between conservatives and libertarians. But that didn't happen, and it turns out the G.O.P. needs to go, mostly because they are a pack of liars who never actually resolve an issue.
If the RINOs attempt to railroad the nomination against Trump it is my hope that the party is totally destroyed. How could a party comprised of men like McCain, McConnell, Kasich, Ryan and the gender-challenged Lindsey Graham be trusted?
If we can survive eight years of Obama, we can survive four years of Trump.
I have been mostly a Catholic lurker here over the years. Through that time, I have mostly found Anti-Gnostic's viewpoints to be irritating. As time has passed, however, I have found myself agreeing with him on tactics if not on other things.
I will vote for Trump gladly because I do not want to fix the status quo. I want gotterdammerung. I want to stick it to all the nancy boys and pantsuits in office. Given the power to do so, I would drag them all out onto the street and tar and feather them, which is much better treatment than their muslim ingenues would give them in the same position.
I have sons. This distinguishes me from many of my peers, who either have no children, have daughters or have simply one son. I have multiple sons; one is already 18. I have seen the way that this society destroys young men. God forgive me, I have been a part of this dilemma.
There is nothing for these young men to win in present day American society without kowtowing to the hollow men. All I wish is for them to have a future that does not involve slavery of the most vile kind to a society that is as sick as ours. Nihilism may be portrayed as childish but I can only see hope for them in the complete destruction of the status quo and an opportunity to rebuild.
Some may say that I will regret it if something bad happens to my sons in the resulting chaos. What can I possibly hope for? That they may die fighting a foreign war for the Obushma establishment? That they can try to marry and lose their property and children in a no-fault divorce? That they can either suffer ignominious unemployment or seek a meaningless degree in an overrated college?
Men like me have already decided. There is no point in persuading us. You can question our motives all that you want. I unnerve liberal peers when I tell them: stop trying to reason with us. You presume that we want peace. We want war. We do not want to negotiate reform with you. We want gotterdammerung. God forgive us, but it is the only solution that we can see. Perhaps another solution can be presented, but so far liberals have only presented more of the same. Given a choice between the status quo and chaos, I choose chaos. Let the whole structure crumble to the ground as long as I see the faces of my faggoty overlords overcome with fear on the way down.
Like I said, I am sure that people can come up with criticisms for the views of men like me but it no longer matters what others think. Our discontent is the future. I do not care what Trump does in office because, anymore, I just want revenge on certain segments of society that have profited from their own weaknesses rather than their ability to cope and to strive. I want to see their heads explode when he wins. If he does not accomplish anything, who cares? None of the others were ever going to do anything for me anyway. And, after all, all I really want is for my sons to be free to do more than function as cogs in the Party machine (see 1984 if you do not understand. I am sure that John and most readers here understand the reference even if they do not agree with me).
Robert Paxton,
You have eloquently and precisely stated my thoughts and desires, unfortunately I'm currently unable to discuss the topic without profanity laced vitriol which would cause me to be more of a "persona non grata" than I currently am. Very well stated indeed, it's time for a rerun of Paris in 1789.
As a 60 year old mother and grandmother to a large family, I agree that Donald Trump couldn't be any worse than what we've had from both republicans and democrats for some time now. He knows how crony capitalism works in this country and recognizes the damage it has done. I appreciate that he doesn't talk about Putin as though he is a dangerous monster, and believe that Trump is the only one on the political scene who could work with him to everyone's benefit. I do wish he would address the need to end the drug war. Anyone know his position on that?
I respectfully follow your blog, and I can't see how you can agree that Putin's a danger to America!
I respectfully follow your blog, and I can't see how you can agree that Putin's a danger to America!
At least Trump is a straight-shooter.
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