Growing up, we have all driven our parents to desperation by constantly asking them why things were the way they told us. And, if we were lucky enough to become parents ourselves, we have paid the price by being confronted with the same barrage of questions. The kids had it right all along, they had a right to understand, be told, why things are the way they are.
Similarly, we
have a right to be told why Donald Trump, nominated by the party he hijacked,
should be denied a second term in the White House when America heads to the
voting booth on November 5.
Here is why:
Character
matters. The highest
office in the land should be occupied by a person with an impeccable track
record of moral rectitude. The President of the United States will inevitably
be confronted with the need to make decisions with global implications that
cannot be based on ideological or political grounds and in those instances the
moral compass of the President will be called upon. It becomes a matter of
right or wrong. Donald Trump has demonstrated time and again, in his personal
life, his business life, and in office that he is lacking the moral compass
required to discern between right and wrong, good and evil.
Democracy
matters. There is no
doubt that when the Founders created a new system of governance called a
Republic, they chose a democratic, not autocratic, form of government. That
system has, over time, been perfected and repeatedly validated. Arguably it is
due for another round of improvements, but there is zero justification for
moving the governance model into the autocratic direction that has Donald Trump
so enamored when he speaks of authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin, Xi
Jingpin, Kim Jong Un, and Victor Orban. His expressed desire to be a dictator,
if only for a day, alone disqualifies him from ever again holding the
constitutionally created highest office of the land.
Accountability
matters. If the
voters restore Donald Trump to office, he will never be held accountable for
the crimes he has been convicted of nor be judged by a jury of his pears on the
crimes he has been indicted for but has yet to stand trial for. And he has
vouched to whitewash by way of pardoning the actions of the main participants
in the January 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol even though they have been sentenced
to jailtime for their treasonous actions.
Alliances
matter. Strong as
America is, militarily, economically, and geographically, it cannot stand alone
against the forces that threaten its national security and the stability of the
world order. While America may have been the deciding force in victory over evil
in two world wars and in the Cold War, it must realize that the outcome could
have been very different if it were not for the contributions of its allies.
There is no stronger deterrent to mischief by our adversaries than the
awareness of a resolute and unconditional bond between America and its allies
in defense of their sovereignty, their territorial integrity, and their
economic prosperity. In his term in office, Donald Trump has only shown
contempt for and disregard of America’s participation in international
cooperation in about every field of human endeavor.
Checks and
Balances matter. At a
day and age when in America the legislative branch breaks down in two factions
that are often about equal in size and the executive branch regularly
alternates between Democratic and Republican control, the judicial branch of
government tends to fill the vacuum and becomes more and more determinant in deciding
major social issues. By selecting his three Supreme Court picks and other federal
judges from only one ideological source, The Heritage Foundation, Donald Trump
has skewed the judicial branch to the far right of the political spectrum and
away from where the public opinion rests. Because of the lifetime tenure of so-called
Article III judges, this has for effect that the courts distance themselves for
long periods of time from where the public finds itself in social and political
terms. A second term for Donald Trump in the White House would further widen
this divergence.
Immigration
matters. Donald Trump
torpedoed singlehandedly a bi-partisan deal to put some order into the admission
and processing of undocumented immigrants crossing the southern border of the
United States and deliberately let the border chaos persist. He apparently
counts on an electoral victory in November and has promised to immediately
deport millions of undocumented immigrants when he comes back into office. No
matter the inhumanity of his proposed deportation policy and no matter the
economic damage it will do to sectors of the American economy that are highly
dependent on availability of immigrant labor, his political goals justify the
means in his eyes. His political self-interest trumps the national interest and
disqualifies him from serving as President.
Fiscal Responsibility
and Equity matter. In
his term in office, Donald Trump has displayed a complete lack of fiscal
responsibility. Despite a strong economy (in his own words the strongest ever)
he managed to add eight trillion dollars to the national debt. In large part by
giving huge tax reductions to highest income earners and to corporations. These
actions have contributed to a steep increase in income-inequality in addition
to placing an ever-larger debt burden on our children and future generations. In
his current campaign he promises further tax breaks without ever addressing how
to pay for them. Unless, of course, we can believe that the high new taxes he
proposes on imported goods will grow the economy and fill our coffers rather
than increase the cost of goods for the American consumers, bring economic
growth to a halt, and add to the deficit.
The Senate lacked the super majority required to bar him
from ever getting back to the White House, the Supreme Court he stacked with disciples
from the Heritage Foundation refused to disqualify him as a candidate for the Presidency,
it is now up to the voters to protect the nation, the republic, and democracy
from putting a man in office who is so manifestly disqualified for the job, an
insult to human decency, and a threat to the Constitution.
