Demagogue

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I’m old enough to have seen every televised presidential debate since their inception in 1960. Heard all the charges. All the one-liners. Measured the facts, the half-truths and outright lies. And voted in every election.

Looking back, some of my votes make me proud, others not so much. But not one of the past candidates has ever made me feel as ashamed or sad as this time around. And no, I’m not into the false moral equivalence that I read and hear from so many folks. I’m glad I’m a columnist and don’t have to pretend to be neutral. Sometimes, you can’t be neutral. You can’t fool yourself into thinking one candidate is as bad as the other. You have to call it the way you see it.

In a previous column, I had Uncle Nunzi calling Donald Trump a “spaccone,” but he is much worse than that. Trump is much worse than just an arrogant potty mouth. If Donald Trump became president of these United States, the guy who just wrote a book called “The Worst President Ever” (James Buchanan) would have to issue a revised second edition. Trump would make Buchanan look like a combination of FDR and Ike.

If you, dear reader, intend to vote for Trump, I defend your right to vote for whom you choose. Perhaps your choice is not “deplorable.” But I find it tainted by hypocrisy. As the poet once said, let me count the ways —

Those who faulted Barack Obama for not saluting properly or appeasing our enemies are now the ones who not only excuse the gross behavior of Trump as just words, but excuse him for kissing the butt of Vladimir Putin. This is a good time to apologize to Mitt Romney, who correctly saw that Putin’s Russia was our number one enemy, while some of us laughed. Trump’s love affair with Putin is not only dangerous and alarming, but is based on his own self-love. Trump admires Putin because Putin has openly admired Trump. One thing the Republican Party has stood for in my lifetime is having no illusions about Russia, but much of its leadership and many of its voters have caved in to Trump and should toss their American Flag lapel pins in the trash.

Trump voters counter with Hillary Clinton’s egregious handling of her e-mails. I offer no excuse for her actions, which may have resulted from her obsession with her own privacy. I do find it appalling to believe, as Trump and many of his voters apparently do, that the FBI director — a Republican appointee and a man known for his honesty and integrity, would not indict her for political reasons. The cries of “lock her up” have seemingly encouraged Trump to promise that if elected he will see to it that she winds up in jail. The idea that in America one can jail your political opponent smacks of a dictatorship, not a democracy. Those who gleefully cheer Trump on in this regard should be advised that there is more to our Constitution than the Second Amendment.

And please, enough about Benghazi. After more than a two year investigation, encompassing 33 hearings, and at an estimated cost of $7 million and counting, the Republicans found nothing against Clinton. She testified for 11 hours before the last one, and the Republican-dominated committee could find no basis for charging her with any wrongdoing. Blaming Hillary for the death of our ambassador and several others is as wrong as blaming Ronald Reagan for the deaths of our marines in the Beirut barracks.

There is the attempt to blame Hillary for the sins of Bill Clinton (your columnist called for his resignation at the time). She defended him against his accusers. Yeah, that’s what some wives do. The idea is I can call my husband whatever I like, but don’t you do it. Melania Trump was offended by her husband’s conversation in that Access Hollywood van, but she is sticking with him and still supports him for president. And Bill never consented to have Howard Stern call his daughter “a nice piece of — — .” Besides, Bill Clinton isn’t running for resident, Donald Trump is.

Some Trump voters call Hillary Clinton “evil.” Trump says her heart is full of “hate.” He has referred to her as the “devil.” Really? I’ve tried hard to figure this one out. Some Obama haters described him as the “anti-Christ.” What else but racism could make you think Obama is the “anti-Christ?” Obamacare may be flawed, but satanic? In the same way, Hillary is described as “evil” by some of the same folks. If you scratch a racist, underneath you’re likely to find a sexist.

Maybe it’s the abortion issue that drives these descriptions. If abortion is evil, then the pro-choice candidate is evil. But do you really want to drape the pro-life flag over Donald Trump? He was pro-choice before it became politically convenient to become pro-life. Would you really be surprised to find out that Trump paid for an abortion for one of his girlfriends? Is there another tape out there where Trump brags about it to Stern?

We’ve had demagogues before in America, but never has one gotten so close to the White House as Donald Trump. That’s scary. SPR

(Tom Cardella can be seen along with Paul Jolovitz on Monday Night Kickoff from 6 to 7 PM Oct. 24th with video streaming at wbcb1490.com)