2016: The Year of the Dumpster Fire

In the words of a spokesman for Senator Ben Sasse (R, Neb.), "with these two candidates (Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump), this election is a dumpster fire." I cannot tell you how much I love that quote. It encapsulates the current condition of politics of this country perfectly.

How did America get to this place? How did the country that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin worked so hard to build get to the place that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were the chosen presidential candidates? How did the country that both Kennedy and Reagan worked so hard to fight Communism decide that Socialism was a viable - even preferred - option? How did the country that idolizes Martin Luther King, Jr. get to the place that entitled college students could scream about Black Lives being the only ones that matter?

I'll be honest. After writing the last blog entry, I became a big fan of Ted Cruz. He seemed to be the one candidate that understood the importance of the Constitution, the value of the Human Life, and who was willing to stand up for what he knew to be right even when faced with the opposition of the entire Senate, both Republican and Democrat. That is what I wanted in a president. After Cruz dropped out I felt defeated, and I frankly haven't been nearly as invested in this election as I was before he left it.

Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina

This isn't to say that there weren't good qualities among the other candidates. Marco Rubio was certainly someone I would have supported if Cruz had dropped out before he did. I would have also supported a Cruz/Rubio ticket. Carly Fiorina was fantastic, and I would have gladly voted for that female candidate had she won the delegates. I initially thought she would make a great Secretary of State, but was happy when Cruz chose her for his running mate. I also liked Ben Carson. I didn't think he was ready to be president, but I thought he would make a great asset to the cabinet and, once he learned the ropes a bit, could have made an excellent candidate in eight years.

I cannot fathom what America was thinking. We essentially have two narcissistic criminals running for office. For all intents and purposes, we have the choice between a Democrat running as a Republican and a Socialist running as a Democrat come November.

According to the FBI, Hillary is so ignorant, she doesn't know how to tell classified information from unclassified. After spending eight years working in the White House with her husband Bill, and after spending four years as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton is so stupid she doesn't realize what information needs to be restricted? Hillary Clinton is a lot of things, but she is not stupid. However, for the sake of argument, we'll say that she is. If that doesn't disqualify her for the office of the presidency, it should at the very least make us question whether or not she's the right person for the job. Do we want a president who "accidentally" sends classified emails to friends on an unsecure server? I don't.



Hillary Clinton (D) and Donald Trump (R)

There are two schools of thought about our little dumpster fire. The first is that we need to vote for
Trump, because no matter how awful he is, he's got to be better than Clinton. The second is that we need to vote third party because Trump will not only ruin the country, he will also destroy the Republican party. That is how bad he is. He may well destroy the party that gave us Abraham Lincoln 150 years ago.

Now, I don't think for one moment that Trump will have caused the destruction of the GOP single handedly. No, politicians like Mitch McConnell and Pat Roberts have been chipping away at the party of conservatives for years. Both of these men were among the Republicans that voted to pass Obama's omnibus spending bill last December. And then there is Paul Ryan, the man who was supposed to regain some ground for conservatives after John Boehner was ousted as Speaker of the House. Currently, he is spearheading gun control legislation after the Democrats staged their sit-in.

Donald Trump is the unfortunate result of all of the hard work of the Republicans to become Democrats and the Democrats to become Socialists.  He is the result of the people in fly-over country who are angry that their representatives aren't representing them. What they failed to understand is that Trump, who will say anything that comes into his head, has very little substance. Sure, he can call a spade a spade, but he's playing poker in a bridge tournament. He doesn't know what he's talking about most of the time, and he's too narcissistic to realize it or to care about it.

So which is worse? The candidate that knows exactly what she's doing and is going to take us all down with her, or the candidate that hasn't got a clue what he's doing and is likely going to take us all down with him? Either way, it's a dumpster fire. Our only hope is to free the delegates. Please. For the sake of our children and our children's children, let them go.