“It used to be that television imitated life, but in the past few years, it seems more like life is trying to imitate television. I had a flash of inspiration tonight that this election is being run like a reality show and Donald Trump is the Honey Boo Boo of candidates.”
The words above occurred to me in a flash as I was swimming (past midnight) in the pool tonight, but I think they mesh well with the below commentary by Trae Crowder that awaited me on Facebook when I got in from the pool around 2 a.m.; and it is what caused me to post both my own thoughts and this commentary. It contains a bit of rough language, but it is for a purpose and the points he makes are ones I think we’ve all been ripping our hair out trying to get Trump supporters to realize. I hope you hear it through to the end. (Thanks okcforgottenman for introducing me to this video!)
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
I often feel these days like Alice. I failed to notice when I fell down the rabbit hole … or maybe I’m asleep … or in a coma. One way or the other, I hope I (a) climb out (b) wake up , or (c) emerge from the coma and the world is right-side up again.
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A prickly pear!
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Do you agree?
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Absolutely — I’m horrified that he got this far, and hope the voters will do a bit more homework before the election. If egomaniacal Trump wins, we will be in serious trouble. On a lesser level, I worry about Bernie — I don’t believe he’ll be nominated, but, living in California, I see a wave of young, naïve adulation there as well. He’s not so egomaniacal, but he is pretty uninformed about all but one issue, and unrealistic about his proposals that are winning that adulation. CA is odd — there are basically 53 simultaneous elections, each for 3 delegates who are awarded proportionally according to the vote. I normally would expect Clinton will win in the cities (where most of the people are), and Bernie will do well in the rural and agricultural areas, but Bernie has been campaigning heavily in places where the two major universities are located, and may turn that model on its side!
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I have recently seen people disillusioned with all the candidates saying they are not going to vote–as a protest against the system. These are people whose opinions I usually admire, but this particular decision is a dangerous one. We always have a choice and to choose not to take it –even when both alternatives are unacceptable to you–is copping out. Short of Sophie’s choice, between two decisions, one has to be the lesser evil, and at heart I think we usually know which one it is. No matter how much you disagree with other candidates, there is literally no one as bad as Trump, who combines an egalitarian sense (no matter what he says and how crassly he chooses to express it) with a big business manner of doing things. Has he moved his manufacturing interests back to the U.S.? When he has, I will admit that perhaps he could change for the good of the country, but I see no evidence of it to date and he is a buffoon to boot. The embarrassment of having such a man represent our country is only equalled by my extreme fear over what his election would signal regarding the beliefs and humanity of my fellow countrymen. Yes, I live abroad–partly because when Bush was elected I said I would never return to a country that would elect such a man––but I do hold dear the principles of equality, care for other people and kindness that I think are reflected in our Declaration of Independence as well as our constitution, and I fear that the crassness of certain message boards and other collecting places on the internet that cater to mean people has leaked out into our society at large.
Thank goodness I do not see that mean mentality reflected in the blogs I read here.
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On the Republican side, once again California’s vote makes little difference — Trump will be the nominee no matter how the State’s republicans vote. I have a friend who commented that the ballot includes Trump and 3 or 4 others who have dropped out of the race: Cruz, Rubio, and Kasich. The Republicans have closed their ballot so that others could neither run nor vote on that ballot. This friend is caught in a situation of having nobody for whom to vote. I think the solution will be to vote for one of the others as a protest vote. In the General Election, the choice will be more open, but no less daunting — at least all the candidates will be on the ballot, and those on the ballot will still be in the running!
With respect to your comment about the tone of internet messages leaking out into society as a whole, I’m afraid that you’re correct, although I also think it may be working in the opposite direction. There’s something wrong when a city must deploy its entire police force to a political rally for hours before the rally begins — and still there are angry scuffles. We’ve seen that before, but not with the frequency and intensity that it is happening now. It scares me that we could continue to see it well after the elections are over.
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It’s like a French Revolution where the revolutionaries have decided to support Louis XVI!!!! Damnedest thing I’ve ever seen. Completely contrary to logic.
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I agree with you about Bernie. He also has a bit of a problem with numbers. His don’t add up. I appreciate the idealism, but idealists historically make terrible presidents.
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