Statement on the Iowa Caucus

Given the polling, it was no surprise the Iowa Caucus chose Donald Trump, but it’s still shocking that so many fellow Americans are overlooking his obvious, and significant, shortcomings. Trump is clearly ignorant, arrogant, incompetent and a criminal. He has conned many Republicans who want a disruptor into believing he cares about them. No, he cares about two things – stroking his ego and fattening his bank account. Eighty-three percent of his big tax cut went to the top one percent, and most of the rest to the top 20 percent of Americans. He brags about his business success and wealth, yet has conned working-class Americans into paying the legal costs of defending his criminal acts.

Trump has convinced his disciples that the 91 criminal charges he currently faces are all manufactured in a political vendetta by Democrats. I don’t for a minute buy that crock. It wouldn’t be easy to trump up so many cases against an honest, law-abiding person. A gangster like Trump makes it easy. Yes, there is some zeal about prosecuting him. But that’s not because we disagree with Trump on policy (though we do). It’s because we’re offended by his criminality and moral bankruptcy. No one should be able to commit the offenses he is accused of and walk away unpunished.

"He [Trump] lacks any shred of human decency, humility or caring He is morally bankrupt, breathtakingly dishonest, lethally incompetent, and stunningly ignorant of virtually anything related to governing, history, geography, human events or world affairs. He is a traitor and a malignancy in our nation and represents a clear and present danger to our democracy and the rule of law." – former Trump official, quoted by ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl, in his book Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party

As for the prospect of electing Trump president, we think values and character are essential criteria in deciding who should lead our nation. For some reason, the Republican party has hitched its wagon to a gangster. But I have faith that MOST of us are still in touch with our moral compass. Good people have been, and will continue to abandon the Republican party. In 2024, we’re not watching Trump return to the White House; we’re seeing the GOP self-destruct. Because party leadership is choosing popularity and dishonesty over standing up for what is right, it is turning into a reprehensible, but small and eventually inconsequential political party.

“Until recently,… it would have been unthinkable for any political party to support, much less nominate a convicted felon for the presidency. But,… in the GOP, pledging fealty to felons is now required.” – Charlie Sykes, conservative political commentator, editor-in-chief of The Bulwark

Many Americans who want a competent president with respectable character, myself included, are frightened at the prospect of a second Trump term. Understandably, they’re reluctant to support my candidacy, for fear it might attract votes needed by the Democratic candidate to ensure victory over Trump. I get that, but I want to assure potential supporters that I will do whatever is necessary to ensure Trump is not elected. At present, I need to stay in the race, change the conversation, and ensure policymakers, journalists and the public learn the truth about our ecological overshoot emergency.

“Donald Trump is an astoundingly dangerous candidate for president. He is a pathological liar, with clear authoritarian instincts. Were he elected to a second term, the damage he would do to the institutions of our republic is profound. His reelection would be worse than any political event in the history of America — save the decision of South Carolina to launch the Civil War.” – Lawrence Lessig, Roy L. Furman professor of law and leadership at Harvard Law School, co-author of How to Steal a Presidential Election

Some voters who feel disenfranchised are attracted to Trump because he positions himself as a disruptor, challenging the status quo. But it’s all talk and very little action. Those who have had it with business-as-usual should consider a disruptor who actually cares about them.

Trump supporters are attracted to his rhetoric about a “strong America.” But he doesn’t exhibit strength. He is a bully and a blowhard. He thinks strength is being feared. No, strength comes from being respected. Respect is something the U.S. didn’t have during the Trump administration, and we won’t be respected if we put the morally vacuous blowhard in charge again.

Photo credit: Our revision of an original image by Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Also published on the Dave the Planet 2024 Substack
 

Posted on 15 Jan 2024, 12:21 - Category: News