America, you chose unwisely
Google image/Creative Commons license
Even if neither choice seemed enticing, a vote for Donald J. Trump can be seen as a vote in support of his words.
This election was the ultimate example of picking between the lesser of two evils.
Donald J. Trump has proven to be a pathological liar, racist, and sexist with no experience, and who is completely unfit to run a country. He appealed to a group (albeit a very large one) of angry, disenfranchised Americans who propelled him to victory.
Hillary Clinton has proven to be a cynical flip-flopping politician who says whatever will appeal to voters at the time. The manipulations of the Democratic National Committee have added to the cynicism surrounding her. She is a prime example of why people feel so disgusted with the state of politics.
Though our options were clearly not the best for this election and both candidates suffer from a great deal of faults, Mrs. Clinton should have been elected. She is experienced, she has control, and she will at least know how to get things done. Most importantly, she would have saved us from a truly terrifying individual.
Sadly, Mrs. Clinton did not win and the American people have made the worst decision in presidential history.
Mr. Trump is going to be the 45th president of the United States. Think about that for a second and really let it sink in. Donald Trump is going to be president. A sleazy businessman-turned-reality show host is going to be running our country.
When Mr. Trump entered the race in June of 2015, everyone brushed him aside, saying “he won’t ever make it far.” Well, look what happened.
Mr. Trump is the worst thing to happen to this country in a very long time. Why? The list is a long one.
Endorsing Mr. Trump is an implicit endorsement of racism and sexism. The fact of the matter is people might not agree with Mrs. Clinton or her policies, but if someone marked Mr. Trump’s name on the ballot, they condoned his abhorrent behavior. If people can’t see that, they are delusional.
Mr. Trump’s vile actions are not the least of it. He is dangerously unfit to be president. He is a businessman who has filed for business bankruptcy on multiple occasions, and who has been under continual investigation for fraud.
People claim he “tells it how it is” but really he lies reflexively and speaks in verbal circles around topics, never giving a straight answer. He’s a giddy xenophobe who has demonstrated to the American people nothing but an ability to act on impulse and publish false allegations about anyone or anything. He insults people across the human spectrum; spews a distorted view of nationalism; changes his opinions and policies in a second based on his audience; and spreads an endless stream of hate.
The Atlantic recently published in its November issue an endorsement for Mrs. Clinton, just the third for the publication in its 159-year run (Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Mrs. Clinton). In the magazine’s founding statement it says that it would be “the organ of no party or clique.” The magazine went on to say that if Hillary Clinton were Mitt Romney, or John McCain, or George W. Bush, or, for that matter, any of the leading candidates Trump vanquished in the Republican primaries, “we would not have contemplated making this endorsement.”
The article closed with this message to readers: “[Trump] is spectacularly unfit for office, and voters–the statesmen and the thinkers of the ballot box–should act in defense of American democracy and vote for his opponent.”
We did not heed the warning and we will surely suffer the consequences.
Everyone has a right to an opinion, and we should respect that, but it is very hard to respect the fact that approximately 60 million people made the decision to put a man fueled by hate and his own self-inflated ego in the Oval Office.
America has seen its fair share of turmoil in the past 15 years and what we need is a leader who can actually help solve some of the problems that are crippling us. Instead, we have a man who is only going to push us into more problems, and all we can hope is that after his four years are up, we can get someone who can fix the mess that’s about to ensue.
Steven is a senior and has been attending AMSA since 6th grade. He is the resident cartoonist for The AMSA Voice. He has always had an interest in the...
Ms. Richardson • Nov 22, 2016 at 10:25 pm
It seems that Dominican-American writer Junot Diaz’s advice and reflection in last week’s The New Yorker is something we could all take into consideration, no matter what our politics:
“We have to keep fighting, because otherwise there will be no future—all will be consumed. Those of us whose ancestors were owned and bred like animals know that future all too well, because it is, in part, our past. And we know that by fighting, against all odds, we who had nothing, not even our real names, transformed the universe. Our ancestors did this with very little, and we who have more must do the same. This is the joyous destiny of our people—to bury the arc of the moral universe so deep in justice that it will never be undone.
“But all the fighting in the world will not help us if we do not also hope. What I’m trying to cultivate is not blind optimism but what the philosopher Jonathan Lear calls radical hope. ‘What makes this hope radical,’ Lear writes, ‘is that it is directed toward a future goodness that transcends the current ability to understand what it is.’ Radical hope is not so much something you have but something you practice; it demands flexibility, openness, and what Lear describes as ‘imaginative excellence.’ Radical hope is our best weapon against despair, even when despair seems justifiable; it makes the survival of the end of your world possible. Only radical hope could have imagined people like us into existence. And I believe that it will help us create a better, more loving future.”
Megan • Nov 11, 2016 at 9:48 am
Articles and people speaking like this is why Trump won. Calling everyone who doesn’t agree with you a racist sexist bigot xenophobe is completely ridiculous and divisive to this country, and the American people have clearly shown that they have had enough of this by electing Trump.
You just called over half of America racist and sexist… Just think about that! You assumed the motivations of millions of Americans, putting them all into one “deplorable” basket like Clinton did!
I hope this victory stings to people who think like you.
Z • Nov 22, 2016 at 8:22 am
Really? You’re going to talk down on an opinion piece for being ‘divisive,’ but then say ‘I hope this victory stings to people like you’? By generalizing Mr. Richardson into the category of ‘people who think like you,’ you are being just as, if not more, divisive.
Corben Bowen • Nov 10, 2016 at 10:25 pm
This is so biased though, I agree that Trump wasn’t the perfect candidate but neither was Trump. You probably hurt a few people with this post