2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumEnemy of the People
An open letter to the Republican Party:
Your presidential nominee, Donald Trump, is a liar, a bigot, a cheat, and an idiot. He is as morally bankrupt as his businesses are financially bankrupt. His candidacy, in and of itself, is an unmitigated embarrassment to our country, and is seen as such in the eyes of the world.
This is what you have wrought. This is the man who literally embodies everything you stand for his only failing being his penchant for saying out loud what you whisper behind closed doors.
Every time you defend him, you confirm that his unbridled racism and obvious stupidity deserves being defended. Every time you support him, you prove that you have no concern whatsoever for the well-being of our nation or its citizens. Every time you praise him, you broadcast the fact that you have zero regard for the dire consequences of our country being led by someone who has absolutely no grasp of the duties and responsibilities of the office of POTUS, nor any knowledge whatsoever of domestic or international affairs.
The nomination of Sarah Palin for VP was a red flag. It showed that you were willing to put a mindless idiot in an office one heartbeat away from the presidency. At the time, we foolishly believed that even you would come to your senses, and ensure that such a circumstance would never arise again.
But instead you have doubled-down. You have now nominated a mindless idiot for the highest office in the land, and the most powerful position on the planet.
I used to think of Republicans as the enemy of Democrats, of liberals, of progressives. But Trumps candidacy has proven beyond all doubt that you are an Enemy of the People of the United States.
They are the people you have lied to, misled, encouraged to be armed and violent and to distrust those of differing religions, differing ethnicity, different races. They are the people you have riled-up with your bullshit, the people you have taught to be intolerant, the people you have lectured about ethics and principles when you have none of your own, the people you have preached to while hiding your own immorality, the people you have cheated out of the American Dream of a better life while you support the wealthy to their detriment.
You have done nothing to assist the middle class, the poor, veterans, the unemployed, the sick, or the homeless. You have done nothing to preserve the environment, or ensure that it will be protected in future. You have done nothing to prevent unhinged citizens from accessing weapons, or to safeguard every citizens right to vote. In fact, you have done nothing about anything at all.
You have stood in silence as children are gunned-down in schoolrooms, while being outspoken on denying the rights of women, minorities, and the LGBT community. You have remained glaringly closed-mouthed about the working poor, while proposing tax cuts for the wealthiest among us. You have collected your paychecks for what amounts to a paltry amount of work hours per year, while railing against a liveable minimum wage for those who work 60-plus hours a week and still cant survive.
You have lied when convenient, obfuscated when it serves your political purposes, obstructed simply for the sake of doing so, and have steadfastly ignored every challenge facing us as a nation, as well as the steps necessary to meet those challenges.
Much has been made of Hillary Clintons characterization of some Trump supporters as deplorable. The truth is that your entire party is deplorable.
When you stand up for everything that is detrimental to the citizenry, you are an Enemy of the People. When you campaign for a man you know to be unqualified, you are an Enemy of the People. When you support the candidacy of an immoral, proven-to-be liar who doesnt have the intellectual wherewithal to utter a single coherent sentence, you are an Enemy of the People. When you promote electing a lying, deceitful blowhard to the presidency, you are an Enemy of the People. When you ignore the consequences of having a complete idiot sitting in the Oval Office, you are an Enemy of the People.
My only argument with HRCs statement is that she was being almost unforgivably polite. Deplorable doesnt even come close to describing what you as a party have become, and what you have now proven yourselves to be beyond all doubt.
Let it be noted that the Republican Party does not do things by half measures. It is not that you are merely AN Enemy of the People; you are THE Enemy of the People. If the shoe fits, wear it. And being the Enemy of the People happens to be a shoe that fits perfectly.
niyad
(113,498 posts)MEN.
Wounded Bear
(58,683 posts)oasis
(49,396 posts)Yup
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,677 posts)I applaud you.
And I know Jeff and Chris are applauding too...
Raster
(20,998 posts)...in a blowtorch kind of way. And every flippin' word is truth. I used think I had a handle on the depths of darkness some of our country will sink to. With Trump, I realize I had absolutely no idea.
NanceGreggs
(27,816 posts)... have now realized the depths to which the Republicans are willing to stoop to. While saying for years "they wouldn't go this low", we now know that they will - and have.
dgibby
(9,474 posts)Couldn't agree more. I've actually asked the SPLC to declare the GOP a hate group. Nothing so far, but I keep asking.
sarae
(3,284 posts)Well said!
I agree, "deplorable" is way too polite to describe Trump's followers...correction, the whole Republican Party.
vlyons
(10,252 posts)Depravity defined as moral corruption
humbled_opinion
(4,423 posts)I hear it everyday, I read your rant, and have heard almost verbatim the same rant against Progressives, Liberals, Democrats, at my job. There has to be a better way.
VOX
(22,976 posts)I too wish there was some higher road to take, something less vicious and corrosive, that would communicate the message and win voters' favor. But there isn't. Sadly, the world doesn't work that way.
The RW may say similar things, but their dedicated information sources are tilted radically rightward. They are in an airtight bubble, which is impervious to reason and civility.
The stakes have never been higher than they are in the coming election. The country is at a crossroads. One way leads to darkness and misery. The other way, the Democratic way, at least offers some hope for sanity and equilibrium. And that's worth fighting for, even if it means getting lowdown and messy.
CaptainTruth
(6,599 posts)I feel like Trump supporters are traitors to this country.
NanceGreggs
(27,816 posts)... because they ARE traitors to this country.
Metro135
(359 posts)Much has been made of Hillary Clintons characterization of some Trump supporters as deplorable. The truth is that your entire party is deplorable.
SO TRUE!
GusBob
(7,286 posts)An enemy of America
NanceGreggs
(27,816 posts)... have shown that Trump being a national security risk is of no concern to them.
nruthie
(466 posts)betsuni
(25,582 posts)SHRED
(28,136 posts)ffr
(22,671 posts)Damn straight too!
LittleGirl
(8,287 posts)delivers the knock out punch! Well done. Exactly why I created an account for DU back in the day...to applaud your piece!
The Wizard
(12,546 posts)Our media is doing to Hillary what they did to Al Gore. This is going to my FB page. These hideous gargoyles who've seized the Republican Party are abnormal, and the media doesn't take a second look. We are sliding into a feudal state with lords and serfs, and the serfs are blinded by propaganda. I shudder thinking of the lunatic Trump with the levers of power. Think of paying off personal debts to Russian and Chinese banks with our tax dollars. The charlatan playing on the worst fears and lowest instincts must be reduced to a bag of pus. He really does use much of the same language as Hitler who promised to make Germany great again.
His supporters are willing to forge the chains that keep them in bondage.
We've entered the Twilight Zone. And how would we react if Clarence Thomas picks the President? Perhaps the piper of the deliberate ignorance parade is coming for his pay.
Francis Booth
(162 posts)Thankfully, I don't think this can happen. Only Congress can write the legislation needed to spend money.
On edit: I suppose a Republican-controlled congress *could* do it to curry favor with the Executive branch, and there would be no way to stop it.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)And in the end so many people will get sick and die. The cost would be so much more than billions of dollars.
quickesst
(6,280 posts)..... you have knocked it out of the park!!
Upthevibe
(8,066 posts)quickesst
(6,280 posts)I can usually find a picture that expresses my feelings far better than my actual words.
Hekate
(90,768 posts)saltpoint
(50,986 posts)will read this piece but then I smacked my forehead, saying, "You fool -- of course they won't read it."
They like to trot out the Constitution but haven't read it. Many of them invoke Biblical authority but haven't read the New Testament. They don't seem to read any news sources of any kind. Most of them couldn't read a map to save their souls, insofar as they have souls to save.
You kicked their butts with this one, Nance, and the gods and goddesses know the GOP's butt has been in need of kicking for a long, long time.
NanceGreggs
(27,816 posts)Just by way of proving how naively optimistic I can be, I once thought that after the comparisons between the Bush administration and the Obama years became glaringly apparent, the GOP would realize that the country and its citizenry were better served by nominating an intelligent man or woman who had the necessary qualifications to lead a nation.
I was wrong. The Republicans simply dont care. They think that if a dumb buffoon like Dubya can be elected, an idiotic sleaze-ball like Trump should appeal to their base even more so. What happens to the country after the win is of no concern whatsoever.
The GOP is no longer the opposition across the aisle. They are the Enemy of the People, and have no higher regard for those who vote with them than those who vote against them.
saltpoint
(50,986 posts)in recent elections. And at Trump rallies.
I came across a provocative piece in The New Republic --
https://newrepublic.com/article/136328/red-state-blues
-- which tries to wade into the Trump demographic and examine what's at the bottom of that swamp. I don't think it answers all the right questions, but it asks a few more than the media generally address. Pretty useful stuff.
If Clinton-Kaine wins in November, the GOP still has the same problem you say it has. They made a half-hearted attempt at outreach to minority voter groups, but Trump bulldozed whatever fragile structure they had set up.
Ligyron
(7,639 posts)Really spot on I think and it explains an awful lot
". In one of his most telling passages, he writes that Obama feels like an alien to many people for reasons that have nothing to do with his skin color. The president is brilliant, wealthy, and speaks like a constitutional law professor he conducts himself with a confidence that comes from knowing that the modern American meritocracy was built for him. If people claim that Obama is a liar, a crypto-Muslim, an inarticulate, teleprompter-dependent affirmative action baby, that is partly because they know that, in this new world, he is better than they are:
He is a good father while many of us arent. He wears suits to his job while we wear overalls, if were lucky enough to have a job at all. His wife tells us that we shouldnt be feeding our children certain foods, and we hate her for itnot because we think shes wrong, but because we know shes right."
saltpoint
(50,986 posts)passage.
There's a kind of tilt in the article for progressives to make a better attempt at understanding Trump's supporters' resentments. But then there is Barack Obama, a good parent, vigorous and handsome, admirably accomplished in law, and demonstrably dedicated to public service.
Trump's supporters (not all of them, but many of them) debase Obama, claiming he's a secret Muslim, that he was not born in the U.S., etc. Yet they vote in election after election for Republicans who legislate conditions that diminish their chances for advancement.
At some point it's clear Trump's supporters are blaming the wrong people for their problems.
maddiemom
(5,106 posts)Boy, has THAT ever changed.
LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,590 posts)Egnever
(21,506 posts)A pleasure to read your rants
madaboutharry
(40,216 posts)I am grateful you are here.
DemonGoddess
(4,640 posts)Portland_Anni
(164 posts)Thanks for an excellent discription of the Trump problem.
Gothmog
(145,475 posts)kentuck
(111,106 posts)and we find ourselves at a very bad place.
mnhtnbb
(31,399 posts)Specifically swing states? Our Raleigh (NC) paper--The News & Observer--accepts point of view pieces up to 750 words--and with some minor editing you'd be there.
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/submit-letter/
I have thought for a long time that we who oppose Republicans ought to take the gloves off and go after them. Really hit 'em hard and tell it like it is. And you've done it with
this piece.
classykaren
(769 posts)brer cat
(24,589 posts)lordsummerisle
(4,651 posts)Divine Discontent
(21,056 posts)The poor, the sick, the homeless, the disabled. If the true desires of the GOP were to come to fruition, they would casually let us all die!
The orange bastard is the Republican nominee to be president, oh how the party of Abraham Lincoln has fallen.
America is damaged just by his being given the platform to spread his hate...
calimary
(81,404 posts)Last edited Thu Sep 15, 2016, 03:29 PM - Edit history (1)
You took the words out of ALL our mouths.
I'm still sitting here wondering why nobody's covering the FACT of all the Trump rallies where they're wearing "Trump the Bitch" and "Hillary for Prison" t-shirts (AND worse), roaring "lock her up" with fists waving in the air, picking fights with people on hand with whom they disagree, menacing, threatening, and getting in-yer-face with some of 'em a la Wrestlemania, and even beating up on little old ladies who dare to disagree.
NO coverage of that.
But how can ANYONE claim that this behavior is not deplorable, AND THESE PEOPLE WHO OPENLY AND PROUDLY DISPLAY THIS BEHAVIOR, are not deplorable? Who can honestly excuse this and claim it's no big deal?
Hillary was RIGHT.
http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2016/09/13/69-year-old-woman-punched-asheville-trump-rally/90301468/
http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-trailguide-updates-video-shows-the-aftermath-of-1473857090-htmlstory.html
http://www.vibe.com/2016/03/trump-rally-louisville-assault-details/
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/03/trump-violence
https://thinkprogress.org/the-man-beaten-and-choked-at-a-donald-trump-rally-tells-his-story-4b96b74dc9bf#.yq1gph7t1
https://newrepublic.com/minutes/128896/beat-protester-trumps-rally-hell-cover-legal-fees
http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/Trump-supporters-and-protestors-line-up-outside-Janesville-center-373894331.html
NanceGreggs
(27,816 posts)Please make your response an OP. It's important info.
calimary
(81,404 posts)Last edited Thu Sep 15, 2016, 03:53 PM - Edit history (1)
Thanks back atcha, girlie!
Done.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512419496
lupinella
(365 posts)ffr
(22,671 posts)Their blind hatred is putting us all in peril. GOTV 2016 & 2018. Elect HRC.
katmondoo
(6,457 posts)BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)I want to print this and shove copies down some stupid throats.
vlyons
(10,252 posts)Your moral compass is broken, assuming that you ever had one. I personally have come to the conclusion that the Republican party is a vast criminal enterprise, motivated by a greedy accumulation of wealth at any cost, envy for those with more wealth, and hatred for anyone not part of your criminal team. You stink!
WiffenPoof
(2,404 posts)So well stated. A wordsmith of the highest rank.
2naSalit
(86,741 posts)avebury
(10,952 posts)asuhornets
(2,405 posts)I wish I had your writing skills..Good Job.
Francis Booth
(162 posts)and the editorial board of National Review all pleaded with the Party to derail his nomination.
His base is largely poor or lower working-class uneducated whites who long for the days before globalization. They think undocumented Latinos came here to take their jobs, but their jobs were happily outsourced by the greedy, white Wall Street managerial class, who have continually beat on corporate America for great and greater profits, and American workers be damned.
They think brown people are the enemy, but their real enemy look just like they do, sans baseball cap and confederate flag, and sporting $1000 suits and Rolex watches.
VOX
(22,976 posts)"His only failing being his penchant for saying out loud what you whisper behind closed doors."
PERFECT!
CanonRay
(14,111 posts)bettyellen
(47,209 posts)bloom
(11,635 posts)If you are not an office holder - you may want to consider running for something.
This was excellent.