My thoughts: 2016

I tend not to talk politics too often because of how divisive it usually is. Talk about politics brings out the worst in people. I had one guy unfriend and even block me on Facebook simply because I refused to debate him. When you consider that the last time we had debated, he was accusing me of saying things I never said, why would I debate him? 2 other friends deleted me recently...presumably over politics. The one regularly made borderline racist posts on his Facebook wall which I never commented on and the other 1st deactivated his account because every time he made a stupid posting, plenty of people commented, including me admittedly. Last week, he reactivated his account and it seems he unfriended several people, including me. It speaks volumes about his character. There are several Facebook friends I have who post some stuff that scares me at times and my response isn't to unfriend...but I have unfollowed so that it's not showing up in my news feed...in a few months, the election will be over and the reason you unfriended someone no longer exists.

I'm not sure if its the divisiveness or the lack of thought that goes into discussing politics is the worst part of it. A lot of insults get hurled back and forth and here's the funny thing...there's one that shouldn't be viewed as an insult....being called a liberal. 160 years ago, the idea of ending slavery was pretty liberal and 100 years ago, so was giving women the right to vote. Personally, I'm slightly left of center when it comes to social issues but moderately right of center when it comes to fiscal issues but I'd rather be liberal than constantly on the wrong side of history myself. Being in favor of granting people equal rights should never be viewed as a bad thing. It was considered liberal to end slavery, to give women voting rights, to end segregation, to give homosexuals the right to enter into legal contracts. Anyone against any of those has some serious issues.

This year's election is proving to be the most divisive in history and while none of the major party candidates have impressed me, the worst, and the man at fault for the divisiveness, is Donald Trump. The funny thing is, I thought about supporting him at first for the same reason many still support him...he's not a career politician. The problem is....that's his only positive. Once he started talking, I knew that he was the least qualified candidate to be President that we've ever had. I keep wondering when he’s going to come out and admit that his run has all been a big joke on us. One lady who worked on his campaign during the primaries said that he didn't think he'd get a lot of support. Either way, if he believes the crap he spews, he's beyond stupid and if it is all just a joke, then he underestimated how easily people can be conned.

To start, he's using Hitler's rise to power as a blueprint. His supporters claim that because Hitler killed millions, you can't compare the two. To that I say, go back to school. Yes, Hitler killed millions....AFTER HE GOT INTO POWER! Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it and history tells us how Hitler got into power...by promises of making Germany great again and by feeding into fear, paranoia, and hatred...exactly what Trump is doing.

Also, there's this from the Huffington Post on July 20..."If he wins the presidency, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would seek to purge the federal government of officials appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama and could ask Congress to pass legislation making it easier to fire public workers, Trump ally, Chris Christie, said on Tuesday."
Hitler did that exact same thing...literally, within a few months of taking office. If you can't see the comparisons between Hitler and Trump, then Trump loves you, the poorly educated.

As a veteran, the idea of supporting a man who's treated veterans the way he has is beyond disgusting. For one, he used us as an excuse to skip a debate in January as well as to garner support. Instead of engaging in the debate, he hosted a fundraiser for veterans' groups....or so we were all told. Up until late May, those veterans' groups saw a mere pittance of that $6 million he claimed to raise. What happened in May to get him to fork over that money? After veterans' groups were asking about the missing money, the media started looking into it and the fact that the money hadn't gone where it was supposed to was revealed to the public on May 31...."coincidentally" the same day that money finally reached the hands of those it was intended for. I don't believe in coincidence and especially considering it shouldn't take over 4 months for donations to make it to the recipients, particularly in this day and age. If anyone really thinks he had any intention of giving that money to vets, then I imagine you're the proud owner of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Let's bring up his record in military service...he thinks a military school compares to actually being in the military? I don't expect every politician to serve in the military...but to dodge the draft and expect to become commander-in-chief? Sorry...but if I were still in the service, I'd have a tough time respecting a boss like that.
Then there's the way he spoke down about John McCain and other POWs. I have little respect for McCain as a politician and wanted no part of having him in the White House despite the fact that he conducted himself with a lot more class and decorum in the 2008 campaign than Trump has. However, as a veteran, I have the utmost respect for POWs. Yeah, it sucks that they were captured but they eventually returned home and some, like McCain, made the most of their freedom...but Trump has no respect for that?

Here's something I find amusing about many Trump supporters. I have no fondness for Hillary Clinton myself but one of the Trump supporters' biggest arguments against her is the whole FBI investigation argument. They figure that since she's an accused criminal (many assume she's guilty, which is completely contrary to how the American justice system works but that's another story), that she has no business running. Considering Trump has come right out and said he'd commit crimes if elected, that seems hypocritical to me. If you have a big problem with someone accused of a crime (and not going to be charged) but not with someone who proudly admits he'll commit crimes, you can't be taken seriously. As I said, I don't have much faith in Hillary but no Trump supporter can be taken seriously if they talk about her troubles with the law.

He wants to build a wall between the USA and Mexico...and force Mexico to pay for it. The wall would be useless anyway since many tunnels are dug and found every day...a wall would do little to deter illegal immigration and forcing Mexico to pay for it? There's a word for that....extortion, a felony offense.
Let's not forget about the fact that he wants to torture captured prisoners...also criminal offenses on an international level. His supporters claim that since terrorists do it, we should too. If you support breaking the law just because others do it, I have to wonder if there are unsolved crimes that you're responsible for. Someone else breaking the law is NEVER an excuse to break that same law...NEVER. No decent human being will ever accept that as a justifiable excuse to break the law.
Also, there are reports I've seen that say he raped a 13 year old girl and paid off another rape victim to keep quiet. Some may find that to be unbelievable but this is the same guy who's talked about his own daughter in, shall we say, a non-fatherly way. So far, there are 4 women who have alleged they were sexually assaulted by Trump. Yeah, they're just accusations so far but so was all the talk about Hillary's emails, Cosby's rapes, Jared Fogle, Michael Jackson, and Jerry Sandusky to name a few. Hell, some people still say Joe Paterno was guilty of covering up Sandusky's crimes despite all the evidence that proves otherwise.

Trump is far and away the worst candidate ever put up for election by a major political party....which says something when the Dems have Hillary...lol.

He's against the 1st Amendment, specifically 3 of the 4 parts of it

freedom of assembly...he's encouraged his supporters to attack protesters which has only encouraged more protests, some of which have included violence...violence begets violence. When Obama first ran in 2008, he not only didn't encourage violence towards protesters, he didn't even have them thrown out...he told them that he'd address their concerns at the end of his speech.
freedom of religion...wants to deny entry to the US based on religion? A few things wrong with that...we have freedom of religion in this nation so to use religion as a basis to deny entry can't be defended. For another, there's no way of really proving someone's religion...you'll block good Muslims from coming in but the terrorists will just lie about their religion and you'll let them in. There even used to be talk of registering Muslims...and people wonder where the Hitler comparisons come from? The registration talk has died down, thankfully.
freedom of the press...won't allow news organizations into his rallies because they've said mean things about him and has talked about suing for libel. Fox News is known for making crap up and nothing's happened to them and there's several propaganda websites out there that the uninformed buy into without thinking. They build a story with one or two small facts in them but everything else in the story is totally made up. Many are listed at http://www.fakenewswatch.com/ so question anything any of those sites post...or better yet, ignore them. You'd be better off getting news from The Onion than from Red Flag News or American News

He's a conspiracy theorist...believes climate change is a hoax started by the Chinese....I'm sorry, but if you don't have a grip on reality, you have no business anywhere close to political office
Ben Carson claims that Trump is a far different person away from the cameras and rallies...so a former opponent turned backer said he has split personalities...again...no business in politics...should be under psychiatric care
His 1st wife said he kept a book of Hitler speeches at his bedside...not shocking considering he's been using Hitler rise to power as a blueprint...making empty promises saying he'll "Make America Great" again even though we already are great...Germany was recovering from World War I...and he's done his best to stir up hatred, paranoia, and fear...anyone who can't see the comparison shouldn't have a high school diploma.
Bigotry to the extreme

when he first received an endorsement by the KKK, he was asked about it and it took him 2 days of "research" before he'd denounce them. I'm sorry, but if you don't automatically know they're nothing but scumbags, you're either a racist yourself or beyond stupid.
his whole banning Muslims from entering the USA...and there was even talk about registering Muslims that already live in the USA though that died down. Besides the obvious comparisons to Hitler and the Nazis this draws as well the fact this flies in the face of the 1st Amendment, there's also the fact that there's nothing justified about profiling based on religion. For one, there's no way to do it...people of all races follow Islam and the only ones you'd keep out would be honest ones. If a terrorist who follows extremist Islam wants to come in, he's not gonna admit that he's Muslim. Plus, more Christians commit mass murders in the USA than Muslims do and it's not even close. But just as the vast majority of Christians are peaceful, the same holds true for people of every religion.
Trump has even openly mocked a disabled reporter and has said that he doesn't trust blacks with his finances, only the Jewish
Speaking of the Jewish, who could forget when Trump tweeted out that photo of Hillary with a Star of David superimposed over a pile of money? Their excuse was that it was supposed to be a sheriff star from Google shapes...except that sheriff stars have rounded points and the entire image with the money, Hillary, and the Star of David with the words "Most Corrupt Candidate Ever" was found on a white supremacist message board on June 15...17 days before Trump tweeted it...no way in hell does his staff create the exact same image coincidentally so there's some anti-Semitism for you as well. Yeah, Ivanka converted to Judaism when she married but people hate homosexuality despite having children who are homosexuals....and that's not even a choice. So to say that he can't hate Jews because his daughter chose to become one is beyond preposterous.
How racist Trump truly is is hard to say for sure but there's no denying that his campaign has been built on divisiveness, paranoia, hatred, and yes, racism.

People seem to think that Trump generally abhors political correctness but here's the thing...political correctness is going to extremes not to offend someone. There's nothing wrong with that...I'm not a big fan of it either...walking on eggshells all the time just doesn't seem right except in certain circumstances. However, there's a difference between not going to extremes not to offend someone and intentionally offending people. Trump's taken things to the opposite extreme. At least he does his best to offend everyone I guess...unfortunately a lot of people either pay little attention to what he says or just don't care. If you're not bothered by his bullying, are you any better than the bully himself?
Nukes...this is the scariest thing. His spokesperson said he wouldn't be afraid to use them....and then he admitted he'd use them on Europe if he felt the need. It's well-known what kind of loose temper he has....and to have control of the nuclear launch codes? Unless you're selling bomb and nuclear fallout shelters, there's no one who would benefit from a Trump presidency.
Foreign policy....wants to abandon NATO allies and treaties, including the Paris Agreement on climate change. Planning on making enemies, being careless with nuclear bomb talk, no concern for the environment...he should be locked away, not running for President. Diplomacy is one of the biggest responsibilities of being a world leader. Those who are bad at it hurt their countries
He talks about bringing jobs back to America even though he's a big culprit in outsourcing. Hell, Ivanka brought up bringing jobs back while wearing a dress from her own line....manufactured in China. Hard to believe someone is so against something when they do it themselves and he's never shown an interest in ending the outsourcing his clothing manufacturing is involved in. His buildings are built primarily with Chinese steel when there are plenty of steel companies who would be more than happy to manufacture steel for new buildings. He was asked early on if he would bring the jobs back in his companies if the playing field were levelled more and he said no.

This posting isn't meant to insult Trump supporters nor do I even expect to change a lot of minds. I have one friend ready to condemn all Trump supporters and based on what I've seen, I can't totally blame her. Trump does attract a lot of total scumbags from the KKK to neo-Nazis to other white supremacist groups. However, he also attracts a lot of people who are disillusioned by the life-long politicians who spend more time avoiding their jobs than doing them. There have been times that I haven't voted because neither candidate impressed me enough to say that they were better than the other. While it's our civic duty to be involved in our own government through elections, it's irresponsible to vote just to say you did...if you're not educated on the candidates and issues properly, you could wind up casting a ballot and forever wonder why you voted for that person. It's one thing to cast a vote and end up wishing you hadn't because they didn't work out the way you expected but it's a completely different thing to wish you hadn't because you weren't educated on who to vote for.

Myself, I've paid attention this election season...probably more than I ever have...got a lot more free time with so little to do with my website these days. I've said for a couple of decades or so that I'd never vote for Hillary...the very thought of it gives me hives....so if you think all this talk against Trump means I'm for Hillary, then you're beyond stupid...I'd take her over Trump....but that's just because Trump is THAT bad. The only way I'll vote for Hillary is if it looks as if Trump could win NYS and I don't see that happening the way he keeps trying to lose voters.

My choice is http://chriskeniston2016.com/ from the Veteran's Party...his platform is virtually identical to my views...protect the Constitution but keep government out of social issues. I'm a moderate....lean moderately to the right on fiscal issues and slightly to the left on social issues.

Update: the media
A lot is brought up about how the media has been influencing this election and the fact of the matter is....it's true...but not in the way that Trump supporters want to believe. If they were working against Trump, then why would they sweep his scandals under the rug so often? You hear about Hillary's emails all the time and have heard about them the entire campaign. Everytime a Trump scandal comes up...it gets press for a couple of days...but then it disappears. He has a trial for fraud coming up November 28th but the press barely touched that if at all. Or how about the rapes? He committed full-blown rape on 3 occasions that are known about...to Ivana Trump, his ex-wife...to Jill Harth, a business associate who didn't press charges so that her husband would maintain his business relationship with Trump, and then the most disturbing, a 13-year old girl who was lured to a sex party by known pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. She had a lawsuit filed against Trump with a court date for December 16 and a press conference scheduled for this past Wednesday. Citing death threats, she cancelled the press conference and dropped the suit. A copy of the lawsuit can be found at https://www.scribd.com/doc/316386913/Doe-V-Donald-Trump but it does get rather graphic. For anyone doubting the veracity of the claims, a video was released a month or so ago that featured Trump bragging about sexual assault. He claimed, at a debate, he never did what he claimed he did when he didn't know he was being filmed. Personally, I think a person is more honest about things "behind closed doors" when he/she doesn't know they're on camera. Here's the thing...he claimed that it never happened...and then about a dozen or so women came forward and said he did do it to them. It's also come out that he went backstage into dressing rooms at beauty pageants where contestants were in various states of undress. Now, I get that he owns the Miss Universe Pageant....but a man does NOT belong back there. He's a fucking pervert.
Anyway, up until that tape surfaced, the media kept brushing his scandals under the rug but kept harping on emails...so if you truly think Clinton is worse than Trump, I think you've let the media influence you too much....and again, I can't stand Hillary at all.
If you want proof of the media's bias towards Trump, look no further than the Commander-In-Chief forum.
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/watch-full-commander-in-chief-forum-760093763703
Matt Lauer handled the event and if anyone saw him the next day, they would've seen what looked like orange lipstick on his mouth...because of how much he was on his knees for Trump.

gave them different rules to follow....he told Clinton not to attack her opponent...she mentioned him once....he told Trump to keep attacks to a minimum....and he spent 10-15 minutes of his time attacking either Clinton or Obama
When Clinton was up, Lauer spent the 1st half of her session talking about emails...asking the same questions multiple times and when it came time for real issues, he either told her to make it brief or cut her off in the middle of a statement.
When Trump was up, he was given free reign on questions and answers and was never once questioned when he was caught in a lie...like his early support for the war in Iraq. He claimed he was never for it even though there's audio evidence that he was for it at first. Not once did Lauer call him out for that lie.

Finally, the term deplorables. Clinton said she'd put about half of Trump's supporters into a basket of deplorables. She apologized for that statement later but in truth, she was right....and actually nice. The Pew Research Center conducted a study and found that 57% of Trump supporters have an issue with diversity, whether it be racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, homophobia, or general bigotry...the deplorables that Clinton referred to, If someone is upset about being called deplorable, then maybe that person should re-evaluate what kind of a person he/she is. If they aren't racist, xenophobic, homophobic, or Islamophobic, then she wasn't referring to them. Truth be told, I think that 43% that is left over is just uninformed. No shame in being uninformed...though an uninformed voter will have something on their conscience the rest of their lives if the person elected turns out to be a terrible choice. I know this because it will always bother me that I voted for GWB in 2000...he started an illegal war of aggression in Iraq that cost US lives. Maybe had I and others been more informed in 2000, Gore would've won and maybe lives would've been saved.

I won't tell anyone who to or who not to vote for...nor will I denigrate anyone for voting for such a vile scumbag as Trump. If he wins, and he continues on the path he's on, then people will have enough to deal with, whether it be nuclear war or whatever that lunatic pulls. But the only way I could ever vote for him is if I was killed, my brain removed and burnt to ash, and my dead corpse reanimated.