On Donald Drumpf vs. Queen Clinton
It's hard to believe that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. It's a long way till November. Donald Trump winning the Republican nomination has some upside. It is undoubtedly going to be a nasty race, but this country could use a long, thoughtful look at our problems with race, gender, and economic inequality.
The problem is none of us are willing to listen to the other side. There isn't going to be friendly debate. It's going to be polarizing and vitriolic. This election year, the Pope and the KKK are involved. A Woman and a Socialist represent the Democrats. A fanatic xenophobe is the clear front-runner for the Republicans. We are a nation divided.
This year we decide if we're going to let our country regress back to its hateful ways. Citizens from both sides of the fence have all decided this is the time to put our foot down, to stand strong for our beliefs, to live up to our morals. Team Drumpf vs. The Queen of the Clintons... Idiocracy turned out to be a prophecy.
It's hard to imagine an America with Donald Drumpf as its president. The list of why he shouldn't be is long. Bilking students at this failed for-profit "business school", his call for a ban on all Muslims from entering the United States, his negative generalization of Mexicans crossing the border, and most of all, just his overall demeanor. Barking at reporters, shouting at protestors, and inciting hate across the country.
He's running on hate. He's running on his business acumen, which is debatable considering his many failed businesses and bankruptcies. Who sells steaks at Sharper Image? I mean really? Who? There is only one man who has done that, and it's Donald Drumpf.
On the Democratic Race and Why I like Socialism
The Democratic Race is by no means over. Bernie Sanders, the Democratic Socialist, still has something to celebrate about. There are movements going on in this country. United States citizens are fighting for the country they want to live in. And we are split right down the middle. I'm consumed by it. I feel an urge to do the right thing, and there are people everywhere trying to manipulate my emotions and sway me toward their cause.
I think it would be great if everyone in the country was more economically stable. I spent six months traveling through every state west of the Mississippi. I slept in dozens of Walmart parking lots along the way. People sleeping in their cars, covering their windows with makeshift curtains made of old sweatshirts, coats and blankets. From San Diego to Seattle, Minneapolis to Denver and countless cities in between, all of them are crawling with homeless people.
They live in tents under the overpass, they live along bike paths, and they live on your front stoop or back in the alley. They live on the street. Many of them are suffering from severe mental illness, physical disabilities, and as Trump would say, some of them I assume are good people. Don't pretend you don't know. This isn't breaking news, this is the status quo, and this is considered normal. Something isn't working.
To my mind, there is no middle class anymore. Most of us are lower middle class now. People who had their 401k retirement plan decimated, people who are disabled and barely make enough to put food on the table, people who can't find work. To use another Trumpism: There are millions and millions and millions of them. And very, very, very few of us are very, very, very rich. It doesn't seem right. I don't like it.
An appeal to my fellow voters and the people vying for my vote. Pitch Me.
I am a voter. So who should I pick based on what I've seen? What is Donald Trump going to do for the many homeless on our streets? What are any of them going to do about it? I guarantee you, no matter who I vote for, I'll still be able to walk down 16th Street Mall in Denver and talk to homeless people all day long. I'll still be able to go to that Walmart in San Diego with a homeless encampment in the back corner of the lot, and they'll still be there. Americans living like refugees in their own country.
I am drawn to the idea of Democratic Socialism for this reason. I want someone to convince me who I can vote for that will change the problems this country has that I have seen with my own eyes. Who gets your vote, and why? I'm a vote, pitch me. Pretend I'm Switzerland, completely neutral. I'd love to hear what you think.