Replies

As Trump was first running for office, the events reminded me of going pheasant hunting on a farm near Sheridan, Oregon. I would be walking along this fence row as a bored fourteen-year-old. Out in the field was an enclosure where the farmer was raising turkeys. As we got adjacent to it and when no one was looking, I hurled a rock into the enclosure just to see the birds squawk and run about. To me Trump was the rock, and the turkeys were all the other politicians. The comments coming under the umbrella that at the minimum he lacks proper decorum reminded me of the bumper sticker which says, “Well behaved women seldom make history”. However, I was convinced that come November, I would have to choose among the turkeys.

In the run up to conventions, both parties had third party candidates, but only the Democrats had an effective means to eradicate theirs. But at the Republican convention, Trump got nominated and I had to decide where my vote should go. Clinton was out of the question, because from reading the Bengasi report she and those surrounding her had proved their lethal indecision and incompetence, and her criminality had been proved by how she handled her emails. The Republicans were valueless because their motto had become, “Vote for us we are just as good as the Democrats”.

Since the major political parties could no longer claim my allegiance, the only principle left to me was the value I placed on the oath I took as a Navy officer to support and defend the Constitution. Here was a unique statement of the sovereignty and worth of the individual which would be revolutionary forever.

Trump said he was at least willing to commit to appointing judges that would adhere to my oath. Now no political commitment should ever be considered sacrosanct, but I had no one to vote for. I chose to vote against the objectively demonstrated evil and that left Trump as the only viable option on the ballot. I could have chosen a minor candidate, but that would have been an abstention and not a vote against.

Now that Trump had been inaugurated, I found nearly everyone who can claim membership in the traditional governing class was against him. The media, academia, government bureaucracy, and the politicians and donors both Republican and Democrat parties continually express the same animosity and contempt towards him they have always shown towards people like me, and those I revere. Amazingly he has actually followed through on his campaign promise to nominate judges who revere the Constitution; who properly understand their role is to interpret the law independent of the personal preferences which motivate a politician accountable to the people. The most recent example is Amy Coney Barrett who said, “A judge declares independence not only from Congress and the president but also from the private beliefs that might otherwise move her. The judicial oath captures the essence of the judicial duty. The rule of law must always control,”

I was beginning to develop an affection for the man in spite of his abrasiveness as a typical New Yorker. I imagine Trump continually presenting fantastic ideas and arguing belligerently in hopes of stimulating vigorous, resolute, and thoughtful rebuttal from rooms full of people so permeated with pollical and bureaucratic viruses that original, conscience thought might no longer be possible.

When others tried to disparage Ulysses Grant because of his drinking, Lincoln said about Grant, "I can't spare this man, he fights." I guess that assessment works for me.” Looks like I will have to continue to vote against the others.