Posted on 09/15/2015 12:09:46 PM PDT by Steelfish
Now Is No Time to Be Voting for President Based on Emotion
by Thomas Sowell September 15, 2015 In a country with more than 300 million people, it is remarkable how obsessed the media have become with just one — Donald Trump. What is even more remarkable is that, after six years of repeated disasters, both domestically and internationally, under a glib egomaniac in the White House, so many potential voters are turning to another glib egomaniac to be his successor. No doubt much of the stampede of Republican voters toward Mr. Trump is based on their disgust with the Republican establishment. The fact that the next two biggest vote-getters in the polls are also complete outsiders — Dr. Ben Carson and Ms. Carly Fiorina — reinforces the idea that this is a protest. It is easy to understand why there would be pent-up resentments among Republican voters.
But are elections held for the purpose of venting emotions? No national leader ever aroused more fervent emotions than Adolf Hitler did in the 1930s. Watch some old newsreels of German crowds delirious with joy at the sight of him. The only things at all comparable in more recent times were the ecstatic crowds that greeted Barack Obama when he burst upon the political scene in 2008. Elections, however, have far more lasting, and far more serious — or even grim — consequences than emotional venting.
The actual track record of crowd-pleasers, whether Juan Peron in Argentina, Obama in America, or Hitler in Germany, is very sobering, if not painfully depressing. The media seem to think that participation in elections is a big deal. But turnout often approaches 100 percent in countries so torn by bitter polarization that everyone is scared to death of what will happen if the other side wins.
But times and places with low voter turnout are often times and places when there are no such fears aroused by having an opposing party win. Despite many people who urge us all to vote, as a civic duty, the purpose of elections is not participation. The purpose is to select individuals for offices, including president of the United States. Whoever has that office has our lives, the lives of our loved ones and the fate of the entire nation in his or her hands.
An election is not a popularity contest, or an award for showmanship. If you want to fulfill your duty as a citizen, then you need to become an informed voter. An election is not a popularity contest, or an award for showmanship. If you want to fulfill your duty as a citizen, then you need to become an informed voter. And if you are not informed, then the most patriotic thing you can do on Election Day is stay home. Otherwise your vote, based on whims or emotions, is playing Russian roulette with the fate of this nation.
All the hoopla over Donald Trump is distracting attention from a large field of other candidates, some of whom have outstanding track records as governors, where they demonstrated courage, character, and intelligence. Others have rhetorical skills like Trump or a serious mastery of issues, unlike Trump.
Even if Trump himself does not end up as the Republican nominee for the presidency, he will have done a major disservice to both his party and the country if his grandstanding has cost us a chance to explore in depth others who may include someone far better prepared for the complex challenges of this juncture in history.
After the disastrous nuclear deal with Iran, we are entering an era when people alive at this moment may live to see a day when American cities are left in radioactive ruins. We need all the wisdom, courage and dedication in the next president — and his or her successors — to save us and our children from such a catastrophe. Rhetoric and showmanship will certainly not save us. Donald Trump is not the only obstacle to finding leaders of such character.
The ultimate danger lies in the voting public themselves. All too many signs point to an electorate including many people who are grossly uninformed or, worse yet, misinformed. The very fact that the voting age was lowered to 18 shows the triumph of the vision of elections as participatory rituals, rather than times for fateful choices.
If anything, the age might have been raised to 30, since today millions of people in their 20s have never even had the responsibility of being self-supporting, to give them some sense of reality. We can only hope that the months still remaining before the first primary elections next year will allow voters to get over their emotional responses and concentrate on the life-and-death implications of choosing the next president of the United States.
— Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
There’s a Trump tweet in Jan 2014 where he was adamant about abortions at 7 months, 8 months, and 9 months. I searched on his twitter feed and it’s been deleted. I’ll try to find a link to it. That right there is a yuuuge deal breaker for many.
First I’ve heard of it. If true, you’d think the Trump haters would post the quote on every single thread. [Just out of curiosity, how would you verify a deleted tweet? Has Trump admitted he said this?]
hahaha— Great anaolgy, I wish I was better at photoshop, I would put a trump head on a honey badger.. with the caption “Trump don’t care”
It is good that you are so careful in analyzing not only Trump’s stated positions but also his thought processes behind them. So, tell me again who you are for?
It doesn’t really take much careful analysis to say that Trump’s statement that single payer works elsewhere is (i) wrong, and (ii) inconsistent with his other statement that it wouldn’t work here. You’re either for single payer or against it. Trump’s wishy-washy “well, it works there but wouldn’t work here, because.....reasons” position is absurd.
And I support Ted Cruz. Who, to my knowledge, has never advocated in favor of single payer. Anywhere.
“the Trump haters”
I hate that term.
It was always the last gasp `argument’ for the Clintonians when all their best stuff got shot down, one at a time:
Nothing happened.
It wasn’t him.
It wasn’t sex.
It wasn’t wrong.
Um, OK ...
You’re just a hater.
Watch, we’ll see that gambit used next-to-last by Hillary and the other Democrats (Lerner et al.) being brought to bay by the desultory GOP-e attack hamsters.
Well, that is true that Cruz has not advocated for single payer at all. There are some things though that he has said and done that are maybe less than conservative.. Also, If you look at the big picture and believe Trump will win the election and get important things done like getting Illegal immigration under control and you feel Cruz may be more pure but has not caught on enough to win the election then doesnt that give you at least a little pause to determine which outcome is better..
I just call what I see. I see hatred of Trump out of all proportion to anything he’s done or said. I can’t count the lies and smears I’ve seen posted by people you’d expect better from. Have you seen George Will ‘s recent articles? He’s seething so much, he’s barely articulate.
If people merely opposed Trump and his policies, I’d agree with you. As it is, not even Trump Derangement Syndrome covers it. It is a wild and weird phenomenon. I hope it diminishes, and the term Trump haters is sooner than later inoperative.
No, but Cruz has taken a teddy bear and soccer ball approach to the open border/foreign invader crisis. Which, if it is not fixed soon, will mean the end of the US as a sovereign nation. When you no longer have a country, other considerations matter less.
You are right on that.. Why such extremes against him? People who are Republicans but have a reputation for honesty have stooped to the point of completely misquoting Trump— calling him a liberal and a socialist and a bigot and a sexist.. There is a paralell with how Sarah Palin was treated, but clearly nothing on this level.
I have some vague theories on why Trump engenders such passionate hatred, but nothing I’m quite ready to share. I simply note that not even Jeb excites such hostility. But that I suppose relates to his poor showing in the polls. In some ways, he seems more of a joke than a threat.
I do find it interesting that the most aggressive haters are rarely if ever advised to tone it down. The personal insults lobbed at Trump supporters are over the top and really disgusting. We get called out for mentioning the hate, but the haters themselves get free rein. Hmm.
Yea, no one mentions how Bobby Jindal is a completely nasty sore loser for his calling trump selfish, a narcisist and a clown. Though I don’t think Trump ever said a single bad thing about Jindal from my memory.
It is sad to see Jindal damaging himself as he has lately. With a bit more restraint he could have left the race with an impression of classiness and maturity. It’s too late for that now.
I agree, it was so pointless.
Yes Ted can be quite selective at times. I live in Mississippi and he was quite timid IMO on the Cochran McDaniel affair
Yes Ted can be quite selective at times. I live in Mississippi and he was quite timid IMO on the Cochran McDaniel affair
It’s politician in him. Regardless of how awesome you think he is, he’s still a DC professional politician that is beholden to his masters.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.