By the GREAT Thomas Sowell
* * *
It is seldom that the fate of a nation can be traced to
what happened on one particular day. But that may be what happens in the United
States of America on Tuesday, March 15, 2016.
That is because the front-runners in both political
parties are not merely inadequate but appalling - and the vote in this
Tuesday's primaries may be the last chance for the voters to unite behind
someone else.
* WHILE I CERTAINLY AGREE WITH REGARD TO HILLARY RODHAM
CLINTON (AND BERNIE SANDERS FOR THAT MATTER), I DISAGREE WITH REGARD TO DONALD
TRUMP.
* DON'T GET ME WRONG! I CAN CRITICIZE TRUMP ALL DAY LONG!
BUT... I CAN ALSO LAUD TRUMP ALL DAY LONG! (AND THE SAME APPLIES TO CRUZ - WHO
IS "MY GUY!")
The trends that brought us to this crucial day go back
for years. But whatever the paths that led to this crossroads, we are in fact
at a crossroads and our future, and our children's futures, depend on whether
we can come up with some presidential candidate better than either Hillary
Clinton or Donald Trump.
* WHAT'S... "COME UP WITH" MEAN? (AND WHO IS
THIS "WE" SOWELL IS REFERRING TO? I THOUGHT THE PRIMARY/CAUCUS
PROCESS REPRESENTED "WE.")
In other times and in other conditions, one bad president
could not ruin a great nation. We survived Jimmy Carter and we may survive
Barack Obama, but there is no guarantee that we can survive an unlimited amount
of reckless decisions in a dangerous world.
* WE SURVIVED JIMMY CARTER ONLY BECAUSE GOD GAVE AMERICA
RONALD REAGAN. PERIOD. AND THERE IS NO PRESENT DAY RONALD REAGAN. EXCLAMATION
POINT!
The dangers are both internal and external. Two of our
bitterest enemies - Iran and North Korea - are openly declaring their desire to
destroy us.
* OLD NEWS. NOTHING NEW. SAME $HIT DIFFERENT DAY. (FUNNY
HE DOESN'T EVEN MENTION CHINA...)
(*SIGH*)
And both are developing intercontinental missiles that
can carry nuclear warheads.
* FOLKS... PRESENTLY AND HISTORICALLY IT IS AND HAS BEEN
CHINA THAT SUPPORTS NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROLIFERATION - AND YET SOWELL DOESN'T EVEN
MENTION CHINA.
(*DEEPER SIGH*)
These and other mortal dangers are a product of the
feckless foreign policies carried out by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as
the Obama administration weakened our military forces while our adversaries
around the world have been rapidly strengthening theirs.
* NO ARGUMENT...
(*SHRUG*)
We will be lucky to survive the damage that has been done
already. A third consecutive term of such policies, with Hillary Clinton in the
White House, can be suicidal.
* WOULD BE. PERIOD.
Internally, Hillary Clinton's whole political career has
been based on polarizing the American population by race, sex, class and any
other way that will serve her political interests. This kind of cynical
political exploitation can take the "United" out of the United
States, and Balkanize us into an internal war of each against all. That is a
war in which we can all lose.
As for the Republicans' front-runner, what is there left
to say about Donald Trump? Almost daily he demonstrates that he lacks the
maturity, the depth and the character required to lead a nation facing a
complex range of dangers.
* FOLKS... HERE'S WHERE I MUST INTERJECT CONCERNING
SOWELL'S MISSING OF THE FOREST FOR THE TREES. THE FOREST IS THE COMPLETE AND
UTTER FECKLESSNESS, LACK OF PRINCIPLE, ABSENCE OF CONVICTION, AND FRANKLY...
CORRUPTION... THAT IS THE MODERN GOP.
(*SHRUG*)
* ARE THE DEMOCRATS WORSE? SURE! BUT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
THE GOP NOW.
It is not a question of Trump's having flaws, which we
all have. But what kind of warped character does someone have at his core who
can mock a prisoner of war who was tortured for years by our enemies, mock
someone else with a physical defect, reply to questions with gutter-level
insults, and offer childish boasts about what he is going to do, instead of
specifics about how?
* SOWELL IS REFERRING TO MCCAIN AND WE'VE BEEN OVER THIS
BEFORE. MCCAIN DID ONE THING THAT MERITS HIS "HERO" STATUS AND THAT
IS REFUSING TO ACCEPT EARLY RELEASE (RELEASE FROM POW STATUS) BASED UPON WHO
HIS DAD WAS (AN ADMIRAL). BESIDES THAT... MCCAIN BROKE UNDER PRESSURE... HE'S
BEEN A DISASTER AS A U.S. SENATOR... HIS MILITARY RECORD WAS LESS THAN STELLER
- TO SAY THE LEAST...
(*SHRUG*)
* SO, BASICALLY... F--K MCCAIN... LET'S GET BACK TO THE
TOPIC AT HAND.
(*WINK*)
These are not subtle nuances. They are blatant
revelations about something fundamentally wrong. Too many people missed similar
revelations about Barack Obama. For that we have already paid a price, and we
will continue to pay a price, even after he is gone. So will generations yet
unborn.
* FOLKS... NOTICE... SOWELL IGNORES THE CHARACTER FLAWS OF
THE GOP ESTABLISHMENT. THIS IS WHAT I MEAN ABOUT MISSING THE FOREST FOR THE
TREES! IF THE RINO ESTABLISHMENT ISN'T CRUSHED... THERE WON'T BE A COUNTRY TO
LEAD NO MATTER WHO THE PRESIDENT IS BECAUSE THE RINOs WILL CONTINUE TO WORK
WITH THE DEMOCRATS... WITH THE LEFT... SELLING US ALL OUT IN THE PROCESS.
* FOLKS... SAY WHAT YOU WILL ABOUT TRUMP, BUT WHAT WE DO
KNOW... MCCONNELL AND HIS RINOs... RYAN AND HIS RINOs... ARE HELPING THE
DEMOCRATS DESTROY THE COUNTRY FROM WITHIN. YES... THE DEMOCRATS ARE WORSE - A
STAGE 4 CANCER - BUT THE REPUBLICAN ESTABLISHMENT IS A STAGE 3 CANCER THAT WILL
ALSO... PERHAPS MORE SLOWLY, BUT ALL THE SAME... "KILL" THE AMERICA
WE KNOW AND LOVE.
There is a reason why polls repeatedly show Donald Trump
producing the highest negative reactions of any candidate of either party. Yet
the small hard core of Trump supporters seem oblivious to his antics, his
recklessness and his all-consuming ego.
* TRUMP IS TAKING VOTERS AWAY FROM HILLARY AND HE'LL TAKE
EVEN MORE VOTES AWAY FROM THE DEMOCRATS IF HILLARY CLINTON BECOMES THE DEMOCRATIC
NOMINEE. WE KNOW THIS. WE'RE SEEING THIS. SOWELL IS SIMPLY MOUTHING THE
ESTABLISHMENT LINE.
(*SIGH*)
Some of these supporters may simply not be paying careful
attention. But there have also been some very knowledgeable and intellectually
talented people who have backed Trump. Sometimes it takes a high IQ to evade
the obvious.
What does Trump offer his supporters that makes them so
willing to overlook so much? He boldly articulates the resentment and anger
they feel at having been betrayed by smug elites in general and the Republican
establishment in particular.
* YEP...
Charismatic leaders who articulated the just grievances
of the people have often risen to power on the basis of that talent alone. And
those who put them in power have often paid a catastrophic price afterwards.
That story was repeated in countries around the world in the 20th century.
* AGAIN... I SUPPORT CRUZ... BUT IF TRUMP CAN BEAT
CRUZ... I'LL ENTHUSIASTICALLY SUPPORT TRUMP... I'LL TAKE THAT "LEAP OF
FAITH." I'LL HAVE NO CHOICE! NEITHER WILL ANY OF YOU... UNLESS YOU'D
RATHER SEE ANOTHER LEFTIST SUCCEED BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA.
Will that story be repeated in America in the 21st
century? The vote on March 15, 2016 may give us a clue.
The only candidate who has any real chance to stop Donald
Trump at the ballot box is Ted Cruz.
* YES...
But the Republican elite, who have never liked Senator
Cruz, may prefer to stop Trump with chicanery at the convention.
* YEP...
(*SIGH*)
* BECAUSE THEY'RE SCUM, MR. SOWELL! (PERHAPS YOU SHOULD
BE BASHING THEM RATHER THAN TRUMP...)
That can cost Republicans the votes of Trump's followers,
putting Hillary Clinton in the White House - and the country on the ruinous
road to a point of no return.
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