The Hill (Op-Ed)
By Brent Budowsky
December 31, 2015
Not
since the days of the racist governors of the segregationist South has
any American politician so embodied values that are alien to the
American idea as Donald Trump
does today.
In
the America that true patriots love, we are a large and diverse nation
of immigrants that came from around the world to build a special place
where all people should
be treated as equal in a national community of mutual respect and
shared purpose.
In
the America that the Republican presidential front-runner would create,
our republic would become a sectarian war zone. Our democracy would
become a place where those
with different views would be treated as enemies ruled by a bully who
campaigns on a cult of negativity and has recently been called liar of
the year by a nationally respected fact-checker.
In
the America envisioned by Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary
Clinton, young women could be proud to vote for the first female
president. In the America envisioned
by Trump, a woman running for the Republican nomination can be demeaned
for having a face that the bully considers ugly, and a highly respected
television host can be called a bimbo.
In
the America envisioned by Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, our
country would be a place where justice rules the day and economic
fairness becomes a way of life.
In the America envisioned by Trump, when a black man is beaten up at a
rally filled with the politics of dog-whistle bigotry, the candidate
suggests that perhaps that man deserved the beating.
In
the America envisioned by John McCain — and his father and grandfather
before — words such as duty, honor, country and service are a family
tradition.
McCain,
a hero of modern American history, defied his captors in Vietnam and
let these true enemies of America continue to torture him because he
refused to be released
until all of his brother POWs were released by his side. All the while,
Trump collected draft deferments on his way to becoming a bully who
campaigns to be commander in chief by demeaning POWs as losers, because
the man who never served prefers troops who
were never captured.
In
the America we love, young people are taught that Lady Liberty will
always shine brightly in New York Harbor. In the America that Trump
envisions, the lie that the
Mexican government sends immigrants to America is compounded by the
slander that those Hispanic immigrants are mostly rapists and murderers.
In
the America that is great, we were raised by our parents and taught in
the houses of worship of many faiths to do unto others as we would wish
others do unto us.
In
the America that would be ruled by the bully, moms and dads of disabled
girls and boys must worry their children might inadvertently witness
disgusting impersonations
of the disabled on television by a man who dares to presume he is
worthy to lead the nation while he seeks to lower the standards of our
politics to the gutter.
Throughout
the nobler moments of our history, Americanism was embodied and
defended by men and women from all backgrounds with all points of view
who believed that in
this land we love, America is a place where we are all in this
together. That concept is alien to Trump’s politics, which makes Trump’s
ambition alien to the spirit of America.
The
Americans who defeated fascism in wartime did not consider their
comrades in arms or the united nation behind them to be fat slobs,
bimbos, rapists, murderers, idiots
or morons, or disabled Americans worthy of being demeaned by a clown
who is unfit to be a commander.
Donald
Trump has more in common with the neofascist parties in Europe than
with any great party that has ever led our nation. He would not make
America great. He would
make America hate.
Many leading Republicans in America privately agree with what I write. Most of them lack the courage to say it. I just did.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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