Speaking of Politics....

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I am not a fan of reading political posts & so I'm about to do the very thing I hate to see...but something is getting on my nerves & I just can't remain silent anymore. I am talking about the constant posts on social as well as mainstream media about the upcoming presidential election & the obvious intent to persuade others toward a certain candidate. So with that in mind.....

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I respect people's right to be passionate about their candidate. I do. But when I see posts or news articles that attack one candidate by minimizing & excusing the disgustingly offensive & repugnant actions of another candidate, I get upset. I get upset because I see the increasing trend of very good & decent people accepting behaviors in a candidate that are so disgusting, offensive & shocking that such behaviors are indicative of an individual who doesn't have the character & temperament to be the leader of this most powerful nation on earth. We as a nation have blasted prior candidates & heck, prior presidents, for character traits & behaviors FAR less appalling than what this particular candidate is exhibiting & yet because he claims to represent conservative values, people are excusing, defending, minimizing & forgetting the reprehensible character traits that are part of who that candidate is as a person & running to not only embrace & support that candidate, but publicly making comparisons of the two main candidates to show why THEIR candidate is the better choice. 

I was a history/political science major in college & was 3 classes away from getting my Bachelor's degree in History before I foolishly changed my major to Business Administration (I could have had 2 degrees if I had just finished those 3 classes, but the employment outlook for those with history degrees at that time wasn't good). I STUDIED & WROTE PAPERS ON political figures in history. I took a class in college that was dedicated solely to the study of Adolph Hitler. The textbook for that class was 3 inches thick. Historically speaking, leaders who exhibited personality & character traits similar to what we are seeing in this one particular candidate, have been demagogues who say what people want to hear in order to get into power & then their self-serving egomaniacal tendencies would take over & they would exercise their own agenda without regard for what was best for the nation they led or its people. 

Think of the president of the Phillipines, Rodrigo Duterte as a current example. He pledged to take a strong stance on the illegal drug trade. He too speaks his mind & has zero political correctness (telling President Obama he can go to hell, for instance). The United States has condemned the gross human rights violations by this president as he orders the executions of thousands of his own country's citizens accused of being a part of the illegal drug trade or who are people who have fallen victim to the drug trade by becoming addicts. These people aren't getting a fair trial. They are receiving trial by death. He has abruptly cut ties with the U.S. after 65 years of partnership with us, because he abhors being held accountable. This president, although elected by the people, acts unilaterally. He behaves like a dictator. 

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Evil people can OF COURSE say what we want to hear & can OF COURSE run on a platform that claims to do what we want them to do if elected. But there's more to being the right candidate for the office of the President of these great United States of America than just a candidate's platform. A presidential candidate must be able to demonstrate, or at the very LEAST appear to demonstrate, a pattern of behavior, ethics, character & temperament that shows at least SOME modicum of integrity, respect for those he or she hopes to serve & an ability to demonstrate diplomacy when needed. If a candidate can't model at least a couple of these things, then platform be hanged! That candidate won't be fit for the job because he or she will put their own agenda & interests above the best interests of our country. 

If one compares this one candidate (Donald Trump) to others in history with similar personality & character traits, it's evident that there is a very high likelihood that he would endanger us as a nation due to his lack of diplomacy, tact, couth, knowledge of world affairs & that he would also attempt to behave unilaterally, without going through Congressional approvals first, simply because he is arrogant enough to think he can get away with it. Even his most ardent supporter must acknowledge that this is possible.

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Lest anyone think I support the OTHER candidate, think again. That other candidate (Hillary Clinton) is reckless, manipulative, dishonest & self-seeking also. I do believe however, that she offers experience & diplomacy that would be better for our nation than Donald Trump. And I don't worry that she will somehow see this post & will attempt to squash my voice. BUT HERE'S WHERE I DIFFER FROM MANY AMERICANS: I am not going to vote for EITHER major candidate. I refuse to vote for the lesser of two evils because doing so is still voting for an evil. 

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As a Christian, I can't do it. As a Christian, I support the conservative platform of Donald Trump yet his character & personality traits make him a dangerous person to have in office (& I am confident that if he saw my post, he would try to sue me for slander....that is his M.O....he can dish it out but can't take it).  I firmly believe that God will not honor him in his job because of the basic evil displayed in his behavior. History tells us that people with those traits end up as dictators. I'm not voting for someone who runs on a platform to get elected & whose historical pattern of behavior is to turn the tide to suit whatever furthers his own self interests. Nope. I'm not giving him my vote. 

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I'm not giving Hillary Clinton my vote either. She has demonstrated an extreme recklessness with national security that shows our country's security would be at great risk if she was elected. Don't even get me started on how I feel about how she handled Benghazi. I also don't agree with her platform. Ordinarily, I WOULD vote for the lesser of two evils if I didn't consider at least one candidate to not be evil. But this time around, I feel they both are. 

My vote won't count anyway. Neither will yours. This isn't me siding with Donald Trump & claiming the outcome of the election will come about through fraud (unless he wins the election, in which case he wants us to believe in the veracity & integrity of the electoral process). But it is common knowledge that the U.S. has already accused Russia, based on pretty solid evidence, with hacking into our voting systems & candidate campaigns. Even IF our electoral process wasn't inherently corrupt & flawed, the fact that Russia is tampering with the electoral process is enough evidence that Americans should be convinced that OUR VOTES DO NOT & WILL NOT COUNT IN THIS ELECTION!!! Whatever the projected results turn out to be, is & should be subject to scrutiny & suspicion because we as Americans, don't have the assurances that our electoral process is fair & free from tampering, both from within our government & from the governments of nations who have a stake in the outcome of our presidential election. 

So what I'm trying to say is that I don't care who supports whichever candidate they support. Say all you want about it for all I care. Just know that if in doing so, you attempt to minimize the disgusting flaws of one candidate by denigrating the other candidate because of their flaws, it is going to cause me to lose some respect, temporarily or otherwise, for you. I have appreciation & respect for the rights of every American to express themselves, but who I am as a person has a difficult time feeling enthusiastic toward anyone, friend, family member, acquaintance, stranger or political candidate, who attacks one candidate's character while supporting the other candidate whose character flaws are equally reprehensible & repugnant, if not worse. 

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Since my vote won't count anyway, I'm not voting for either of the two major candidates. I haven't decided who I WILL write in yet. But one thing's for certain: the person I write in will be one I can in good conscience face my God about, because imperfect or not, that person's character will at least APPEAR to match up to their platform.



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