A Conservative's Musings on All Things Political

It cannot be overstated; the presidential election of 2016 is the most consequential in the post Cold War era and domestically since the end of the Second World War. The leftist policies of the Obama era will either be swept into the ash pile of history or made politically irrevocable and indeed extended by Hillary Clinton running as the lost leftwing candidate in American History. The resultant tax increases emerging from the Democrat convention will top One Trillion Dollars. She will destroy the highest quality health care system in the world and replace it by the “equality” of mediocrity.  She will veer the Supreme Court to the radical left within days of her election. The only people to economically benefit will be the Clinton family as we can expect big money donations, many of them foreign, to flow in as Bill runs the family money machine from the East Wing of the White House.

This year should have been an easy win for the GOP as only the Democrats and their tools in the media were celebrating the historically unpopular Obama administration and nominating a candidate who is distrusted by 2/3 of Americans. Well, if any party can screw up a sure thing it is the 20^th Century GOP. First we find a way to keep the Democrats as a majority in the senate in 2010 through 2014, reelect the weakest president in the past century in 2012. Now in 2016 we find a way when presented with the most talented field of presidential candidates in memory to nominate a world class narcissist, misogynist, mediocre (at best) businessman, and first class nutcase Donald Trump. I will not waste time restating the case against Trump; it plays out every day on television.

So America is faced with an unfathomable choice; between a Billionaire Limousine Liberal from New York an a Millionaire Limousine Liberal from Westchester. The Donald offers incoherent rants and virtually no policy. It serves those of us who are proud to be associated with the Party of Lincoln and Reagan right that we should fall for a trashy long-con perpetrated by a mediocre con man. On the other hand the Dems have served up a warmed over intellectually bankrupt and morally corrupt nominee who will be the first president in history who, if she was to enlist in the military, would not qualify for a low level security clearance. This would have the making of a great dark comedy if it came from a studio in Hollywood, although it would likely be far too unbelievable. Yet reality it is, and reality must be faced head on.

For the past year I have stepped back from politics, a passion I have enjoyed all my life. This slow moving train wreck has quite simply been too painful to watch. Yes voters are angry, especially on the right, at the elected establishment’s failure to recognize the anger of the people who sent them to Washington. But the solution is not to send a lunatic to Washington, particularly one who based on his lifetime of statements, is likely as liberal as Hillary. If you wanted change, no one was less liked by the establishment than Ted Cruz. Want a bigger tent, Marco Rubio was your person, a Country Club Republican then John Kasich was your man. There were literally a dozen republicans who would have made good, if not great, presidents and for whom defeating Hillary would have been easy. What did the voters do, they elected a warmed over reality TV star.

The day after Trump became the presumptive GOP nominee I was ready to head down to our town hall and change my registration from Republican to Libertarian. The two lefties from New York simply are not worthy of my vote. Yet, I didn’t feel like handing the Donald an even bigger victory by turning over the Republican Party to the Know Nothing crowd. To be sure, the next president of the United States will be either Hillary or Donald, that much is clear. However, in either case the best antidote is a Republican majority in both houses of the Congress. It will take serious people, conservatives one and all, to stand up for the constitution in what will be trying times. Regardless of the outcome at the presidential level, the GOP is almost certain to retain control of the House with Paul Ryan as its Speaker. It will be imperative that the house use its considerable power, not least its control of the purse, to keep whichever NY Leftist is in the White House from destroying our economy. The Senate may be beyond hope if Hillary wins which will mean the Supreme Court will be in the hands of the radicals she appoints for decades. But the house can deny either Liar or the Loony the ability to drag the country too far down the left lane.

But the real challenge will fall to the millions of Americans who call themselves Republicans to ask themselves how we could have let this happen. The people get the government that they elect. This one is on each and every one of us who let it happen. It’s not enough to be #NeverTrump, we must stand for something and stand up for the Constitution itself.

On Tuesday November 8 I will walk to the polling place down the street and proudly cast my vote for Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate. While not as polished as most presidential candidates, Gary stands for limited government, has a track record as the two term governor of New Mexico of fiscal responsibility, defending the rights of individuals and respect for the constitution. Down ticket I will vote the GOP line.  The Republican Party will remain the only one which will be able to restore mainstream values to Washington in the wake of a likely Presidential train wreck.

Whichever idiot wins that night, when their term ends on January 20, 2021 and they thankfully leave office (I have no doubt it will be a one term presidency), in my heart and soul there is trust the Republic will be as strong and resilient as it has been for the last 240 years.