JP Pare: NONE OF THE ABOVE: MY VOTING STRATEGY

Opinion By JP Pare

With the news of Donald Trump’s ascendancy in the national Republican party polls as the front runner, I can only assume we have come to a point in the American mindset where we have just given up. I can’t for the life of me figure out why anyone would want this man anywhere near the White House. It boggles my mind to think that this man could actually be leader of the free world. Please tell me we are not about to elect a race baiting misogynistic xenophobe to a position where his finger is on the nuclear button. This is a question for all the Trump supporters out there. Have you been paying attention to this man? Have you been listening? Or only hearing and then going, “Nahh, he didn’t really mean that. He‘s just kidding around.”

Because he isn’t kidding around. He uses inflammatory rhetoric to incite the masses. There was another guy who used to do that as well, but when I see pictures and videos of him, they’re all in black and white and the narration is in German. I get it, you’re fed up with politics as usual. He’s a radical from the normal bought and paid for politicians that normally grace the stage every four years. I get it. There’s an outsider quality about him. But electing somebody who is no more than a drunk uncle is not going to help the country. In fact, it will probably make it a hell of a lot worse. Take a look at his record.

He has gone bankrupt several times. He was given a trust fund of a few million dollars that if he had just held on to, he would have been a multi billionaire by now. So lack of judgment is only one of his drawbacks. He has a horrible fiscal policy, and has absolutely no understanding of American economics. Several economists have said his fiscal ideas on how to fix the economy are downright dangerous and wrong and will put us in a horrible state. Is this the guy you want running our economy? I think not.

Let’s get to the matter of his views on women. He openly mocks them to a point where if I were to say things like this: “She’s bleeding out of her eyes, or her wherever.” I would be beat by my sisters and every woman I know. And yet people laugh at this. This man can say anything and you folks eat it up like it’s grandma’s fried chicken. He has a horrible attitude toward the women in the media that have any power at all. Rosie O’Donnell, Bette Midler, pretty much every female talk show host, and almost every contestant of the yearly pageant he owns. And don’t get me started on the ridiculousness that is beauty pageants.

On race he has said pretty hateful things against the Muslim community, Asians, African Americans, and even Latinos. “They’re bringing Crime, Drugs, they’re rapists…” is not how the leader of the free world should talk. He’s talking about building a wall on the southern border. What is he Bran the builder now? And do we honestly think that a 25 billion dollar wall will keep people out? Hey Mr. Trump! I hat to break it to you, but it’s been tried before, and it didn’t work. It actually failed so miserably that it didn’t even justify the cost. Your “Wall” is impossible under current zoning laws in various states. And no, Mexico isn’t going to pay for it.

Oh, and just so you people know, Muslims are not the enemy. Sure, a few of them blow up buildings, murder and rape people. But so do white people. So do African american people. So do Christians. And so do atheists. A significant portion of people DON’T do these things. But demonizing one group based on the actions of the few is like cutting down the apple tree because of a few rotten apples. You don’t get to say, X people do this, so we need to get rid of them all. And yes, I know we did that to the Japanese in world war 2 but we have since tried to make up for that slight. But what Trump wants to do is to put these folks in camps, like prisoners, because they have a different religion than them. I remember a few movies about this kind of thing happening before, once again, in black and white. I seem to remember ashes raining like snow because these “Other” people were being put into gas chambers and their remains were being burned. And before you think, “Oh, that wouldn’t happen here.” Guess what, that’s what the German people said before they figured it all out. And we promised ourselves as a human race that this wouldn’t happen again anywhere in the world. How little we forget.

Now, I’m not saying that would happen here, but the possibility exists. And I don’t like the idea of even having the possibility. We are a peaceful nation, or we strive to be. We strive to be a country that makes alliances with other nations. Trump has no diplomatic skills except “I’m the Donald, do what I say.” he’s a strong man in the likes of Mussolini, Pol Pot, and Fidel Castro. Also, if you haven’t been paying attention, he has managed to upset most of the world leaders he needs to be courting. And don’t get all “America is the greatest nation on earth, and we don’t need them!” that’s bull and you know it. Yes, we’re a free democracy (or we think we are) and we enjoy many privileges that other countries don’t have, but we are not the greatest country on earth. Sorry to burst your bubble. We haven’t been top dog for a while now. In fact, we’re getting perilously close to a third world nation. I find it hard to believe we are the so called wealthiest nation on earth, but we can’t even feed and clothe our entire population.

In an increasingly technologically advanced global infrastructure, we need alliances with Mexico, Russia, China, Germany, and even Lichtenstein. It won’t do any good if we elect a leader who has no foreign policy experience and treats the rest of the world leaders like a thuggish school yard bully. We need somebody who can talk to people with respect and understanding. Trump has repeatedly throughout this primary cycle shown that he can’t do this. His basic concept of conversations is to attack those he disagrees with even if he’s wrong. He mocks reporters, even with disabilities. He makes stuff up with no basis in facts, and when he’s challenged on it, he mocks those who are challenging him. This is your guy? This school yard thug? This is the guy you want to trust to negotiate our way out of a world crisis?

Because I don’t. I wouldn’t want this man anywhere near the position of “Most powerful” anything. And before you start complaining about Hillary, let me say, I’m not liking the idea of her being the Other candidate either. She comes with a whole host of problems. So I don’t like the idea of having to chose her or Trump.

First, she has a horrible track record on the world stage. Benghazi, anyone? The way that was handled was a disaster, both in lives and in the media. Her own secret service detail doesn’t like her. A lot of people in the military don’t like her. She commands no respect among her own people, what makes anyone think the world would respect her. And I don’t feel this way because she’s female. I have five sisters and a mother who would be imminently more qualified on the world stage than her. So the fact that she’s a woman has no bearing on my choices here.

Second, she has too many liabilities in her background that disqualify her. Between her and her husband, there are several dead bodies in their wake. And don’t think this is all conspiracy theory talk. This is actual fact. With all the scandal her husband brought to the White House, this is the last person I want to return there. It’s not her legacy, like she thinks. There are too many questions about her past that make my trust in her abilities circumspect. So I can’t in good conscience vote for her either.

So who do I vote for? Since the powers that be have given us two people that are disliked by a majority of the electorate, I’m inclined to vote for None of the Above. And I know what you’re thinking. “It’s a wasted vote.” No it’s not, and I’ll tell you why.

What is a vote? The dictionary says “A formal indication of a choice between two or more candidates or courses of action, expressed typically by a ballot or a show of hands or by voice.” The key statement there is ‘two or more’. I’m choosing the More, which is None of the Above. We are allowed to write in our vote, and that’s what I’m planning to do. And that is what I urge all of you to do as well. It’s not a waste of a vote, it’s voting your conscience. Its saying to the powers that be, “I don’t like either person you have running, so I’m going to vote for neither.”

Now, this all changes if Barry Sanders gets the nomination. Because I’d vote for that guy in a heart beat. But I’m not one of these people who is part of the #GoBlueNoMatterWho. I actually look at all the candidates and see which one I like best. Which is what we all should do, no matter if there is a D or an R in front of someone’s name. I have always found it stupid to align oneself with any party. This election, I can’t do that on a bet, so I’m going to go with None of the Above. That way, I exercise my privilege, but stay away from the choice of a maggoty sandwich or a rotten steak.

Jean Paul Pare