I’m old enough to remember a February 1964 night in Miami when a brash, young, Cassius Clay ripped the invincibility mask off an aging Sonny Liston. I thought Liston was going to kill this crazy, young loudmouth. That night, a seventh-round barrage of left jabs and hooks exposed Sonny as a man quite different from the Superman image we fight fans had of him. Liston appeared to age two decades that night.
While listening to our former president Donald Trump blurt a diatribe of fabrications to pad his so-called, “weave,” I’m all too reminded of that night. This election cycle has exposed the former President to be old and confused, and just like Sonny, a worn-out shadow of his former self. Trump’s handlers use platform shoes, padded shoulders, and a drag queen’s amount of make-up to shore up his diminishing “strong man” image. Still, his crowds get thinner and more impatient.
I’ve been a political wonk since Eisenhower shellacked Stephenson. I still feel Ike was the best Chief Executive of my lifetime. Ike understood the powers of the Presidency and knew that to faithfully fulfill his oath of office, separation of powers was sacrosanct. Fulfilling his oath to the Constitution, he didn’t write many Executive Orders.
When Republicans offered Ike the nomination, he hesitated. Never wanting politics to interfere with his duty, Eisenhower didn’t have a party affiliation. Ike had never voted. West Point educated, and more importantly, a serious man with steadfast principles, Ike put country before party. For any American, this dogma should be deep-rooted.
I joined the service, in 1968 and served in Viet Nam. I didn’t swear an oath to a political party. I swore an oath to the Constitution. So did Ike, and so did Trump. But before defending our most precious document, you must read it to understand how it works.
Trump’s name is not in it, so I’m sure he never got past the preamble. My brother vets honored their covenant to the Constitution by leaving 58,000 of our best on Asian soil. Trump handled his pledge by lying about his defeat and inciting an insurrection against our Capitol.
Although 4F himself, Trump now calls his longest serving Chief of Staff, a four-star Marine general, who lost his son in Iraq, “a degenerate and a low-life.” Donald also called the young patriots buried in Normandy’s sacred ground, “suckers and losers.” During his campaign, he broke tradition, and the law, by using Arlington Cemetery for a campaign photoshoot. More egregious yet, while running for president, he offered to pay the funeral expenses of a murdered young, enlisted woman at Fort Hood. According to the Atlantic, after he lost, he said, “Sixty thousand dollars to bury a fuckin Mexican. Don’t pay it.”
According to General John Kelly, Trump’s an out-and-out fascist, and, before his eyes were blinded by ambition, even J.D. Vance compared him to Hitler. I won’t vote for a man who threatens our Constitution. Trump didn’t honor his oath in 2020. Not only did he fail miserably on a peaceful transfer of power, but he failed to defend our glorious afterthought — The Bill of Rights.
Let’s see how he handled the First Amendment:
Freedom of Assembly – According to General Milley, he wanted to shoot Black Lives Matter protesters in the legs. “Chinese Generals,” he said, would know what to do.” Trump has threatened to lock-up protesters numerous times.
Freedom of Religion – His ravings about eugenics and his attacks on Muslims are well-documented. If that’s not clear enough, he gaslighted Jews by saying, “If I lose, it’ll be your fault.
Freedom of the Press – “The press is the enemy of the people.” Any legitimate criticism of him, Trump rebukes with screams of “Fake News.”
Freedom of Speech – He repeatedly attacked football players for kneeling and expressing their peaceful first amendment rights. He suggested that a news station should have their license revoked for editing their work. CBS’s Sixty Minutes must edit their tapes to limit their broadcast to an hour.
Freedom to Petition the government — He wouldn’t even show his taxes before being elected. After? Fuhgeddaboudit. Now, this belligerent old fool refuses to release his health records. Overweight and nearly 79 years old, according to him, he’s in better shape than Obama or Harris. To illustrate how delusional Trump is about his health, at one of his many criminal trials, he filled in his weight and height as 218 and 6’1. Coincidentally, that was Ali’s weight and height when he exposed the aging Liston.
Trust him. He’s in a fighter’s condition.
I think back about that Bronx, Irish Catholic kid who was enamored with Ike. A young idealist who thought the Constitution was the greatest gift our founding fathers could give this fair-haired blue-eyed immigrant. How far we have fallen. Today, we have a candidate who wants to terminate the document. He doesn’t just put party over country, he puts partisanship over the people he swore to protect. He won’t accept dissent. If you vote against him, Trump says, your vote doesn’t count. “I won anyway.” If you don’t like his policies, “you’re the enemy within.”
This is how he whitewashed his debate failure.
“Kamala had the questions beforehand.” — Of course, she did. Who would figure the commentators would ask questions about inflation, immigration, or the Dobbs decision?
Whiner.
“She had a mic in her ear.” — If she had someone babbling in her ear and still kicked your ass, wow, even more impressive.
Whiner.
After more than 35 lies, the commentators finally questioned three of the more egregious.
“It was three on one,” Trump says.
Quit whining.
Do what you do best. Lie.
“I won the debate—by a lot.”
And yet, “I won’t debate her again because she’s like a beaten fighter who wants a rematch.” – No, Donny boy. She’s more like a Vegas shark licking her chops after feasting on a big fat whale and wants to go back to pick it clean. And while we are at it, this low IQ individual, this moron, this laughing crazy person made you realize that having an uncle at MIT doesn’t make you the brightest bulb in the shed.
Just do what you do best, Donnie.
Lie.
His bullshit about the hurricane is well-documented.
“All the FEMA money was spent on illegal immigrants.” — Two separate agencies entirely. It would be just as disingenuous to say FEMA money was spent on tax cuts for the rich.
“The Governors can’t even get them on the phone.” All local governments praised the Biden response.
About immigration? Lie some more.
We all know by now about Haitians eating the dogs and cats, but my personal favorite will always be, “They’re coming with weapons even the US military hasn’t seen,” and “They’re voting in the election.”
Really? They walked thousands of miles, dragging their kids, just to flood the voting booths carrying weapons that even the US military hasn’t seen? Really? I would think the last place an illegal would want to be is where he will get caught? And what Walmart in Central America is selling these magic weapons?
Illegals can’t vote, never have and that law has always been in the books.
When asked about transgender, Trump said, “Children are going to school as boys and coming home girls.”
That line almost made me spit out my tasty cat. Really? What are the school nurses just carving them up on the cafeteria tables before lunch? Shouldn’t this orange corkscrew be out on a ledge somewhere?
Lie about your policies.
Granddad claims Republicans are now totally in favor of IVS, yet they just blocked a bill ensuring its legality. He also claimed he strengthened Obama Care despite running on and spending his entire term trying to get rid of it. Too old to run amok, he walks amok stirring up chaos and hate with constant lies and divisiveness.
Am I better off today than I was four years ago?
You’re damn right I am. Remember when we were wiping our asses with Kleenex. Remember when trucks and ships were being used for morgues? All this, while Trump, our fearless leader urged us to stop testing because it was driving up the stats before finally screaming, “It’s a Democratic plot.” This from a man who knew more than the scientists, more than the doctors, and was afraid that high death numbers would affect his popularity. He insisted, “If you stop testing, the numbers won’t be so high.”
After COVID crippled us with the highest death rate in the industrial world, sixty percent higher than Canada’s, more than a million dead, Trump’s response was predictable, “I don’t take any responsibility at all.”
Another military man of honor, General Milley also said he’s a fascist, and an uninformed man who had never heard of Bismark, nor Rommel, who once asked Milley, “Who were the good guys in World War I?” He once tweeted about attending a meeting with the “Prince of Whales.”
Don’t take my word for it. Just Google these three words, “He’s an idiot.”
Incredibly, Trump did not know anything about NATO before his term. Think about that? He had never even heard of NATO. And now, he claims he can stop both wars with phone calls. End the war in the Middle East with one phone call. No plans. Just trust him to end a conflict that has been going on for 75 years with one call. Knowing nothing about history, nor the Treaty of Westphalia, he would surrender Ukraine. We all know who will be on the other end of that capitulating phone call.
How about his health care plan?
He has none. Never did.
Again, just trust him.
Trust Trump?
I’d rather go fishing with Tony Soprano.
How about his solution to school shootings? Don’t put sensible gun laws in place but arm the teachers. Yeah, those overpaid slackers are underworked. Give em guns, and hope for the best.
His economic promises?
Tax cuts for the rich; drill baby drill; round up the immigrants and impose protective tariffs.
In the 50s, the rich paid 90 percent. Their biggest benefactor, no surprise, was a rich president, JFK. He knocked the highest rate down by 20 percent. It’s been going down ever since. Now the rich pay taxes at a lower percentage rate than their cleaning ladies. So much for the benefit of tax cuts that will increase the deficit by another six trillion dollars.
This year the US produced more oil than any country in history, ever—in history, yet Trump says that “Drill baby drill,” is the solution to everything from our economy to inflation and even to the cost of babysitters. Economists say his tariffs wouldn’t only Rocketship inflation, but his tax policies would bankrupt Social Security within six years.
I’ve addressed his lies about immigration already, which brings me to the question of his character.
I had a friend tell me. “His character doesn’t matter. I like his policies.”
Every great thinker in Western civilization, from Marcus Aurelius to Aristotle has espoused that character determines your destiny. Whether it be insecurity, hubris, or greed, every Shakespearian play has a protagonist with a tragic flaw, which ends up destroying him in the end. Oddly enough, those Shakespearian flaws seem strikingly familiar.
The ultimate snake oil salesman, Trump stole from charities, started a fake university, sells Swiss watches made in North Dakota, Bibles from China, gold sneakers, collector’s cards and on and on.
The man’s convicted of one rape and accused of several others. If you think sexual assault is political, then you know nothing about abused women, nor the trauma of rape.
Try to get 12 people in a room to agree on anything. Go ahead. It’s nearly impossible. Despite his high-priced lawyers, a jury, who knew way more about the facts of the case than you or I do, agrees that he committed 34 felonies. Ignore Trump’s propaganda. These crimes are only coming up before the election because his high-priced lawyers managed to get his trials postponed for almost two years.
Now about his competence. He spoke in Detroit and his Mic tanked, then his other Mic failed. He sent 20 buses to take the faithful to one of his rallies and only one bus to bring them back. This self-proclaimed, “King of Debt,” couldn’t organize a one car wake.
But what about Inflation? Inflation was non-existent under Trump.
At last check, our government has gotten inflation down to 20%, but why was it so high to begin with? When you flood an unemployed market with money during a manufacturing crisis that shut down production, you have money in search of products. Costs go up. If you couple that with the 10 percent tariffs Trump imposed, and which Biden mistakenly did not repeal, BOOM. Inflation. If Trump were President when Covid ended, he would still have had inflation. Whether as high as Biden’s is debatable, but still inflation was inevitable.
I’m sick and tired of hearing America is not a great country. “America has become a garbage can,” Trump says. “America has become a third-world country,” says his highness.
America’s economy is the envy of the world. It’s four times stronger than any other country, including China and India. California alone has the fifth-largest economy in the world. Texas’s economy is larger than India’s. The stock market sets new records every day.
After COVID, we had the softest economic landing of any industrialized nation, and under the Biden administration for the first time in history, we are energy independent. That’s right. Believe me, or better yet, Google it.
I’m an Ellis Island immigrant a Vietnam Vet and a 9/11 First Responder. I swore an oath to protect our sacred document, the Constitution, and as did Mr. Trump. Unlike Trump, I’m still fulfilling my oath by voting against him. He failed his oath miserably. Trump lost. We know it. He knows it. The courts know it. His party knows it.
For the love of God, quit lying, whining, and gaslighting.
I’m voting for Harris because I am done with Trump’s divisiveness. We all breathe air, drink water, and want the best for our children and grandchildren. If God forbid, some autocrat attacks our country, we would all grab a rifle to defend the homeland. Well, maybe not all of us . . . some of us have bone spurs.
When my country needed me, I said, “Send me. I’ll go.”Trump said, “You think I’m a sucker?”
Think of it, He’s the only ex-president that has never been invited to an affair of state, or a funeral or a wedding.
I can’t imagine voting for this man for President. I wouldn’t let this union-busting, whining vulture babysit my grandkids. And you wouldn’t either.
At the end of the first Continental Congress, a patriot asked Benjamin Franklin what kind of government the founders had provided. Franklin famously answered, “A Republic, madam, if you can keep it.”
Keep it indeed.
I fear if this election falls wrong, we won’t.
Since the birth of democracies, tyrants, autocrats, and the entitled have shrieked that the rabble weren’t smart enough to govern themselves. If Trump gets in, they will be proven right. If this happens, I’m not taking the rap. I’m voting for facts over lies, hope over hatred, freedom over fear, and truth over tyranny. I’m voting, not for meanness, but for a woman with values I teach my children. When my vote is cast, my voice will proudly rise for Kamala Harris and Tim Waltz.
Float like a butterfly sting like a bee, Kamala. You’re fighting for a bigger prize than Ali fought for in ‘64. You are fighting to save democracy.
Knock the bum out.
