The Debate
So I watched the first and possibly only Trump - Harris debate, and I gotta say, Trump had just as bad a night as Biden did in the Trump - Biden debate. Possibly worse. At least Biden mostly stayed on topic and didn't rant about legal immigrants eating pets in Springfield or whine boringly about why Harris didn't do something the last three and one half years when she's the Vice President and not the President. Ask anybody in the country how much Vice President Pence did when Trump was in office. The only thing anyone will recollect was that he did his duty and didn't kowtow to Trump when Trump lost. Not doing much is true of most Vice Presidents unless the President dies. Truly, the debate couldn't have gone better for Harris.
But it did raise some thoughts that need to be considered by all. We're electing a President, presumably for the next four years, God willing, and health reasons don't derail someone's plans. It used to be we were worried mostly about Biden, although Trump isn't far behind in age. He'll be a little older than Biden was when he starts if elected this time, and we all know that all the Republicans are trying to say Biden isn't fit for office. I can't judge that, although I assume that the Republicans in office would be forcing the 25th on him if it were true. What I can say, with reasonable conviction, is that Biden started his term of President in much better mental shape than Trump appears to be going to start his if elected. Now Harris could have health problems as well. Nobody is immune to age. But she's got almost two decades of aging to do before she reaches the age of Trump.
Old age mental problems show themselves in odd ways. But his meandering, and his anger, his inability to answer a question, and his focus that was centered on just a couple things during the 90 minute debate didn't look good. His ability to be derailed doesn't say much for his ability to stay true to the country and not be manipulated by foreign leaders. His proclivity for golf over studying didn't help him much either, and honestly didn't help him when he was President either.
The Vice President
So let's consider what that means. It is very possible that if elected, Trump won't complete his term in office. If that happens, and every Republican out there who thinks Trump is great has to realize that this is a distinct possibility, then J.D. Vance becomes President. Regardless of how great the MAGA group thinks Trump is, his mind was clearly not working very well when he picked Vance to be his running mate. Vance is right down there with Dan Quayle, Sarah Palin, and Michael Dukakis.
- He's inexperienced - just one election and two years in the Senate under his belt.
- He's done a 180 on his opinion of Trump and Trump's character.
- He's defended what went on January 6th, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol.
- He's totally against abortion, regardless of his flip flopping now that he's the Vice Presidential candidate.
- He thinks it's okay to abandon the Ukraine to Russia.
- He doesn't have a clue, as near as I can see, about problems that American families are facing... To solve day care issues he suggests grandparents or other family members step up. Get a grip.
- And then we hear tell of some of his previous statements like women shouldn't be in particular positions of power or teaching if they don't have kids of their own. He compared them to old cat ladies. Cats should unleash their claws on him and teach him some respect.
- And then there's his whole amplification of the legal immigrants eating pets in Springfield thing. Not saying it's true or false although city officials have said false, but why waste a single breath on it when other issues are so much more important to the American people?
Hillbilly Elegy was aptly named. I suspect Sen. Vance would prefer it if all the women in the country were out of the workforce, and spent their time at home having and raising kids. That just doesn't fit in with what most American families must do to keep a roof over their family heads.
But anyway, the list could go on for a long time as to why Sen. Vance was a bad choice for the Republican Vice Presidential candidate. The selection of candidate for Vice President was one of the most, if not the most, important decisions Trump could make before being elected. So use that as a gauge of his mental state. Regardless, if Trump doesn't complete his term in office, Vance will be in charge. If you are a Republican, a Trump leaning Democrat, or a Trump leaning Independent, that alone should be enough to vote for the Harris - Walz ticket.
But even if Trump does make it through his term, and assuming he doesn't actually destroy our republic and decide to stay for another term, just because he's made enough of a mess of things that he can, we are still left with the reality that due to the way politics work, Vance would probably be the chosen Republican candidate for the next election. If people were actually crazy enough to elect Vance, he could serve for two terms.
That would be 20 years - a whole generation - of having far right in charge of the Republican party. That's way too long. As a Republican, I'm seriously asking you to do what you can in the voting booth to prevent that scenario from coming to pass. Protect yourselves from putting loyal Trump people in control of the country. Vote for Democrats, both at the executive level, and wherever you can in Congressional races. If you're a loyal Trump person, take your blinders off and really think about your commitment to him and what he really is like.
If you like some of the proposals of Harris, then just electing her isn't enough. With a dysfunctional Congress, there will be little she can accomplish as President. The far right have to be shown the error of their ways and the rest of the Republican party needs to find its backbone and stand up straight and say enough. We can't have good bills dying on the vine because the extremes of the Republican party are being influenced by a wannabe politician who isn't even in office. Shutting down the government unless you add a fix for a problem that doesn't exist to a bill (the SAVE act) is nuts. Killing a border bill that would have gone a long way to solving the biggest issue Trump has been complaining about because he wants to keep on harping about it on his campaign trail is nuts. Enough.
Hope for Tomorrow
As I said, I'm a Republican. But I'm an old school Republican. I live in a state that is so deeply red no candidates even bother coming to us most of the time. Many state offices don't even field a non Republican challenger. There's literally only one person on the ballot and a spot for a write-in. The primary is basically the election to all intents and purposes. Our primary was after the conventions. The party pooh-bahs picked Trump. The rank and file citizens of our state had no say. So the few votes of the Democrats and Democratic leaning Republicans won't amount to a hill of beans here. But it might make a difference where you live.
There are good Republicans out there and some day I hope the party can make better choices at all levels. Many of these have despaired and left politics all together due to the far right MAGA nuttiness.
This is going to sound a little like the I have a dream speech, but,
- Someday, politicians will pay attention to Thou shalt not lie. Take tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth to heart. Campaigns could be wrapped up in a week and people would have just as much or more information as they do now.
- Someday, there will be debates where both sides are asked questions of concern to voters and actually answer the question asked of them.
- Someday, there will be political news conferences that do the same, and aren't just a political rally that is deemed a news conference for political image purposes but where the candidate just talks about what they want instead of answering the question asked.
- Someday, there will be no more caucuses or back room operations to pick the candidates for office. Everything will be done by vote of legal voters.
- Someday, all primaries will be held on the same day country-wide so all voices will be weighted the same.
- Someday, there will be no conventions or super delegates.
- Someday, there will be ranked choice voting for every election. Candidates that have no chance of winning in the general election will be eliminated at the start and the few left can concentrate on the election and not worry about fringe candidates or have to buy the favor of fringe candidates.
- Someday, the electoral college will be allocated in proportion to the votes cast in their state instead of being winner take all as the overwhelming majority are today.
- Someday, after ranked choice voting is done in each state, the electoral college weighted Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate selections for the general election will be computed and selected across all the states, with an appropriate number of entries nationwide to give a choice - again so the candidate selection in the general election will be better. Maybe it will be a Republican, a Democrat, and a Third Party that scored big, or maybe it will be two Republicans and a Democrat or two Democrats and a Republican. Viable choices are the result of ranked choice voting.
- Someday, all political parties will be working to get everyone who can legally vote to vote instead of making it hard for people who can legally vote to do so.
- Someday, people will vote for the good of the country and not the good a candidate promises to their own situation.
- And finally, someday people will elect men and women of good character instead of listening to promises.
Again, echos of Dr. King's speech from old. A lot of his speech has come about or at least improved since it was given. Can we reform the political systems as well?
For this election, be done with the far right and vote blue.
And Assassination Attempts
Update: I don't know what it is about these weekend postings lately that need alterations so soon, but to be clear - if you haven't read my other postings such as that on Mr. Pelosi, regardless of your opinions on the Republican party, Trump, Vance, or any other individual, or their equivalents in the Democratic or any other political party, a candidate's death is not the answer, by natural causes, or by assassination. Violence is simply not the answer to anything.
What political candidates need is to accept Christ as Savior. If they've done that, to make Him Lord of their life is next. They need to start following what God wants them to be and do instead of what they want to be and do, or what their party wants, or what their political supporters want, or what the people who voted for them want. That's really all I hope for any of them - that they start listening to the Most High God. I may have given up on some of them ever accepting that, even in light of people trying to kill them, but it's still what I want. God doesn't want anyone dead either. God wants everyone to come to Him.
It's reported that Trump at one time attended church occasionally. He certainly hasn't been a fan of church other than a political stomping ground for a long time. Trump has now had two come to Jesus moments in his life. The first one doesn't seem to have taken. The jury is out on the second. When God decides that Trump has reached his
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27)
moment God won't need any humans to help in his demise, and God will appoint the time Himself. God doesn't need any help before that moment either in dealing with the proud and the self-righteous. If you have any doubt, see the example in Daniel 4 about King Nebuchadnezzar.
As posted elsewhere, guns aren't the problem. The problem is that many in the country have forgotten that God exists and have forgotten his simple rule Thou shalt not kill (commit murder). Different groups in the country may have different definitions of what that is in the abortion debate. You can see my piece on that as well. But when you stop believing in God and that He means what He says, you have a problem as a country.
The guns aren't the problem. Not believing in God is the problem... whether assassination, or school shootings, or gang violence is the issue. If you don't believe in God, then you don't worry about the second half of Hebrews 9:27, because you don't realize there will be a judgment and God's just judgment will last for eternity. The issues aren't just with those committing the crimes either. When you stop helping people with mental issues, it's a problem. When you stop loving everyone (even those you don't agree with), it's a problem. When you keep stirring up division, it's a problem.
That's one of my main hopes in having the Republican party finally turn away from the Trump cult. The far right are one of the biggest sources of division in the country. There's an extreme left as well, but they don't seem to be as vocal. Without the far right in the Republican party, Congress might finally be able to learn some tolerance and remember how to compromise with each other once again to finally start accomplishing things for the people of the country. I suppose that's back to the I have a Dream section.