As I write this we have a couple of weeks to before the general election, and polling in Utah shows a remarkable split in voter preferences. Since many Mormons hate Trump and also hate Clinton they have come up with an alternative. The results of the poll showed Trump at 29%, Cliinton* at 26%, and third party candidate Evan McMullin at 30%. Incredible!
Have you ever heard of Evan McMullin? No? Neither have I. McMullin is listed on his info page (go to the link) as a former CIA operative, a former Mormon missionary in Brazil, and a former refugee resettlement officer for the United Nations. Whew. That's quite a résumé. If it is true. We can check on the UN job and the Mormon mission, but the CIA doesn’t give out information on their operatives, current or former. I get from what information I can glean that Evan is one of those guys who make a big deal out of “religious liberties,” which I always interpret as being anti-gay. Religious conservatives are still bound and determined to put those religious “liberties” over the Constitutional rights of other citizens.But there can be a backlash. Religious liberties being invoked to discriminate means that I can choose not to do business with the discriminators. Most of the rest of the U.S. doesn't have to worry about Evan...I understand he is only on the ballot in 11 states.
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It probably doesn’t do a bit of good to call out Trump for his bad qualities, because members of the Trump Cult really don’t listen. I’m sure most Trumpets aren’t sitting in front of programs analyzing Trump’s more egregious defects. They are probably out showing off their latest t-shirt!
Oh, how cute! They’re both “matchy”!
____________Something I was expecting during the primaries has happened just weeks before the election. It is news of Trump’s “Grab 'em by the pussy” remarks and the women who are coming out to accuse him of taking various sexual liberties with them. Anyone who has followed Trumpְ’s history over the past twenty years is probably well aware that he is a roué. For you Trump fans who don't know what a roué is, it is a “debauched man, especially an elderly one.” If you also don’t know what debauched and elderly means, well, it means he is a dirty old man.
Once again the impact is not as great as I thought news of this sort would be. We have seen candidates in the past suddenly drop out of the race because of disclosures of sexual affairs (Herman Cain in 2012 is one example...and does anyone remember Gary Hart?) But Trump? Maybe his cult members think it is a badge of honor that he feels free to belong to the 4F club. (You remember that from junior high, don’t you? Find 'em, feel 'em, fuck 'em, forget 'em. That is just Trump in a nutshell.) As I write this on Saturday, October 22, 2016, I just saw news footage where he says he is going to sue every one of those women who make such claims about him being obnoxious, sexist, and grabby. He makes a lot of threats, doesn’t he? I have had bullies for bosses who made a lot of threats, also, and usually it’s a bluff. Trump wants to get into expensive lawsuits which he will probably have to settle with $$$? Fuhgeddaboudit!
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*I believe Clinton polls that high not because people like her, but because they voting against Trump. I doubt any support by Utahns will make much difference. Six electoral votes? Maybe if it were a really tight, down-to-the-wire election. The last time a Democratic presidential candidate won in Utah was 1964, when Utah voted overwhelmingly for Lyndon Johnson over Barry Goldwater. (The election also gave us one of our finest governors, Calvin Rampton, a Democrat, who had three terms in office.) Those were also the days before the right-wingy-dingies took over our congresspeople and senators and the Utah State government.
2 comments:
Well said. I wonder how many will just stay home and not vote? That could help Trump. That shot of the couple in matching t-shirts says a lot about the state of our country.
Dave, I am sure a lot of people will opt out of voting, which is understandable, because a lot of people don't want to get on any official rolls (voter registration used for jury pools, etc.) Also, many are lazy or apathetic.
I believe what will happen is that those blacks and Hispanics groups that the voter suppression laws tried to stop will be out in force in an organized way, adding to Republican nightmares.
In 2008 my wife and I signed up for early voting by mail. I have already voted in this election and as you can guess, I did not vote for Donald J. Trump.
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