CONFLICTED - 2016 Presidential Race

Conflicted – 2016 Presidential Race

By Jim "Gymbeaux" Brown, June 7, 2016

I can honestly say I have never been “conflicted” regarding a political election as I am at this very moment.  So much so I looked up the definition of “conflicted”; it follows:

Conflict(ed)

[verb kuh n-flikt; noun kon-flikt] 

Spell Syllables

verb (used without object)

1.      to come into collision or disagreement; be contradictory, at variance,or in opposition; clash:  The account of one eyewitness conflicted with that of the other.  My class conflicts with my going to the concert.

2.  to fight or contend; do battle.

noun

3.     a fight, battle, or struggle, especially a prolonged struggle; strife.

4.     controversy; quarrel: conflicts between parties.

5.     discord of action, feeling, or effect; antagonism or opposition, as of interests or principles:  a conflict of ideas.

6.  a striking together; collision.

7.  incompatibility or interference, as of one idea, desire, event, or activity with another:  a conflict in the schedule.

8.  Psychiatry. a mental struggle arising from opposing demands or impulses.

The above definitions of “conflicted” sum up my feelings about the 2016 presidential elections.  There are numerous individuals running for the office but at this writing it really comes down to 3 maybe 4 candidates that could be on the ballot, even as late as June 7, 2016.  Donald Trump seems to have the Republican ticket all but locked up unless he does something to sabotage his candidacy which is entirely possible.  He has a tendency to say things on the fly without a lot of thinking or contemplation before he talks.  I don’t think he has ever apologized for things he has said that may offend others.  He also tends to change his positions over time.  Changing one’s mind is not necessarily a bad thing but he seems to lose track of what he had previously said.  Then the various talking heads tell you what he really meant to say.  If that is the case, why didn’t he just say it?  Even more worrisome to me is that very recently he considered himself a Democrat.  So what is he now?  A Democrat on a Republican ticket or a converted Republican in name only (RHINO).

On the Democratic side of the election, Hillary Clinton has been the presumptive Democratic candidate even before the first primary election was held.  If anyone can explain the Super Delegate procedure, have at it; I don’t!  It makes absolutely no sense at all, at least to me.  Candidates typically run on their “record.”  How Hillary Clinton can be the “presumptive nominee” based  upon her non-existent record is beyond my comprehension.  She has been caught in lie after lie and yet millions continue to support her.  We constantly hear that we as citizens want honesty and integrity in our politicians, especially one that might occupy the White House.  That obviously is not true.  We get neither in Clinton.  She has lied about being shot at, about who was responsible for Benghazi that caused 4 Americans to die, about her emails, and the money-in and money-out of the Clinton Foundation that should be prime for a Federal Investigation, and the list goes on and on.  Still millions support her.

Then there is Bernie Sanders, a self-confessed Socialist and he too has millions of supporters.  Why?  History has shown that one country after another that “tried” Socialism failed miserably.  As I write this Venezuela is literally falling apart.  Everything is scarce or non-existent, people are rioting in the streets, yet Sanders still says that Socialism is the way of the future.  Amazing.  People want free stuff and have no explanation of how the free stuff is going to be paid for.  At issue is Hillary Clinton’s possible indictment over her mishandling of her private server and emails not to mention probable hacking of classified information.  It is my belief that Sanders is still in the race because it is quite possible that Hillary WILL be indicted and then the field is wide open because he is the only other Democrat that has run a successful campaign.  But wait, Sanders has been and is still an “Independent” and yet he is running on the Democratic ticket.  If Clinton IS indicted, it is my guess that the “powers that be” in the Democratic Party will not let Sanders become the Presidential Candidate for the Democratic Party.  Enter Vice President Joe Biden.  He wanted to run and again it is my opinion he knew that Clinton was in legal trouble and now he sits at the ready to take the helm of the Democratic Party.

What happens if Trump self-implodes; who will take over at the helm of the Republican Party?  Once again, I don’t think they will jump to Ted Cruz because they just won’t.  Instead you have Paul Ryan, current Speaker of the House who has a strong presence in the Republican Party Establishment (I have come to hate that word).  Could it be possible that Paul Ryan may be selected as the Republican Presidential Candidate if Trump self-implodes and again that is entirely possible and maybe even probable?

Talk about conflicted.  It is quite possible that America could see two Presidential Candidates running for the White House who DID NOT run in any of the primary elections.  Webster may want to include this as a definition of conflicted the next time they revise their dictionary.

Now consider the “real politics” of the situation.  If Clinton, Sanders, or Biden is elected to the White House, we will have 4 if not 8 more years of what President Obama has started.  In my mind that is unacceptable.  President Obama has destroyed our reputation around the world, has increased the number of people out of work and no longer looking for work, is responsible for Obamacare that was passed without any input by the Republican Party and is in my mind is unconstitutional but then what do I know.  Now we hear that people speaking on behalf of the Obama Administration have intentionally lied and/or have altered published transcripts/tapes of conversations to fit their desired agenda.  Obama himself has looked America in the eye and lied to them about Obamacare.  Then of course we have one of his henchmen on tape saying that they could get Obamacare through because Americans are just too stupid to understand.  And then you have the millions of citizens who still support President Obama and his failed policies.  Of course I could be wrong but I don’t think so.  Very hard to dispute facts; those pesky things that get in the way of agendas.

There is no doubt in my mind that Hillary Clinton is a serial liar.  I don’t believe she is capable of telling the truth.  What millions of people see in her other than she is a woman and no woman has ever been elected President of the United States it so hard for me to understand.  That hardly qualifies her to be President.  Jane Fonda could be elected using that as a criteria.  I could NEVER vote for Hillary Clinton.  She is untrustworthy (a liar) and has no integrity (dishonest).  I can only imagine what she and her husband Bill have done with the Clinton Foundation where they have taken in millions upon millions of dollars and given out less than 10% to charity, the reason the foundations was supposedly created in the first place.  And then there are the donations from nations that fail at every level of human rights including women’s rights that donated to the Foundation.  And how can you overlook the benefits these nations received from the Secretary of State and the Obama Administration shortly AFTER the donations were made.  Evil personified. 

That leaves me with Donald Trump.  I have always considered him a bully – big time bully.  If he does not get his way he cries and accuses the other party of “not treating him fairly”, how many times have we heard that phrase?  He makes a comment and if you wait long enough, he will say something to the contrary.  So which statements are we to believe?  Take a look at what he has said about abortions and Planned Parenthood.  He has been on both sides of the issue.  What does he really believe?  He is another person I simply do not trust.

Now comes the real kicker in all of this discussion, at least for me maybe not you.  It is called the U. S. Constitution.  Other than Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, I have not heard one candidate espouse the terms and conditions set forth regarding what a President can and cannot do and what a Congress can and cannot do as set forth in the Constitution.  We have heard all these things (some not so wonderful) that all the Presidential Candidates say they are going to do but in reality Congress passes legislation, the President signs it, not the other way around.  In years past, especially the Obama years, the President has legislated from the White House through Executive Orders.  The Founders never envisioned this happening to the extent it has.  Compound that with the Supreme Court also legislating from the Bench instead of just determining whether a passed law is constitutional or not.  A perfect example of this is Obamacare where the Supreme Court changed the terms to meet the conclusion they desired.

A President can set the table for things to happen as he or she would like to see them happen but it is the responsibility of Congress to create the law that would make these things happen.  In recent years that has not happened.  Then there are the “enumerated powers” of the U. S. Constitution that define what the White House and Congress can do; all other matters are referred to the States.  For example, you will not find anywhere in the Constitution that the Federal Government is responsible for the education of the citizenry.  Imagine that.  Yet here we have Common Core and in spite of what the Federal Government says, it IS creating teaching agendas by virtue of the content on the tests given in the schools that match up with what the Federal Government wants students to learn.  Again, imagine that.  Control what the minds of America’s youth learn and you have control over them as adults.  Where have I heard that before; oh yes, 1930’s Germany.  How did that work out for everyone?

Come November there is not a clothes pin large enough to cover my nose if I choose to vote which by the way is a third option – not voting.  When you don’t trust or like any of the candidates running for President, what do you do?  Do your principles and beliefs matter?  Mine do, does yours?  What are you going to do?  Do you vote your Party Line as most people tend to do?  Or do you vote for whom you think will lead America into the future; one of prosperity?

I believe that every Presidential election is determined by a very small number of voters, about 10% to no more than 15%.  That means that approximately 45% will vote for the Democratic Candidate no matter what.  Their minds have been made up and nothing short of a total disaster will change their minds.  45% will vote for the Republican Candidate no matter what; just like those on the Democratic side.  That leaves approximately 10% of the American populace that will eventually turn the election to one side versus the other.  Given my past voting record, I have tended to vote for more Republicans than Democrats; I do not deny this.  I can assure you, if JFK were running in this election, he would have my vote as compared to who we have running now.  Reagan would be another who would get my vote. Regarding the people running in this year’s Presidential election, I like none of them and “none of the above” is not a choice on the electronic ballots or can you write in a name on our electronic ballots as if it would actually make a difference.

All my life I could never understand the polls when some people indicated they are “undecided.”  I remember asking the question, knowing what you know about all the candidates and issues, how can you be “undecided” at this stage in the race.  Now I know for I am undecided but not over issues – I simply do not trust any of the candidates or the ghost candidates like Biden or Ryan and even Elizabeth Warren.

The game changer for me was reading Judge Andrew Napatolano’s book, It Is Dangerous To Be Right When Your Government Is Wrong.   It is an amazing and educational read.  If  I were to cast my vote for Hillary Clinton there is no doubt what would happen to the Supreme Court over the next 4 to 8 years.  It would be a disaster for America.  Just look at some of the “liberal” decisions that have come forth with little to no reflection on the U. S. Constitution; a document supposed to be  the court’s guide to determine if a law is constitutional or not but that is NOT what has happened over the years.  Supreme Court Justices have allowed their own political bias to determine the status of a law and the Constitution was a mere bystander.  There can be no guarantee regarding the type of Justices Donald Trump would nominate but I would prefer to “take my chances” on his nominees over anyone that Clinton would nominate.

Sadly I will be casting my ballot NOT for the next President but rather for WHO the next President will nominate for any vacancies on the Supreme Court Bench of which there is already one.  That is a pitiful development on such an important election as that for President of the United States of America but frankly that is what is important to me.  Why is it important?  Let me count the ways.

• 1.     Abortions and the money being funneled to Planned Parent Hood plus abortions permitted in the third Trimester of pregnancy.  If you don’t want a baby you currently have twenty weeks to make that decision, no one should be waiting until the third trimester to do so.  I have never understood the issue of rape or incest – get medical help immediately after it happens as compared to waiting until you are definitely pregnant but then maybe I don’t understand the process.  Roe vs Wade doesn’t have to be overturned but the life of a baby ought to count for something; something more than it currently does.
• 2.     Infiltration of the United Nations into our daily lives.  The UN has no business telling or directing the lives of anyone in America.  The UN can’t even do the job for which it was created let alone directing the lives of Americans.  The UN is a guise for the elites of the world to create a one-world-government and I am totally against that.  Terminate our UN membership and tell them to go elsewhere.
• 3.     Second Amendment.  Even given my military background, I do not like guns.  The Founders created the Second Amendment not so much to authorize individuals to own and carry weapons to hunt or for their own protection as much as to protect them from a tyrannical government which we currently have.  Without stopping the growth and money grabbing U. S. Government, it is only a matter of time before the American people will be forced to make a decision as to stand up for the Constitution or just roll over under the thumb of government, a cause they originally left Europe to free themselves of.  I want the Second Amendment protected.
• 4.     Political Correctness.  This may be the secret weapon that could destroy America.  The First Amendment guarantees everyone Free Speech.  Free Speech does not mean only speech that YOU agree with or a group of collegiate elites, it means ALL speech should be free whether you and I like it or not.
• 5.     THE CONSTITUTION!  This is the most serious of my concerns.  The Constitution is over 200 years old and looking back, the Founders were geniuses who apparently had the ability to predict America’s future years by understanding what could and has already happened in America.  The Constitution was written to prevent some of these things from happening and would have IF the President, Congress and the Supreme Court actually did their jobs and governed using the Constitution as its authority to govern “we the people.”  All of the institutions have failed “we the people” by ignoring the terms and conditions of the U. S. Constitution.  While I fully understood this failure, it was seriously brought home to me after reading the Judge’s book where he has documented the monumental failures of our Government to do the right things and govern by the written law – the U. S. Constitution.

Therefore I have come to the conclusion that a “no vote” is NOT a vote for Hillary NOR is it a non-vote for Donald, it IS a vote signifying that I don’t care about the future of the Supreme Court and thus the country.  I do care, very much so.  I care that I will not like nor support any candidate nominated by Hillary Clinton based upon  my belief that she will nominate far-left thinking Judges to the Supreme Court Bench PLUS she is simply corrupt and you NEVER know what a corrupt individual will do or not do.  If that were to happen, America would become closer and closer to a true Socialist country and that should scare everyone.  As for Donald Trump, there is no such guarantee but I am willing to take my chances that he will nominate Judges who believe in the Constitution and Judges who will NOT use their position on the Bench to create legislation as has some of the previous Supreme Court Justices/decisions have done.

There you have it, my summary of the 2016 Presidential Election and why I will ultimately vote for Donald Trump.  I know that this will upset a lot of people who read this but to be honest – what you think of me is none of my business and frankly I don’t care what you think of what I have written or what you think of me – I do care about America and its future.