From the New York City Parks and Recreation Department pulling a Leslie Knope, to the fact that someone was actually able to stare at Trump's face long enough to make that sculpture, there have been a lot of things happening in the race for President of the United States. As Clinton climbs the charts, Democrats and rational people rejoice, although we are also saddened by the incredible number of people who still seem to side with Trump.
Time and time again he has shown himself to be a racist narcissistic lunatic with no interest in anyone but himself and in anything but money. As if there weren't enough reasons to already hate him, just last week he came out trying to get the African American vote by stating, "you have nothing to lose."
Trump's campaign is built on a shaky foundation, and his team is starting to see the way it falters. Americans are getting tired of hearing that their country needs to be great again, not only is it not a great way to get voters, we're tired of hearing it from an old, soggy cheetoh with merely cheese dust in his brain.
Americans have a lot to lose. We have a country, we have the progressive nature that this country has fostered since its establishment and has proven time and time again that it is the very core of who we are as Americans. That progress, the ending of slavery, the right to vote, the right to show that love is love, no matter who you want to marry, will be thrown to the dust if we elect someone like Trump.
For a while I haven't been able to really gather my thoughts about this "candidate" because I haven't wanted to sit for around and think about it. But, recently I have found myself becoming more and more interested in politics. When the vote for president comes, I want to not only know who I am voting for, I want to know their policies and what will happen when a new person takes the White House and the Oval.
This means a lot of research and a lot of attention toward the news, but it also means watching "The West Wing," because it's much easier to stomach a country led by President Bartlet than either Clinton or Trump. I used to watch "The West Wing" in high school because I so desperately wanted to understand my politics class and do well in it, but I couldn't find joy in the show.
I do now. My eyes are glued to the screen, just waiting to hear about what the team will face next, and longing to be more like C.J. Craig even though the journalists drive me crazy.
The show is fantastic, not only in its representation of the American government, but it has excellent acting and incredible screenwriting. Aaron Sorkin is a gift to us all.
But, I do not write this to convince you that it's a good show. I do not write this to convince you to watch it or even to learn more about our government and political system. I write this to show you what it truly means to be a president, because for some reason, sometimes people listen more to fiction than they do reality.
If you want to play the religion game, fine, Bartlet can do that.
If you want to judge his political prowess, fine, we can do that too:
Trump doesn't talk like that. Trump doesn't know how to talk like that. He understands two things: money and fear rhetoric.
But, what really got me the most in watching "The West Wing" was Jed Bartlet's compassion. That is not something that we see in Trump, not with his family, his wife, his supporters, not for the people that already make America great. His saying that we must make America "great again" implies that the people here are not.
When Bartlet had to decide whether or not to try and save kidnapped drug enforcement officers or leave them be to get a bigger drug lord, and his decision killed nine American soldiers, he downright refused to not be there when their bodies landed.
He stood by each and every one as the coffins walked by.
If this was real, if this was something that happened this time next year, do you really think Trump would stand and do that? Do you think he would deliberate on a decision like that?
Do you think he would show compassion to their families or do you think he would immediately attack the next minority on his list?
You can stand there and say that none of this matters because it's fiction or because it's a TV show. But, I'd rather live in a false reality where Jed is president, and there aren't 40% of my fellow citizens considering voting such a hateful person into office, if you can even call him a person.
