If you had the “pleasure” of watching the most recent Republican debate, I’m sorry. If you managed to avoid the train wreck, then good for you. At this point, I question whether it’s even worth watching. Three grown men on stage vying for the votes of Americans while simultaneously making themselves look like the three biggest idiots in American history.
Every time I tuned back into the debate, it wasn’t even possible to make out what Trump, Cruz, or Rubio were saying. Because most of the time, they were all yelling on top of each other in an attempt to create a terrifying political beast I’ve appropriately named Trumpuzio. If the best way to win the presidency is to yell the loudest so people know what you’re saying, the Republicans have this race in the bag. Unfortunately for them, that usually doesn’t work. So, what does this Republican Presidential Race say for state of the party?
Spoiler Alert, it’s not good. In fact, it’s downright embarrassing. A close examination of the candidates (not including Carson or Kasich because duh) leads me to believe that the GOP is now a party ruled by fear mongers. Their message seems to be that everyone is trying to kill us, and the only way to save yourself is to vote for one of them. But is that really the best way to save yourself? I wouldn’t feel more safe with Trumpuzio leading our country.
How is Trump going to make me safer? The Mexican Wall? First off, Trump estimates it would cost $8-10 billion. That’s a ludicrous amount of money to be spent on an impractical idea for border security. I’m sure that money would be better spent on literally anything else. I definitely would not feel safer in a world where our southern neighbor’s former President, Vicente Fox, says that Trump reminds him of Adolf Hitler. I may be wrong, but that’s certainly not the most comforting thing I’ve heard this week.
How about good ol’ Texan Ted? Would I feel safer in President Cruz’s America? Well, if that world is one where we bombed the Middle East until we discover whether or not “sand can glow in the dark,” then definitely not. Um… Ted? I don’t think that’s how carpet bombs work. And even if it was, learning whether or not sand can glow in the dark wouldn’t exactly make me feel safer. In fact, it may make me feel less safe.
The moral of the story is that the Republicans are preying on the fears of the American people. Their anger and hatred based rhetoric has no place in our current society. Yet, the angriest of them all, Donald Trump, is running away from the pack.
I watched an online video recently that said our only hope in derailing the Trump train is the Koch Brothers. Apparently, the Republican establishment has been pretty weak in terms of funding for Anti-Trump projects. But, that could soon be changing as the Koch Brothers are considering funding a strong opposition.
And while part of me says, “Yes! Maybe there’s light at the end of Anti-Trump tunnel,” it absolutely terrifies me that the train to get there is being driven by the Koch Brothers. Nevertheless, that’s where we’re at and reluctantly, I’ll climb on board. I never thought I’d see a time when the Koch Brothers were the lesser of two evils.
This nomination for the Republicans is an important one. Regaining the White House, when coupled with the Republican Congressional Supermajority, would be great for them. But, I caution everyone in considering whether any of the Republican candidates should be responsible for the next four, and potentially eight, years of our country.
We’ve made some great strides recently. We’re working on LGBT rights. We’re rethinking campaign finance. We’re discussing racial inequalities. And though these discussions aren’t nearly as substantial as they should be, we’re getting there. These things don’t happen overnight. But we’re on the right track.
Do we honestly expect any of the GOP candidates to keep us there?
