Let me be very clear about something. I detest both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump with equal fervor. They represent, from opposite sides of the spectrum, the wasteland that American politics have become; a political system that is ruled by money, greed and lies. With that said, yes, I voted for Clinton. I made that choice because I felt, and still feel, that she would do the least amount of damage over the next four years. In my view, Bernie Sanders was the only moral candidate with credibility, but his candidacy was doomed from day one by “the establishment.” I considered both the Libertarian and Green Party candidates and rejected them as being uninformed and with a very limited world view.
Now, we are faced with the presidency of Trump, a man who appears to be extremely insecure, self-centered and the antithesis of what our America has stood for since its inception. He has empowered hate, sexism, greed, ignorance and disregard for others. From his mocking of a disabled reporter to fat shaming a former beauty pageant winner to his admiration of Putin, Trump is proving to be totally unqualified to lead the country or the Republican Party.
Trumps’ campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” is highly offensive. During my 70 years, it has been my privilege to spend time in about 63 different countries. While there have been a few countries that compare favorably, I have never found one that is greater than our America. Now, I fear that is changing and very rapidly. We are rapidly approaching the level of many third-world countries. The Republican majority in Congress is working as hard as possible to dismantle the very things that have made our country a world leader. Just a look at Trump’s cabinet appointees should be enough to scare anyone.
Three of Trump’s appointees gives a window on what is in store for us if they are confirmed. He chose Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education. This is a person who has no training in education, has never entered a public school and has worked relentlessly to destroy public education, in her home state, in favor of public-supported, for-profit charter schools. The saddest part of this is that, in those private schools that have survived, the education received by the students, has proven mediocre at best.
Trumps’ choice of Sen. Jeff Sessions for Attorney General is another case in point. This man is a proven racist, a homophobe and foe of women’s rights … back to the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant for you!
The choice of Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State is the one dimly glowing point of light that I see. He has done a credible job during his time with Exxon. If the media is to be believed, Tillerson did divest himself of his interest in ExxonMobil to the tune of a $180 million buy-out. Unfortunately, he has no experience in diplomacy or statecraft. With a lifelong career with Exxon, close ties with Putin and that big pay-out, can we expect him to put America’s interests first?
So what do we do? First and foremost, both the Democratic and Republican parties must be dismantled and rebuilt from the ground up. The old ideology and rhetoric, from both parties, no longer applies and must be discarded. We must work together to identify issues and develop solutions.
Citizens United and the big money PACS must be taken out of the picture. The moneyed influence of people such as the Koch brothers and their various front organizations must be negated. In conjunction with this, we must institute term limits in both the House and Senate. We, as a people, have allowed these institutions to become inbred and dysfunctional.
How do we do these things? We speak up, we agitate, we discuss concepts, without the name calling, and most importantly we vote in every election, local, state and federal!
• Doug R. Davies lives in Valdez, is 70 years old and is a chief engineer in the Merchant Marine. He is deeply concerned about our state and federal governments. You can check out his blog at dougrdavies.com.
